Lessons: Isaiah 40:1-11 2 Peter 3:8-15a Mark 1:1-8 Psalm 85:1-2, 8-13
Tag Archives: Advent
The First Sunday of Advent by The Rev. Martin Elfert
Lessons: Isaiah 2:1-5 Romans 13:11-14 Matthew 24:36-44 Psalm 122 Many of you, most of you, will know the famous prose-poem or, if you prefer, the famous confession by the Lutheran Pastor, Martin Niemöller. It’s about his time in Nazi Germany, and it goes like this: First they came for the Communists And I did notContinue reading “The First Sunday of Advent by The Rev. Martin Elfert”
Third Sunday of Advent by The Rev. Martin Elfert
Lessons: Zephaniah 3:14-20 Philippians 4:4-7 Luke 3:7-18 Canticle 9 Have you ever had the experience of encountering the same words at two different times in your life and hearing them in a totally different way? For myself, I think about the statement: Having kids changes your life. Before I had children, I heard those wordsContinue reading “Third Sunday of Advent by The Rev. Martin Elfert”
Second Sunday of Advent by The Rev. Corbet Clark
Lessons: Baruch 5:1-9 Philippians 1:3-11 Luke 3:1-6 Canticle 4 or 16 Are you basically an optimist or basically a pessimist? Do you tend to see the glass as half empty or half full? John the Baptist seems to be a bit of both – both optimist and pessimist. I tend to be a worrier myself,Continue reading “Second Sunday of Advent by The Rev. Corbet Clark”
First Sunday of Advent by The Rev. Martin Elfert
Lessons: Jeremiah 33:14-16 1 Thessalonians 3:9-13 Luke 21:25-36 Psalm 25:1-9 Be on guard, Jesus says, so that your hearts are not weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of this life. Or that day will catch you unexpectedly, like a trap. It is the start of Advent, the start of a newContinue reading “First Sunday of Advent by The Rev. Martin Elfert”
Fourth Sunday of Advent and Christmas Eve by The Rev. Martin Elfert
Lessons: Isaiah 52:7-10 Hebrews 1:1-12 John 1:1-14 Psalm 98 So. It is the end of 2017. We are in the Pacific Northwest. This is a time and place in which many of us are indifferent to church or ambivalent about church or allergic to church. And yet it is Christmas Eve and we areContinue reading “Fourth Sunday of Advent and Christmas Eve by The Rev. Martin Elfert”
Third Sunday of Advent with Christmas Pageant by The Rev. Martin Elfert
Lessons: Isaiah 61:1-4, 8-11 1 Thessalonians 5:16-24 John 1:6-8,19-28 Psalm 126 Rejoice always, Pray without ceasing. I grew up in Vancouver, British Columbia, in that part of the world that is sometimes called Cascadia and sometimes called the Pacific Northwest. (The latter name is testament to the gravitational pull that the United States exerts onContinue reading “Third Sunday of Advent with Christmas Pageant by The Rev. Martin Elfert”
Second Sunday of Advent by The Rev. Dick Toll
Lessons: Isaiah 40:1-11 2 Peter 3:8-15a Mark 1:1-8 Psalm 85:1-2, 8-13 We are experiencing Advent….the preparation for the coming of Jesus. We hear from John the Baptist during the time when the Roman empire was causing great unrest, torture, killing, and brutality to the people who lived throughout the region but especially in the Galilee. Continue reading “Second Sunday of Advent by The Rev. Dick Toll”
First Sunday of Advent by Robb Beck
Lessons: Isaiah 64:1-9 1 Corinthians 1:3-9 Mark 13:24-37 Psalm 80:1-7, 16-18
Third Sunday of Advent + Advent Lessons & Carols by The Rev. Richard Toll
Lessons: Isaiah 35:1-10 Canticle 15 James 5:7-10 Matthew 11:2-11 The things we will never know. We will never know what Jesus was like as a child. We will never know what Jesus was like as a teenager. We will never know about his early adult life. We will never know who his friendsContinue reading “Third Sunday of Advent + Advent Lessons & Carols by The Rev. Richard Toll”