December 22, 2015

Greetings to all as Christmas comes. May the gifts of Advent – hope, joy, peace and love – mark your lives and fill your hearts.  I have long loved the blessing which follows. May the gifts it seeks be yours throughout these last days of Advent and the Twelve Days of Christmas.
Deep Peace
Deep peace of the running wave to you,
Deep peace of the flowing air to you,
Deep peace of the quiet earth to you,
Deep peace of the shining stars to you,
Deep peace of the watching shepherds to you,
Deep peace of Christ, the Light of the world, to you
(Old Gaelic Rune)

Prayers of the Congregation

• All Who Are Grieving
• Nedra Hathaway as she recuperates from surgery (Kaiser Hospital, Oakland)
• George and Sandra Lee for George’s brother, Herbert
• Cecil White
• Michele Austin for her father
• Doris and Ted Evans
• Katrina Lau (health concerns)
• Virginia Damretsky (Greenridge Care Facility, El Sobrante)
• Edie Parrott as she recuperates ( at home)
• Sandra Dunn for her family and for herself
• Kay Baxter – encouragement for Stacey, continued recovery for Jamie,  continued strength for Kay
• Cordia Lee – strength for John and Paige, healing for Christopher, unity for Alta Bates -Summit, thanksgiving in all things
• Gloria and Phil Meads – school success for Alfonso
• Marie Johnson for her co-workers and their families and for Donnie and Nicole as they prepare for the birth of Donald Lee Johnson III
• Roy Browner and Al Johnson for Roy’s family (his sister is very ill)
• Joan Patten for Peter and Paula
• Sydney Webster for her cousin Symba
• All who are traveling
• Ann Fields for the family of Jenoise as they mourn her death, for friends Valerie and Jenoise, for her family
• Yvonne Young for justice and peace in the world and for justice in family matters
• Our Sponsor-A-Family Ministry
• The Muhler family (friends of the Hopkins and Ash families) as they mourn the death of Dede
• Alean Saunders-Coffey for the Gaskin and Dunn families
• Thanksgiving with Wally Bryen that no one was injured in automobile accident he was involved in
• Thanksgiving with Rick McKillop on his dad’s return home from the hospital and his daughter’s return home from New York
• Thanksgiving and prayers for the ministry of the Samaritan Neighborhood Center
• Thanksgiving and prayers for the Seafarers Ministry of the Golden Gate
• Thanksgiving and prayers for the ministry of the American Baptist Seminary of the West
• Thanksgiving and prayers for the ministry of the Correctional Institutions Chaplaincy
• Thanksgiving and prayers for all who build bridges of respect across lines of race, religion, gender, economic status and sexual orientation
• Thanksgiving and prayers for the ways you minister as part of the Body of Christ which gathers at the corner of Lakeshore and Mandana

Announcements

The music of our Christmas Eve Service begins at 7:15 with the full service beginning at 7:30. I look forward to seeing you.