Dece,ber
14. 2011
From the Pastor
Merry Christmas!
What a joy it is to see the kids do their thing! The Ave Maria really touched me. The children’s voices in such a profound and deeply moving piece filled me with the kind of hope that surpasses understanding. We are in such a precarious place historically. We just can’t seem to garner the courage to make meaningful changes regarding global warming. Our leaders are postponing significant changes until after it will likely do any good. The reality is that we will see a world that will have to deal with the consequences. Not only have we had a tremendous depression with loss of house, job and savings, but Europe seems worse off than us. Iran seems scarier than ever, Israel and Palestine are the same, and the investigators seem unable to come up with hard evidence to convict anyone responsible for shady mortgage and stock deals. The occupy movement is the response, filled with general angst and anger, with so many gripes and concerns, who knows where to start…besides nailing some of the guys who knowingly made shady loans and bet against their failure, rather than giving them a tax break. The presidential debates make matters worse.
Don’t ask me to explain how beauty and innocence stand a chance against such daunting news, but it does. It truly gives me great hope to believe there is a God rooting for us, throwing in little miraculous happenings that graciously fill us with hope that sings of the poor being filled with good things, and justice having its day. Despite it all, through the birth of the Christ child, we are given a sign that tremendous power resides in a most innocent and powerless babe. In a human. In us. This is Christmas. Before all that threatens us, this is a story I want to live, and this is the story we seek to live at St. John’s.
There are so many other places you can be. There is some goodness to feel in the holidays even if we do not go to Church. But the season, the story, the person, our lives, are so much more. Come and live the story of hope!
Next Sunday, the 18th, the fourth Sunday of Advent, a powerful worship will be followed by Christmas ornament and story-sharing. Then at 12:30 we will gather to go Christmas caroling. If you haven’t been before, this is a bunch of fun, and a powerful way to bring joy to the world.
Then, of course, at 5:30pm, Saturday the 24th, the beautiful Christmas Eve candlelight, lessons and carols. Bring family and friend and enjoy a beautiful start to the evening. You will leave feeling closer together as a family. You will leave with more hope.
Sunday, Christmas morning at 10am, I would love for you to join me for breakfast and carols next to the fire. Yum!
Thank you for your presence and may God grant you strength, peace and hope.
Love, Pastor Max
_______________________________________________________
Opportunities to put your whole heart (every little part) into Christmas...
The following are gifts needed, requested to help, to comfort, to remember with God’s Love.
• Make the holiday brighter for a child spending Christmas at the GRIP family shelter in Richmond. Contact David McPhail to learn what would be a nice gift from Santa.
• For the Berkeley Women’s Daytime Drop-in Center, bring a pair of warm socks filled with practical goodies, like toothbrush, toothpaste, shampoo, baby wipes, soap, $10 gift cards to Safeway, Target or Trader Joe’s. By Wed., Dec 21. See www.womensdropin.org
• Reina Tum, Diego's daughter, gave birth to a beautiful little girl on Saturday, December 12. Her name is Scarlet. She weighs 7lbs 13 oz and is 19.69 inches. ReIna and her daughter need baby blankets, clothes, Pampers, a car seat and a stroller. If you can donate any of these things, please let Glenda know. You can drop them off at the church office. Reina will be very appreciative.
_______________________________________________________
Poinsettia time! Honor a loved one and help decorate the Sanctuary by buying one.
You may take them home after the Christmas Eve Service or leave for the deacons to deliver to shut-ins. Plants are $7 each. Please notify the office and submit a check no later than Sunday, Dec. 18.
_______________________________________________________
Flick Flak will meet for a potluck at 6:30pm on Friday, Jan. 6, in the Campbell Reception Room. The films we'll discuss are "The Descendants" now playing at the California, the Piedmont, and the United Artists Emery Bay, and "The Artist," which we hope comes to the East Bay really soon!
_______________________________________________________
The Literature Club will meet on Thursday, Dec. 22, at 2:30pm in the Fireside Room. We will discuss the first half of "Angle of Repose" by Wallace Stegner. All are welcome.
_______________________________________________________
Horizons Bible Study, Thursday, January 12, noon to 2pm.
Bring your lunch and your Bible. Marietta Harvey, 510-843-8469. Lesson 5. Matthew 5:7; Luke 10:25-37. The lesson: Greatly Honored Are Those Who Show Mercy! Jesus calls disciples to imitate God by showing mercy through emotion, action, and dedication.
_______________________________________________________
Marilyn Chilcote reports that the original phone number for the Chilcote/McKenzie home has been restored. Please correct your directory: 510-763-1936. Late breaking news: They may have more trouble with phone service! Stay tuned!
_______________________________________________________
The December Presbyterian Today: “Church for a New Generation.” Members who are parents of youth or who work with them would be interested in these articles. There are many good ideas for programs and resources for mission trips. Copies are available in the narthex or outside the office.
_______________________________________________________
Safe California: California’s Death Penalty & the Safe California Act. Many of you have signed this initiative petition in the last month. This proposed initiative, which was unsuccessful as a State Legislature motion by our State Senator Loni Hancock, can be signed by California citizens into January 2012. If you would like petitions for your family, friends or organizations to sign, please ask. Rather than approaching the death penalty as a moral or religious issue, this proposal would repeal the death penalty in order to save “high tens of millions of dollars annually”. It would require a life sentence without parole, with prisoner restitution to victims and law enforcement agencies by working while in prison. (Prisoners on Death Row are not allowed to work.)
—Marietta Harvey
_______________________________________________________
Thoughts on Prayer: Pastor Karen
“There is no better way to learn about prayer than by praying…” These are the wise words of spiritual leader Richard J. Foster. So this holiday season I encourage you to pray boldly and to pray from your heart. Then in the New Year, perhaps we will see that through prayer we are carried from one day to the next.
The following is a prayer that can be prayed each morning as you rise. I encourage you to pray this prayer for at least a week, perhaps praying through it quickly as a whole, while at other times, slowing down to focus on each line. This prayer can also be spoken out loud, re-written in your own words or turned into art.
Excerpt from A Diary of Private Prayer by John Baillie
Eternal Father of my soul, let my first thought today be of You, let my first impulse be to worship You, let my first speech be Your name, let my first action be to kneel before You in prayer.
For Your perfect wisdom and perfect goodness
For the love with which You love mankind
For the love with which You love me
For the great and mysterious opportunity of my life
For the indwelling of Your Spirit in my heart
For the sevenfold gifts of Your Spirit
I praise and worship You, O Lord.
Yet let me not, when this morning prayer is said, think my worship ended and spend the day in forgetfulness of You. Rather from these moments of quietness let light go forth, and joy, and power, that will remain with me through all the hours of the day. Through Jesus Christ my Lord, Amen.