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On the hillsides, hope was heard singing unexpected Hallelujahs. In a Bethlehem backwater, hope hovered and love was born. (Sally Foster Fulton)

Advent 2 Bulletin-Peace

Sacrament of Baptism Literagy

Announcement Insert

Shining Waters Regional Council Prayer Cycle:

Today we pray for: Wasauksing First Nation United Church, Bethune United Church, Baysville, 
Bathurst Street United Church, Toronto

Minute for Mission:

Food for the North  "....One of the programs your Mission and Service gifts support is Food for the North, which serves Canada’s most remote northern communities. Food is not just scarce there but also incredibly costly."

Prayer:

May Your Peace Prevail: Advent 2 prayer

Help Us to Be Brave:  God gives us the courage to be brave.

Peace

Every time I say "peace on earth," it feels like an incomplete prayer. Incomplete, because I am immediately filled with an angst that compels me to do something: scream, write, make music, create something – anything, even if no one will ever encounter it. A part of me needs the universe to know that I am not merely uttering trite words perpetually stuck in my throat.

Around now, so many of the words and sayings that I hear and use feel jagged. How many times can I say "peace on earth" while there is no peace? How many times can I declare "love is all you need" while hate rages? Or sing, "all are welcome" while people are excluded? Hope, Peace, Joy, Love – if I am being honest, I am not too sure I actually know what these words mean. What does peace look like in December 2024?

Something I know with certainty is that I want peace on earth now, and that my longing comes from a place of security that is scarce. I can also trust in the peace of Christ that I have experienced in the creation of relationships, friendships, and communities (for me, most often through music). I may not know what peace is yet, and that is okay. It is an aspiration, a dream, that we work towards together. In Advent, I am grateful for this set-apart time to wrestle with what peace means, together.

The hymns and music today… 

Once In Royal David's City (w w Cecil Frances Alexander, m Henry John Gauntlett, desc. David Willcock) – Public Domain

To A Maid Whose Name Was Mary (vss 1-2)  (w Gracia Grindal, m Rusty Edwards)  (P. McDonough) -  – Reprinted and podcast with permission under One License #A-718074 and CCLI Licenses #20425240 and #20425257.  

Born in the Night, Mary's Child (w/m Geoffrey Ainger, harm. Richard D. Wetzel) –  – Reprinted and podcast with permission under One License #A-718074 and CCLI Licenses #20425240 and #20425257.  

Hark! The Herald Angels Sing (w Charles Wesley, m Felix Mendelssobn) - Public Domain

Joy to the World (w  Isaac Watts, attrib. George Frideric Handel) - Public Domain

Hope Is a Star  (w Brian Wren, m Joan Collier Fogg) -  – Reprinted and podcast with permission under One License #A-718074.  

In the Bleak Midwinter (w Christina Georgina Rossetti, m Gustav Theodor)  – Public Domain

Hope Shines as the Solitary Star (w Chatherine F. McLean, m Janet B. Tissander) - Reprinted and podcast with permission under One License #A-718074. 

See, On Mary's Arm He's Sleeping (Winnagene Hatch) 

Christmas Lullaby (John Rutter)

The Magnificat (M. T. Winter) 

The Colours of Christmas (John Rutter)

Chorale Prelude on "In dulci jubilo" (Johann Michael Bach)

The Church Council of Aurora United Church deeply appreciates your financial gifts.  We strive to honour our donors’ wishes at all times. Aurora United Church has a number of ways in which you can contribute to the life and work of our congregation. Consider these many options as you contribute to God's work.   

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