Weekly Bible Verses: Luke 2:1-20: I Am Bringing You Good News of Great Joy for All the People...

Luke 2: In those days a decree went out from Emperor Augustus that all the world should be registered. ²This was the first registration and was taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria. ³All went to their own towns to be registered. ⁴Joseph also went from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to the city of David called Bethlehem, because he was descended from the house and family of David. ⁵He went to be registered with Mary, to whom he was engaged and who was expecting a child. ⁶While they were there, the time came for her to deliver her child. ⁷And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in bands of cloth, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.
⁸In that region there were shepherds living in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. ⁹Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. ¹⁰But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for see—I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: ¹¹to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord. ¹²This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger.” ¹³And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying, ¹⁴“Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favors!” ¹⁵When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go now to Bethlehem and see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us.” ¹⁶So they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the child lying in the manger. ¹⁷When they saw this, they made known what had been told them about this child; ¹⁸and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds told them. ¹⁹But Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart. ²⁰The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.

An Evening in Song: Celebration of Belief and Belonging

My memories of holiday dinners past - way, way past - are not complete without the “saying of the piece” , a mandatory performance by individual family members, the children in particular, which always followed the meal. Of all the annual performances, none comes to mind more clearly than Aunt Agnes singing “Life is Just a Bowl of Cherries” year after year. After Grandad bought one of those newfangled reel to reel tape recorders, we got to hear it even more often than that.

ECBC’s Christmas concert is not your average Christmas concert. It is like an enthusiastic “saying of the piece” by our individual church family members. The interior walls of our church are painted a kind of neutral rose, so at night with the Christmas tree lit (it’s a little tipsy this year since one section was accidentally overlooked during assembly) and the house lights down, our little church is positively glowing.

First up was Andrew Henry’s annually composed for the occasion “Christmas Poem”. He always rises to the challenge of fitting his rhymes very neatly into a very eclectic meter. From there we were touched by Kathi Johnson’s singing of “Mary Did you Know?”

The musical performances included Leah Johnson on violin, some super jazzy piano playing by Sally Sorber complete with glissandos, trills, and fancy chords, and then Madeline Snyder thrilling the crowd with “O Holy Night”.

We swayed to “Calypso Lullaby” sung by our own ECBC choir, Lucy Jefferys on guitar with “Go Tell It On the Mountain”, favorite hymns sung by Holly Johnson, Dawn & Dustin Flay, and multiple generations of Hegarty women singing a Spanish song, an English song, and a just plain silly song.

Bruce Reid managed to pierce our hearts with his reading of a story about a baby and a skid row bum. Jesus liked to do that with his parables.

Wrapping it all up was Pastor Joseph Sum singing and playing guitar followed by our usual circle and blessing.

Belief and Belonging - We celebrated it here Saturday night.

Then we ate cookies.

—Marie Jones

Weekly Bible Verses: Luke 1:26-38: The Lord Is With You

Luke 1: ²⁶In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, ²⁷to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. ²⁸And he came to her and said, “Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.” ²⁹But she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. ³⁰The angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. ³¹And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. ³²He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David. ³³He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” ³⁴Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?” ³⁵The angel said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be holy; he will be called Son of God. ³⁶And now, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son; and this is the sixth month for her who was said to be barren. ³⁷For nothing will be impossible with God.” ³⁸Then Mary said, “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.” Then the angel departed from her.

Weekly Bible Verses: 1 Thessalonians 5:12-28: Joy, Prayer, and Thanksgiving in ALL Circumstances

1 Thessalonians 5:12-28: ¹²But we appeal to you, brothers and sisters, to respect those who labor among you, and have charge of you in the Lord and admonish you; ¹³esteem them very highly in love because of their work. Be at peace among yourselves. ¹⁴And we urge you, beloved, to admonish the idlers, encourage the faint hearted, help the weak, be patient with all of them. ¹⁵See that none of you repays evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to all.
¹⁶Rejoice always, ¹⁷pray without ceasing, ¹⁸give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. ¹⁹Do not quench the Spirit. ²⁰Do not despise the words of prophets, ²¹but test everything; hold fast to what is good; ²²abstain from every form of evil.
²³May the God of peace himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be kept sound and blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. ²⁴The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do this. ²⁵Beloved, pray for us. ²⁶Greet all the brothers and sisters with a holy kiss. ²⁷I solemnly command you by the Lord that this letter be read to all of them. ²⁸The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.

Seeing Your Bible Relationally

Here is a view of the Bible you might find challenging, but is well worth consideration. If you take this view seriously, you'll want to spend more time with the scriptures and in discussion of the scriptures with your friends. The emphasis added to the text below is mine.

Through Scripture, the Spirit continues to bear witness to the truth of God in the person of Jesus the Christ and to bring us into personal relationship with God. The type of knowing that we may expect to experience through the Bible is relational; it is in community that we learn the truth about God. I believe God's intention for the Bible is to testify to and to anchor the continuing dialogue between God our Creator and humanity. Just as God shepherded the Bible's formation, the Holy Spirit stirs our interpretation of it, as we seek God's guidance in faith.

Donald J. Brash. The Indispensable Guide to God's Word. Cleveland, Ohio: The Pilgrim Press, 2010. p. 109

Annual Christmas Card Exchange

A basket will be in the narthex again this year.  Bring the cards for other church members.  Save on postage and make a donation to the youth to help fund their activities.

Poinsetteas Offered for Christmas

We will again be offering the chance to buy Christmas poinsettias at a cost of $5.  They will remain throughout the Christmas Season and will be available for buyers to take home after worship on January 2.  If you would like to buy a 6" poinsettia, please fill out the form, attach payment and give to the church office (or drop in the offering plate).

Weekly Bible Verses: Psalm 85: Steadfast Love and Faithfulness Will Meet

Psalm 85: ¹Lord, you were favorable to your land; you restored the fortunes of Jacob.
²You forgave the iniquity of your people; you pardoned all their sin. Selah
³You withdrew all your wrath; you turned from your hot anger.
⁴Restore us again, O God of our salvation, and put away your indignation toward us.
⁵Will you be angry with us forever? Will you prolong your anger to all generations?
⁶Will you not revive us again, so that your people may rejoice in you?
⁷Show us your steadfast love, O Lord, and grant us your salvation.
⁸Let me hear what God the Lord will speak, for he will speak peace to his people, to his faithful, to those who turn to him in their hearts.
⁹Surely his salvation is at hand for those who fear him, that his glory may dwell in our land.
¹⁰Steadfast love and faithfulness will meet; righteousness and peace will kiss each other.
¹¹Faithfulness will spring up from the ground, and righteousness will look down from the sky.
¹²The Lord will give what is good, and our land will yield its increase.
¹³Righteousness will go before him, and will make a path for his steps.