This week is our short Advent series, we continue exploring themes of the season through the lens of the African American spirituals, and we focus on the song “Rise Up Shepherd and Follow”. This song, like all of the spirituals, has a double meaning of breaking out of slavery and into freedom, but it also challenges us to leave things behind on the journey to that freedom. What do we leave behind when we truly welcome Jesus into the world? How can the world change if we too are not willing to change? This season is not just one of comfort and joy, but also transformation! Join us in the journey!
11/27/2022: ADVENT SERIES: Songs for a New World
This week we begin a new and brief sermon series for the season of Advent:
Songs for a New World: Advent Reflections on the Spirituals
Did you know that our Presbyterian hymnal has thirty-five songs that are African American spirituals? This music, for most of us, may not come from our background and culture, but it shares so much in common with the Biblical people of God who also had experienced the horrors of slavery and violence were longing for a Savior. In this season of waiting and anticipation, what might these songs have to teach us as we seek to connect with Jesus in a new way during this Advent and Christmas?
We begin with a non-Christmas song: “Swing Low Sweet Chariot”, but it connects well with the themes of Advent scriptures urging us to stay awake and prepare ourselves because the world is about to be changed. This world is not our true home, and God is at work bringing something new for the restoration and healing of us all. Just like many of our Christmas songs (in scripture and in popular culture), the spirituals are not just sweet songs of some faraway dream. Rather, they are prophetic words of hope about what God is doing right now for the cause of human freedom and how we are called to be agents of that hope.
11/20/2022: WHAT DISCIPLES DO final week (Christ the King Sunday)
This is the very last Sunday in the church liturgical year, and it is called Christ the King Sunday. This may seem like a strange and antiquated idea for us since the last time we had a king was in 1776, and probably many of us are thinking about what is going on in our own democracy during midterm elections. A king?? What use do we have for a king? Well, the thing is that, even with all the chaos and violence and division in our world, this Sunday reminds us that it is all under the rule of Jesus. We are not the ones in charge of it all. Even Presidents or earthly kings like Charles are not in charge of all of it. It is not up to us to save the world. Everything we see and everything we are afraid of is under control of the reign of Christ.
And furthermore, He is a different kind of ruler than any ruler in our world, so much so that we may not recognize His power at first. This is the last week of our series on What Disciples Do, and this last week reminds us that one thing we must do is to give our ultimate allegiance to Christ over and above all the other powers that be competing for our attention and loyalty. This week leads into Advent season, where we meditate on a ruler who chose to come into this world as a vulnerable baby, and that sets the tone for the rest of His reign. Are our hearts open to this kind of upside down power?
11/13/2022: WHAT DISCIPLES DO: New Beginnings for Disciples (Guest Preacher Lawrie Gardner)
Pastor Jessie was away for a good portion of this past week at a preaching conference, and COA is blessed that our own Clerk of Session and wonderful church leader Lawrie Gardner was willing to preach and lead the worship service today. She is truly gifted and called in her ministry with COA. Her sermon is called “New Beginnings for Disciples”, and as we consider what disciples do this Fall, it is a welcome and hopeful message.
Link to readable sermon PDF
11/6/2022 (All Saints): What Disciples Do: Disciples Live by Faith
THANK YOU EVERYONE FOR ALL OF YOUR PLEDGES IN THIS STEWARDSHIP SEASON. Our official campaign this year is finished, but we are still welcoming estimates of giving in the coming month, and we hope you will consider how you are able to support this faith community, of which you are a vital part!!
This Sunday, we dive back into our regular Fall sermon series: “What Disciples Do”. We consider each week how our lives are meant to be transformed and shaped by following Jesus, and what that practically looks like in our everyday. This Sunday is special because it is our annual observance of All Saints day, and we remember those who have gone before us, but we also remember that every single one of us is a “saint”. Our definition of “saint” is similar to that of a “disciple”–a sinner who has been forgiven and lives in the love of Christ.
Our theme this week reminds us that disciples live by faith. That said, I can think of few aspects of life that require more of our faith than the issue of death and dying; losing people we love and wondering about what is next. Where are they and what happens to them? What becomes of their stories and what legacies do they leave behind? What about us? How do we live in joy and faith and not in fear of death? These questions are questions of faith and are at the forefront of the scriptures we will think about today. Jesus is not afraid of our hard questions; it is all a part of living by faith.