December 28, 2016
Merry 4th Day of Christmas!
I have often found it is far easier to truly celebrate Christmas after the 25th than before. Life slows down and I can finally reflect on the reality that God continues to be born anew in our world. As the season of Christmas continues, I invite you to meditate on the following Christmas poem, written by the Reverend Jan Richardson:
Christmas as a story of darkness
tell it as a story
about darkness
giving birth to light,
about seemingly endless waiting,
and about that which
lies at the end of
all our waiting
darkness can become
the tending place
in which our longings for
healing, justice, and peace grow
and come to birth
This Saturday, December 31, St. Columba will provide a meaningful New Year’s Eve service of prayer, song, remembrance of those who’ve lost lives due to homicide in Oakland, and hope for an end to such violence in the years ahead. Pastor Jim will participate in the service, and all are invited to attend. St. Columba’s Church is at 6401 San Pablo Avenue in Oakland. The service begins at 3:00 and lasts about 90 minutes.
This Sunday, January 1, is New Year’s Sunday, the 8th Day of Christmas and Communion Sunday. We will reflect on Isaiah 63:7-9, in which the prophet retells God’s saving acts of the past. Sometimes we need to look back and give thanks to find the courage to look ahead in hope. As a worshiping community who has experienced salvation, we will proclaim our hope in God’s continued work in our lives and our world. My (Allison) sermon is entitled “Stepping Back, Looking Forward.”
Prayers for all as say goodbye to 2016 and welcome with hope a new year.
Allison
Prayers of the Congregation
- All who are mourning
- All who are anxious and worried
- All who are ill
- All who asked to be remembered without being listed
- All who are incarcerated and those who minister to them
- All who are hospitalized and those who care for them
- The homeless residents of Oakland and the Bay Area and those who minister to them
- Mary Anderson
- Katrina Lau
- Sandra Dunn
- Barbara Bowman
- Joan Thatcher
- Jim Jeffery
- Gloria Joseph
- Irene Jennings
- Kay Baxter and family
- Ted and Doris Evans
- Warren and Camille Parker
- Mary Karne for Maryla
- Ann Fields for her family
- Larry Sims for his family
- Rick McKillop for his mom, Marian
- Jeanette Paige for her father
- Monica Eppinger for the family of Robert Bishop
- Gloria and Phil Meads for their family
- George Lee for his neighbor Daniel
- Peggy Rogers-Tamayo for Zelda
- The people of Berlin
- The people of Syria
- The people of Turkey