First Congregational United Church of Christ

It’s time for our annual Christmas pageant! This year it is co-written and directed by 2 youth members, Ryan and Beth. It will be a must-see worship experience as our children tell us the birth story from their perspective. We will be singing some favorite Christmas carols, too. Read Luke 2:1-20 and then sit back and enjoy.
After worship, you are invited to join us to sing Christmas carols at Twin Rivers Assisted Living and also at Angel’s Care Center. See you Sunday!

What do you think of when you hear the word, comfort? I see an image of hot cocoa, a roaring fire in the fireplace, and a quilt. For the second Sunday in Advent, the focus scripture is from Isaiah 40: 1-11. We hear God’s words of comfort to a people lost in generations of exile in a foreign land that is becoming more and more like home.
In the holy-waiting time of Advent, Isaiah’s message of comfort is an invitation to relate with a God who is both strong and tender, demanding sovereign and nurturing creator. How do we do that when our culture expects, and yes, even demands, so much from us? How do we get out from under such anxiety to see God at work in this messed up world? 
We probably witness God-activity everyday and don’t know it - the neighbor who went out of their way to bring you groceries when you sprained your ankle; the stranger who stopped to help you change your flat tire on a stormy night; the hunter who frees a young doe stuck in a frozen pond. What if God is active in even more dramatic ways such as a politician’s change of heart to vote in favor of health care for children or foreclosure recovery for families? Where do you see God at work in your life?
Join us for more of this conversation on Sunday at 9:30 a.m.

Join us on Saturday, Dec. 3rd from 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. for our annual SERRV sale. We have an extensive selection of hand-crafted baskets, scarves, jewelry, toys, and decorative items to complete your holiday shopping.
SERRV is a 60-year-old, non-profit organization dedicated to eradicating poverty. When you purchase an item from SERRV you are helping an artisan earn a living wage and develop a business that can feed their family. While you have a unique, hand-made item for yourself or as a gift, you’re helping an artisan from a developing country earn a living! It’s a win-win.
SEE YOU THERE!  

For the first Sunday in Advent, our theme is “Longing.”  In third Isaiah 64: 1-9, we hear the prophet lamenting God’s absence. After a lengthy and painful exile in Babylon, the Hebrews return to the southern kingdom, Judah, and struggle with their feelings of separateness from God.
Don’t we all, at one point or another in our lives, wonder if God really cares or not? Aren’t we tempted to shout and holler at God in the midst of distress? Don’t we lament that God is punishing us?
As we enter into the church season of Advent – the time of Holy waiting – we are confronted with the tension between our lives spinning out of control where God’s absence feels assured on one hand and the promise of God’s ever-presence and hope on the other. Isn’t it in the midst of crisis or trouble that hope is formed? Hope is illogical in the face of disaster and maybe it’s our God-DNA that triggers expectation and dreams of relief from our pain.
Join us for a wonderful time of worship with special music from All For You and Pastor Barb’s son, Alex [graduate student at San Francisco Conservatory of Music] on the marimba. See you at 9:30 a.m.!

Sunday’s scripture text from Matthew 25: 31-46 separates nations as a shepherd in ancient Israel separated his sheep from his goats. Jesus explains that if a person feeds the hungry, clothes the naked, and houses the homeless then you will have a place of power at the end of time. On the other hand, if you ignore the hungry, the naked, or the homeless, then you will be with the goats, the ‘rejected’ at the end of time.
This either/or thinking inhibits our understanding of the God who both judges and is Grace itself. The challenge gets further muddied when some of us might see ‘them’ as objects of good works and ‘us’ as the helpers. Yet another dichotomy!
Join us for more of this conversation Sunday at 9:30 a.m.

REMEMBER to bring your Estimate of Giving Cards and a potluck item to share! Yummmm…

Join the UCC on Friday, Nov. 11th at 4:00 pm EST for a celebration of 11 days of our shared mission to alleviate hunger and work together for hunger-related justice.
CHECK OUT ucc.org to see the running tally of food items, letters to congress, Neighbors in Need offering and East African Famine relief. It is stunning to witness how we can come together for a common purpose!!
JOIN us in worship on Sunday, November 13th as we hear from our 11 lottery winners about how they invested and grew their $11.

Jesus uses another everyday object, money, to illustrate his point in the parable of the talents. Sunday’s scripture from the gospel according to Matthew 25: 14-30 challenges our thinking about how we use our money. In light of the Occupy Movement across the country and the world, who we invest our money with is also a concern.
The ancient currency of a talent varies in value from 75 lbs of gold to several year’s wages. Jesus points out that those who invest wisely [gifts, resources, or dollars] will be welcomed joyfully into eternal heavenly partnership. What does it mean that 1 of the 3 servants buried his master’s money? Was he punished for his lack of investment or for exposing his master’s greed? How does fear or insider information affect your worldview? What does abundance look like in a time of scarcity?
Join us for more of this conversation on Sunday at 9:30 a.m. ALL ARE WELCOME!

‘That they may all be one’ has been the motto of the United Church of Christ from John 17:21.
During these 11 days of November 1 to November 11, 2011 [11.1.11 - 11.11.11] the United Church of Christ is on a shared mission to feed the hungry and confront food-related injustice.
Each congregation is encouraged to be creative with the #1 to not only bring awareness to the causes of hunger and poverty but especially to offer solutions.
Mission 1 is an opportunity for us to collect food and $$ for food shelves and write letters to  congress. HOW WILL YOU HELP?
This church is doing something fun and unique! We have given 11 people $11 and asked them to be creative in multiplying this $ to alleviate hunger or bring awareness to food-related injustice and then tell the congregation about what they did and how it felt. They were instructed to ‘make God proud!’ They will report back to us on Sunday, November 13th!

Sunday’s scripture text from Matthew 25: 1-13 is the parable of the Ten Bridesmaids. Jesus is responding to his disciples’ insider question about what God’s kingdom looks like. Something like, “are we there yet?”
In ancient Israel, like today, weddings were significant events full of ritual, loaded with emotion. Most were arranged marriages so the bridegroom would go to the bride’s house and take her back to his parent’s home for the party. The bridesmaids were responsible for following the bride with their oil lamps to light up the house for the night’s celebration. In the parable, some of the bridesmaids weren’t prepared with enough oil to wait for the anticipated bridegroom and some were ready when he showed up.
If Jesus is the bridegroom, what does it mean to prepare and wait for his return? Does God’s kingdom mean Jesus has to return? Is it like stockpiling food or weapons? What if being prepared means living as God would have us live ’in the meantime’? What if living and serving each other IS the kin-dom of God [thy kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven]? Join us for more of this conversation on Sunday at 9:30 a.m.      

What do you look at or want to hear, touch or taste when you need to know God is there? For some it’s being in church with stained glass windows and organ music. For others it might be the deep woods or the ocean or even just talking and playing with your best friends, the ones who love and take care of you.
 Sunday’s reading from Joshua 3: 7-17 tells about the Israelites’ new leader, Joshua, helping them cross the flood-level Jordan River toward their land of promise.
How do you know God is with you? Join us for more of the conversation on Sunday at 9:30 a.m.
Our band, “All For You,”  is playing!