The Pane: Preparing for Advent, a Season of Hope
As we began the celebration of Advent in 2020, I so hoped that the world would be in a different place this year. And yet, we still live in a world of hurt, suffering, self-interest, and struggle.
But if we can have a little perspective, then we realize that this is the human experience. And because this is the human experience, we have a clearer sense of why God became flesh to dwell among us.
And so, I invite you to center your hearts on this season of Advent by recognizing the gifts that God gives us to face such time. We begin with hope.
As Anne Lamott put it, "Hope begins in the dark, the stubborn hope that if you just show up and try to do the right thing, the dawn will come. So you wait and watch and work: You don't give up."
To the ancients who first heard the message that Messiah would come to the people hundreds of years later that saw the fulfillment of those promises, they had one thing in common: a human longing for divine intervention.
Comparison is an unhealthy psychological exercise. However, it does reshape our understanding and perspective of our circumstances. So, imagine that the people who first heard of God’s Messiah to come were a people amid destruction and exile at the hands of the Babylonians. Ripped from their homes and taken to a foreign land, these exiled Hebrew people desired God to intervene.
In some regards, we can resonate as we have been ripped from our regular lives and into these 19+ months of crippled experience, sickness, loss, distance from relatives and loved ones, and a limitation to physical interaction with our faith community. Yet, we all long for something better.
UBC Office Will Be Closed Thursday and Friday
Have a blessed Thanksgiving weekend!
UBC Stained-Glass Christmas Ornaments
For informant how to purchase your ornament, click the image above.
Thanksgiving Gathering Follow-Up
UBC will host an outdoor Thanksgiving Gathering on Sunday, November 21 at 4:30 pm. This will be an event centered around sharing good conversations, enjoying a hearty meal, and soaking in the richness of faith-centered relationships.
Click the image above for more information.
Thanksgiving Meal Kit Follow-Up
We are incredibly grateful for the many people who contributed to making the Highland Thanksgiving Meal Kit Project a reality. This week, over 25 families from our partner school will receive all the items and recipes needed to make a meaningful meal on Thursday. Thank you for your missional generosity.
MISSIONS
Christmas Ecuador Project
Prayerfully consider contributing to this mission.
Highland Christmas Book Wrapping
Individuals and Sunday school classes are invited to help with the annual Highland Christmas Book Wrapping.
We ask the wrappers to bring a roll of Christmas wrapping paper, a pair of scissors, a roll of scotch tape, and their Christmas spirit!
If the books do not arrive on time, we will reschedule the wrapping party.
VOLUNTEERING
We Need Your Help as Our Church Grows
As out church continues to grow, we need your help. Consider volunteering for one of the above.