Dear Church:
This Sunday we light the candle of PEACE and seek with our hearts to remember the foundation that has been set for us as we seek our true home this season. I invite you to prepare by asking yourselves the following questions:
What are the words, blessings, and actions that have laid the foundation for your life?
Who helped lay a foundation of faith for you?
How are you doing this for others?
What are the specific acts that build a foundation of love?
When we dream of the reign of Christ, we dream of the HOME that will be built upon this foundation, upon the solid rock. This Advent season, I urge you to help build a foundation of faith for others who are longing for home. What gifts will you bring in this season of generosity for those who simply need to know a foundation of hope, peace, joy, and love?
What's going on this week?
Following worship, you are invited to stay and watch last year's Christmas Pageant! One of the most wonderful things that came out of our quarantine was an intergenerational zoom pageant that I hope we can share for years to come!
Daily Advent reflections are being posted for you each weekday on our church's FB page. We are trying to post visual reflections written by those who have invited us into reflections about Home this season. We are also offering a weekday video devotional based upon the book Rejoice! Advent Meditations with Mary. And in the evenings we are trying to post "Advent Bedtime stories with Pastor Katie" from the book T'was the Season of Advent by Glenys Nellist (if you want to purchase a copy!)
As always, remember that you can access all kinds of information on the church's web page, fpctiffin.org. Brittany is doing an exceptional job of uploading the worship services from Facebook every Monday morning. You can also access newsworthy items there as well as send an offering (including the Christmas Joy offering) or help the Pantry by clicking the "give now" button.
I give thanks for each one of you as you live our your faith in daily life with your families, in your work, and with your friends. During this season of Advent, I wait with you for the Peace of the World to be born among us!
Pastor Katie
Advent Poem #2: Peace
In a world gone hysterical with phobia,
Foaming at the mouth about rights and retaliation,
Spewing propaganda and violence
towards flesh-and-blood humans
In a world where God is twisted into a
Thirsting need for power,
Dominating others who tremble
at their version of a kingdom
In a world that blames the victims,
Accusing the innocent of crimes,
Blocking entrance to the outcasts
who cry for shelter from bitter cold.
Into this world came a baby
Struggling in his mangy crib,
Reminding us that the divine
was housed in the humble, the helpless.
So in this world we pray:
Blessed are those who hunger for right,
Righteous are those who strive for peace,
and peaceful are those who learn to Love.
—Teryn O’Brien
Upcoming Events
Sunday, 12/5:
2nd Sunday of Advent
Saturday, 12/25 11am —1:30pm:
NOAH Foundation Community Christmas Day Dinner at Camden Falls, 2406 S. SR 231. Call for a reservation at 419-455-4569.
2022 Directory Update
We're looking for your information for the 2022 Directory! Please check your listing in the current directory, and if you have any updates, contact Brittany at 419-447-2004 or at secretaryfpctiffin@gmail.com!
Yearning
by Hannah Garrity
Inspired by 1 Thessalonians 3:9-13 | Paper lace with graphite & watercolor
Silhouette profiles of faces with diamond repetition. . . Inside the diamonds weave paper lace representations of love, restoration, and Christ’s forgiveness—God’s grace that alone provides the state of holiness among people. Hands, architecture, doves, food, clothing, and education—these portray some of the gifts we give to one another in faith when we meet face to face.
In this 3rd chapter of Thessalonians, Paul spends time on the ideals of faith, of restoring each other’s faith over time. We circle back to one another to connect, share, and build faith in God. From all over the world, four faces smile into the middle of the frame. Our longing to meet face to face creates a ripple effect for community building. Inside the ripples are hands, architecture, doves, food, clothing, and education symbols to represent faith in action. The faces yearn for and inspire one another from afar, like Paul in this letter of love and faith to the people of Thessalonica.
As Paul yearns for the people and the faith of the Thessalonians, he faces persecution in his own city. The news from Timothy gives Paul hope in the face of oppression and persecution. In our current global climate, whom do we yearn for? Whose good news do we rejoice in? Whose faith inspires the continued work of our own faith? For me, it is you.
—Hannah Garrity