|
|
Crossroads United Church of Christ Indianola, Iowa an open and affirming congregation Worshiping at Smith Chapel on the Simpson College campus
Pastor: Rev. Julia Tipton Rendon |
Meditation for the second Sunday of Advent
by Mairi Winslow
Advent 2018: “Driving Back the Darkness”
The second Sunday of Advent. Sparkling lights are everywhere. Christmas parties are beginning. I’ve gotten my first two Christmas cards in the mail.
And it’s cold. Central Iowa is cold this year – which, by the way, does not belie global warning, in case you were wondering. The world seems pretty cold, too. The politics of hate are in full throated cry. The economic situation is uncertain. Things are dark and scary – and for many of us, our own lives are dark and scary, too.
This Advent we’ve chosen to focus on ways to drive back the darkness, to help ourselves keep moving forward. Advent itself is a reminder that we’re moving toward the second coming of the Savior – the coming of the Kingdom of God. Last week we lit the first candle of Advent for truth. Truth is one of the most powerful lights we have – one of the brightest ways to drive back the darkness. We challenged ourselves to look for and to recognize truth this past week. As a recognition of this, I invite you to take one of these slips of paper and write on it a truth you’ve found or faced. You can write it on either side of the paper. Then roll the paper up, with the truth on the inside or the outside, and drop it into this Christmas ball. This will be a reminder that truth has beauty – and creates beauty, eventually, even when it isn’t always pretty.
Today, on this second Sunday, I’d like us to think about another way to light our lives and keep us moving – and also something that helps us face and respond to truth. Companionship. People need people. More specifically, we need people who are willing and able to be with us, to truly celebrate our good joys, to mourn our sorrows, to challenge us when we need it, to comfort us when we need that. We need people who, when we recognize a threatening or frightening truth, will say “Yes, that’s scary. I will help you face it. I will be with you as you move and change. I still love you.”
We also need people to laugh with, to have fun with, to share mutual interests with. Genuine, non-mean laughter always shines a little light. Feeling liked makes us happy. Interest in someone else’s life or situation, even fleeting interest, makes us better people. But not all the people we enjoy having a cup of coffee or glass of wine with, or going to dinner with, or seeing at parties give us the true companionship we need to drive back the deep darkness and help us move toward the Kingdom of God. To be that kind of friend is a burden as well as a blessing. To be that kind of companion we must be able to be quiet, to listen, to hear the unsaid things beneath the words. We need to be strong enough to say to an emotionally bleeding friend “I will be the hand you squeeze to get through your pain, but I will not give you an opiate so you can ignore your painful truth.
Developing these relationships takes an investment on both sides. It takes time, energy, and caring. It demands both strength and vulnerability. But if we are able to find such companionship we have not just a candle, but a torch to drive back the darkness and to show us truth.
To remind us of the beauty of such friends - and of all friends and companions – I invite you to think of those who help you, either this week or in general, and drop a bead into the ball to represent them.
We light the second candle of Advent, driving back the darkness a little more, for companionship.
Let us pray: Loving God, thank you for the companions, the friends, who light our way and bring brightness and truth to our lives. Help us to be people who shine in others’ lives also, as we move forward to your kingdom. Amen.
Like us on Facebook!
Here we were at Easter breakfast!
What we believe
The United Church of Christ is a non-creedal church. It is the responsibility of every member to work toward a coherent and informed faith.
The United Church of Christ embraces a theological heritage that affirms the Bible as the authoritative witness to the Word of God, the creeds of the ecumenical councils, and the confessions of the Reformation. The UCC has roots in the "covenantal" tradition—meaning there is no centralized authority or hierarchy that can impose any doctrine or form of worship on its members. Christ alone is Head of the church. We seek a balance between freedom of conscience and accountability to the apostolic faith. The UCC therefore receives the historic creeds and confessions of our ancestors as testimonies, but not tests of the faith.
Want some links to scientific information about climate change? Go to our Links page!
Some of what we do at Crossroads
We serve two meals a month at the Catholic Worker House in Des Moines.
We also serve a free meal on the last Thursday of every month at the county administration building. We find that eating together in a relaxed and welcoming atmosphere feeds more than just the body.
We micro-lend to small business owners through Kiva. We have lent about $21,000 to help people start or expand businesses!
We are a Jubilee Congregation, supporting efforts to serve, protect and promote economic participation by the most vulnerable.
Several of us go together to the Ames Theologian in Residence every year and discuss him or her hotly.
PIE Group meets Sunday nights to discuss a book or film and eat pie, at the home of one of our members.
All who have time and inclination after coffee hour and cleanup on Sunday go out for lunch somewhere cheap and not too unhealthful.
We visit our friends at the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota every summer.
| Christmas Eve Service | Dec. 24, 7 pm | Dirlam Lounge |
| Table of Plenty free dinner | Dec. 27, 5:30 | County Admin Bldg |
About Crossroads UCC
|
Crossroads United Church of Christ is an open and affirming congregation of the Iowa Conference of the United Church of Christ. We believe that we are called by God, as Christians, to gather people into community, build them in a relationship with God, and send them into ministry.
We try to make our congregation a place where you can be yourself, and we believe that the practice of hospitality helps us to learn the mind of God.
We are "the church you didn't know you were looking for"--a small but active congregation that is focused on mission, spiritual growth, and community involvement--that doesn't take itself too seriously.
Visitors are always welcome. If you're looking for a church home, or if you're just curious, please come worship with us!
|
|
|
PO Box 811, Indianola IA 50125
tel.: 515-961-9370
email: pastor *at* crossroadsucc *dot* org
The Rev. Julia Rendon
Where to find us
We are in Indianola, Iowa, a community of 14,000 just 12 miles south of Des Moines on Highway 65/69.
Crossroads UCC does not own a building. We meet in Dirlam Lounge in Smith Chapel of Simpson College. Here is a campus map.
Here is a Mapquest map.
Worship and Sunday School
Sunday School for all ages begins at 9:30 during the school year, and worship is at 10:30.
We have a Safe Church policy for our Sunday School and youth programming.
Hey, spiritual seekers!
I hope we're clear here: we are a church that doesn't care what your sexual orientation or gender identity is. t's all good. Also we think Islam is a beautiful religion, and we don't want to convert anybody. If you suspect that "us against them" is not a good position from which to design your life, come on down!
How to contact your legislators and other legislative information: Go to our "Links" page.