Sunday, November 26, 2006

Adult Forum @ 9:30 a.m.
Sacred Dance & Worship
In preparation for an afternoon workshop on this topic, we'll be led in an exploration of sacred dance in worship.
Discussion Leader: Angela Yarber

Worship @ 10:30 a.m.
Reign of Christ Sunday
Scriptures: John 18:33-37 and Revelation 1:4b-8. Also see 2 Samuel 23:1-7 and Psalm 132:1-12
Prayer for the Weekend: Holy God, Alpha and Omega, we give thanks that you encircle time with your presence and creation with your love. As you bring all things back to you, enfold our hope and our life in your grace. Amen.
Preaching: Greg Ledbetter; Worship Leader: Doug Davidson; Head Usher: Stu Harris; Choir: Thanks We Sing

Words for Meditation

The Almighty One
– who is, and who was, and who is to come –
encircles us in hope before and beyond all time.
Thanks be to God!
What enduring hope do you celebrate?
What enduring truth shapes your daily living?
How does our faith community express its hope in God’s eternal truth?

Psalm 132: 1-5; 11-12
O Lord, remember in David’s favor
all the hardships he endured;
how he swore to the Lord
and vowed to the Mighty One of Jacob,
“I will not enter my house or get into my bed;
I will not give sleep to my eyes or slumber to my eyelids,
until I find a place for the Lord,
a dwelling place for the Mighty One of Jacob.
The Lord swore to David a sure oath
from which he will not turn back:
“One of my sons of your body I will set on your throne.
If you sons keep my covenant and my decrees
that I shall teach them, their sons also,
forevermore,
shall sit on your throne.”

The Feast of Christ the King was added to the calendar of the Roman Catholic Church in 1925 and, since 1970, has been observed by Christians in general on the last Sunday prior to Advent. Several churches refer to it as “Reign of Christ Sunday.” The lectionary readings provide an opportunity to explore what it means to live as members of God’s realm, and/or to explore the new images of kingship and leadership that Jesus modeled.

The church year comes to a close with this Sunday while next Sunday begins a new year and a new season. Although, in some ways, it’s just a continuation—for the Christ on whose reign we focus today is the same one whose coming we begin to anticipate again next week.

Sunday, November 5, 2006

Adult Forum, 9:30 a.m.
Preparing for the Propositions
This Adult Forum will be an opportunity to review the Propositions which will be appearing on the ballot this Tuesday. We'll discuss them, explore the issues, gather collective wisdom, and raise questions. This is not a time of advocacy (though strongly committed perspectives are certainly welcome!), but a time of exploration.You're invited to bring any resources you may find helpful. Discussion Facilitator: Jennifer Davidson

Some Links you may find helpful:
Smart Voter by the League of Women Voters for nonpartisan election information.
California Church IMPACT ballot recommendations from the California Council of Churches' advocacy partner in ministry

Worship, 10:30 a.m.
Communion Sunday
Scripture: Ruth 1:1-18, Psalm 146, and Mark 12:28-34
Prayer for the weekend in preparation for worship : Through whom will you join us, O God, when we set out on paths not famiar? For whom would you have us bear your presence, when they feel abandoned? In turning us toward you, O God, turn us toward one another. Amen. Worship Leader: Trevor Hanbridge; Preaching: Greg Ledbetter on "Heart, Mind, Soul, Strength"; Choir: A Classic Communion.

Words for Meditation

A Grandmother’s Faith

They went together—those
wrinkled hands and tattered
book. And something in the
awe with which she held it
made me think she held
a sacred fire.

The old brass-bound Bible
came to her from her mother,
and hers before that, too,
through more generations than
I know how to reckon—faded,
cracked, worn with us.

I wonder how it felt to hold
the past within her hands—
how many broken hearts found
comfort there, how many searching
minds were fed; how many fears
were calmed in its reading; what
songs of joy were hummed over it;
what secret tears still stain its pages?

I loved to hear her talk to God,
and when she prayed, I sometimes
imagined I felt God near. It was a
very safe place to be—with God and her.
I liked her God, so wrapped up in the
small goings-on of daily life—not too
far away and busy with eternal
things to take notice of one small child.

The Bible became mine today, and
my smooth hands look somehow out
of place—and somehow right at home.
Like her, I hold the accumulated joys
and sorrows of my heritage and join
my life with theirs. There is a
strength to it—forged by faithful
living in the presence of a loving
God. The line still holds—all those
who have gone before, myself, and those
who are to come.

-Marie Livingston Roy