Tuesday, December 20, 2011

CHRISTMAS EVE CANDLELIGHT AND COMMUNION SERVICE
11:00 p.m.

Title of Message: "Mary, Did You Really Know?"
Scriptures: Isaiah 7:10-14 and Matthew 1:18-23

This service of celebration and worship is a meditative time for reflection and contemplation. There will be wonderful music from Ashley Greathouse (harp), Trever Bonnema (handbells), Stacy Miller (vocal soloist) and Karen Stoody (organ).
The sounds of I Wonder as I Wander, Ave Maria, Mary Did You Know?,Still, Still, Still, the traditional Christmas hymns and the lighting of candles and sharing communion - all make for a time to remember once again who Jesus was and is and forever will be - in our lives.

Station KJOY will follow Mary, Joseph and her family and friends as they journey on the dusty road to Bethlehem to ignite Christmas, and to address the question "Mary, did you really know?" Or, to ultimately ask the more pertinent question, "What do we know?" about the now grown child of the manger.

I welcome you to our service. The lights will be low and the Sanctuary warm in the glow of the Christmas spirit. Come and join us.

Blessings on you.

David ddalke37@cs.com


5 and 7

The sermon seeks to bring together two conflicting idea; both of which are important to us as Christan people. First is the idea that we are special; unique; chosen. Secondly the idea that we are a part of the mass of humanity and common; every day; ordinary; united with the masses.

We are special but we are common. We are somebody but so is everyone else.

Where does this leave us?

It leaves us with a confidence to know we can do all things and with a humility to realize that we are give what we have been given so we can do the things we can do for the people with whom we come in contact.

If you would like rough drafts of the Christmas Eve sermon and the Christmas Day sermons indicate that and I will email them to you.

If you have thoughts about the sermon write me at charlesschuster@fcfumc.net. If you are willing to share your thoughts with the reader of the blog click on the 'comments' box.

I look forward to hearing from you.


Charles Schuster
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1 comment:

PenDell Pittman said...

I am STILL sorting travel plans (interesting year!), and, if I am still in town at 11pm on Christmas Eve and not hightailing it outta town after the 7pm Service, I will certainly be present to share in what promises to be a profound, as well as enchanting, 11 pm Service!

This week, I afforded myself the opportunity to receive the drafts of Rev. Schuster's weekend services. I consider it a privilege (one that he is offering to any and all of us, via the blog posts here) to witness and participate in, through my occasional blog comments, the generation of these Sermons. I must say that the Christmas Eve message will be, as I see from the draft, a powerful, important, and masterfully-crafted one, certainly not to be missed. (Christmas Day will be, as well, although my comment here addresses Christmas Eve services.)

Here is one of the reasons why I so appreciate having a glimpse of the Sermon drafts in advance: They give me, for one, the opportunity on Sunday-- having already worked with the draft and considered its implications in my own life-- to then consciously allow my own spirit and agreement with the message to come to specific focus, to help amplify the preacher's message as it is "transmitted" to those beyond me -- and not just those in the Sanctuary pews, but farther, I submit -- on out to the larger world, via the so-called "mass subconscous".

In the category of "what can one person do", I suggest that this is something each of us can do. Let us never discount the power of our personal agreement with the inspired utterances in which we beleve, whether we voice them ourselves or witness them voiced by another in representation of us. And may my daily living prove out the words which I speak and believe.

PenDell Pittman

December 22, 2011 at 12:23 PM

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