St. Paul's Church - Willington, Ct

Like two years ago, this December we are once again reflecting on some of the songs we hear this time of year. This morning we looked at the Advent hymn: "Come Thou Long Expected Jesus." We identified the first place in the Bible that sets an expectation for Jesus, and how Jesus perfectly fulfilled it.

On this Thanksgiving Weekend, we heard stories from four people in our congregation (Peter Kelly, Pamela Leggett, Paul Dancosse, and Keith Anderson) about how God has worked in their lives.

Does God ever seem silent to you? Do you struggle with doubt? This Sunday we were joined by guest preacher Dr. Kristina LaCelle-Peterson who offered some profound reflections on this topic.

This Sunday we concluded our series on Jesus' parables from the Gospel of Luke with the Parable of the Persistent Widow. Jesus told this parable to encourage his followers to "always pray and never give up." Why are we tempted to give up? And to give up on what exactly? And how might this parable help us? We considered all this and more.

This Sunday our Parables from the Gospel of Luke series continued with a challenging and even frightening parable: "The Rich Man and Lazarus." It includes fire and torment and a "great chasm." We considered what it all means, and how it should help shape the way we live.

This week we took a break from our parables series as we were joined by our missionary partners, Evan and Chelsey Burgess. Evan brought a message on the meaning and significance of the word "Gospel" - a word that we use frequently but might not fully understand.

Jesus told three parables in a row about lost things being found. A lost sheep. A lost coin. A lost son. We considered what these parables reveal about what God is like, and how they call us to live.

Jesus told a parable about some people who were invited to a party, RSVP'd yes, but then gave lame excuses for not coming at the last minute. This week we considered how this parable is a warning, and what it reveals about the grace of God.

People call someone a "Good Samaritan" if they do a good deed for a stranger. But is there more to being a "Good Samaritan" than that? If we look at Jesus's parable, we find that the common definition of a Good Samaritan leaves out an important aspect of what the Samaritan represents.

Last week when we concluded the Galatians series, we paid special attention to Paul's exhortation: "Do not grow weary of doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we don't give up." Similarly, Jesus also used the analogy of a harvest to describe the results of God's teaching working in our lives. In his "Parable of the Four Soils," he warns us that there are things that can harm or prevent that "harvest." This Sunday we identified what those things are, and how to avoid them.

Today we finished our Galatians series by looking at Paul's concluding commands. These commands, given to help a messed up church develop a healthier community, are just as relevant for churches today as they were then.

Mike Distefano, the Director of Faith and Justice Initiatives at Amirah, joined us this week. Using Jesus' words in John 15, he encouraged us to seek the true source of well-being.

This week, guest speaker John Vampatella showed us how one detail in Scripture (the disciple Simon's identity as a "zealot") can give us wisdom in divisive times.

Paul described three modes of life: (1) Life under the Law, (2) Life in the flesh, and (3) Life in the Spirit. Our minds can shift from one mode to another, sometimes multiple times in a day. This week we identified the signs of each mode, and how we can live more in the Spirit.

In this next section of Galatians, Paul reminds us of four essential qualities of a healthy Christian faith.

We had intended to have a guest speaker this week, but had to cancel service last-minute because of ominous weather reports regarding Hurricane Henri. Instead, Pastor Ryan offered a livestream reflection on John 2, when Jesus turns water into wine. Trust that "the best is saved for last"!

Galatians 4:8 - 4:20 reveals several things about how things are, including the fact that the Church has always had to struggle to be what it is meant to be. But Jesus said that the gates of Hell would not prevail.

Paul said that when the Holy Spirit dwells in us he cries out: "Abba! Father!" What does that mean? There are two main ways to think about yourself: (1) As an orphan in the universe, (2) As a child of the Creator. Jesus taught us to embrace the second option.

Part of the Bible records the Law God gave Moses. In Galatians, Paul argues that obedience to this Law is not necessary for being part of the family of God. But if that's the case, what was the point of the Law? How should we view the parts of the Bible that contain the Law today?

Guest speaker Matt Ricci joined us again, this time to talk about missions: what our mission is, what should motivate it, and the joy of seeing it unfold.