Whatever day it is in this holiday season it seems there is a list! Even the songs of the holidays are lists! This time of year I am reduced to whatever is written on my list. My work schedule, my shopping needs, my everyday tasks, my hopes, my own wish list and of course my continuing list of prayer concerns and thanksgivings. Each day each list makes demands of me and at the end of it I often feel less than accomplished. For many of us as children, the threat of being \u201con\u201d or \u201coff\u201d a \u2018certain man\u2019s\u2019 list was enough to correct behavior and keep the giddy joy of the season at\u00a0bay. Is this familiar to any of you at this time of year?<\/p>\n
The season is supposed to be about expectancy, about anticipation and hope, peace, love and joy. Where are these on your list?<\/p>\n
This year, we are not going to look at another list in worship each week of Advent. Instead, there will be a word to focus us and then we\u2019re going to think, worship and commit to practice the word in ways that might seem \u201cOutside the Box\u201d of our current understanding and expression of the holiday season! We are also going to invite God to\u00a0be with us \u2013 in our worship, our work, our play and in our hearts as we prepare to welcome Jesus.<\/p>\n
I invite you now, to put this word at the top of every list you make this season \u2013 Church! Attend worship, attend mid-week with Michelle\/ Oasis, or classes led by Kitty Schaefer and Pastor Kelly and bring those precious children to Sunday School so that they can prepare for the season as well.\u00a0Jesus inspires us to live, to create and to care outside of every prescribed box that oppresses or lacks simple joy. Together, let us bring Emmanuel (God with us) into every corner of our living and being this holiday season.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Word was first, the Word present to God, God present to the Word. The Word was God, in readiness for God from day one.\u201d<\/em> Joy-fully, Whatever day it is in this holiday season it seems there is a list! Even the songs of the holidays…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20,18],"tags":[88,158,157,90,159,38,155,103,160,156],"class_list":["post-186","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-pastorkelly","category-messages","tag-advent","tag-anticipation","tag-expectancy","tag-holiday","tag-hope","tag-joy","tag-lists","tag-love","tag-peace","tag-thanksgivings"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bayviewumc.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/186","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bayviewumc.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bayviewumc.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bayviewumc.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bayviewumc.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=186"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bayviewumc.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/186\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bayviewumc.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=186"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bayviewumc.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=186"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bayviewumc.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=186"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n John 1:1-2 MSG<\/em><\/p>\n
\nPastor Kelly<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"