Upcoming Schedule & Events in December:
Saturday, Dec. 2nd – Cookie Walk 9 am to noon in fellowship hall:
The Genesis and Whitechapel Handbell Choirs will be playing seasonal pieces in the sanctuary following the cookie walk at noon.
Sunday, Dec. 3rd – Advent candle lighting celebrating Hope with Communion:
Let me know if you’re interested in lighting the advent candles during worship as we move through December, there’s also a short reading that introduces a Christmas carol/hymn.
Sunday, Dec. 10th – Advent candle lighting celebrating Peace with a special candle lighting for Blue Christmas:
During worship Whitechapel bells will perform and kid’s Sunday School practicing for the Christmas play with a dress rehearsal following the worship service.
Saturday Dec. 16th – Ice Sculpture & Cocoa Crawl on the square (downtown Huntley) from noon to 5 pm:
Fellowship Hall will be used as a warming station with food items available, proceeds will go toward work on the sanctuary organ.
Sunday, Dec. 17th – Advent candle lighting celebrating Joy and wearing your favorite brightest, boldest Christmas sweater:
Choir practice at 8 am. Children’s Christmas play during the worship service. Genesis Handbells will be performing as well.
Sunday Dec. 24th – Christmas Eve services 9 am & 4 pm:
9 am service: Advent candle lighting celebrating love. Choir practice at 8 am and performance during worship.
4 pm service: We’ll tell the Christmas story through Scripture readings by the congregation coupled with well-known Christmas carols/hymns, a special kids time and lighting the Christ advent candle, leading to silent night sung in candlelight.
Blessings, Pastor Michael
Merry Christmas
- First Sunday of Advent, December 3
- Second Sunday of Advent, December 10
- Third Sunday of Advent, December 17
- First day of winter, December 21
- Fourth Sunday of Advent, December 24
- Christmas Eve, December 24
- Christmas Day, December 25
Advent Meanings
During Advent, which begins this year on December 3, many churches and families use wreaths to symbolize watchfulness and increasing joy as Christmas approaches. Colors for the candles vary, with some traditions using blue (for hope or creation) and others preferring purple (for royalty, humility or penitence).
The four candles that each represent a week in Advent also signify hope, peace, joy and love. (The third candle is often pink.) In the center is the white Christ candle, representing Jesus as the light of the world. That candle is lit on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.
The round, green Advent wreath has special meaning of its own. It symbolizes eternal life and the unending love of God, who sent his only Son to earth to die in our place.
Ponderings at the End of a Day — or Year
Dutch Catholic priest and theologian Henri Nouwen found it useful to reflect on several questions at the end of the day: “Did I offer peace today? Did I bring a smile to someone’s face? Did I say words of healing?” Pondering such questions may prove valuable at the end of a year as well: “How did I contribute to peace in the world this past year? Did I bring smiles to others’ faces? Did I offer words of healing?” Nouwen continued, and we can too: “Did I let go of my anger and resentment? Did I forgive? Did I love?” Many of us set New Year’s resolutions for self-improvement, asking, “What are my goals? How can I better myself, my weight, my work-life balance, my habits?” But Nouwen said of his self-inquiry: “These are the real questions. I must trust that the little bit of love that I sow now will bear many fruits, here in this world and [in] the life to come.” His resolution was to share God’s love with others. With God’s help, it can be ours as well, for each new day and each new year.
Celebrate the Light
Bursting through December nights that could be long and cold,
our Christmas lights bring warmth and joy with colors soft or bold.
Cascading from the rooftops, and from trees both small and tall,
the lights cry out, “We have good news!
We want to shout to all.
“You’ve seen the darkness earth can hold, the sorrow, war and fear;
but God has sent his Son for all, to show his Love is here.
“The darkness can’t put out God’s Light.
Christ’s with us day by day, illuminating paths so we can follow in his way.”
Light homes and streets and candles.
Make your world shine clear and bright.
God’s love surrounds and blesses us.
Come, celebrate God’s Light!
Peggy Ferrell
Don’t Miss Out!
In his poem “The Inn That Missed Its Chance,” Amos R. Wells writes from the perspective of the “fairly crazed” innkeeper who recalls Bethlehem becoming “a hive at swarming-time.” Of the couple who requested shelter on what became Christmas Eve, the proprietor asks, “Could I know that they were so important?” There was a sign, they say, a heavenly light resplendent; but I had no time for stars. And there were songs of angels in the air out on the hills; but how was I to hear amid the thousand clamors of an inn? If the innkeeper had only known Jesus’ true identity, he says, he would have turned the place upside down, sending other guests out to the stables instead. When Jesus returns — “as he will surely come” — the anonymous innkeeper wants everyone to know: “Tell my Lord that all my inn is his, to make amends.”
