This week our congregation marked the passing of two of our beloved members: Victoria Woodworth and Anna Pistole. Some of us attended Victoria’s funeral on Friday and yesterday Anna’s memorial service was held here.

This past Monday our nation observed “Martin Luther King Jr. Day.” King was our country’s most famous civil rights leader. He was struck down by an assassin’s bullet on April 4, 1968, at the young age of 39, leaving behind a widow and four small children.

The Jews have a ritual called Yahrzeit. This is a Yiddish word that means “anniversary,”
and it refers to the one-year anniversary of someone’s death. On the Yahrzeit, a Jew who has been in grief marks the official end of the period of mourning by saying a special prayer for mourners

What a big baby King Herod was to be afraid of a little baby! But what else should we expect from a tyrant? Herod was a tyrant. A tyrant is a political leader who puts his own personal concerns above truth and justice.

It’s that time again, that time of year, Christmas Eve. But what time is that exactly? Do we really know what time it is? Or are we just following a calendar that tells us it’s December 24th again? Are we here tonight because there is something missing in our lives that we can find only in church?

Martin Luther began the Protestant Reformation in 1517 when he protested against the Catholic Church for fleecing the poor and gullible. His protest later turned into a more sustained theological critique of the Catholic Church for failing to preach the gospel correctly according to the New Testament.

I’ll bet you didn’t know that my uncle was John the Baptist. Well, he was. It’s just that he was a different John the Baptist from the one Jesus knew. You see, I had an uncle named John who was a Baptist.

Today is the first Sunday in Advent. Advent is the beginning of the Christian year. During Advent we anticipate the celebration of Christmas. At Christmas, of course, we remember the birth of Jesus. This is a form of looking back, looking back to a time when we believe something very special happened that we don’t want to forget.

Today we celebrate “All Saints Day.” This is the day we remember those in this congregation who have died or those close to this congregation who have died. We acknowledge their lives and mourn their passing, and we give thanks for their influence on our lives and the example they gave us by the way they lived their lives.