This Sunday, we begin the Advent season, the start of a new year in the church. Advent, which marks the weeks leading up to our celebration of Christ's birth, is a time of waiting and preparation -- a theme which probably seems familiar if you have a long list of things to do (and buy) before Christmas.
Our sanctuary will be decorated for the season -- the "Hanging of the Greens" is on Saturday morning -- and there will be an additional part of the service each week for Advent: the lighting of the candles on the Advent wreath. There also will be seasonal music, including several selections from the Bell Choir this Sunday.
Also on Sunday, I will begin an Advent and Christmas sermon series, "Looking for Home: Faith in the Holiday Season." Home has a particular meaning during the holidays, and the story of Jesus can help us understand it even better, if perhaps in a slightly different way than the broader culture teaches.
This week, we will begin with one of the unsettling things Jesus said about home -- that he felt unwelcome in his hometown because of his teaching. At times, many of us have understood, at least partially, what Jesus experienced. We'll explore why that is in "You Can't Go Home Again." (And if that sounds a little depressing, perhaps it is. But I promise that next week's subject matter is warmer and more sentimental.)
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