December 31, 2023 • Pastor Donnie Sturgill, CLM Twinkle Gordon • Isaiah 63:7–9, Matthew 2:13–23
We’ve looked through the lens of the sacred and have experienced time, people, places, others, and ourselves as God’s holy love reflected and incarnate in the world. Because of the experience of God’s action of love toward us, we are called also to act, the “sacred doing” of alleviating suffering wherever it is found.
December 24, 2023 9:30 am Service
December 24, 2023 • Rev. David Petty, Sanctuary Choir • Isaiah 7:10–16, Matthew 1:18–25
We are wells of the sacred. God’s presence is poured into creation in a never-ending flow of love. We enter a time of prayer that invites us to be refilled in ways that can help us pour out our love throughout the week. All we must do in this moment is open our hearts to the Holy One.
Blue Christmas
December 20, 2023 • Rev. David Petty, Pastor Donnie Sturgill, CLM Twinkle Gordon
Today we sit on the Eve of the longest night, that day when the sun seems farthest away, and the dark night at its most oppressive. So too do we sit on the edge of Christmas, that season of light, family, and jollity.
But even as we sit on the cusp of celebration, so we remember that Christmas is not always a season of light and joy, that for many of us there will be an empty seat in the living room, someone missing from Christmas table: a voice now silent, laughter not heard.
In this service we remember those who we love but will not see: those from whom we are separated by sickness, death, or some other reason, and we remember them and name them before God.
Sacred Space
December 17, 2023 • Rev. David Petty • Isaiah 35, Luke 1:46–55
The pregnancy of Mary is connected to the promise of justice and joy in the readings this week. Mary’s womb becomes a sacred space for the gestation of grace that moves into, and is transforming, the world. We will ponder the spaces we inhabit at home, work, and community, asking whether they are feeding, nurturing, and reflecting the freedom and joy that is so desperately needed.
Sacred Music
December 10, 2023 • Sanctuary Choir, Rev. David Petty
Join us as the Sanctuary Choir presents its Christmas Cantata!
Sacred Time
November 26, 2023 • Pastor Donnie Sturgill, Sanctuary Choir, Rev. David Petty • Romans 13:11–14, Matthew 24:36–44
The Christmas season is a time when the juxtaposition of the sacred and secular
feels sometimes blatantly opposed, and sometimes quite blurred. The word “sacred”
points to something dedicated as “holy” and “set apart.” This year, you are invited to a
spiritual journey of seeing ALL things pregnant with the Holy. What could our experience
of the Advent and Christmas season be like if we lived it imagining that everything is
reflecting the sacred?
Sacred People
December 3, 2023 • Rev. David Petty, Pastor Donnie Sturgill, Sanctuary Choir • Romans 15:4–13, Matthew 3:1–12
When we look through the lens of the sacred, we prepare our senses to recognize the holy in all people–to come to know them in a “steadfast and encouraging” way. Our world is crying out for harmony and being able to see the Christ reflected in each other makes a path for this to be accomplished. We are inspired this week to see our own walk upon this earth as part of the call to be sacred people who usher in the presence of
love.
