When we opened the last Advent Box of 2013, we promised to post the link for the 2014 blog.
We have set it up!
You are invited to check it out!
tmucadvent2014.wordpress.com
It’s there, and the boxes will start on November 30.
You are invited!
peace
December 24, 2013 The box is open!
Finally! The last box is open! December 24’s services are complete, and it is time to share the word.
Here is the box:
The waiting is over, Christmas is here.
And while they were there, the time came for her to deliver her child. Luke 2:6
A child, a gift of hope for the world.
Thanks be to God.
This is the last post in the tmucadvent2013.wordpress.com blog We will post links to new blogs here so you can follow along too. In the meantime, please follow us on Twitter, @tmucWpg Visit us in Winnipeg at Transcona Memorial United Church, 209 Yale Avenue West, or check out our website http://www.tmuc.ca
Thanks for journeying with us!
Cheers, and blessings
December 24, 2013
It is Christmas Eve! The waiting is almost over, but not quite. With every breath, we draw a little closer to the hour of opening the box.
Today’s scripture of reflection:
While they were there, the time came for her to deliver her child.
Luke 2:6
Today’s photo is a little different than the ones before it. The first photo of today is of the box as it waits to be opened inside the church sanctuary. Here it is:
The box sits on the table, near the tree, waiting. The time has not yet come. This box will finally get opened, ‘while they were there’. We will wait until many are gathered.
For people who are near us, and want to join us when we open the box, and celebrate the birth of Jesus, Transcona Memorial United Church has services at 5 pm, 7 pm, and 10pm. We are located at 209 Yale Avenue West in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.
For people who are not near, or who want to wait until the next post to see what is inside the box, we will write after the last service of the evening, sometime before midnight Central Time Zone (GMT/UTC – 06:00).
We wait, we wait, we wait.
May Christmas bring peace, justice, and love to all the earth.
December 23, 2013
A Charlie Brown Christmas quotes the Gospel of Luke in giving the real meaning of Christmas. This is how the quote appears on IMDb:
[shouting in desperation]
Charlie Brown: Isn’t there anyone who knows what Christmas is all about?
Linus Van Pelt: Sure, Charlie Brown, I can tell you what Christmas is all about.
[moves toward the center of the stage]
Linus Van Pelt: Lights, please.
[a spotlight shines on Linus]
Linus Van Pelt: “And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, ‘Fear not: for behold, I bring unto you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the City of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.’ And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God, and saying, ‘Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.'”
[Linus picks up his blanket and walks back towards Charlie Brown]
Linus Van Pelt: That’s what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown.
Today’s box finds the expression of the real meaning of Christmas as inspired by Matthew’s Gospel.
She will bear a son,
and you are to name him Jesus,
for he shall save his people from their sins.
Matthew 1:21
Here’s the photo:
The real meaning of Christmas is the gift of the child, not the gifts under the tree. The real meaning of Christmas is in love shared, and time spent with family and friends, and in service to others. The real meaning of Christmas is found in living out the Gospel message of hope, peace, joy and love.
That’s the gift. That’s why we wait.
Just one more day…
December 22, 2013
Today is the last Sunday of Advent, and the last candle in the circle of the Advent wreath, the candle of love, was lit early in the worship service.
And then it was time. Eager hands flew up in anticipation of helping to open the box. We actually opened two boxes together. We opened yesterday’s ‘Let there be light…’ so we could see the power of the lit box. And, we opened the box for today.
The wolf shall live with the lamb,
the leopard shall lie down with the kid,
the calf, and the lion and the fatling together,
and a little child shall lead them.
Isaiah 11:6
Here’s what we found:
It is the words of the passage, doodled with care. It is the spiritual practice of reflecting on a passage of scripture while writing. It is a glimpse into our own connection with the words, and our own creativity.
The wolf shall live with the lamb…a statement of hope that the world can indeed be a different place. ‘…and a little child shall lead them’. It is a message that this world can be open to a new experience of God. We can celebrate the love that is around us. We can feed the hungry, and work for justice. We can be instruments of peace and joy. We can, because we are loved, and we believe that the world is not yet as God intends.
As we work for today and for the future, let us do so with in the light of the Advent candles of hope, peace, joy, and love!
Two boxes await!
December 21, 2013
There were a few of us gathered around the advent boxes when it was time to open this one. It came with instructions, in small letters of the top of the box. ‘Turn on switch before opening’. The anticipation built as we turned on the switch, and opened the shining box.
Lights, and shining paper. It glowed before us!
The scripture reading: And God said, ‘Let there be light’, and there was light. Genesis 1:3
The lights of the box shone forth in glory. But wait, if you look closely you can see a word in the lights. ‘Faith’. There at the back of the box, suing in the lights was the call to faith.
Faith, that God is with us.
Faith, that we are loved.
Faith, that we can make a difference in the world.
Faith, that hope, peace, joy, and love will come together in the birth of a baby in Bethlehem.
Faith.
The lights shine and take our hearts on a journey to Christmas.
December 18, 2013
It is a small verse of scripture today, with, perhaps, a big meaning, and a big challenge for us.
He will feed his flock like a shepherd.
Isaiah 40:11a
Today’s box came with a note from the creator:
My first thoughts when thinking about this scripture was food banks, especially because I volunteer weekly at the Nine Circles Community Health Centre food bank. I had also distributed a list of all the place to eat for free in Winnipeg to some of the clients there and I knew that this would be a great list to start with. The names glued throughout the box are the names of places where you can either get a free meal, or access to a food hamper.
I then wanted to represent people in all their colours and nationalities. I was going to glue these forms to the bottom of the box, but then thought of the Last Supper. So I glued these forms to a table being shared with Jesus.
Here’s the box:
Here’s a photo of the list at the bottom of the box:
Sharing food is sharing life. And, sharing life is sharing food. No one should be hungry. We are called to be people who care for one another.
We journey together.
December 16, 2003
Every day when the newspaper arrives, for many there is a great hope that the words of the prophet Samuel will have come true.
How the mighty have fallen and the weapons of war perished.
2 Samuel 1:27
How wonderful it would be to have a world without war. How wonderful it would be to have a world without the weapons of war. How wonderful it would be for children to be safe in the streets and in their schools. How wonderful it would be for people to be able to live in far away places, and near to us in peace and in justice. How wonderful it would be…
It is the belief and hope that peace is possible that motivates people to act, to work for peace, to protest to governments when policies lead us away from peace. It is the image of today’s box.
Plasticine people come to life with signs of hope. We will be free. War will end. Justice will prevail. At the front of the box, hardly visible in the photograph, are models of canons and guns, and weapons of war that have become useless. The physical ‘weapons of war have perished.’
And yet, it is the people of the box that remind us that perhaps the biggest weapon of war is the idea that some people are more worthy and worthwhile than others. Perhaps when that idea perishes, when we come to believe that we are all loved and beloved children of God, then we will know a different world.
On this day in Advent, that really is a ‘grown-up Christmas wish’.
December 14, 2013
The prophet Isaiah wrote:
He shall judge between nations,
and shall arbitrate for many peoples.
They shall beat their swords into plowshares
and their spears into pruning hooks.
Nation shall not lift up swords against nation,
neither shall they learn war anymore.
Isaiah 2:4
Today’s box is filled with intricately cut paper. Black paper, made to look like guns, rifles, standing on the left. The box is meant to be ‘read’ left to right. The guns are standing in a row. Next, is another row of guns, almost identical, but beginning to be transformed. There is a leaf emerging. The next row, the guns change a little more, a branch, and more leaves. The rows continue until, at least, it is a row of trees before us.
A couple of Sundays ago, Jeff referred to the passage that inspires this box as God’s invitation to Arts and Crafts. We are invited to take something, and help transform it into something new. In the box, guns change into trees. In Isaiah, it is swords into plowshares, and spears into pruning hooks. It is instruments of violence, into tools for farming. It is defending ourselves against the ‘other’, transformed into a means to help the ‘other’.
Maybe, when we live like that, helping on another, there is not really anyone who is ‘other’. Maybe we are all in this together. Maybe when one suffers, we all suffer. Maybe when one is helped, we are all helped.
Maybe, just maybe, peace will truly come to all of us, together.
The advent candles of hope and peace burn on.
December 12, 2913
It’s cold outside in Winnipeg today. It is something like minus 30 degrees outside. Did I say that it’s cold???? It’s really cold! It is no wonder that today’s box is holding up ministries, missions, and programs that try to help people in the cold.
The inspiration is Luke 1:52
God has brought down the powerful from their thrones and lifted up the lowly.
The box needed a little assembly today, the poles needed to be taped in place so that the signs would be lifted up. The signs celebrate 1Hope Winnipeg, the Ladybug Foundation, Winnipeg Harvest, Koats for Kids and more. People helping people needed to be lifted up. These are stories that need to be told. These are images that must find a place in our hearts. These are the connections to people who live in the cold. These are the ways in which we must help change the experience of our brothers and sisters in this earth. We are called to help to lift up those in need.
We can make a difference. We can live in hope and peace.
TMUC Advent 2013 