Easter 2009                   The Rising                 The Rev. Dr. George Hermanson
John 20: 1 -18

Hi All,

When The United Church of Canada came into being in 1925 and everyone was wondering where we would line up theologically on a whole host of doctrinal possibilities we brought forward 20 articles of faith.

Every article but two begins with the phrase "We Believe."  Those two artivcles that deviate begin with "We acknowledge." which is hardly equivalent to statements of unbelief.

The economic newsletter I read yesterday was full of dire predictions of falling production, no consumer confidence and global layoffs.  I remembered what it felt like to be suddenly searching for a job.

I was wondering if anyone received any special Christmas blessings or gifts this year, and if so, please tell us about them.

Hello Everyone.

Ok, so I'm a newbie at this whole blogging thing so please bare with me :)

The thoughts are so random and "there" in my head and the feelings dominate my soul--- that the only place for this to be understood is possibly in this kind of a forum.

I am a mother of three beautiful, happy, healthy vibrant girls (4, 3 and 1 year old) I have a wonderful (albeit-- LAZY) husband and pretty much everything that gives me absolutely NO reason to complain, and yet all I want to do is cry.

This past Sunday, known in the church as Advent 3, and the Sunday coming (Advent 4) both have as a possible Gospel text the song of Mary, singing of her joy at being the mother of the son of God. Lots of sermons will be preached in the next week or so about whether or not Mary was a technical virgin, or just a very young woman; her happiness; the social justice part of the text - the mighty being brought down from their thrones, the hungry being fed and the rich sent away with nothing. All of these are important parts of the text.

Not sure where to put this, but I hope some people read it. Just today, my colleague rushed in to say that someone in our department was just taken to hospital with an aneurism. Someone in our family died of one last year (he was only 15 years old) and this woman is only in her forties I think.

If any of you out there have prayers to spare, please pray for her and her family, as well as for those looking after her that they may be able to perform her operation successfully and that they can help her to recover as smoothly as possible.

From Despair to Hope. Text: Mark 13:24-37. First Sunday of Advent.

Preached by Rev. James Murray at Dominion-Chalmers United Church, Nov 30 2008.