Matthew 2: 13-23
Rev. Bryan Travis Hooper

Egypt is an important symbol for us in the church.  In the Old Testament, Egypt was the place of bondage, where God’s people had been enslaved by Pharaoh.  God called Moses to deliver his people out of Egypt and lead them on a long journey that would get them to the Promised Land.  In the New Testament, Joseph takes his family to Egypt seeking refuge, because he has been warned that Herod will seek to kill the newborn Jesus.  After Herod dies, Joseph returns with his family and they settle in Nazareth. (more…)

A snow/ice storm delayed our pageant by a week. The wait was well worth it! The pageant this year was an adaptation of the story “Why the Chimes Rang.” Under the direction of Gretchen Vivier and Alberta Elliott, just over 50 children and adults took part. They included cast, crew, choir, pastor, chaperones, musicians, costumers. Many thanks to all who participated, and especially to Gretchen and Alberta. 

The ongoing focus of this commission is health care. We continue to seek creative ways to educate, inform, and activate the community around this critical concern. If you have a story to share about how the health care issue has affected you, please speak with Gretchen Vivier, either directly or by calling the church office.

Pepperidge Farms outlet store, Farmington, has joined our Food Pantry list of sponsors.  Once a month, the store donates about 100 various types of wonderful, healthy bread for distribution to our clients. This is a generous gift and the bread is fresh. Also, the Congregational Church of Farmington is now donating their monthly food collection to our pantry. They will deliver it monthly – and it will all be used. Thanks to these new contributors to our West End Food Pantry.

The front of our building has a new face!  For several months now, we have been working to provide improved signage to the Farmington Avenue side of our building.  In addition, we will also be hanging banners on the front of the building.  The banners will be seasonal and inviting.  We have lighted the sign, and have illuminated the front of the building as well. Take a look for yourself one evening this fall.

Matthew 3:1-12
Rev. Bryan Travis Hooper
This is a season of expectation and hope, as we turn our attention to the birth of Christ. The signs of expectation are everywhere. Have you gone to the mall? You don’t have to go to the mall to see the signs, but what wonderful signs they have at the mall. I was at the mall a few days ago, and they are piping Christmas music through every speaker in the mall. Not a single store is without a Christmas tree or a wreath or bells or something to signify the season. Right in the middle of the mall, there is a huge display of Christmas extravagance with a big seat in the middle of it all where Santa himself occasionally sits and listens to the hopes and expectations of young children. (more…)

Each year around this time, young children start making a list.  I used to have a list myself.  On this list I would write down every possible item I could ever possibly want for Christmas.  I was bold with my list.  I would start off with things like airplanes and private islands.  I figured if I put some rather ambitious items on the list, the smaller, more realistic items would seem modest in comparison.  In addition to being bold, I was thorough .  My list included small items and big items and in-between items – basically everything I could think of that I might ever possibly want.  I submitted my list to my parents, who ensured me that it would be forwarded to Santa Clause for his consideration.

Today I don’t really make such a list.  In fact, I have begun to lament the festival of over-consumption that Christmas has become.  On a recent trip to the mall I encountered a huge Christmas display with blaring Christmas music, large Christmas trees and greenery, celebratory banners and symbolic trumpets.  At the center of this grandiose display was Santa Clause, eagerly waiting for children to come to him with their lists, and then sending them off to the relevant stores conveniently located right in the mall.

What a far cry from the birth of Jesus!  I suppose the idea of gift-giving goes back to the story of the magi who come bearing gifts for the new-born Jesus.  Boy, have we taken that idea and run with it!  Now, instead of offering our gifts to God in a humble acknowledgment of God’s amazing grace, we have replaced Jesus with Santa and the manger with the mall.  We give endless gifts to each other, and God has become a marginal part of the Christmas experience.

What if this year you decided to make a different kind of wish list?  What if you took a moment to think about the state of the world, to reflect on the nature of our God, to place yourself spiritually in the healing stream of God’s grace, and ask yourself what do I really want?   Here’s a hint: it isn’t an iPod.  I believe that our deepest, honest desires are manifestations of God’s Spirit in our lives.  But I also believe that we are all to eager to settle for far simpler, cheaper things.

After all, an iPod is far easier to come by than the realization of the vision God gave us in Jesus Christ.  Our lives are destined for so much more than endless thrills and toys.  Jesus came to us in order to offer us a way to live that is so counter to our rampant consumerist culture.  And yet it is a way that leads to wholeness, healing, and the fullness of our human potential.  This Christmas, what if we all made a list of what we want for God to enact through us?  What if we came to the manger this year and laid our very lives as a gift at the feet of Jesus?

I’m not trying to ruin your fun. Rather I’m trying to point you in the direction of the true joy of this season – a joy that far exceeds the momentary thrill of all those gifts we buy.  Joy, after all, is the theme of this time.  But joy can not be found in a box.  Joy can only be found in the lasting peace that comes from knowing our God – a God who comes to us in Jesus, a small, helpless baby, born in a manger, at a time long before Target and Macy’s.

I know I won’t stop you from running to the mall.  But I do hope you will also as eagerly run to God, and offer to God you deepest, truest hopes and dreams.

Matthew 24: 36-44
Rev. Bryan Travis Hooper

Today we begin the season of Advent, this season of preparation and expectation that leads up to Christmas. It is a time of escalating hope as we turn our eyes toward Bethlehem, and hear the gentle cries of a newborn baby – a child that will become the cornerstone for God’s kingdom.
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