This week is Christ the King Sunday! Did you know that today is the last Sunday of the Church year? Sort of like our New Year’s Eve! Each Church year begins with welcoming Advent time; where we wait for the coming of Jesus, God-With-Us, Emmanuel. This day in the church is traditionally called Christ the King Sunday because it reminds believers that, through every time and change, God is the one who is sovereign and unchanging and in control. Let us remember God’s faithfulness in all that we have been through in the last year and look to the future with hope and confidence!

We spend this Sunday meditating on Isaiah 9, a scripture that usually falls on Christmas Eve! Are we rushing into the holidays, as culture and retail stores would urge us to do? Not necessarily. We are ready for Advent waiting and the journey to the birth of the Christ Child, and yet we are centering our waiting in the hope of a God who comes to meet the deepest needs of the world in the darkest place with the promise of a helpless baby. God has not forgotten about us. God always remembers and always acts, but usually in ways that surprise and amaze us.

Join us this Sunday in this reflection.

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This week, we zoom ahead in the Hebrew Scriptures to prophetic books; specifically the book of Amos. Amos is best known for his unswerving critique of the people’s worship because it did not play out in real life as justice towards all people. The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King quoted Amos saying “let justice roll down like waters and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream” (5:24). What is justice to us? Does our own definition of justice (or our country’s) line up with God’s definition? Why is justice so important to the God we serve? Is it really more important than worship? Let’s think through these things together as a community seeking to continue our growth….

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This week is All Saints Day, and ironically as we move back into our Narrative Lectionary journey through Old Testament stories, we find ourselves exploring a very unflattering story of our ancestors, the Israelites. They have just been freed from centuries of slavery in the grandest and most dramatic way, but as soon as they realize how uncertain the future looks, the complaining begins! The fear and blame takes over. How does God respond to this? How will they make through this time of transition? How will we? Lots to learn from this story and we hope you will join us in the reflection.

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This Sunday is Pledge Sunday and the culmination of our month long stewardship campaign. We have been asking ourselves in these changing times: WHAT ANCHORS US? Who are we and what is foundational? What matters most to us? These are good questions for any of us to ask in times of transition where the future may feel uncertain. We have talked each week about each of those answers for us, and this week we come to our fourth and final anchor:

1. our family of faith
2. our vibrant and meaningful worship
3. our desire to grow in faith
4. our faith witness to the world

We will think about the perspective in James’ epistle; that “faith without works is dead”, and consider the balance between grace for all of us and a life lived out in response to that grace.

We also will gratefully pray over the pledges we have received so far in the campaign with an eye to our dreams for the future; as a church who strives to live out what we believe in all spheres of life: work, family, friendship, community, money, and even play! Join us in these reflections, and please prayerfully consider what you might be able to pledge in your giving for the coming year of 2022 (our 40th anniversary year!).

THANK YOU FOR BEING YOU AND BEING A PART OF US! WHAT ANCHORS US IS YOU!

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This week in our Fall stewardship series, we come to the third of our four “anchors” of COA:

our family of faith

our vibrant and meaningful worship

our desire to grow in faith**

our faith witness to the world

What does it take to grow in faith? How do we pursue a lifelong discipleship journey of learning, no matter our age or stage of life? What holds us back from that kind of growth? How has such learning been pivotal to COA’s reaching this 40 year milestone that we will soon celebrate? Join us in the reflection!

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