Home or Palace?

“Then cleansed be every breast from sin; make straight the way for God within, and let each heart prepare a home, where such a mighty guest may come.”

These words from the traditional Advent hymn “On Jordan’s bank” remind us of just on of many Advent themes: to prepare our hearts as Christ’s home. The challenge is that I find myself woefully unprepared to do the work. I think I know what needs to be done in …but I am not the one coming to stay. Am I ready to be made into a palace where the King of kings might come to dwell?

I am reminded of this bit from C.S. Lewis:

“Imagine yourself as a living house. God comes in to rebuild that house. at first, perhaps, you can understand what he is doing. he is getting the drains right and stopping the leaks in the roof and so on: you knew that those jobs needed doing and so you are not surprised. but presently he starts knocking the house about in a way that hurts abominably and does not seem to make sense. What on earth is he up to? The explanation is that he is building quite a different house from the one you thought of - throwing out a new wing here, putting on an extra floor there, running up towers, making courtyards. You thought you were going to be made into a decent little cottage: but he is building a palace. He intends to come and live in it himself.” Mere Christianity

How about it…ready for some radical remodeling?

Blessings,
Matthew+

Join us for Worship this Week

Saturday: Evening Prayer at 5:00 PM 

December 5, 2020 05:00 PM Mountain Time

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Sunday: Morning Prayer at 9:30 AM 

December 6, 2020 09:30 AM Mountain Time 

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Meeting ID: 997 0942 7503
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You can find a PDF copy for both services by clicking the buttons below.

Coming up...

Where are Mary and Joseph?

When I served parishes with schools in Texas, we would build the anticipation and expectation of the season by slowly adding the figures to our nativity scenes as we walked though Advent. Mary and Joseph (and donkey too) would travel around the sanctuary until they arrived at the stable just before Christmas. Be sure to follow us on Facebook and Instagram for regular updates as to Mary and Joseph’s journey (you can click the links at the bottom of this email).

Sunday Morning Bible Study:

Come, Thou long expected Jesus

Come dive into the scriptures with us in our current study: Come, Thou long expected Jesus. We will start with the text from the Advent hymn and look at some scriptures that support each verse. Grab your bible and bring your questions as we open the scriptures together. You can find a copy of the words here.

Our study uses our Sunday Morning Prayer ZOOM link.

Lord of the Valley Women’s Advent Study

The women of the Episcopal community here in Grand County are invited to join in a Women’s Advent study: “Incarnation” by Adam Hamilton. Adam is Senior Pastor at the United Methodist Church of the Resurrection in Leawood, Kansas. You will need a copy of the book "Incarnation" available on Amazon here or for Kindle here. 

We will meet on four Tuesdays: November 17, December 1, 8 and 15. We begin at 11AM and we will go a little more than an hour.

Zoom meeting info:
Topic: LOTV Women's Advent Study
Time: Nov 17, 2020 11:00 AM Mountain Time (US and Canada)
Every week on Tue, until Dec 15, 2020, 4 occurrence(s)
Nov 17, 2020 11:00 AM
Dec 1, 2020 11:00 AM
Dec 8, 2020 11:00 AM
Dec 15, 2020 11:00 AM

Please download and import the following iCalendar (.ics) files to your calendar system.
Weekly: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/tZ0pc-6grTMvHN3zSRoYyY7xmYK5g1AFRLQ2/ics?icsToken=98tyKuGhqj8tEtedtR-ORpx5Bo-gKPzztlxYgo0OhizXDBlKW1TuO9tpZ7UuMf7i

Join Zoom Meeting
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This Sunday's Readings

The lectionary readings for this Sunday are:

• Psalm 80:1-7, 16-18

• Isaiah 64:1-9

• Mark 13:24-37

You can read them online here.

Have you moved?

Now more that ever we want to make sure our church directory is up to date. If you have moved or changed phone numbers in the past year, please click here to fill out your current information.

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