Christmas Eve Worship - First Sunday after Christmas Worship

I realize that I have been sending E-mails over the last few weeks about our Christmas Eve services. I promise that this will be the last time. :-) I am just excited that there will be three unique opportunities to celebrate Christmas. I hope that you might be able to make one, or more, of these opportunities! Merry Christmas!!

Christmas Eve (December 24th) Worship Schedule

• 6:00PM at Oakfield UMC - Join us for worship as we sing traditional Christmas hymns, as we hear the Christmas story, as we reflect on the meaning of Jesus' birth and as we renew ourselves for 2011. Our worship service will also include a service of Holy Communion with a liturgy that is unique to our celebration of Christmas. We will also be lighting candles and singing Silent Night together .
• 7:30PM at Tabor UMC - Our worship services will include the singing of Christmas hymns and a hearing of the Christmas story. It will also be exciting to watch and listen to the children of Tabor UMC perform The Surprising Christmas Pageant. Watch a large cast and various soloist retell the story of Jesus' birth. There is also an opportunity to watch the preschooler's Candy Cane Message.
• 10:00PM at Oakfield UMC - The sanctuary will be lit only by candlelight for this subdued service of lessons and carols. Hear the story of the birth of Christ beginning from Genesis. There will be nine readings of the Bible that weave the story of Jesus together, and we will sing and listen to our favorite Christmas hymns in between. The service will end with a congregational singing of Silent Night.

First Sunday after Christmas (December 26th) Worship Schedule
"I will recount the gracious deeds of the Lord, the praiseworthy acts of the Lord, because of all that the Lord has done for us, and the great favor of the house of Israel that he has shown them according to his mercy, according to the abundance of his steadfast love." - Isaiah 63:7

With the original performance date snowed out on December 12th, this Sunday the Tabor Choir will be performing their yearly Christmas Choir Concert at both morning worship services. Let us continue our celebration of the Christmas season!

The scripture readings for this Sunday are:

• Isaiah 63:7-9
• Psalm 148
• Hebrews 2:10-18
• Matthew 2:13-23
  

*** Evening worship services at Oakfield will resume on January 9. Beginning on this date, they will begin at 6:00PM. ***

Service Schedule for December 19th

Barring another winter blizzard this coming weekend, I am hopeful that we might be able to gather together in worship this Sunday. I hope and pray that everyone was able to stay safe during the snow storm. I also hope word got around that our worship services and programs for that day were cancelled. The Tabor Choir Christmas Program will be rescheduled for worship on December 26th.

Morning Worship Services

For the Fourth Sunday of Advent, we will be lighting the candle of Christ, the Prince of Peace. Our hymns, prayers and Bible reading will also point to the peace that we find in Jesus Christ...Emmanuel ("God is with us"). Our Gospel lesson this morning recounts the story of Jesus' birth, with a focus on Joseph. Joseph is faced with difficult decisions. He has to think about adherence to the Law, yet also decide what to do when God tells him to do something that would seem to violate the Law. Jesus in his ministry often told folks that even though they remember laws and traditions being one way, Jesus was telling them that it would be different. Jesus tells us to love God and love one another. Jesus says he is the fulfillment of the Law. What does than mean for us today? How does this relate to Jesus and the Prince of Peace?

At our Oakfield service, the children of the Sunday School program will be performing "Little Drummer Boy."

Scripture Readings for Sunday:

• Isaiah 7:10-16
• Romans 1:1-7
• Matthew 1:18-25

Evening Worship Services

In our final evening service of 2010, we will be spending time looking at Jesus, the Prince of Peace. We, too, will focus on the reading from Matthew 1:18-25. We will also share Communion together.

Christmas Eve Service Review

As we anticipate the celebration of the birth of Jesus, I wanted to remind everyone of our service schedule for Christmas Eve:

• 6:00PM @ Oakfield UMC: Worship Service with Communion
• 7:30PM @ Tabor UMC: Worship Service with the Children's Christmas Pagaent
• 10:00PM @ Oakfield UMC: A Christmas Eve Service of Lessons and Carols - Members of both congregations are encouraged to attend this service. The entire service will be done by candle light, and we will listen to the story of Jesus while singing our favorite Christmas carols. I hope you can join us for this new venture. Please spread the word in the community!

December 12th - Third Sunday in Advent

"And the ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with singing; everlasting joy shall be on their heads; they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away." - Isaiah 35:10

Morning Worship Services

Our theme for Sunday's worship service will be joy. At both Tabor and Oakfield, the Tabor Vocal Choir will be performing their Christmas Program during the worship service. This performance will include two choir hymns, vocal solos, congregational singing and narration between the various numbers. Outside of the program, we will also sing several familiar Christmas and Advent hymns. It is my hope that during our worship service this morning we can remember the joy that we have in and with Jesus Christ.

Evening Worship Service

Our Sunday evening worship service at Oakfield at 7:00PM we will also focus on the joy that we have in Jesus Christ. We will have our regular scripture study and our time of Holy Communion. We will also take some time during the service to recognize Worldwide Candle Lighting, a service of remembrance through the organization Compassionate friends. We will participate in the lighting of candles during our service to recognize children who have died in the last year. This service is open to anyone from either church community.

Christmas Eve Service Reminder

As we anticipate the celebration of the birth of Jesus, I wanted to remind everyone of our service schedule for Christmas Eve:

• 6:00PM @ Oakfield UMC: Worship Service with Communion
• 7:30PM @ Tabor UMC: Worship Service with the Children's Christmas Pagaent
• 10:00PM @ Oakfield UMC: A Christmas Eve Service of Lessons and Carols - Members of both congregations are encouraged to attend this service. The entire service will be done by candle light, and we will listen to the story of Jesus while singing our favorite Christmas carols. I hope you can join us for this new venture. Please spread the word in the community!

*** Note to readers! After this week, the frequency of posts on this blog will greatly decrease. In the past, I have made an attempt to post 3-4 times a week. I will probably only be posting the service previews on here each Thursday with a few posts here and there. I will be putting more focus on keeping our website up to date. ***

December 5th - Second Sunday in Advent

"A voice cries out: 'In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.'" - Isaiah 40:3

"John the baptizer appeared in the wilderness, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins."- Mark 1:4

This Sunday is the second Sunday of Advent. This is the Sunday that we think about "Christ, our Way" or "Christ, the Way." Our reading from Mark tells the story of John the Baptist, whose story is also shared in our other three Gospels. John was preparing people for the coming of Christ. How was he preparing them?

In our reading from Romans for this Sunday, Paul sends a message about how Christ's message and Christ's ministry are a gift for everyone. He asks the people to live in harmony with one another. What does that mean for us today as we think about spreading "the way" to others?

I will be exploring these questions during our morning services at Oakfield and Tabor. I hope that you might be able to join us as we continue our spiritual preparations for Christmas. We will also be celebrating Holy Communion during our worship services as well.

Our scripture readings for this Sunday, if you would like to look them over in advance of our service, are:

• Isaiah 11:1-10
• Romans 15:4-13
• Matthew 3:1-12

Evening Worship Service

At 7:00PM this Sunday, we will have our first of three December worship services in preparation for Christmas. Our December 5th service will focus on Christ, our Hope. We will look at Isaiah 2:1-5 and Romans 13:11-14. We will also share Communion with one another.

Growth Revisited

Back on October 13, I made mention that just because a church has more members, that does not necessarily mean that it is a vital church. This article provides some perspective on that idea.

As a pastor, I think there is a pressure from administrators above us, and the pastors around us, that signs that we have a vital church are vested in the numbers. Bigger is better. More members means the church is better.

The time that I have spent with the Oakfield Visioning Team and the time that we have spent reading Vital Signs has definitely helped me realize that a bigger (membership) church does not always mean a better church.

I do appreciate when we bring in new members to our churches. But, it is also important that those new members, along with our current members, are active in the church and the community. Who wants a bunch of members that aren't doing anything? A vital church can be 20 members, if those twenty members are active in ministry.

I encourage you to read the article. I think you will find it interesting and it may change your viewpoint on congregational "growth".

When to Blame God?

The Buffalo Bills were tied with the Pittsburgh Steelers in their Sunday NFL game and it went to overtime. Steve Johnson, a Buffalo Bills wide receiver, had the opportunity to catch a winning touchdown pass in overtime. He did not make the catch. The Bills ended up losing the game.

After the game, he posted a "tweet" in which he said the following:

"I PRAISE YOU 24/7!!!!!! AND THIS HOW YOU DO ME!!!!! YOU EXPECT ME TO LEARN FROM THIS??? HOW???!!! ILL NEVER FORGET THIS!! EVER!!! THX THO..."

It would appear that Johnson is blaming God for his missing the catch. He says that he will never get over this.

I do feel for this young man. Certainly this would have been a big victory for his team, playing a team that was statistically so much better. I think almost everyone imagines an opportunity when they get to be the hero...especially in a sporting event! To have that opportunity and not come through would be devastating!

I figure in a few days, as the tension and frustration with this game begins to subside, he'll realize there will be other opportunities. I also hope that he soon realizes that God does not control every play of a football game. I am glad that Johnson praises God often. I do think he has a chance to learn something from this. His life is not all about football. It is about being a good human being in a fractured world.

God knows his true heart and I don't think he blames God. He is just angry and frustrated. I hope he knows he has a God who will always love him and support him. Things may just not always go the way we want them to go.

November 28 - First Sunday of Advent

‎"He shall judge between nations, and shall arbitrate for many peoples; they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more." - Isaiah 2:4

This Sunday is the first Sunday of Advent! In less than four weeks from this Sunday, it will be Christmas!!

Over the next four Sunday, we celebrate the Sundays of Advent. It is during this Advent season that we prepare for the celebration, and commemoration, of Christ's birth. We remember that importance of the Jewish people waiting for a savior, a savior that we now know as Jesus Christ. We prepare ourselves for a time in the future, a new creation, in which Christ will again live among the people.

It is a time to be excited about our past, our present and our future in Christ. This week, our focus will be on hope. Our scripture readings provide insight into the hope that we have in Christ. Our hymns, readings, reflections and prayers will all focus on hope.

The scripture readings for this Sunday are:

• Isaiah 2:1-5
• Romans 13:11-14
• Matthew 24:36-44

I hope that you will be able to make it to worship this Sunday!