Sermon Sunday December 29, 2024 Rev. Norman A. Michaud “Panic in a Parent’s Heart” Luke 2:41-52 Both parents and children may have shared the tension presented in today’s reading from Luke. Luke’s account of the twelve-year-old Jesus is exclusive to Luke. It offers a glimpse of Jesus as a child and concludes by  echoing Samuel 2:26, 2:26: “Now the boy Samuel continued to grow both in stature and in favor with the Lord and with the people.” Being devout and respectful Jews, Joseph, Mary, their relatives, and friends travel on their pilgrimage to Jerusalem to worship and praise God at the Temple. Herod’s Temple would have been shining white marble with gold and reflected the light throughout Jerusalem. Those reading or hearing Luke’s Gospel would

Order of Worship  December 29 2025 10:00 AM First Sunday after Christmas, Year C Prelude:  “Be Still”  Ashley Grote,   “What Child Is This”  James Biery WELCOME AND ANNOUNCEMENTS:  MISSION STATEMENT: (Let us say our Mission Statement together) To welcome and inspire All through faith, love, and fellowship according to Christ’s example. Introit: “Of the Father’s Son Begotten”    Divinum Mysterium *Call to Worship (Responsive) Leader: Like Joseph and Mary, we want to protect the child Jesus. People: We want him to be safe and sound. Leader: And when something unexpected happens, we are frightened. People: We wonder what we should have done differently. Leader: Triune God, on this day, helps us to remember that you are always present with us. People: Let us trust God’s loving presence

Order of Worship December 24th, 2024 Christmas Eve 4:00 PM *Those who are able, please stand Prelude:  “Carol of the Bells” Kristiana Arakelyan,  Personent Hodie”   Philip Moore,  “God Rest You Merry Gentlemen”  Elizabeth Mounsey WELCOME AND ANNOUNCEMENTS: MISSION STATEMENT: (Let us say our Mission Statement together) To welcome and inspire All through faith, love, and fellowship according to Christ’s example.  *Call to Worship: (Responsive) Litany of Light Leader:  Tonight old dreams die and new dreams come to life. The promise is fulfilled! People:  Glory to God in the highest, and on earth, peace. Leader:  Hope gives way to joy and prayer to proclamation. People:  Glory to God in the highest, and on earth, peace. Leader:  Our candles illuminate our story. Dawn invades midnight. The Light of

Sermon Sunday December 22, 2024 – Fourth Sunday of Advent – Candle of Love Rev. Norman A. Michaud “Words of Wisdom: Let it Be” Luke 1: 39- 45, (46-55) Today’s reading, Luke 1:39-55, brings us to a face-to-face conversation regarding the world turned upside-down through the incarnation of Jesus. Mary and Elizabeth’s conversation is not a story about religion. It reveals belief and faith, which generate Love. The scene of Mary and Elizabeth meeting each other reveals their shared experience of pregnancy, with Elizabeth’s child leaping in the womb at the approach of Mary’s child. While still in Elizabeth’s womb, John seems to want to baptize Jesus and leaps at the presence of his cousin, Jesus. The coming of Emmanuel, the Messiah, is presented by two

Order of Worship December 22nd, 2024 (Candle of Love) 10:00 AM (The Fourth Sunday of Advent, Year C) Prelude:  “Awake, God’s Voice is Calling Us” Gottfried August  “Once He Came in Blessing”  Heinrich Buttstedt  WELCOME AND ANNOUNCEMENTS:  MISSION STATEMENT: (Let us say our Mission Statement together) To welcome and inspire All through faith, love, and fellowship according to Christ’s example. Introit: “Watcher, Tell Us of the Night” John Bowring/Joseph Parry  *Call to Worship (Responsive) Leader: All through this season of Advent, we have encountered Hope, Peace, and Joy. People: Today, Belief and Love are the themes. Leader: Today, we will hear the story of surprising commitment. People: We will learn of Mary and God’s incredible love. Leader: Today, we will be challenged to believe in all God can

Sermon Sunday December 15, 2024 – Third Sunday of Advent – Candle of Joy Rev. Norman A. Michaud “We Cannot Buy It” Luke 3: 7-18 We cannot touch it, but we can certainly feel it. We can’t buy it. We can’t see it. I speak of Joy, that feeling of contentment and happiness we chase. We know it when we feel Joy, but joy is often fleeting. I tend not to look for Joy in the future but in the past. I wax nostalgic and sentimental. I recall my childhood home. My memories turn to my Grandmother, mother, Helen, and Annie Hodgdon, my Grandmother’s best friend and my mother’s surrogate mother, who lived in an apartment on the third floor of our family home, and