You are invited to the in-person Worship Service on Dec. 17 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 or 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 17, 2023, 10 am
This Sunday 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.
Lighting the Third Advent Candle Gomez/Bernabe Family
Mr. Irrelevant, Brock Purdy
Children’s Time “Last Shall Be First” Pastor John
Special Music
Jingle Bells Ethan Abenoja, Piano
Walking in the Air Elizabeth Reitano, Piano
Happy Birthday, Gentle Savior Elizabeth & Ethan, Duet
Message The Magnificat, the Song of Mary Rev. John Song
Part 3) “He has brought down the Powerful from their Thrones”
In this part of the Advent series “The Magnificat, the Song of Mary,” we will explore the topic of authoritarianism. Around the world today, authoritarianism is ascendant and democracy is in decline. We will examine America’s thirst for authoritarianism in both the political and religious spheres and its threat to our democracy. Why are people drawn to the seduction of strong men? What lessons can we learn from history? What can we do to fight against authoritarianism? How is God speaking to us today?
“Man has always been his own most vexing problem.”
~ Reinhold Niebuhr, the 20th century American theologian from The Nature and Destiny of Man
“Ultimately evil is done not so much by evil people, but by good people
who do not know themselves and who do not probe deeply.”
~ Reinhold Niebuhr, the 20th century American theologian
“Evil is ‘militant ignorance’. Evil actively and militantly refuses consciousness.
Evil attempts to escape and hide from their own conscience through self-deception.”
~ M. Scott Peck, People of the Lie: The Hope for Healing Human Evil, 1998
“Those who would give up essential Liberty,
to purchase a little temporary Safety,
deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.”
~ Ben Franklin
“Man’s capacity for justice makes democracy possible,
but man’s inclination to injustice makes democracy necessary.”
~ Reinhold Niebuhr, the 20th century American theologian
“Learning history is an antidote to the hubris of the present.”
~ David McCullough, the 20th century American historian
