Advent 2024
Volume 15, Issue 6
Our worship services are livestreamed on our YouTube channel: upcbgm.org/youtube
Volume 15, Issue 6
Christmas truly is the most wonderful time of the year. We hope you will join us for our family-friendly service of carols and candlelight on Christmas Eve, Tuesday, December 24 at 4pm. You can attend in person, join us online via our YouTube Channel upcbgm.org/youtube or Zoom upcbgm.org/zoom, or join over the phone by calling 646-558-8656 and then enter Meeting ID 865 274 8433. The service can also be viewed later on our YouTube Channel.
On Sunday, February 2, at 11:15am, we will gather to renew the covenant between the congregation and the pastors, to talk about the road ahead and look at our mission statement, and to consider all that God has done for us.
This meeting will be hybrid, immediately following the worship service, in the sanctuary and in the Zoom room upcbgm.org/zoom or via phone call (+1) 646-558-8656, Meeting ID 865 274 8433.
We renew the covenant between pastors and congregation every year by voting on their terms of call. “Terms of call” is the PC(USA) language for what, in the business community, is called a “compensation package”. Recognizing that God’s call to pastoral ministry is expressed in a three-way covenant between the presbytery, the congregation, and the pastor, each year you are asked to support the work of the pastors by agreeing to support them financially as well as through your prayers and participation. After the congregation votes, the terms will be sent to the presbytery for their approval.
Advent is a season of endings and beginnings. As the calendar year comes to a close, a new church year rushes in. Christ’s birth ushers us into new ways of living and loving — and yet, we feel the weight of many things coming to an end. What are the words that we will carry, and will carry us, that we bring from the ending of one season into the next? In a world full of endings, how do we continue to hold out the promise of hope to a weary world?
As we move through new personal and political chapters, may these words for the beginning renew us and remind us of the ways we are called to live out our faith. No matter what you are facing, no matter what this new day brings, let love be your beginning.
December 1: The First Sunday in Advent — You Are a Blessing
Focus text: Luke 1:26–38
Mary is described as “blessed among women” (Luke 1:28). She is neither wealthy nor powerful, and yet she is chosen to bear God’s child. Her story begins with blessedness, and so does ours, for the prophet Isaiah declares that we are claimed by a God who calls our name. We are a blessing because we belong to God. When blessedness is our beginning, we begin to see the world — and others — through the eyes of a God who says: “You are precious in my sight” (Isaiah 43:4).
This quilt square is a simplified abstract image of the angel Gabriel.
December 8: The Second Sunday in Advent — We Can’t Go Alone
Focus text: Luke 1:39–45
Mary hears the words of the angel and agrees to be God’s partner in bringing Jesus into the world. But she turns immediately from her angelic encounter to her earthly community, traveling to visit her cousin Elizabeth, who is also expecting a baby. Together they support each other and celebrate with each other, caring for each other in the long weeks of preparation and giving each other strength for the journey ahead. When God calls us to work for new life and new hope, God also calls us into community with each other. We are not alone, and we do not have to journey by ourselves. God brings unlikely people together, and forms us into a covenant community.
This quilt square is called a “log cabin”, and is meant to symbolize that together we can hold one another up and make something greater.
December 15: The Third Sunday in Advent — Hope is Worth the Risk!
Focus text: Luke 1:46–55
Hope is vulnerable and can feel like a tremendous risk, especially if you’ve experienced loss or trauma. But Mary shows us a resilient hope that takes risks — she risks her body to bear a son who will become the hope of her people. Through the ages, people have chosen to hope for a transformed world, and to act in ways that can bring about change. It can feel safer and easier to be a cynic, but the world doesn’t need more cynics. It needs people who say, “It can be better” and make it so.
This traditional quilt square design is called “birds in the air”. Sometimes when we take a risk, hope takes flight. At times it may feel like you’re falling, but you’ll find that, in God’s embrace, you are flying.
December 22: The Fourth Sunday in Advent — Don’t Forget to Share the Joy!
The birth of Christ brings good news of great joy to all people, which is cause for celebration. On this Sunday before Christmas, we invite everyone to share the joy by participating with us in our “Come as You Are Christmas Pageant”. You get to choose which role you want to play in the pageant, and simple costumes and props will be supplied (it will be okay if we have lots of Marys or only a couple of shepherds). Narrators will invite the players to come forward when it’s time. We’ll sing lots of carols, and have a joyful, informal service of celebration as we tell again the great good news of God-With-Us!
From a center point, tulip-like flowers stretch and bloom, referencing the Ralph Waldo Emerson quote, “The Earth laughs in flowers.”
December 24: Christmas Eve — Love Knows Your Name
Candlelight Communion service, 4:00pm
Christ’s birth makes the vastness of God personal. The God who made the seas and the stars is also the God who made your beautiful hair and striking eyes. The God of creation takes on flesh, which means you are fully known. When the angels visit the shepherds in the fields, their message is global but also personal: “To you … a savior is born.” This birth is good news for everyone, especially those who are ignored or disenfranchised. On this night, God is born, and this God of love knows your name.
The love of God is represented by a heart with three triangles that seem to fold inward, ready for embrace.
December 29: The Sunday after Christmas — Blessed to Be a Blessing
Focus text: Luke 2:21–40
Mary and Joseph celebrate the birth of Jesus first by giving him his name in their community — inviting everyone to share the joy in a formal ceremony. Then they take the baby on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, to introduce him at the Temple. There he is enrolled in the temple, and given a blessing by two elders — Simeon, a devout man, and Anna, called a prophet. They welcome Jesus and bless him for service to God and to the community. We remember the blessing that children bring to our community, and we ask God to bless them with strength and wisdom and holy favor as they grow in our midst.
This quilt square collage shows the ripple effect of joy dancing throughout all creation.
January 5: Epiphany Sunday — The Road Isn’t Straight
Focus text: Matthew 2:1–12
Too often, we’ve been told that a successful life is a linear one. But in reality, our lives unfold with many unexpected twists and turns. The Magi follow a star, embarking on a long journey in a foreign land in order to honor the newborn Christ. Instead of returning to Herod as commanded, they trust their dreams and go home by another way. Their road isn’t straight, but God “makes a way in the wilderness” (Isaiah 43:19) as they follow their intuition and diverge from the expected path.
The triangles in this quilt square point in multiple directions. Much like the magi’s journey, the path that lies ahead isn’t always clear or straight. Thankfully, we have the guidance of the Spirit to light our way.
January 12: John the Baptist — Do the Work That Is Yours to Do
Focus text: Luke 3:7–16
As John the Baptist is teaching about bearing good fruit, the crowds, tax collectors, and soldiers ask him, “What, then, should we do?” His answer to each group is slightly different, but ultimately the same: “Do the good that is yours to do.” We can each bear good fruit through acts of justice and righteousness. We can all be what Isaiah calls “repairers of the breach” by satisfying the needs of the afflicted.
We are each uniquely gifted, called, and equipped for the work that is ours to do in the world. In the center is the cross, symbolizing Christ’s impact, and surrounding it are individuals reaching out and shining their particular light in the world.
Our mission is to follow Jesus Christ by doing justice, loving kindness, and walking humbly with God.