This morning we enter into the season of Advent AND a brand new church year! Advent is a time of waiting and expectation: a time for hope, peace, joy and love as we count the days until Christmas when our God comes to us as one of us in Jesus. But in this season this year, we will be focusing on one of the characters around Jesus who made his life possible: his earthly, adoptive father Joseph. Joseph is often the forgotten figure in the background of the nativity sets, but his “yes” to God was crucial for every one of us. Join us in the next three weeks to learn more about him and to consider how we too might say “yes” to God’s leading.

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The worship service and sermon are delivered today by guest minister, Rev. Dottie LaPenta. The sermon is titled, When Things Run Amok.

In this exceedingly angry and divided world, how we handle it when we are faced with God’s love for EVERYONE? Even those people who voted differently from us; who push our hot buttons; who we can’t even stand to be around? Are we willing to answer God’s call to share love with such people? Today we examine the story of the most reluctant prophet, Jonah and ask these questions of ourselves using his story.

Today’s sermon looks at the story of a woman who is at the end of her rope and prays by pouring out her heart. When her prayers get their answer, she sings a song about how God uplifts the needy and reverses the fortunes of the rich and powerful. How is a God like this working in our lives today?

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This morning’s sermon ties into All Saints Sunday, looking at the ancient story of the very first Passover and what it means to people of God today. What role does memory play in our faith? The people we remember and the stories we tell—how do they shape who become? This ritual of Passover, if we let it, has power to ground us and center us in a chaotic world that tries to tell us who we are.

Link to readable sermon PDF