Weekly Message from Rev. Beck, 2023

November 24, 2023

Dear Friends in Christ,

The Sundays in Pentecost – sometimes we call this the long green season – are coming to a close. We’ve been preparing for the season’s end in recent weeks as our readings, particularly the Gospel, have been about the last things. Be watchful. Get ready. All as we know it will one day end. We know that our bodies last for a brief while. When things pass, God promises the culmination of this age will bring a new dawn and the completion of God’s transforming ways. All will be as God intends. God’s transformational ways are meant to reassure us, to keep us on task, and to keep us looking forward. “It gets better,” to borrow a popular phrase. With God, there is always something to look forward to for those who believe. Even as we wind down the remaining days of last things, we turn to Advent, beginning for us next Wednesday and continuing Wednesdays in Advent until Christmas. At 6:00 PM, we join our invited friends from the Trinitarian Church, gathering around a potluck supper, faith conversation, and Taize worship at Trinity. Advent is about three things: Christ’s anticipated return, Jesus’ anticipated birth, and the Spirit of Christ present among us between the two. This Sunday, the final one after Pentecost, known as Christ the King, we celebrate the reign of Christ for now and all time. Faithfully,

We continue to pray for the Lewiston community:
God of peace, we remember all those who have died in incidents of mass
gun violence in this nation’s public and private spaces, and this week in
Lewiston. Let light perpetual shine upon them.
All those who have died in any incident of gun violence.
Give to the departed eternal rest. Let light perpetual shine upon them.
For survivors of gun violence. Grant them comfort and healing.
Hear us, Lord.
For those who have lost loved ones to gun violence. Grant them peace.
Hear us, Lord.
For those first responders who care for victims of gun violence.
Protect and strengthen them.
Hear us, Lord.
Lord, have mercy. Christ, have mercy. Lord, have mercy.
(Source: Bishops Against Gun Violence)
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