Week 4 – December 25 – Peace, Love and Hope Reflector: Rev. Mike Mather Christmas Day The promise of Christmas, the good news that comes in the presence of a baby, turns the world upside down. In a tiny, nondescript corner of the world, a child is born. And all things are possible. Those aren’t […]
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Week 4 – December 24 – Peace, Love and Hope Reflectors: Jon and Lenna Kottke Life is filled with unexpected twists and turns, never more so than those we have experienced this year. Our spirits have risen and fallen as the pandemic has spread, leveled off, and spiked again. Schools have opened, then closed. A […]
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Week 4: Peace, Love and Hope Reflector: Jessica Harbeson I have always loved the Song of Mary, also known as the Magnificat. One reason I feel such closeness with this text is that I’ve sung it many times over the years; I’m a choral singer, and many composers throughout history have felt inspired to set […]
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Week 4 – December 22 – Peace, Love and Hope Reflector: Ruth Irvin The text for this final week of Advent presents many questions, and who knows how many answers! The Scripture reference for this week is Luke 1:52-54: “He has brought down the powerful from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly; he has […]
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Week 4 – December 21 – Peace, Love and Hope Reflector: Lisa Carr What Do I See As Hope for the Future? I’m writing this post-election, and I kind of wish I hadn’t agreed to write about hope…. Yet I knew it would help me further discern how I view hope, which I have been […]
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Week 4 – December 20 – Peace, Love and Hope Reflector: Youth Discussion with Connie Takamine It was a real privilege to meet with the youth and have a discussion on the various issues that we are facing in the challenge of change. They are forming their own opinions (of course influenced by their parents […]
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Welcome to the fourth and final week of the 2020 Advent Devotional, with daily reflections written by members and staff of First United Methodist Church. This year has been unprecedented and indeed, as the theme of our devotional suggests, we are Facing the Challenge of Change. Early on in the pandemic, there was discussion of […]
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Week 3 – December 19 – Our Fragile Earth Reflector: Stephanie Willingham Moffitt 1 Thess. 5:16-18 16 Rejoice always. 17 Pray continually. 18 Give thanks in every situation because this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. Easy to remember, hard to follow. That’s how I interpret these words from Paul in his letter […]
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Week 3 – December 18 – Our Fragile Earth Reflector: Anonymous I fell in love with the ocean when I was twelve years old and went snorkeling in the Caribbean for the first time. It felt like flying. But what I really fell in love with was the brilliance of life under the waves. The […]
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Week 3- December 17 – Our Fragile Earth Reflector: Brenda Mehos The truth snuck into my awareness slowly, from the periphery of my vision. It was like a shadow falling over my face as the sun lowers to the west on a fall day. I would read an article here and there about the Amazon […]
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