A Light Snow and a Thankful Morning

Joy and contment are two states of being the church talks a lot about this time of year and I thankfully write that I am experiencing small slices of both at the moment! Prayer, hot coffee (Starbucks Christmas Blend), morning silence and light snow outside. Does it get any better? I hope you have a blessed third week of Advent!

Devotional for this Third Week of Advent

3rd Sunday of Advent December 16, 2012 Zephaniah 3: 14-20   “The Lord, your God, is in your midst;  he will rejoice over you with gladness.” (Zephaniah 3: 17) Devotion The author of Zephaniah says these words to Jerusalem, a promise of hope for their future. But I can’t help but feel that these words are still promised to us today. Can you hear God speaking these lovely words to you, to your faith community, to our world? In the midst of decline, war, worries, consumerism and division, can you yet hear God’s promise of love? Just imagine! The Spirit of God is still among us, in our midst! That same divine Spirit still wants to rejoice over us with gladness, despite our lust for power, our arrogance, our conspicuous consumption, our degradation of the earth. God still promises us that there is a better way to live, one modeled by the faithful life of the one so silently born among us. Yes! God still wants to “exult over us with loud singing.” (vs. 17) It’s a miracle, really. And you can turn right into the heart of this miracle as you prepare to celebrate the birth of Christ. You might begin with this question: What must I turn from this Advent so that I might turn toward the Miracle of Love? Prayer Thank you, God, for your astounding love. Help me to turn toward it with all that I am. Amen. Rev. Meredith Vanderminden Executive Director, Art Divina Spiritual Formation Interest Area Chair Queensbury, New York Music & Worship Arts Week June 23-28, 2013 Lake Junaluska, NC Biennial Fellowship Convocation July 15-18, 2013 Pittsburgh, PA  Did someone forward this email to you? If you are not a current member of The Fellowship, we would love for you to join us! There are many levels of connection, including the Open Connection, which is free. CLICK HERE for more information and connect to The Fellowship today! Copyright © 2012, The Fellowship of United Methodists in Music and Worship Arts, PO Box 24787, Nashville, TN  37202.www.UMFellowship.org. Phone (800) 952-8977. E-mail Info@UMFellowship.org. CLICK HERE to unsubscribe.Your e-mail address will be removed from our list within ten business days.

Devotional for this Second Week of Advent

2nd Sunday of Advent December 9, 2012 Luke 1: 68-79   “Thus he has shown the mercy promised to our ancestors…” (Luke 1: 72) Devotion Last week we read of the promised righteous Branch that would emerge from the house of David. Here, the author of Luke also speaks of promises: the promise of a mighty savior, the promise of one who would prepare his way, the promise of a “dawn from on high that will break upon us.” As Christians, we proclaim the fulfilled promise of God in the Incarnation: The Mighty Savior did come among us! The righteous Branch did grow among us! We proclaim in the Incarnation that God fulfills God’s promises. This Advent may be an excellent time for you to consider the promises God has kept in your own life of faith. In the minutia of everyday life, in the struggles and the joys, where has God fulfilled promises that have led to the incarnation of new life in you? Prayer God, may your dawn from on high break upon me as I notice your promises fulfilled. Amen. Rev. Meredith Vanderminden Executive Director, Art Divina Spiritual Formation Interest Area Chair Queensbury, New York Music & Worship Arts Week June 23-28, 2013 Lake Junaluska, NC Biennial Fellowship Convocation July 15-18, 2013 Pittsburgh, PA  Did someone forward this email to you? If you are not a current member of The Fellowship, we would love for you to join us! There are many levels of connection, including the Open Connection, which is free. CLICK HERE for more information and connect to The Fellowship today! Copyright © 2012, The Fellowship of United Methodists in Music and Worship Arts, PO Box 24787, Nashville, TN  37202.www.UMFellowship.org. Phone (800) 952-8977. E-mail Info@UMFellowship.org. CLICK HERE to unsubscribe.Your e-mail address will be removed from our list within ten business days.

A few wise words from Father Wesley

The Subversive Widow

24th Sunday after Pentecost

November 11, 2012

Mark 12: 38-44

“They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything.”

(Mark 12:44)

Devotion

These verses come from the parable of the widow’s mite. We’ve heard it before.
It is a sweet story of a poverty-stricken widow who gives a little. And that little is
everything.

But when read in context with the rebuke of powerful men just before this parable,
the words are quite stunning. Subversive, even.

The one with no status is celebrated over the ones with much status. The one of
no account is commended over those who hold the accounts of others. The
invisible one does more than the ones who desire to be seen.

Whom might you see, really see, this week who was once invisible? How might they
surprise you? How might you, like Jesus, tell the story of the one of no account to
those in power, so we all might be suitably stunned by the surprising mind of God?

Prayer

God, help us to truly see where we have not seen before.

Rev. Greg Smith
Shelburne United Methodist Church
Shelburne, VT