Hancock UCC Weekly Messenger for December 29, 2024

Word of God enthroned, Dwell in us forevermore; Love has come to show the way. Hallelujah, peace be with us, Love has come to show the way.

Pastor TJ will be on vacation for one week starting December 25th. Rev. Nick Davis will be preaching December 29th in her absence. Thank you, Nick!

Our meetings are open to all. If you would like to attend a meeting, please let Vicky know and she will provide the Zoom link, or you are welcome to attend in person. Our meetings are held in person and virtually on Zoom.

Trustees will meet on Wednesday, January 8 at 12 noon

Outreach will meet on Thursday, January 9 at 3:14 pm

Deacons will meet Friday, January 10 at 4:00 pm

Christian Ed will meet on Sunday, January 12 following worship

Council will meet on Friday, January 17 at 11:15 am

As your Boards and Committees are meeting for the first time this year, please let Vicky know who the Chair and Council Representative will be. Thanks!

Join us for lightly guided meditation at 9:00 a.m. on Fridays in our Sanctuary. 

The fifth candle in the center of the Advent wreath is sometimes called the Christ candle and is lit on Christmas Eve. In this final deep-sea theology message, we’re going to reflect on not one but two creatures, and two who can make their own light!

The first is the sea angel (Clione limacina and Clione antarctica). These teeny tiny sea snails (about 1.5-3 inches long) have winglike feet which allow them to swim quickly through the deep ocean as if they were flying. Their gooey see-though bodies create a mystical glow called bioluminescence, making them a graceful sight in the deep dark waters. Another remarkable quality of these angelic beings is that they are born male but develop female organs as they grow up. All adult sea angels have both male and female organs, and when they find their mate, they dance together in what looks like an underwater waltz. 

Immortal jellyfish (Turritopsis dohrnii) also have an extraordinary transformation to share. When this kind of jellyfish is wounded, it basically begins to age backwards. Its body sinks to the ocean floor and rearranges itself into a slimy pile that looks like an egg. It then sprouts into a polyp and grows not only into itself again, but into many clones of itself too! Through its woundedness, the single jellyfish becomes healed as well as multiple. From what we understand, the immortal jellyfish can do this process over and over again throughout its life, hence its name. And as Sabrina Imbler explains, “it is not living forever but reliving forever.”

I wonder what these creatures can teach us about Christ. What light do they shine on what it means for the Word to become flesh and dwell among us? To start out one way and transform into something else, someone else, something more or different, to make all things new? To be both human and divine, crucified and resurrected, one but many. For us, though, I’ll end with Imbler’s questions: “What if you could do it over? And then again? What body would you choose? Who would you be and who would you love? How shall you regrow, and in how many ways?”                    -The Christmas Fund Resources

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For four Sundays in Advent, we have been waiting and preparing for this, for the coming of

Christ into the world. Emmanuel, God-with-us in the form of a tiny human baby, precious and

helpless and innocent.

God was born in a stable, on the ground, and laid in a feed trough re-purposed as a bed. Born to a teen-age mother, surrounded by livestock, first witnessed by shepherds; God made themselves accessible to the least of us.

And yet, some of us may feel shut off from God, from the church, from acceptance. We

internalize the rejection that there is no room for us at the inn. Maybe we are painfully aware of our failings, our shortcomings, our sins. Maybe religious officials have shamed us in the past and we feel oh so un-holy. Maybe we don’t go to church, or don’t go often and we feel guilty.

Here is the good news…

Luke’s gospel tells us “to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior…”

“Fear not!” By using Mary, by being born in a stable, by appearing first to shepherds—we can

know that God is for everyone. God can and will appear to anyone, anywhere. God is here, in

this world, and God is here for you, and for each and every one of us. Just as we are.

Having received the gift, the light of Christ in this world, now what can we do?

We can become as the angels that appear, proclaiming, “Fear not!” We can bring “good

tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.” We can welcome everyone. We can be bearers

of hope, peace, joy and love in all times and in all places.

Having received the gift, the light of Christ in this world, now what must we do?

I hear the answer in this prayer poem of Howard Thurman.

The Work of Christmas

When the song of the angels is stilled,

When the star in the sky is gone,

When the kings and princes are home,

When the shepherds are back with their flock,

The work of Christmas begins:

To find the lost,

To heal the broken,

To feed the hungry,

To release the prisoner,

To rebuild the nations,

To bring peace among others,

To make music in the heart.

Let us each, as we leave this place, begin, or continue, the work of Christmas.

Amen

Rev. TJ Mack – December 24, 2024

January Birthdays and Anniversaries

06: Erin Ehrlenbach Collins   07: Sally Bryant    07: John Wood   07: Peter & Sally Bryant  09: Rebeckah Philio   12: Myrna Coffin        15: Ben Wildes      22: Chris Potter 

16: Everett & Vicky Espling       21: Jackie Hunt           21: Carol Skinner

23: Avabelle Havey        25: Holly Harriman     29: Jen Remick

Please keep the following people in your prayers this week:

Prayers for Pastor TJ.s Dad, Don, who is recovering from a fall resulting in a broken hip and surgery to fix the break. Prayers for Ron & Kathy and their brothers Joe and David. Prayers for Donald B.;  Kenny V.; Orrick; Brian; and Jane of Golden Acres. Prayers for Sally M.; Judith C.; Eleanor A.; Ira; Don and Heather; Bruce’s sister Lynn; Sally’s friend, Sue Barger; Cathy C.; Herbie Lounder; Ruth; Marie; Doris; Jim Snyder; Jonathan Holmes; Brandon Perry-Hudson; John Wood; Sue Davies; Sue Davenport; Liz & Jim; Kenny Stratton & Joy & David & Lori & Melissa; Debbie & Lincoln & son-in-law Aaron, daughter Ashley, and granddaughter Brielle; Sandy Phippen; Amy Nickerson; Kevin and Vanessa & family. Prayers of strength and healing for all awaiting diagnoses and for all recovering from surgeries & procedures. Prayers for all that are unsafe, unhoused, hungry & in need of care & compassion. Prayers for all caregivers; and prayers for all that is in your heart…

May the peace of Christ

Fill your heart and home

In the coming year.

Happy New Year to you

And all of your loved ones!