Church Service Videos 2025

Our Presbyterian Church Years is broken into a series of seasons.  The first is Advent which starts on the fourth Sunday leading up to Christmas.  For the 2025 Liturgical Year the first Sunday in Advent is December 1st and ends on Sunday evening December 22nd.  Advent is followed by Christmas which lasts from December 25th to January 5th.  After Christmas comes Epiphany starting on January 6th and lasts until  February 13th.  Lent begins on Ash Wednesday March 5th and includes Holy Week beginning on Monday April 14th until Saturday April 19th.  Easter begins with the celebration of Jesus' resurrection on April 20th and lasts until Pentecost on June 8th.  Easter is followed by that long season Ordinary Time which lasts until King of Kings Sunday on November 23rd.

The First Sunday of christmas

December 29th worship service

It is the Christmas Season.  There are so many issues could be discussed.  In general for 12 days we celebrate the birth of Jesus, God in human form who came to live among His people and deliver them from sin.  We could look at the different ways that Christmas is celebrated around the world.  We could focus focus on how we celebrate Christmas in our church community with the Advent candles, Christmas Tree, and gifts of food to those in need.  We could look at the Spirit of Christmas and how God reached out and touched us so we in turn can reach out and touch others.  We could reflect on the spirits of Hope, Peace, Love and Joy that reflect God’s commitment to us, and therefore our commitment to God’s world.  We could note God’s lights shining in the darkness, and how we are those lights.  Or we could look at all the turmoil in the world and how these are not reflective of the Christmas spirit.

 

Or we could just relax, and for 12 days simply bask in, and appreciate, the beauty, and joy, and wonder of the gift our Lord gave to us over 2,000 years ago in a tiny village, in an occupied country, on the eastern edge of the Mediterranean Sea.


Join us for our December 29th Worship Service.

the Fourth Sunday of advent

December 22nd Worship Service

It is the last Sunday before Christmas, which means it is the last Sunday of Advent, and the time when we light the Advent Candle of Joy, commonly known as the Shepherd’s Candle.

 

Reminiscent of the night sky suddenly filled with angels singing “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.” For this is Joy which comes with the birth of Jesus. 

 

Jesus is the fulfillment of a promise made by God to the Jewish people through his prophet Isaiah (Isaiah 9:1-7) when Isaiah said of the people living in darkness that there would be a great light.  “You have enlarged the nation and increased their Joy; they rejoice before you as people rejoice at the harvest, as warriors rejoice as they divide the plunder.”  And his promise of a leader and savior came to pass when Isaiah said, “He will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”

 

This is the purpose of the Season of Advent, when we prepare ourselves to receive the gift of Grace which God sent to us through the birth of Jesus.  God came to live among His people.  To be the ultimate sacrifice to eliminate the sins of everyone.  God cannot be in the presence of sin, but with the sacrifice of Jesus our sins are washed away, and we can stand in the presence of God.  This is the gift of Grace, which comes through Jesus and with his birth we recognize that we have been saved…..and hence the Joy!


Join us for our December 22nd Worship Service.

christmas

It is the season of Christmas, December 25th - January 5th.  We have spent the last four weeks preparing our hearts, minds, and soles to receive the gift God sent to His people, Himself to be sacrificed, that His peoples sins may be washed away, and they can be with Him, eternally.  But why 12 days for the season?

 

The Christmas Season, also known as Christmastide, goes back to the Council of Tours meeting in 567 who proclaimed the 12 days between Christmas (the birth) and Epiphany (the Magi Recognition) as the Christmas Season.  The main purpose is celebrate.  After the 4 weeks of fasting, introspection and preparation to receive Jesus into our lives, now is the time to celebrate our acceptance.  

 

Significant event during Christmastide include: December 25: Jesus’ birth / December 26: feast of St. Stephen (Good King Wenceslaus) / December 27: feast of John the Apostle / December 28: feast of the Holy Innocents (children killed on Herod’s order) / December 29: murder of Thomas Becket 1170 (Archbishop of Canterbury) / December 30: remembrance of John Wyclif 1395 (translated the Bible to English…martyred because) / January 1: circumcision of Jesus / January 2: remembrance of Vedanayagam Samuel Azariah, 1945 Bishop of South India / January 6: beginning of Epiphany, the Magi (manifestation).January 4: remembrance of Elizabeth Ann Seton, 1821, founder of the United States parochial school system / January 5: Epiphany Eve, remembrance of the Desert Mothers (women ascetics living in the deserts of Egypt, Palestine, Syria 4th & 5th century) / January 6: Epiphany begins, Magi visit (manifestation).

Photos 2024: Bell Choir / Christmas Tree and Advent Candles / Nativity in the Sanctuary


Advent

No one is sure when Advent, the four Sundays leading up to Christmas, came into the Christian schedule, but it was well established by the year 480, and so we have been celebrating the birth of Jesus, God’s gift to humanity, for well over 1500 years.  Advent actually takes place on three levels.  The first is the physical birth of Jesus in Bethlehem over 2,000 years ago.  The second is the reception of Jesus into the hearts of the believers.  Finally, there is the awaited presence of when Jesus returns to the earth and brings about the world of His desire. 

 

Advent is celebrated in many ways.  There is always the decorating of the church with a Christmas Tree, Christmas Wreathes, special programs and litanies, Christmas Cantatas, and almost in each church the lighting of the Advent Candles.

 

It is our way of celebrating the birth of Jesus, God’s gift to a world in sin, and the source of our salvation.  An event well worth celebrating, and preparing for. 


Join us for our December 15th Worship Service.

Join us for our December 1st Worship Service.                                   Join us for our December 8th Worship Service.

epiphany

Epiphany comes from the Greek, meaning manifestation.  Starting on January 6 the season lasts until Ash Wednesday, March 5th and the start of Lent.  The purpose of the season to recognize the times Jesus is acknowledged as the Son of God, the answer to God’s promise of redemption leaning back to the prophets.

 

Recognition is seen in several instances.  The most celebrated is the visit of the Magi following the heavenly star and bringing gifts to the Christ child.  Other examples include the presentation of Jesus at the temple and being recognized by Anna and Simeon.  Another example is Jesus’ baptism, first when he is recognized by john and again when coming out of the water the heavens open, the spirit in the form of a dove descends and the voice of God saying, “This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.  Another is the miracle of changing water into wine.

Photos:

Jesus' Baptism:  Marco Monastery Florence, Fra Angelico, 1418

Jesus casts out demons: Basilica St. Apollinare Nuovo, Ravenna:

Marriage at Cana: Scrovegni Chapel, Padua, Italy, Giotto di Bondone, 1305

Three Magi Going to Jesus: Basilica St. Apollinare Nuovo, Ravenna: