You are invited to the Third Sunday of Advent Service on December 15 at 10 am. The bulletin for this Sunday is available for viewing HERE.
You can worship live on ZOOM by clicking the link below:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/9658816441 Meeting ID: 965 881 6441
You can also watch Sunday services at your convenience by going to our website “watsonville1stumc.org” and click YouTube or Facebook. Each Sunday worship will be uploaded on Sunday afternoon for your viewing.
Third Sunday of Advent
Sunday, December 15, 2024, 10 am
Today is Sunday School with Joan!
First, children will be in worship. Following the Special Music,
the teacher, Joan Culbertson, will lead our children to the Nursery Room.
Anthem A Highway for Our God Choir
Words & Music by Lloyd Larson (Based on Isaiah 40: 3-5)
Prepare the way of the Lord. Make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Make straight a highway for the coming king. Every valley shall be lifted up. Every mountain and hill made low. And the crooked paths shall be made straight, and the rough places plain. And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed. And all people shall see it together. For the mouth of the Lord has spoken it. Prepare the way of the Lord. Make straight in the desert a highway, a highway for our God, the coming King.
Message “The Magnificat, the Song of Mary” Rev. John Song
We have witnessed recently the fantastic toppling of Bashar al-Assad’s regime in lighting speed by rebel groups. Throngs of Syrians rushed to the infamous Sednaya prison known as the “slaughter house” to search for loved ones who had disappeared into the prison system during the 13-year civil war. The notorious Sednaya’s prison doors were thrown wide open liberating tens of thousands of political prisoners unjustly kept for years languishing towards their death.
This is where Magnificat (Latin for “My Soul”) or The Song of Mary that we Christians read in worship during Advent season in preparation for the birth of God’s Son through the womb of Mary. The Gospel of Luke as we know was written between 80-90 CE. At the time, Luke was writing his text when the Jerusalem temple was destroyed for the second time by the Roman emperor Titus. In addition to this, this Palestinian peasant woman, Mary, colonized by Rome refers to herself as a “slave or doule” (The Greek word doule means “female slave or handmaid”.) In Magnificat, we hear from Mary’s pained throat mixed in with the hope crying out for freedom and hope for better tomorrow.
Luke 1: 46-53
Magnificat (Latin for “My Soul”) or The Song of Mary
And Mary said, “My soul magnifies the Lord,
and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
for he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant.
Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed;
for the Mighty One has done great things for me,
and holy is his name.
His mercy is for those who fear him
from generation to generation.
He has shown strength with his arm;
he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts.
He has brought down the powerful from their thrones,
and lifted up the lowly;
he has filled the hungry with good things,
and sent the rich away empty.
to Abraham and to his descendants forever.
“Caged Bird”
By Maya Angelou
A free bird leaps
on the back of the wind
and floats downstream
till the current ends
and dips his wing
in the orange sun rays
and dares to claim the sky.
But a bird that stalks
down his narrow cage
can seldom see through
his bars of rage
his wings are clipped and
his feet are tied
so he opens his throat to sing.
The caged bird sings
with a fearful trill
of things unknown
but longed for still
and his tune is heard
on the distant hill
for the caged bird sings of freedom.
Service of Remembrance of Larry Raymond von Schell
(October 29, 1948 ~ October 19, 2024)
