"Laid to Rest or Haste, Haste?"

Luke 2:1-5

Advent begins with a question—“What child is this?”—spoken into a world aching with trauma and longing. The carol’s contrast between a child “laid to rest” and the urgent call to “haste, haste” mirrors our scriptures: a people crying from the depths, and a young family forced onto the road by empire. Hope does not arrive triumphant but vulnerable—God entering the world from its margins. This first Sunday invites us to notice the small, quiet beginnings of hope in our own weary places. How will we move with compassion and courage toward the hope already stirring among us?

"The Silent Word"

Luke 1:5-25;57-80

“The silent Word is pleading,” Dix writes—yet nothing about this moment in history was silent. The world Jesus was born into cried out with longing, and even Zechariah’s imposed silence becomes a place where prophecy gathers its strength. When speech returns, it is a shout for justice in a traumatized world. The Word becomes Flesh not to quiet the cries but to enter them, to transform them. How will we raise our voices for a peace that is truthful and just? How will we help soothe the wounds of our world in this time.

"Son of Mary"

Luke 1:26-56

We often name Jesus as the “Son of God” or the “Son of Man,” but the carol calls him again and again “the Son of Mary.” This tender title grounds the incarnation in the courage of one woman who said “yes” to a dangerous calling—and then sang a song of joy so fierce it still shakes the powers of the world. Mary nurtures the Holy in an ordinary home, shaping one who will lift up the brokenhearted. How can we, like Mary, practice a joy that persists “in spite of,” and even transforms hardship in our time?

Stewardship Reception to Follow in Fellowship Hall

"Enthroned by Love"

Psalm 46

“Let loving hearts enthrone him,” the carol urges—and this is the heart of the story. Love, not might, defines this kingdom of kinship. Joseph embodies this love with quiet bravery: protecting Mary, sheltering the child, allowing grace rather than fear to shape his choices. His tenderness helps form the One who will center love in every teaching and every healing act. How will we allow love—sacrificial, steady, courageous love—to be the guiding aim of our lives?

The Longest Night: A Service of Remembrance, Healing, and Hope

This season can be especially challenging for many individuals. If you are coping with the loss of a loved one, adjusting to life following a divorce or separation, facing job loss, managing cancer, or dealing with any circumstance that brings uncertainty to your future, we warmly invite you to join us.

During the service, we will unite in song, singing "O Come, O Come Emmanuel," as we light candles of hope and openly acknowledge the challenges, fears, and losses we are experiencing.

Candlelight Service of Lessons & Carols

We invite you to bring your own bells to the service.

"The Babe"

Luke 2:1-19

God’s own Body comes to us through the ordinary vulnerability of birth. The incarnation reveals a God who chooses tenderness and proximity—who enters our human story the same way we do, small and open to love. The humble setting of Jesus’ birth shows that “God-with-us” is not distant or abstract but profoundly real. Even when fear presses close, the Babe “whom shepherds guard and angels sing” lives within us still, growing into Hope, Peace, Joy, and Love made flesh in our lives.

"This, This..."

Matthew 2:1-12

“This, this…” the carol echoes—and that reverberation carries into our own time. The Magi follow the shimmer of a new kind of light, seeking a world shaped by compassion rather than domination. Yet their journey leads into a story that is painfully familiar: a brutal ruler, families fleeing violence, a Holy Family becoming refugees. Even in their return home, the child will grow up under the weight of oppression that will shape his ministry of solidarity. How does this story call us to recognize God-with-us and to be with one another—especially in hard times?