Sermons

Advent Candle of Love

Sermon for December 20, 2015: Fourth Sunday of Advent
Rev. Amy Welin:Today we light the fourth Advent candle of Love. This last Sunday in Advent is all about our longing and expectation, and the Love that fulfills those desires. In that light, there is something wonderful about Mary of Nazareth. I am not talking about the Mary of statues and popular paintings. That Mary is often smiling faintly, as if she knows a secret. She is completely serene, and sometimes she is holding her baby Jesus. But the statues and paintings do not capture the spirit of the Mary of the gospels. Mary of Nazareth was faithful and courageous and surprising. God chose her to fulfill an important and challenging role, and she fulfilled it gracefully. Read More Read more • Leer más → “Advent Candle of Love”
Sermons

Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say, Rejoice!

Sermon for December 13, 2015: Third Sunday of Advent
Rev. Amy Welin: When our circumstances feel the most dire, it is time to seize moments of joy. That is the theology of the song We Need a Little Christmas. I found myself humming it on Tuesday afternoon after reading the article about St John’s in the Waterbury Republican.
 
We light the Advent candle of joy on Gaudete Sunday. Gaudete is the command to rejoice, echoed in Paul’s epistle. In the ancient church , this was the Sunday that answered the children’s question are we there yet? with a liturgical almost. On Gaudete Sunday, the faithful were exempted from the Advent fast, and the priests wore vestments colored rose to signify the joy of the day. We are nearly to Christmas, and we need to rejoice, because although the nights are dark and long and the news is not all good, the Day of the Lord is very near. Read More Read more • Leer más → “Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say, Rejoice!”
Sermons

The dawn from on high shall break upon us

Sermon for December 6, 2015: Second Sunday of Advent
Rev. Amy Welin: We light the candle of peace on the Advent wreath today, in a world overflowing with violence and anxiety, which resists and even crushes the messengers of peace. We live under the pall of terrorist threats and economic uncertainty, with the painful memory of Sandy Hook and San Bernardino. If we could implore St Nicholas to leave us a little present today (because today is the Feast of St Nicholas), which of us would not implore the Wonderworker to leave us peace instead of coins or chocolate? Read More Read more • Leer más → “The dawn from on high shall break upon us”
Sermons

When these things begin to take place, stand up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near

Sermon for November 29, 2015 (First Sunday of Advent)
Rev. Amy Welin:
Thanksgiving is past and now we begin the journey to Christmas. It feels a bit anti-climactic, doesn’t it, when the decorations have been up in all the stores for at least a month? The world is already busy with the business of getting ready for the retailing blitz. And in church, we take a moment to slow down, and to be quiet, to prepare for the coming of God among us.
 
We begin Advent with a bleak reminder that the world as we know it is going to come to an end. This is the way the world ends, according to the Bible: with wars, and conflict, and terror. Get ready.
 
Nothing like adding a little edge to the season of preparation, is there? Read More Read more • Leer más → “When these things begin to take place, stand up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near”
Sermons

Who gets to be Mary?

Sermon for December 21, 2014 (Fourth Sunday in Advent)
Rev. Amy Welin (4 Advent): Who gets to be Mary? In some parishes, that question generates a great deal of competition. Little girls and their mothers posture for the honor of being asked to play the Virgin Mary in the annual Christmas pageant. Everyone wants to be Mary because it is considered an honor to portray the Mother of God. But in the scripture, it seems that even Miriam of Nazareth (that is probably her real name - it is changed in the Greek of the gospels) is not so sure that she wants to be Mary. Read More Read more • Leer más → “Who gets to be Mary?”
Sermons

Sermon: Third Sunday in Advent

Sermon for December 14, 2014 (Third Sunday in Advent)
Rev. Amy Welin: Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances . . . Today is the third Sunday in Advent. In the early church, today was called Gaudete Sunday – (Anglicans call it Rejoicing Sunday because we don’t use a lot of Latin). We are more than half way through the season of Advent, when we remember that God came into the world (advent means to “come into”). This Sunday is set apart for special rejoicing, because we know that the Lord is near. And so we light rose colored candles on Advent wreaths, and some priests put on rose colored vestments, as a visible sign of an invisible reality. Read More Read more • Leer más → “Sermon: Third Sunday in Advent”
Sermons

Advent reminds us that we need to reorganize our lives and re-think what is most important to us

Sermon for December 7, 2014 (Second Sunday in Advent)
Rev. Amy Welin:
Advent reminds us that we need to reorganize our lives and re-think what is most important to us. We are going to celebrate the birth of the Messiah. The Christ. The one who took away the sins of the world and the one who has given us eternal life. Life is often difficult and the headlines are usually depressing. And we have every good reason to be hopeful. Not optimistic. Hopeful. How shall we show the world where we put our hope? Read More Read more • Leer más → “Advent reminds us that we need to reorganize our lives and re-think what is most important to us”
News • Noticias

Advent Message 2014 • Mensaje Adviento 2014

I love Advent. It is the anticipation to the fulfillment of a promise.The wonderful thing about Advent is that the season invites us to spend some intentional time in reflection and preparation for God's coming into our lives through the person of Jesus Christ.
 
By our baptism, each of us is like Mary, knowing that God works invisible miracles that change us from within. And as we wait for the transformation to unfold, we participate in the birthing of a new life. This gradual process takes time and it is life changing.
 
There are many other preparations we make for the holidays: cleaning, shopping, wrapping gifts. I encourage you to give yourself a wonderful spiritual gift. Allow some quiet time each day for prayer and meditation on God's decision to be born as a human baby, poor and in a stable. Allow yourself some time to prepare your heart and soul for the presence of Christ in the year to come.
 
Faithfully / Bendiciones,
 
Amy+
Me encanta el Adviento. Es la anticipación al cumplimiento de una promesa.Lo maravilloso de Adviento es que la temporada nos invita a pasar un momento intencional en la reflexión y la preparación para la venida de Dios en nuestras vidas a través de la persona de Jesucristo.
 
Por nuestro bautismo, cada uno de nosotros es como María, sabiendo que Dios hace milagros invisibles que nos cambian desde dentro. Y mientras esperamos que la transformación a desplegarse, participamos en el nacimiento de una nueva vida. Este proceso gradual toma tiempo y es un cambio de vida.
 
Hay muchas otras preparaciones que hacemos para las fiestas: la limpieza, compras, envolver regalos. Le animo a darse un don espiritual maravilloso. Deje un poco de tranquilidad cadadía para la oración y la meditación de la decisión de Dios para nacer como un bebé humano, pobre y en un establo. Deje un poco tiempo para preparar su corazón y el alma de la presencia de Cristo en el año por venir.
 
Faithfully / Bendiciones,
 
Amy+ Read more • Leer más → “Advent Message 2014 • Mensaje Adviento 2014”
Sermons

Give us grace to cast away the works of darkness, and put on the armor of light

Sermon for November 30, 2014 (First Sunday in Advent)
Rev. Amy Welin:
Today we begin Advent, the first season of the church year, which is dedicated to our spiritual preparation for the coming of God. We wait – and we wait actively, not passively. We are supposed to cast away the works of darkness and use the armor of light to transform ourselves and the world. It is difficult for me to consider new beginnings without also considering what we need to leave behind. And there is a lot that we need to leave behind, because our lives depend on it! We live in times when the fragile light of our shared humanity seems to be disappearing in works of darkness. Read More Read more • Leer más → “Give us grace to cast away the works of darkness, and put on the armor of light”