In case you don't know it, I am musically-challenged. When I plan worship services, I choose songs because of their words, not because of their "sing-ability." And that sometimes presents a problem.
I chose "Oh, God Today Has a Human Face" to be sung each week as the Advent Candles were lit. Well, if you were in worship on the first Sunday of Advent, November 29, you know what a disaster that was. So I chose a new, more familiar song for the rest of the Advent season, much to the relief of the Choir Director (and perhaps many of you!).
But I still appreciate the message of the song I originally chose. Whether we were able to sing it or not, "Oh, God Today Has a Human Face" carries a powerful message that I wish to share with you as we look into the new year of 2010. May it be a blessing to you.
In Christ,
Candice
Oh, God today, oh, God today,
oh God today has a human face.
Heaven’s child in earth’s embrace,
blanket wrapping grubby grace.
Oh, God today has a human face.
Oh, hope today, oh, hope today,
oh hope today has a human face.
New life born in dusty shed,
promise crying to be fed.
Oh, hope today has a human face.
Oh, peace today, oh, peace today,
oh peace today has a human face.
War zone cut by infant’s sigh,
from Baghdad and Palestine.
Oh, peace today has a human face.
Oh, joy today, oh, joy today,
oh joy today has a human face.
Angels pointing down our street,
heaven swirling at my feet.
Oh, joy today has a human face.
Oh, love today, oh, love today,
oh love today has a human face.
Prodigals are welcome here,
refugees no longer fear.
Oh, love today has a human face.
All earth today, all earth today,
All earth today sees heaven’s face.
Mystery present in this place,
turning point of time and space.
All earth today sees heaven’s face.
Words and music by Craig Mitchell. Copyright © 2006 Craig Mitchell. Used by permission.
Showing posts with label 2009. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 2009. Show all posts
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Candice's Comments
Think you've heard the Christmas story dozens and dozens of times? Well, maybe you've never heard it like Barbara Robinson relates it in her book "The Best Christmas Pageant Ever."
She tells of the six Herdman children who were the worst kids in the world (everyone agreed!). They lied, they stole, they hit little kids, they talked dirty, and even the girls smoked cigars.
Sunday School was a safe haven for the other children because the Herdmans never went there. But when the Herdmans show up one Sunday looking for chocolate cake, they hear about the Christmas pageant and decide they want to take part.
To the dismay of everyone involved, the Herdmans land the main parts in the play. Although everyone expects a disaster, the Herdmans bring a fresh interpretation to the Christmas story, a story they had never heard before.
Perhaps you'd like to hear the Christmas story in a new way this year. Sundays at 5:00 p.m. during Advent (November 29, December 6, December 13, December 20), we will watch the movie version of "The Best Christmas Pageant Ever," followed by a discussion of the content we've viewed.
Perhaps you will see or hear something that you have missed in the past. Perhaps you will find new ways of experiencing the message of Christmas. This just might be the best Christmas ever!
Blessings,
Candice
She tells of the six Herdman children who were the worst kids in the world (everyone agreed!). They lied, they stole, they hit little kids, they talked dirty, and even the girls smoked cigars.
Sunday School was a safe haven for the other children because the Herdmans never went there. But when the Herdmans show up one Sunday looking for chocolate cake, they hear about the Christmas pageant and decide they want to take part.
To the dismay of everyone involved, the Herdmans land the main parts in the play. Although everyone expects a disaster, the Herdmans bring a fresh interpretation to the Christmas story, a story they had never heard before.
Perhaps you'd like to hear the Christmas story in a new way this year. Sundays at 5:00 p.m. during Advent (November 29, December 6, December 13, December 20), we will watch the movie version of "The Best Christmas Pageant Ever," followed by a discussion of the content we've viewed.
Perhaps you will see or hear something that you have missed in the past. Perhaps you will find new ways of experiencing the message of Christmas. This just might be the best Christmas ever!
Blessings,
Candice
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Candice's Comments
Transitions are times of growth and possibility. As we transition into a cooler season of the year, we also experience transition in the church. The annual meeting approaches on November 8 when we will vote on new officers and leadership for 2010, see a proposed budget for the 2010 church year, and decide on changes to the by-laws. We also find ourselves searching for two new staff members: a secretary and an organist.
It is a time of great expectations but also a time of increased stress. Will new leaders step up and hear God's call to serve? Will we commit ourselves to faithful stewardship to support the ministries we do together on behalf of Christ? Will the bulletins and Portrait and other services we have come to expect still be provided? Will we find a new organist who will continue to provide exceptional worship music?
Yes, transitions can be great times of stress. Whether it is employment, retirement, marriage, parenthood, separation by death or divorce, leaving home, starting school, or a host of other transitions, there is stress and uncertainty in the midst of the exciting possibilities.
We are seeing a wonderful example of this as we watch the trees this fall. As green summer leaves turn to autumn reds, golds, and russets, and then fall to the ground, there is transition. If the leaves could speak, they might say, "Oh woe is me; I don't like what is happening; I want to keep my gorgeous green glow, full of life on this tree. I don't want to die and fall to the ground."
But we know that transition must happen if new leaves are to sprout forth in the spring. A tree is only alive as it goes through the seasonal cycles. And seasonal cycles. And churches find their life and vitality in being open to the transitions they face. There may be times of stress and concern, but there is also hope and possibility for those whose trust is in God and not in themselves. Alone we can do nothing, but with God all things are possible.
We are not alone; we have one another and we are blessed by a God who knows what we need even before we ask. Together we will transition into the future God has for us in all its possibilities.
Blessings,
Candice
It is a time of great expectations but also a time of increased stress. Will new leaders step up and hear God's call to serve? Will we commit ourselves to faithful stewardship to support the ministries we do together on behalf of Christ? Will the bulletins and Portrait and other services we have come to expect still be provided? Will we find a new organist who will continue to provide exceptional worship music?
Yes, transitions can be great times of stress. Whether it is employment, retirement, marriage, parenthood, separation by death or divorce, leaving home, starting school, or a host of other transitions, there is stress and uncertainty in the midst of the exciting possibilities.
We are seeing a wonderful example of this as we watch the trees this fall. As green summer leaves turn to autumn reds, golds, and russets, and then fall to the ground, there is transition. If the leaves could speak, they might say, "Oh woe is me; I don't like what is happening; I want to keep my gorgeous green glow, full of life on this tree. I don't want to die and fall to the ground."
But we know that transition must happen if new leaves are to sprout forth in the spring. A tree is only alive as it goes through the seasonal cycles. And seasonal cycles. And churches find their life and vitality in being open to the transitions they face. There may be times of stress and concern, but there is also hope and possibility for those whose trust is in God and not in themselves. Alone we can do nothing, but with God all things are possible.
We are not alone; we have one another and we are blessed by a God who knows what we need even before we ask. Together we will transition into the future God has for us in all its possibilities.
Blessings,
Candice
Monday, September 28, 2009
Candice's Comments
Summer went by quickly and now we are in to fall programming. Sunday School has resumed at 9:00 a.m. with energized teachers and learners. New and returning voices in the Chancel Choir bless worship with faith and praise. And another sign of fall is excitement over the ministries of Capitol Hill for 2010 as we prepare the budget for a new year.
The fall Stewardship theme of New Love, New Mercy comes out of the book of Lamentations. These scriptures resonate with people who have suffered or who have acquired the art of being with people who have suffered. In Lamentations 3:21-24, we read three verses that shine like a diamond against a black cloth:
But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, God's mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. "The Lord is my portion," says my soul, "therefore I will hope in God."
The Jews for whom Lamentations originally was written certainly needed hope. They had experienced firsthand the destruction of Jerusalem and their temple by the armies of King Nebuchadnezzar; that experience had overwhelmed them. They had seen priests murdered and families torn apart, and they had been marched into captivity in Babylon.
In Lamentations’ five poems, or songs, the Jewish community cries out to God in the midst of suffering. The author of Lamentations was not writing to help people understand suffering or to point an accusing finger at people who are suffering. Instead Lamentations reveals our compassionate God who is always ready to enter the valley of the shadow of death with us bringing new life, new mercy, and new hope.
That is why we gather each Sunday– to hear again that we are not alone; God is with us. Our community of faith gathers to affirm that God is present with us in all circumstances. Out of gratitude for a God who loves us and is always with us (even when we don’t feel that divine presence), we respond with our first fruits. New hope and new mercy come every morning. The book of Lamentations invites us to bring the first fruits of our income and life to God as an act of worship.
We will celebrate the offering of our financial commitments to God through Capitol Hill Christian Church on Commitment Sunday, October 11, in 10:00 a.m. worship. It is an opportunity for us to do as Betsy Schwarzentraub writes:
"Here is the basis of our hope - Yahweh, our radically generous God! And this is our opportunity; to live out such a hope by the way that we receive, give, use, manage and share all God has given us,
Beginning and ending with our every life breath, and including everything in between”
Blessings,
Candice
The fall Stewardship theme of New Love, New Mercy comes out of the book of Lamentations. These scriptures resonate with people who have suffered or who have acquired the art of being with people who have suffered. In Lamentations 3:21-24, we read three verses that shine like a diamond against a black cloth:
But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, God's mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. "The Lord is my portion," says my soul, "therefore I will hope in God."
The Jews for whom Lamentations originally was written certainly needed hope. They had experienced firsthand the destruction of Jerusalem and their temple by the armies of King Nebuchadnezzar; that experience had overwhelmed them. They had seen priests murdered and families torn apart, and they had been marched into captivity in Babylon.
In Lamentations’ five poems, or songs, the Jewish community cries out to God in the midst of suffering. The author of Lamentations was not writing to help people understand suffering or to point an accusing finger at people who are suffering. Instead Lamentations reveals our compassionate God who is always ready to enter the valley of the shadow of death with us bringing new life, new mercy, and new hope.
That is why we gather each Sunday– to hear again that we are not alone; God is with us. Our community of faith gathers to affirm that God is present with us in all circumstances. Out of gratitude for a God who loves us and is always with us (even when we don’t feel that divine presence), we respond with our first fruits. New hope and new mercy come every morning. The book of Lamentations invites us to bring the first fruits of our income and life to God as an act of worship.
We will celebrate the offering of our financial commitments to God through Capitol Hill Christian Church on Commitment Sunday, October 11, in 10:00 a.m. worship. It is an opportunity for us to do as Betsy Schwarzentraub writes:
"Here is the basis of our hope - Yahweh, our radically generous God! And this is our opportunity; to live out such a hope by the way that we receive, give, use, manage and share all God has given us,
Beginning and ending with our every life breath, and including everything in between”
Blessings,
Candice
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