Advent 2020 – December 5

Our Turn to Ponder
Jim Hopkins
(Rev. Dr. H. James Hopkins is Senior Pastor of Lakeshore Avenue Baptist Church, Oakland, CA)

“I will remove from your body the heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.”

Ezekiel 36:26b

Two of my favorite Christmas stories are, A Christmas Carol, by Charles Dickens and How the Grinch Stole Christmas, by Dr. Seuss. Both are stories of transformation. Both are stories of redemption. Both are stories of change that occurs from the inside out. Both are stories of changed hearts.

 Advent is a time to take stock, to consider the ways our hearts have become hard, unfeeling, stony. It is a time to claim and reclaim the promise of God spoken through the prophet Ezekiel, “Your stony heart isn’t working very well. I fully intend to give you a new one, one made of flesh rather than rock. I will give you a heart that can feel, hurt, hope and dream. The heart I give you will sometimes feel like it is breaking but even then, it will keep beating for the heart I give you is alive to the world.”

LABC Zoom Gatherings

A Time For Prayer – 10:00 a.m. Saturday

Forever Young – 1:00 p.m. Saturday (Christmas Carols with Charlene)

Forum – 8:45 a.m. Sunday (Discussion with Hugo Aguilar and daughter Hulissa. Hugo is facing imminent deportation.)

Worship – 10:00 a.m. Sunday (Communion – Have bread and juice ready, Candle of Peace)

Bible Class – 11:45 a.m. Sunday

LABC Youth Group – 7:00 p.m. Monday

Self Help Workshop – 3:00 p.m. Sunday (Led by LABC’s own Mariel Paul, MSW) This is the first time for this workshop. Please attend as a show of support for Mariel.

No Soup, But Study -6:00 p.m. Tuesday

Wednesday Prayer and Bible Study – 10:30 a.m.

Looking Ahead

Blue Christmas Service – 2:00 p.m. Sunday, December 13