Advent 1 - Worship Fully

To play the audio, just click the play button above at left.  To download, click the "Advent 1" title in yellow in the box above, which will take you to a site where you can download it as an mp3 file.  If you see no image above or the audio will not play, click here for audio.

We're looking ahead to this Sunday, the first Sunday of the new church year and of the Advent season.  This season is full of expectation, hope, but also anticipation and themes of wonder as we encounter scripture that foretold Christ's coming and also anticipates God coming again to bring in the kingdom and reconcile the whole world.

But what is this season really like for you?
Is it more about the to-do list, or the expectations of all the things we are "supposed" to do and be at this time of year?
Whose message is that?

For this season of Advent, we're joining in on the Advent Conspiracy.  Started a few years ago by a small group of churches, it aims to offer a refreshing alternative to the culture's pressure and stress of the season.  So each week has a theme (see the picture at right) to help us slow down, focus, and open to God working among us. 

So this week our theme is Worship Fully.  What does this mean to you?  What holds you back from worshipping fully?  In this week's podcast, we're discussing what it means to us and how we might challenge each other to be freed from everything else that holds us back and be able to worship fully . . .

Join us for Sunday worship.  You'll notice a couple changes, as we allow some time to slow down, reflect, and also profess our faith and be inspired to use our faith actively in the real world. 

On Wednesdays, at noon we'll continue to offer a brief service of Holy Communion - take it as a gift to pause and relax in worship. 
Wednesdays at 6:45 will be a special worship service for the three Wednesdays in Advent (Dec. 4, 11, 18).  We'll gather in prayer, scripture, discussion, and interactive activities to challenge ourselves and continue to explore our weekly themes. 

Then, tune in here each Thursday as we look to the week ahead and begin exploring together the next theme!