October, 2022http://bradforducc.org/storage/2022/10/2022-10.pdf
Category Archives: Church News
Church Yard Sale
IT’S TIME FOR THE ANNUAL
CHURCH YARD SALE
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As in the past it will be held in the church vestry on the following days:
Friday, August 26, 2022– 9:00 am to 3:00 pm
Saturday, August 27, 2022 – 9:00 am to 12:00 pm
We are soliciting items to be delivered to the church vestry. You may drop contributions off any time or wait until the week of the sale as the vestry doors will be open daily Wednesday & Thursday, between the hours of 9 – 5. When dropping off, please place your items on the tables marked “yard sale donations” located on the left side corner of the vestry.
Items in clean, good condition such as, but not limited to:
Small Furniture; Nick-Knacks; Pewter; Silver; Tools; Collectibles; Kitchen Items; Arts & Crafts. (PLEASE NO CLOTHING, BEDDING OR BOOKS).
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LOOKING AHEAD
This years CHURCH BAZAAR will be held on October 15th from 9am-2pm.
When donating to the yard sale we often save things for this event. If you have items that you think should go in the bazaar instead of the yard sale, just put them in a box and mark them “for the bazaar” and we will save them for later.
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR DONATIONS AND FOR SUPPORTING THESE TWO FUNDRAISING EVENTS.
All Sermons online
Every week the Guided Worship is uploaded so you can worship at a time best for you. Here’s the direct link http://bradforducc.org/news-sermons/worship-with-us/ that you can bookmark.
worship with us!
For how many generations have we been gathering at dawn on Summer Street to watch the sun rise over the Whites on Easter? But this year we’re gathering to watch the sun rise on Lake Champlain!
Click this link to join Pastor Jeff as we greet the new Easter Dawn and in our hearts sing Christ the Lord Is Risen Today.
Following the Sunrise Service is the Family guided worship from Pastor Jeff, organ selections from John Atwood, and the Children’s Story.
Our church bells will peel throughout the Village at 11 am! Every church in the VT Conference with bells is going to be ringing them. Everyone is encouraged to ring a bell at 11 am at your front door …
Devotional readings
Here’s something surprising. We are all staying at home — you know, “social distancing” — and I haven’t heard anyone say they have extra time. That strike you as odd? It’s like folks who are retired telling you they are so busy now that they are retired they don’t know how they had time to work!
Well, I’m throwing all that to the wind. I am sending you something to fill your time. You say you don’t have time to read it? Okay. You don’t have to. But if you want some form of devotional material in this time of social distancing, this may help.
What is it? I’ll tell you. Well, I won’t. I’ll the experts inform us.
The Revised Common Lectionary is a three-year cycle of weekly lections used to varying degrees by the vast majority of mainline Protestant churches in Canada and the United States. The RCL is built around the seasons of the Church Year, and includes four lections for each Sunday, as well as additional readings for major feast days. During most of the year, the lections are: a reading from the Hebrew Bible, a Psalm, a reading from the Epistles, and a Gospel reading. During the season of Easter, the Hebrew Bible lection is usually replaced with one from the Acts of the Apostles. The lections from the Hebrew Bible are sometimes chosen from the Apocrypha.
I thought folks might want to read one of the assigned readings each day. I know, there aren’t enough to cover all the days in a week, but it’s better than nothing. I also know that some of you are already reading the lectionary readings for each given Sunday. So, I threw in something extra. In red lettering I have included my reflections on each of the readings. Don’t worry. I don’t get all scholarly on you. I’m not sure I could if I wanted to! These are just my first impressions and I offer them to stimulate your own thinking.
So, here’s the bottom line. Use this as you see fit. To the extent that it serves to deepen your spiritual life, well and good, and it might be fun to see if the sermon has anything to do with what either you or I were thinking.
Be safe and stay well,
Pastor Jeff
Easter Day
April 12, 2020
Below are all the assigned lectionary readings for Easter Day. I encourage you to read them as a devotional exercise and if you like, read my notes which contain my thoughts about the various readings. The text that is in “red” are my reflections. I hope you are all well and that in this time of social disconnection we might yet stay connected by the Spirit we share one with another.
Can’t you stay awake?
Matthew 26
Sermon, April 5, 2020
A Sermon
by
The Rev. Jeffrey Long-Middleton
Bradford Congregational Church of the United Church of Christ
April 5, 2020
“Stop Pointing Fingers”
So when Pilate saw that he could do nothing, but rather that a riot was beginning, he took some water and washed his hands before the crowd, saying, “I am innocent of this man’s blood; see to it yourselves.” Matthew 27:24i
In these days of Corona-virus, the shouts of “Blessed is the coming kingdom of our ancestor David! Hosanna in the highest heaven!” (Mark 11:10 NRSV) echo in our ears as a hopeful affirmation of the power of God. How we long for the justice and peace that the reign of God would bring. No more deception, our greed checked by our sense of Divine justice, our destruction of the earth on which we live gone as a distant memory. When Jesus came into the city of Jerusalem, hope ran high.
The conquering generals of His day would ride into the city on a war horse. The people would lay their garments along the path lest the general walked on dirt. They would shout Hosanna “…an expression of adoration, praise or joy.”
Jesus could have walked into Jerusalem. Instead, He is mounted not on a grand steed of war, but a donkey. Jesus could have incited a riot when the first thing He did in Jerusalem is overturn the table of the money changers. Jesus could have led a rebellion. The city was waiting, hoping. How they shouted that day, “Blessed is the coming kingdom of our ancestor David! Hosanna in the highest heaven!”
Beside Still waters
We welcome your prayer requests. You can email a request any time of day or night to our church email or to Martina Stever
march 29, 2020
5th Sunday of Lent: The Still Waters of Faith
Dear Church Family,
This is the second week that I am putting together what I call “Guided Worship.” Some helpful changes are in place. Instead of having to pause and seek a second, third, fourth and fifth video, you’re now able to watch the entire presentation as a whole. That’s good news. I also have changed the format of my presentation. It is my hope that it’s an improvement.
If you remember what I said last week, you know that this Sunday, March 29th, I’m finishing up my reflections on the 23rd Psalm. We were able to get through the third verse last week, so we will be starting at verse 4 and going to the end (verse 6). I think I mentioned last week that it was fortuitous that in this time of uncertainty, the 23rd Psalm was one of our readings. It is one of the most often quoted pieces of scripture and is usually referenced during times of stress, so it fits nicely in this time when our nation and our world move through this time of anxiety. I invite you, therefore, to view this “Guided Worship.” I do ask you, however, to remember that worship is not a spectator sport but an act of participation. One gets out of worship what one’s soul brings to it. With all that said, here’s a copy from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible:
Psalm 23
1The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. 2He makes me lie down in green pastures; he leads me beside still waters; 3he restores my soul. He leads me in right paths for his name’s sake. 4Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I fear no evil; for you are with me; your rod and your staff— they comfort me. 5You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. 6Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord my whole life long.
Faithfully, Pastor Jeff
Worship with us
online at http://bradforducc.org/category/church-news/
Family Worship by Pastor Jeff
Children’s Story by Christian Ed
Organ Selections by John Atwood