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Christmas: The Presence of Christ
December 3-31, 2017
December 24, 2017 - CHRISTMAS EVE
"Better Adulting with the Child of God"
We had the great pleasure of hosting The Midcoast Brass Quintet, who played with us on hymns during the service and for the prelude and postlude.
I have posted the whole service below. Enjoy!
"Better Adulting with the Child of God"
We had the great pleasure of hosting The Midcoast Brass Quintet, who played with us on hymns during the service and for the prelude and postlude.
I have posted the whole service below. Enjoy!
December 24, 2017 (Morning) - Advent 4
"Purpose and Presence: The Coming Messiah"
Scripture: John 1:1-18
As we stand on the brink of the birth of Christ, especially with Christmas on a Sunday this year, we sense the anticipation of all the things we require this day to carry. Maybe it is memories of past Christmases that we expect this one to be like. Maybe we don't want to anything to do with anyone because the anxiety of past Christmases inform this one. Maybe you are like the early Puritans, who believed the celebration was so compromised by external man-made ideas that there was nothing of Christ available in it. Or maybe Christmas is a time of soft, gentle light meant to help us remember that small things in small places are where the touch of God is still available to us and all the things we do to anticipate the day point to that small, gentle moment in time.
May the season bring blessings and peace to one and all! Pastor Seth
I did the sermon differently for this service -
it is throughout the entire service, so I have just posted the audio.
"Purpose and Presence: The Coming Messiah"
Scripture: John 1:1-18
As we stand on the brink of the birth of Christ, especially with Christmas on a Sunday this year, we sense the anticipation of all the things we require this day to carry. Maybe it is memories of past Christmases that we expect this one to be like. Maybe we don't want to anything to do with anyone because the anxiety of past Christmases inform this one. Maybe you are like the early Puritans, who believed the celebration was so compromised by external man-made ideas that there was nothing of Christ available in it. Or maybe Christmas is a time of soft, gentle light meant to help us remember that small things in small places are where the touch of God is still available to us and all the things we do to anticipate the day point to that small, gentle moment in time.
May the season bring blessings and peace to one and all! Pastor Seth
I did the sermon differently for this service -
it is throughout the entire service, so I have just posted the audio.
December 17, 2017 -- Advent 3
"Care and Covenant: The Discipline of Abundance"
Scripture: Isaiah 55:1-13
Isaiah calls us into the expanding delta of the river of expectation today. Here, where the promises of God expand and encompass and embrace the people and creation, we begin to learn the ways of God. And one of those lessons is the discipline of Abundance. It is not what we think.
Sermon linked above; audio below.
Peace and grace this Christmas week to all of you!
Pastor Seth
"Care and Covenant: The Discipline of Abundance"
Scripture: Isaiah 55:1-13
Isaiah calls us into the expanding delta of the river of expectation today. Here, where the promises of God expand and encompass and embrace the people and creation, we begin to learn the ways of God. And one of those lessons is the discipline of Abundance. It is not what we think.
Sermon linked above; audio below.
Peace and grace this Christmas week to all of you!
Pastor Seth
December 10, 2017 -- Advent 2
"Being and Bones: The Valley of Dry Bones"
Scripture: Ezekiel 37:1-14
The Prophet Ezekiel is filled with strange visions and prophecies. He was a refugee from Jerusalem, after the Neo-Babylonian Empire destroyed the city in 587BC. One of the themes that keeps arising in Ezekiel's book is "Who are you, O people of God?"
The valley of dry bones is a metaphoric, prophetic, symbolic expression of where the Jewish people have come from and a 'gestalt', a leaping place, to discuss who they really are in the eyes of God. You may be familiar with questions of being like this. As we await the Messiah, we are in an in-between time which asks us to reflect on the past, live in the present, and look out onto an unknown future.
The sermon is linked above, and the audio below.
Peace and grace to all!
Pastor Seth
"Being and Bones: The Valley of Dry Bones"
Scripture: Ezekiel 37:1-14
The Prophet Ezekiel is filled with strange visions and prophecies. He was a refugee from Jerusalem, after the Neo-Babylonian Empire destroyed the city in 587BC. One of the themes that keeps arising in Ezekiel's book is "Who are you, O people of God?"
The valley of dry bones is a metaphoric, prophetic, symbolic expression of where the Jewish people have come from and a 'gestalt', a leaping place, to discuss who they really are in the eyes of God. You may be familiar with questions of being like this. As we await the Messiah, we are in an in-between time which asks us to reflect on the past, live in the present, and look out onto an unknown future.
The sermon is linked above, and the audio below.
Peace and grace to all!
Pastor Seth
December 3, 2017 - Advent 1
"Faith and Fire: Daniel, and His Friends in the Furnace"
Scripture: Daniel 3: 1, 8-30
The Book of Daniel is a strange and unusual book. It is not really a prophetic book like Ezekiel or Isaiah. Nor is it a history book like 1&2 Kings. Nor is it a poetic legend and story like Genesis or Ruth. It is most like an apocalyptic prophetic historical legend (when I say 'legend', I don't mean 'untrue', to be clear). And so today, we hear a great story about Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who are friends of, students of, and fellow worshipers with Daniel. Their excursion into the furnace of King Nebuchadrezzar is wild, bizarre, and an example for all of us. What is more, there are parts of this story that are very different from what we all learned in Sunday School.
The outline is linked above so you can follow along...sort of...with the audio below.
Peace and grace to all! Pastor Seth
"Faith and Fire: Daniel, and His Friends in the Furnace"
Scripture: Daniel 3: 1, 8-30
The Book of Daniel is a strange and unusual book. It is not really a prophetic book like Ezekiel or Isaiah. Nor is it a history book like 1&2 Kings. Nor is it a poetic legend and story like Genesis or Ruth. It is most like an apocalyptic prophetic historical legend (when I say 'legend', I don't mean 'untrue', to be clear). And so today, we hear a great story about Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who are friends of, students of, and fellow worshipers with Daniel. Their excursion into the furnace of King Nebuchadrezzar is wild, bizarre, and an example for all of us. What is more, there are parts of this story that are very different from what we all learned in Sunday School.
The outline is linked above so you can follow along...sort of...with the audio below.
Peace and grace to all! Pastor Seth