On November 29, the first Sunday in Advent, the children brought in evergreen branches to place around the Advent candles. They also sang “Light One Candle” with the choir, then helped with an Advent reading, and finally, lit the first Advent candle of hope.
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The Second Sunday of Advent is the Sunday of Peace, and much about this service will be designed to help you feel peace within the beauty and comfort of Advent. Members of the Board of Mission and Social Action will light the Advent Candle with the children’s help. We will read reassuring words from the Prophet Micah (5:2-5a) about our security in God, a passage that ends “and he shall be the one of peace.” We will hear one of the most beautiful passages in all the Bible, the Benedictus of Zechariah, the Father of John the Baptist, that ends:
“By the tender mercy of our God,
the dawn from on high will break upon us,
to give light to those who sit in darkness
and in the shadow of death,
to guide our feet into the way of peace.”
Continue reading Upcoming Service Notes: December 6, 2015
Here is an extraordinary men’s choir singing two extraordinarily beautiful Ave Marias. The first two videos feature Franz Biebl’s Ave Maria: the Chanticleer album recording followed by a rougher video recording of the group performing it live. The third is Ave Maria…Virgo Serena by Josquin des Prez. If you do not know these, prepare to return to them again and again!
Full Circle presents its annual holiday concert at the church on Friday, December 18th at 7:30 p.m. They will give another performance on Saturday, December 19th at the Lyme Congregational Church.
Here is an Advent calendar from the Iona Community in Scotland that seems to capture the spiritual essence of Advent’s themes and beauty:
http://iona.org.uk/advent-calendar-2015/
Savor and enjoy!
Hope: The Refiner’s Fire Rev. Thomas Cary Kinder
The Congregational Church of the United Church of Christ,
Bradford, Vermont
November 29, 2015 First Sunday of Advent, Sunday of Hope
Baruch 5:1-9; Malachi 3:1-4; Luke 3:7-18
The Book of Malachi has some mysteries about it. The word Malachi means “messenger” but we do not know if that was the name of the author or if the book’s title comes from the verse that says, “See, I am sending my messenger to prepare the way before me.”
Nor can we be sure whom the prophet had in mind as the messenger. The Gospels link the passage to John the Baptist. It is easy to see why.
Continue reading Sermon, November 29, 2015
We are entering Advent this Sunday, which may be the most beautiful and beloved season of the church year. This is especially true if we include the Christmas Eve service, but each Sunday in Advent is full of music and rituals and readings designed to fill us with the Advent blessings of hope, peace, joy and love.
Advent is a season to savor, and this First Sunday of Advent will offer many opportunities to feel moved. Early in the service the children will bring in greens to decorate the Advent candle table. The children and adult choir will sing Light One Candle as the Anthem, and then they will light the candle of Hope together.
Continue reading Upcoming Service Notes: November 29, 2015
Here are two additions to our Advent music collection, both from the album Light of the Stable by Emmylou Harris. The first is a fun seasonal song from the remastered and expanded release of the album, the second a beautiful contemporary carol from the original version. The album is more for Christmas than Advent, with many carols that Emmylou blesses with her gifts of arrangement and voice.
And All These Things Will Be Given to You As Well
Rev. Thomas Cary Kinder
The Congregational Church of the United Church of Christ,
Bradford, Vermont, November 22, 2015
Twenty-sixth and Last Sunday after Pentecost,
Reign of Christ Sunday,
Thanksgiving Sunday, Neighbors in Need Sunday
Psalm 95; Matthew 6:25-33
Jesus appeared on earth in an anxious time and place. The leaders of the Jews were anxious about the Roman Empire whose army and colonial government imposed their might whenever they stepped out of line. The Romans were anxious, too, ever vigilant for Jewish revolutionaries stirring up the people. The people were most anxious, oppressed by both Jewish and Roman leaders alike.
Jesus appeared in the midst of all this anxiety saying over and over, do not worry! Be at peace. Trust in God, trust in the Spirit, trust in me. Jesus’ followers responded with thanksgiving to that message and to the power of God that showed through him. They saw how God rewarded Jesus’ trust with miraculous words and healings. They felt the peace flowing through him, and it filled them to overflowing, and then others caught it from them. The first church became a powerhouse of peace and joy and works of love, and it grew and grew.
Continue reading Sermon, November 22, 2015
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