Light the First Candle
This weekend is the advent of Advent!!
The weeks of Advent prepare us for the birth of Jesus. This year we are reading from Matthew’s Gospel – stars fill the church sanctuary as we hear the story of Joseph’s dream.
God’s angel appears to Joseph in a dream. It is a dream of hope – how fitting that we will light the first blue candle – the candle of hope!
Advent prepares us for God to again sneak into this world in the life of a baby born in a manger.
In all the busy-ness of the pre-Christmas weeks, may we make time to dream, to be still and breathe and give thanks for the wonder of creation. May we make time to hope, and to remember Jesus – God’s beloved child who saw each of us as God’s beloved child. And, may we make time to pray and reflect and know again that we live in God’s grace.
In the days of worship only at home, we were blessed with gifts of music. As we gather together this Sunday at 10, we will sing O Come, O Come, Emmanuel.
Here’s the TMUC’s music team from 2020.
https://youtu.be/tvICVjDUd7E
And please mark your calendars, for all are welcome at all the Advent and Christmas services!
Christmas Messy Church on Friday, December 16 starting at 5:30. As Christmas Messy Church will include dinner, your RSVP is appreciated but not required. (tmuc@shaw.ca)
And – the Blue Christmas service on Sunday, December 18 at 7 p.m.
And – the Christmas Eve service is at 7 p.m. on Saturday, December 24.
On Sunday December 25, we celebrate Christmas morning with communion at 10 a.m.
On Sunday January 1, we will gather for our traditional ‘Worship around the Breakfast Table’ in Yale Hall.
If you want to think more about Advent, the United Church of Canada’s website contains a variety of resources, including ideas families can use for reflection and prayer at home. The ‘Advent unwrapped’ resource includes a template for creating a paper Advent wreath, a “Names for Jesus’ prayer activity, and a ‘who do you say…’ reflection page.
Here is the link to the Advent unwrapped resources:
This Sunday, we worship in-person at 10:00. If you cannot be present, you are invited to join in the livestream.
Here’s the ZOOM link:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/7538449219
Other church news:
TMUC is preparing Christmas Hampers for 10 families. This week our food requests are for Decide on Dinner: pasta, canned vegetables, canned tomatoes, and rice. We still need some things for Rise’n Shine – cereal, oatmeal, pancake mix, syrup, peanut butter, jam, coffee, tea, hot chocolate and juice and for Lean into Lunch – tuna, beans, and macaroni and cheese. Dec. 4 we will Bake the Season Bright: 2.5 kg bags of flour, cookies, and crackers. Dec. 11 we will Sweeten it Up: jello, canned fruit, and Dec. 18 is Catch Up and Clean up: Dish soap, and an updated list of what we are missing. We will keep you updated when we reach the amount needed for each item otherwise keep everything coming! All donations are appreciated! Donations should be brought to church on Sunday or dropped at the office by arrangement. Monetary gifts are also possible and specially marked envelopes are available.
The ZOOM ‘lunch’n learn’ continues next with the story of Vashti on Thursday, December 1, at noon (session lasts about half an hour). Everyone is welcome!
Also next Thursday (December 1) at 9 a.m. is the TMUC monthly ZOOM check-in-and-chat from 9-10 a.m. Everyone is welcome to join.
Here is the ZOOM link for both the check in and the study group:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/7538449219
Choir practices are Tuesdays from 7-9 p.m. for the Advent and Christmas season. All are welcome to join in!
And, in wider news:
Tomorrow (November 26) is the Pre-Advent Event, hosted by The T’BJIGGN Team from the seven United Churches in north-east Winnipeg. The event is from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. at Immanuel United Church 755 Golspie Street, North Kildonan. There will be crafts, music, snacks, hot apple cider, and worship. It is for people of all ages.
BIRD’S HILL UNITED CHURCH CHRISTMAS TEA & BAZAAR will be held on Saturday, Dec. 3rd, from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. Fancy sandwiches and dainties, free will offering, raffle tickets, handicraft table, bake table including perogies and meat pies, white elephant table
We are still collecting pop cans for recycling (so far we have raised just over $170!) and partnering with TruEarth for fundraising
Office hours are irregular, so please email to make sure someone is there if you want to drop by.
All the details are available on previous emails and on https://tmuc.ca.
Thank you again for everything!
We keep you in our prayers,
Carol and Jeff