Good Shepherd Sermons & Blogs

THE SEASON OF ADVENT

Sundays, November 29; December 6, 13, 20 –
The Four Sundays of Advent

8:00 a.m. Holy Eucharist (On-Site only)

10:30 a.m. Holy Eucharist (On-Site, Zoom, YouTube)

Sunday, December 20 –
The Greening of the Church with Emmanuel All Nations

After the 10:30 service: fun for all ages!

“This is like a parable, but it is bigger than a parable. It is the biggest parable of all, the wonderful impossible … the Incarnation, how God became a baby.”
- Godly Play lesson The Mystery of Christmas

In the Church, we begin Christmas just as the culture all around us has decided it’s over. Secular Christmas and Sacred Christmas appear to overlap by about 18 hours! In the Church, Christmas is a whole season spanning twelve days. How can we celebrate the twelve days of Christmas when everyone else in the world seems to have moved on?

One way to observe the twelve days is by sharing Christmas songs and prayers in your household. Use The Book of Common Prayer to identify the Bible readings appropriate to each of the twelve days. Read them in the course of praying Morning or Evening Prayer or any of the other options in the prayer book for individuals and families.

Another way is to keep that Christmas spirit going in public ways. Wherever there’s work to be done among those who have less than you do, show up. Break down barriers of race, class, and gender. Make friends with unlikely people. Recognize our common humanity and live your life in that full awareness.

A third way is simply to spend time pondering the mystery of Christ’s appearing among us—to slow down amidst the busy-ness (since you probably haven’t been able to before now!) and just dwell in the joy. “For God so loved the world …” that God sent not just a son, but God’s very self.

How mysterious! How wonderful! How impossible! How very descriptive of what God is really like.

- Pastor Josh

THE SEASON OF CHRISTMAS

Thursday, December 24

CHRISTMAS EVE

4:30 p.m. Holy Eucharist (On-Site only)

9:00 p.m. Holy Eucharist (On-Site, Zoom, YouTube)

Sunday, December 27
The First Sunday of Christmas season

8:00 a.m. Holy Eucharist (On-Site only)

10:30 a.m. Holy Eucharist (On-Site, Zoom, YouTube)

Sunday, January 3
The Second Sunday of Christmas season

8:00 a.m. Holy Eucharist (On-Site only)

10:30 a.m. Holy Eucharist (On-Site, Zoom, YouTube)

Wednesday, January 6
The Feast of the Epiphany

7:00 p.m. Holy Eucharist

“Do you know what the Church did? They tied the ending that was like a beginning and the beginning that was like an ending together, so we would always remember that for every ending there is a beginning and for every beginning there is an ending.”
- Godly Play lesson The Circle of the Church Year

Though the “holiday season” is in full swing all around us, the Christian season of Advent is a very different time. While our broader culture worships at the altar of instant gratification and aspires to the impossibility of infinite economic growth and consumption, we Christians strive to live in a larger reality.

Advent is a solemn time. But take great care with that word “solemn.” It doesn’t mean dry, boring, or overly formal. By solemnity, we mean joy—but the kind of joy we experience when we are in awe. Rumors abound that our salvation is on the way and may already be among us! Like children who can’t wait for Christmas morning, we too must wait—actively, poised on our toes, ready to receive that salvation. We share the kind of joy that can make us quiver with anticipation—hardly able to hold in our excitement for what will soon be birthed in the world and in our very selves.

- Pastor Josh