Hope, Peace, Love, and Joy Actually
CCW Weekly Brief for Sunday, December 7th
Dear Friends,
I remember seeing the movie Love Actually at the Davis Theatre in Lincoln Square. I had always been a sucker for the romance movies with Hugh Grant in a posh London setting—Four Weddings and a Funeral, Notting Hill, About a Boy—but I didn’t like it all. I remember being bored and annoyed through most of it.
Over the past twenty years, though, Love Actually has become one of the modern holiday classics. Like Elf and A Christmas Story, it has landed on the list of Christmas movies that you watch over and over again with your family. And I have to say, it has grown on me.
There is something about holiday traditions and themes that we turn to over and over again each year that shape us. They are the same stories and the same songs and the same decorations, but we encounter them a little differently each year. After all, we are a little different each year.
Coming into the beautifully decorated sanctuary this year, my experience of it is shaped a little by the memory of how lonely it felt to be in there filming worship services on my own last year. I am encountering the decorations in a new way.
In the same way, we encounter the themes of Advent each year. Hope, peace, joy, and love. And each year, they speak to me a little differently. We are invited during Advent to remember the hope of the prophets, the peace that John the Baptist called for, the the joy of new life, and the love that Mary shared with the world with her radical yes that lies at the center of the of the nativity stories. This year, I am curious about how I can say yes to hope, peace, joy, and love in more healthy and life-giving ways.
How can I say yes in ways that allow me to share my life and my gifts in my communities more deeply and more honestly?
In one of the pivotal scenes of Love Actually, the slightly stalker-ish Mark shows up at Juliette’s house—a woman he knows he can never really have a romantic relationship with. As Christmas music plays, he tells her via poster board messages that he loves her. One card reads: “To me, you are perfect.”
One of the ways I want to learn to live fully this season is by looking for beauty instead of flaws and looking for good intentions instead of mistakes—both in others and in myself. I want to slow down and remember that the Holy One has declared each and every one of us beloved. There will always be space for us to change and grow and we will come stumbling back in the holidays a little different next year.
But even now, the Holy One is whispering to us: “To me, you are perfect.”
Hope, peace, joy, and love,
Rob
Join Us For Worship
Join us in the CCW Sanctuary this Sunday morning at 10:00 am as we continue to celebrate Advent. Our Pastoral Intern Anna Piela will be preaching about John the Baptist’s call to prepare the way of the Lord. Music will be led by CCW Music Director Winifred Brown and our friend Reid Taylor.
Carol Brigham will be serving as our worship leader and Rich Winship will be our usher. This week’s coffee hour will be hosted by David Kwo.
To stream the service via Zoom, please visit our website at www.ccwilmette.org and click on the link at the top of the page.
Living and Serving Together
Updated from Missions and Outreach
Turkeys have been delivered and thanksgiving is in the rear view. Thank you so much for the New Trier Food Pantry gift cards already coming our way.
We’re also collecting for Night Ministry, underwear, socks, gloves and hats, toiletries, gently used coats, individually wrapped food items and drinks, and gift cards to Starbucks or fast food restaurants. An added value of these gift cards is that it allows use of a bathroom without a hassle.
The mild weather has been a blessing for folks on the street, but it won’t last forever. As always, thanks for your overwhelming generosity.
Thanks!
Judy
Christmas Party at the Grodrians on Saturday, December 11th at 6:00 pm
Everyone is invited to join Tim and Marilyn Grodrian in their home on Saturday, December 11th at 6:00 pmfor the Annual CCW (not so progressive anymore…) Christmas Party. The Grodians are providing ham and everyone is encouraged to bring a side dish to share as well as a bottle of wine.
Monthly Congregational Meeting on Sunday, December 12th
Our monthly meeting to hear updates from the pastor and our ministry teams is scheduled for after worship on Sunday, December 12th. During the meeting, we will hear brief updates from our ministry teams and will be discussing:
To participate in the meeting via Zoom, please click on the button below. Please note, we will be starting our meeting at approximately 11:15 am.
Buy Poinsettias to Help Decorate the Sanctuary for Christmas
CCW’s Deacons are coordinating our annual poinsettia sale. Community members are encouraged to buy plants in honor of or in memory of loved ones or someone special. This year, our poinsettias will cost $15 per plant. The poinsettias will be in the Sanctuary beginning on Sunday, December 19th and continuing through Christmas Eve. You are welcome to take home your purchased poinsettias after our Christmas Eve service.
Envelopes to purchase poinsettias will be available in the CCW Lounge. You can also email our office manager Peggy Lavelle at plavelle@ccwilmette.org with information about your purchase. Please include the number of poinsettias you would like to purchase and the information about who the plants are in memory of or in honor of. This information will be included in the Christmas bulletins.
To make an online payment for your poinsettias, please click on the button below and choose “Poinsettias and Easter Lilies” in the Use This Donation For menu.