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Saturday Dec. 17, 2022

A beloved part of the Christmas tradition is the story of the magi following a star to the baby Jesus.  How many magi were there?  We are not told.  Because three gifts are mentioned, it is posited that there were three visitors.  Where did they come from?  We are only told ‘the east’.  But it probably would have taken months if not years to get to Bethlehem from ‘the east’.  

In the story in Matthew, we are told that the travelers followed a star and the star led them to Christ Jesus.  So this is a season to ponder what star we are following.  What star is leading us?  Where are we heading?  What is leading us?  

Some people are obsessed with having long term goals and following a strategic plan to get to those goals.  Some people make lists and timelines.  Some people keep charts and graphics about how they are doing heading toward something that is important to them.  Some people just muddle through day to day dealing with what comes up.  Regardless of the style we choose, we are headed somewhere; in a direction, toward something.  There are tools and information that we use to lead and guide us.  And even if we are not going after some specific accomplishment, our choices and behaviors are heading somewhere.  They are leading to an outcome.  

Someone who is a heavy smoker is heading toward cancer.  They probably did not wake up one day and say, “I am going to do whatever it takes to get cancer,” and then start smoking a pack a day.  But nonetheless, that behavior is leading toward an outcome.  

So, if you think you do not have certain goals, that you are not intentionally following a star, examine your choices and behavior and you might get a sense of where you are heading.  And if nothing presents itself, you might ask someone who knows you whom you trust what they see, what they think, about where you are heading.

This Advent season, we want to think about making choices and taking actions that are consistent with human expression of universal, unconditional love of ourselves, others, and all of Creation.  That is the star we want to be following.  This is what we want to be leading and guiding us.  We may not know exactly where we will end up, or what the journey will be like, but we know that we will end up in the embrace of Divine Love.  

Prayer

In these days of too many choices and too much information, may we keep our hearts centered in universal, unconditional Love and marvel at the journey!  Amen.

Errata – the correct anthem and piano solos are as follows:

GATHERING MUSIC: Lo, How a Rose — trad./arr. HKJ

PRELUDE: O LIttle Town of Bethlehem — Redner/arr. HKJ

ANTHEM: I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day — Calkin

OFFERTORY: 3 Chanukkah Songs — trad. Jewish folk tunes

POSTLUDE: Silver Bells —  Livingston & Evans

LAKEWOOD UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST

A Just Peace Church

An Open and Affirming Church

A Creation Justice Church

10:30 am

December 18, 2022

                                                          FOURTH SUNDAY OF ADVENT

SONGS OF THE SEASON    10:15AM

WELCOME and ANNOUNCEMENTS

LIGHTING THE PEACE CANDLE                    Michelle Cloutier, Liturgist

If I were president, what would I do?  I would stop the war.  I would come to peace with our adversaries.  I don’t like the thought of people dying over land or oil.  It makes me feel sad that people are losing their lives. 

Ellen Michaela Doyle, age 10, St. Petersburg, Florida

PRELUDE              O Little Town of Bethlehem               Redner/arr. HKJ      

* OPENING READING                       Raymond Chapman, adapted

Child of Bethlehem,

            weak and helpless,

            loved and cherished,

            peaceful in a manger,

            hold us with your strong love.                                                                                                 

* HYMN           Jesus, Jesus, Oh, What a Wonderful Child           139

LIGHTING THE ADVENT WREATH – Love

                Unison Prayer

We give thanks for the many ways that love is made manifest in our lives and in our world.  We need the gift of love to sustain us on life’s journey.  May we look for signs of love in the darkening days of this Advent season. May we be signs of love for the world.   Amen. 

            Response:                  Light Our Way                  Joyce Rupp

                                    Please See Insert

READING                                   Jesus Is Born              Archbishop Desmond Tutu

* HYMN                                  Away in a Manger                   124

SERMON                                   Oh, Baby!                         Rev. Kim P. Wells

UNISON READING                                   John Harvey

            ‘You are deeply, deeply loved,

            just as you are,

            forgiven, loved and challenged to be

            the very best you can be.

            So I’m speaking to you in the only way I know how —

            from a stable,

            in a child born into poverty,

            soon to grow to maturity,

            born to show you,

            in a human life,

            the love of God.’

.

ANTHEM        The Angel Gabriel from Heaven Came                  Basque Carol

MISSION STATEMENT

The mission of Lakewood United Church of Christ, as part of the Church Universal is to:

• Celebrate the presence and power of God in our lives & in our world.
• Offer the hospitality and inclusive love of Christ to all people.
• Work for God’s peace and justice throughout creation.

MORNING OFFERING 

Morning offerings may be brought forward and placed in the plates on the altar. You are invited to write your prayer requests on the sheets provided in

the bulletin and bring them forward and place them in the basket on the altar. If you would like assistance, please turn to someone seated near you.     

                   Offertory         Good Christians All Rejoice and Sing          trad./arr. HKJ 

         * Prayer of Dedication                                    Thom M Shuman

                        Help us to set down

                        our parcels of expectations

                        to reach down and scoop

                        you up in our arms,

‘                       your laughing breath

                        giving us life.  Amen.         

* PREPARATION FOR PRAYER               Jesus, Our Brother               138

MORNING PRAYERS – SAVIOR’S PRAYER

Our Creator in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as in heaven.  Give us today our daily bread.  Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us.  Save us from the time of trial and deliver us from evil.  For the kingdom, the power and the glory are yours now and forever.  Amen.

LINING THE CRADLE

                  Responsive Reading                           Shirley Erena Murray

            Spirit of love, you move within creation,

            drawing the threads to color and design;

            life into life, you knit our true salvation,

                        come, work with us,

                                    and weave us into one.

            Though we have frayed the fabric of your making,

            tearing away from all that you intend,

            yet, to be whole, humanity is aching —

                        come, work with us,

                                    and weave us into one.

Great loom of God, where history is woven,

            you are the frame that holds us to the truth,

            Christ is the theme, the pattern you have given —

                        come, work with us,

                                    and weave us into one.                  

* Hymn                           Cloth for the Cradle                       See Insert

            During the singing of the hymn you are invited to come forward and place a  strip of fabric in the manger.

*BENEDICTION                                                                   

*CONGREGATIONAL RESPONSE (please form a circle)      Rosemary Crow

Weave, weave, weave us together;  weave us together in unity and love.

Weave, weave, weave us together; weave us together, together in love.         

*POSTLUDE          It’s Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas      Willson

Circle of Concern: Erik Johnson, Katherine Conover, Danielle Hintz, Colombian Family, Ann Quinn is under Hospice care, Maggie Brizendine, Janet Hall, Tony Larson, Don Ritchie, who is moving, and Yvonne Riesen. All those suffering from COVID-19 and all healthcare workers, Schools: Students, families, teachers, and staff

Announcements

All Church Read – Access a copy of Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan. It’s a very short story. This book is also available as an audio book. Join in a discussion of this beautiful story December 22 @ 6:30 via zoom.

Zoom Link: http://us02web.zoom.us/j/2700683648    Meeting Id: 270 068 3648

Baby Time – Family Promise of Pinellas County is a faith-based coalition helping families without a house to move toward residential stability. This ministry to families without homes has been supported by LUCC for many years. This year Family Promise has asked that we collect diapers for the families in the program. Please bring donations of diapers- any size, any style- to church

CHRISTMAS EVE

6:30      Music of the Season

7:00     Service with candlelight and communion. All ages welcome!      t

Family Promise Needs – Word was received this week that Family Promise, a local ministry to houseless families with children, is in need of the following items:

Milk, Water (small bottles), Paper Goods (paper towels, toilet paper, napkins, plates, cups) Cleaning Supplies (disinfectants, sponges, dish soap, laundry soap.

Please bring items to the church and place them on the shelves behind the curtain in the hallway.

Guided labyrinth walks Wednesday mornings at 9:00am – Each week there is a guided labyrinth walk on the outdoor labyrinth at the church. It’s a time of prayerful faith sharing, and a time to listen more deeply to our spiritual lives. In case of rain, the walks are held on Thursday Morning.

WINTER SOLSTICE

The longest night is a time for reflection and wonder. Join in a fireside gathering at

5:41pm on Wednesday December 21 at the church.

NEW YEARS DAY

There will be a service on Sunday @ 10:30 to start the New Year. Rituals will help set the heart’s intentions for the year ahead.

Happy Holidays Friends,

We have an additional family that has joined us.  We would like to include them in our Adopt a Family for the Holidays.   I have added their wish list below, and  if you are able to contribute I’m sure our new family would be very appreciative.   Please contact Donna Shultz at Donna@fppinellas.org to let her know which wish you have fulfilled so we don’t get repeat gifts.  The gifts maybe dropped at the Day Center Mon-Fri 10:00 to-4:00.  Blessings to you and for your generosity to our families during this holiday season. Thank you for your continued support!

Son (8)  MALE

    Remote control car 
    Toy raptor dinosaur 
    Dissect it mega lab 
    Pets Alive pet shop surprise Son –  (5) MALE 

   Pokeman cards 
   Bagugan toys 
   Sonic the hedgehog toy
   Monster truck 

52-year-old mom 

    Clothes, dress, spandex XL 
    Leggings 1X, Shoe size 10 

28-year-old female 

    Clothes XL (or 14)  
    Leggings 1X 
    Shoe size 7 

14-year-old male 

    Tablet 
     Large shirts 
     Shoes 12 mens 

1 ½ year old male 

     18 months to 2-year-old clothes 
     Learning toys 
     Shoe size 4 

Happy Holidays,

Denis M. Sousa, M.S.
Executive Director
Family Promise of Pinellas County, Inc.
6201 22^nd AVE N
St. Petersburg, FL 33710
(O) 727-201-9571
(C) 727-201-9571
 
www.fppinellas.org
denis@fppinellas.org
director@fppinellas.org

  LAKEWOOD UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST

A Just Peace Church

An Open and Affirming Church

A Creation Justice Church

10:30 am

December 11, 2022

THIRD SUNDAY OF ADVENT

SONGS OF THE SEASON                                   10:15AM

WELCOME and ANNOUNCEMENTS

LIGHTING THE PEACE CANDLE             Barbara Donohue, Liturgist

The Chinese character for peace means harmony.  It derives from the combination of two words:  “rice” and “mouth.”  When no one is hungry, then truly there is peace.                                                                                       

          Anonymous

PRELUDE                        Wexford Carol                  trad./arr. HKJ       

* OPENING READING                                          John Harvey

Lord,

in the beginning

when all was very dark, you said:

‘Let there be light.’

And there was light

and life throughout the universe.

And when the human race

was exhausted, tired and weary,

in the darkness of anxiety,

confusion and sin,

into that darkness you came

as a light in Jesus Christ.

God became a human being among us all.

Once again it is dark.

Not just dark at midnight

but dark in ourselves;

dark with doubt,

dark with fear and uncertainty,

dark with confusing

and conflicting voices in our ears.

Come, Light of life,

lighten the darkness in our lives

with your mighty word of love.

Lighten our hearts with the joy

of your promised coming.

Lighten our world with the hope

that faith in you still brings.  Amen.

* HYMN              My Soul Gives Glory to My God          119

LIGHTING THE ADVENT WREATH – Joy  

                Unison Prayer

We give thanks for the many ways that joy is made manifest in our lives and in our world.  We need the gift of joy to sustain us on life’s journey.  May we look for signs of joy in the darkening days of this Advent season. May we be signs of joy for the world.   Amen. 

Response:                  Light Our Way                      Joyce Rupp

                                    Please See Insert

SCRIPTURE LESSONS

Let us prepare ourselves for the word of God as it comes to us in the reading of Holy Scripture. Our hearts and minds are open.

                                Isaiah 35:1-10 and Luke 1:26-56

For the word of God in scripture, for the word of God among us, for the word of God within us. Thanks be to God.

HISTORIC READING                          Sojourner Truth, c. 1797-1883

* HYMN        My Heart Sings Out with Joyful Praise                  106

SERMON                   Mary, Mary                      Rev. Kim P. Wells

UNISON READING                                              Clare McBeath

            My soul magnifies the Lord

and I dance with God who liberates me,

for she has remembered with love 

                     the whispered song of her shadow.

Surely, from now on my story will be

                      handed down to all generations.

For One who is Love

                       has cradled my life in her arms

                 and beautiful is her name.

Her tenderness enfolds our brokenness

                 through all generations.

Her voice clamours in shouts of justice,

wrenching free the grip of the abuser.

She gathers the abused to her breast,

                         her milk nurturing those who seek her,

                         according to the promise given to

                         our grandmothers,

                         to Sarah and Hagar,

                                    and their children for ever.

ANTHEM           The Angel Gabriel from Heaven Came           Basque Carol

MISSION STATEMENT

The mission of Lakewood United Church of Christ, as part of the Church Universal is to:

• Celebrate the presence and power of God in our lives & in our world.
• Offer the hospitality and inclusive love of Christ to all people.
• Work for God’s peace and justice throughout creation.

MORNING OFFERING 

Morning offerings may be brought forward and placed in the plates on the altar. You are invited to write your prayer requests on the sheets provided in the bulletin and bring them forward and place them in the basket on the altar. If you would like assistance, please turn to someone seated near you.     

                Offertory      Good Christians All Rejoice and Sing        trad./arr. HKJ 

         * Prayer of Dedication        Emmanuel Levinas, 1902-1995

                        To know God means to know what has to be done.

* PREPARATION FOR PRAYER      Mary, Woman of the Promise           123

MORNING PRAYERS – SAVIOR’S PRAYER

Eternal Spirit, Earth Maker, Pain-bearer, Life-giver,

Source of all that is and that ever shall be,

Father and Mother of all people, Loving God in whom is heaven:         

The hallowing of your name echo through the universe!

The way of your justice be followed by all peoples of the world!

Your heavenly will be done by all created beings!

Your commonwealth of peace and freedom sustain our hope and

come on earth!

With the bread that we need for today, feed us.

In the hurts we absorb from one another, forgive us.      

In times of temptation and testing, strengthen us.

From trials too great to endure, spare us.

From the grip of all that is evil, free us.

For you reign in the glory of the power that is love, now and forever. Amen.

* HYMN           Canticle of the Turning          See Insert

*BENEDICTION                                                                   

*CONGREGATIONAL RESPONSE (please form a circle)   

Lead Us From Life to Death                                    581

             Lead us from death to life, from falsehood to truth,

            from despair to hope, from fear to trust.

            Lead us from hate to love, from war to peace;

            let peace fill our hearts, let peace fill our world,

            let peace fill our universe.

*POSTLUDE          It’s Beginning To Look A lot Like Christmas      Willson

Circle of Concern: Erik Johnson, Katherine Conover, Danielle Hintz, Colombian Family, Ann Quinn is under Hospice care, Maggie Brizendine, Janet Hall, Tony Larson, Don Ritchie, who is moving, and Yvonne Risen who has already moved. All those suffering from COVID-19 and all healthcare workers, Schools: Students, families, teachers, and staff

Lakewood United Church of Christ 2601 54th Ave. S. St. Petersburg, FL 33712

 727-867-7961/ lakewooducc@gmail.com/ Lakewooducc.org

On land originally inhabited by the Tocabaga

Announcements

Healing Through the Holidays– The holiday season is just ahead. We had our prologue with Halloween. Now we gear up for Thanksgiving, the Christmas season, and New Years. Whew!

This time of year can be fraught – and not only because we are busy celebrating. It can be a time to remember those who will not be with us this year. It is a time to negotiate difficult family relationships. It is a time requiring us to be with people who may have different values than we do. And it is a time when many of the activities and customs don’t necessarily align with what is good and healthy for us or for the earth. There is a lot to consider and to navigate.

The holiday season can also provide a wonderful opening for healing, for reconciliation, for understanding, and for transformation. In a three part discussion oriented workshop, we will look at some of the stresses and opportunities that may come with the holiday season. We will think about ways that this time of year can be a time of healing and restoration instead of a time of depletion and conflict.

This workshop will be held via Zoom and All are welcome! The Zoom number is: 270 068 3648. Please Contact Rev. Wells for further Details.

All Church Read – Access a copy of Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan. It’s a very short story. This book is also available as an audio book. Join in a discussion of this beautiful story December 22 @ 6:30 via zoom.

Zoom Link: http://us02web.zoom.us/j/2700683648    Meeting Id: 270 068 3648

Baby Time – This is the time of the year to focus on the birth of a baby and the story a baby born in a barn, far away from home. Family Promise of Pinellas County is a faith-based coalition helping families without a house to move toward residential stability. This ministry to families without homes has been supported by LUCC for many years. This year Family Promise has asked that we collect diapers for the families in the program. Please bring donations of diapers- any size, any style- to church

CHRISTMAS EVE

6:30      Music of the Season

7:00     Service with candlelight and communion. All ages’ welcome!     

Family Promise Needs – Word was received this week that Family Promise, a local ministry to houseless families with children, is in need of the following items:

Milk, Water (small bottles), Paper Goods (paper towels, toilet paper, napkins, plates, cups) Cleaning Supplies (disinfectants, sponges, dish soap, laundry soap.

Please bring items to the church and place them on the shelves behind the curtain in the hallway.

Choir Rehearsals Resume – Rehearsals began today and will continue each Sunday in the sanctuary from 9 to 10:15 a.m.  All are welcome!  For more information, please contact music director Hilton Jones.

Guided labyrinth walks Wednesday mornings at 9:00am – Each week there is a guided labyrinth walk on the outdoor labyrinth at the church. It’s a time of prayerful faith sharing, and a time to listen more deeply to our spiritual lives. In case of rain, the walks are held on Thursday Morning.

LAKEWOOD UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST

2601 54th Avenue South  St. Petersburg, FL  33712

On land originally inhabited by the Tocabaga

727-867-7961

lakewooducc.org

lakewooducc@gmail.com

Date: December 4, 2022   Second Sunday of Advent

Scripture Lessons:  Isaiah 11:1-10 and Matthew 3:1-12

Sermon: Seeking Christ

Pastor:  Rev. Kim P. Wells

There is an old folk tale about a poor man who sometimes could not find work so he had to resort to stealing to provide food for his family.  He didn’t like to do it, and he wasn’t good at it, but sometimes he felt he had no choice.  There were mouths to feed.  And there was nowhere to get help.

According to the law of the land, the penalty for theft, of any kind, was death by hanging.  No exceptions.  

Finally, the poor man got caught with a loaf of bread in his hand.  He was arrested, jailed, and sentenced to death.  He was scheduled to be hanged in public as a warning to others.  

The man sat in jail desperate about what would happen to his family without him.  The night before he was to be put to death, he mentioned to the guard that it was a shame that he was to be executed since he had a very special secret, a great skill, that had been passed down to him by his father that no one else knew about.  It was too bad that he could not tell the secret to someone wise who would protect the secret.  Certainly the king would want to know this secret.  

The guard said that he would be willing to share the secret of the condemned man with the king.  So the poor man explained to the guard:  “I can take a pomegranate seed, plant it in the ground, water it, and make it grow so that it will bear fruit overnight.  My father taught it to me, as his father taught him, for generations.  But tomorrow the secret dies with me.”

The guard could hardly believe his ears and he immediately went to tell the king.  The next day, before the execution, the king arrived and had the poor man brought forward.  “Let me see you do this marvelous thing,” the king commanded.  And so the man asked for a spade, dug a hole, asked for a pomegranate seed, and then turned to the king and spoke:  “The seed can only be planted by someone who has never stolen anything in his life or someone who has never taken anything that did to belong to him by right.  Of course, I am a thief, caught stealing bread for my children and my wife, so I can’t plant it.  You’ll have to have someone else do it.”

The king turned to his counselor and commanded him to plant the seed.  The man froze and stuttered:  “Your majesty, I can’t.”  

“What do you mean, you can’t?” the king roared.  

The counselor explained, “Once, when I was young before I was in your employ, I took something from a house where I was staying.  I returned it, of course, but I can’t plant the seed.”  

The king was annoyed and turned to his treasurer and commanded him to plant the seed.  The man went pale and shook.  “I can’t, your majesty,” he confessed.

“What?  You, too?  What have you done?  Have you stolen from me?”  

“No, no, my king,” he protested.  “But I work with figures calculating all the time, and it’s easy to make mistakes, and I am forever trying to balance accounts, taking from here to put there.  With huge sums of money, land deeds, contracts, and so on, it’s easy to overlook something.  Besides I often have to make deals with people so that better deals can be made later.  It’s business, sire.”

The king turned to another counselor and instinctively the next man shrank away from him.  This happened again and again. 

Finally, the poor thief spoke.  “Your majesty, perhaps you could plant the seed yourself.”

This time it was the king who hesitated.  So many things went through his mind.  He remembered stealing from his father in anger, impatient to be king himself and wanting that power and freedom, that access to wealth.  The poor man spoke boldly, “Your majesty, even you cannot plant the seed, you who are mighty, with power over life and death; you who have wealth and much more than you need to live on; you who make laws that destroy even the poor who are desperately hungry and caught in the web of other’s greed and insensitivity.  You can’t plant the seed.  You are a thief.  Why are you so hard on me, a poor man who stole bread to feed his family?  You are going to hang me, leaving others in need with no recourse.”  The king stopped.  He hung his head, aware of his harshness, injustice, his callousness, and disdain for others.  He repented.  He pardoned the poor man.  He changed the laws.  And then he set to work to make things better for everyone in his realm.  The king was so impressed with the poor man’s wisdom, cleverness, and understanding, that he took the man into his employ.  And things continued to get better for everyone.  

You see, the question for this season is not if we are naughty or nice.  We know that we are all culpable in some way.  All of us are in some way complicitors in systems and behaviors that do harm to others.  What we hear from Isaiah and from Matthew is about a way forward.  We are told of a God of love, love so vast, that there is no sin, no wrongdoing, nothing that can separate us from that love.  It is a love so compelling, it reaches out to us even in places of death like the shoot coming out of the stump.  It is a love that will always find us.  A love that never dies.  

This Love is the heart of reality.  And for us, its most vibrant expression is in the life of Jesus the Christ.  Our faith story tells us of a love so great that a precious child is sent, given, and then put to death, as an expression of that ultimate, unconditional, universal love.  That is why we celebrate Christmas.   

In the scene with John the Baptizer, out in the wilderness by the Jordan River, we are told of the people flocking to him: coming from the cities and surrounding towns and regions.  Even the sophisticated city slickers are making their way out to the desert where there are no hotels, no restaurants, no comfort stations; so hungry are they for John’s word of repentance and renewal.  

You see, we want to repent.  We want to be part of a new reality.  We want to change direction.  We want to be part of communities of peace.  And Advent is the season that we remember that our God, the God of Divine Love, wants that for us and is showing us the way.  Our God is providing the vision, the leadership, the spirit, and the love to re-create the world so that all might flourish in peace especially those made poor and those who are weak and vulnerable.  Our story is of a God that does not want to punish us.  But a God that wants to empower us to be part of this new, redeemed future.  

We heard today a version of the vision of the peaceable kingdom – the wolf and the lamb, the leopard and the kid, the calf and the lion and the fatling, the cow and the bear, the lion eating straw like the ox, the baby and the adder.  It brings to mind the famous paintings by Edward Hicks, an American Quaker.  In one version of his peaceable kingdom paintings with all of the animals down in the corner there is a representation of William Penn, the founder of Pennsylvania and a Quaker, and other leaders making a treaty with the Native Americans.  Hicks depicts God’s dream for all to live together in peace.  

Advent is not about whether we have done anything wrong, it’s not about assigning blame, it’s not about condemning ourselves or others.  It is about recommitting to a future of peace for all and for the planet.  It’s about celebrating the God that does not give up on us.  It is about rejoicing in the one who comes to show us the path to peace.  No matter how dead the stump, with Divine Love, there is still the possibility of a new shoot.  New life.  Bearing fruit so that the Arab shall sit down with the Israeli, and the English shall play with the Irish, and the Ukrainians shall live peaceably with the Russians, and the Republicans shall sit down with the Democrats, and the Chinese people and the Taiwanese shall live peacefully as neighbors.  And all, all of them, all of us, shall work together to create a world that supports the flourishing of all children.  Amen.  

A reasonable effort has been made to appropriately cite materials referenced in this sermon. For additional information, please contact Lakewood United Church of Christ.