Highland Presbyterian Church

This Sunday is the Super Bowl, and even if you aren't a sports fan it's almost impossible to avoid the buildup to the game. The New York Giants, led by Eli Manning, will play against Tom Brady and the New England Patriots in a rematch of a game from several years ago. It promises to be an interesting game with a pair of well match opponents battling it out for the title of best team in the NFL.

This week is also Souper Bowl Sunday.  Souper Bowl Sunday was started by Spring Valley Presbyterian Church in 1990 as a youth-led drive to collect money for hunger progams in the Columbia, SC area.  The drive soon went national and in 2008 broke the $10 million mark.

This Sunday Highland will be collecting food items and money to go to the Food Connection in Maryville as well as other local, national and international food organizations. Highland is also collecting money for the food program of the Taguasco church, our sister church in Cuba. This program feeds children of the area on Sundays and provides Sunday meals to elderly people in their homes as well, some who are members and some who live in the community (sort of their own version of Meals on Wheels!) 

It will soon be time to renew and replant our Bounty Garden-- another avenue we have for fighting hunger in our own community.  Our Bounty Garden provides fresh produce to the Food Connection to be distributed to clients there. Through these types of programs we make a real difference to people who, even in a country as wealthy as ours, still have inadequate access to food.

The original prayer that spurred this event, by then-seminary-intern Brad Smith, says ""Lord, even as we enjoy the Super Bowl football game, help us be mindful of those who are without a bowl of soup to eat." Together we can help to fulfill this prayer, on behalf of hungry people everywhere.

Blessed is the season that engages the whole world in a conspiricy of love. -Hamilton Wright Mabie

You see glimpses of it everywhere. Someone pays the balance on a layaway for a needy family. Someone pays the bill for the person behind them in the drive through lane.  Someone collects food and toys so that everyone may share in the festivities of the season. Friends and family get together to talk and laugh and enjoy each other's company.

There is love in the air this time of the year. It may be hard to see because normal life doesn't stop on account of it. Wars still go on. Crime happens. People are sick and lonely. We rush around trying to create the "perfect" Christmas experience and make ourselves miserable in the process.

There is love in the air at Christmas. Everyone can feel it, even if they don't know where it comes from. Even if it's only for a moment. Sometimes it's like a virus, spreading from person to person unchecked. Sometimes it's like a flower, filling a room with blazing color and perfume. Sometimes we don't know where it comes from, we just feel it wrap around us like a blanket, warm and soft.

Once there was a baby in a manger, and the whole world stopped to hear his cry. Angels sang, shepherds left their posts to go and see, kings brought him gifts. All because of love. A love that transcends our pitiful humanity.  A love that will one day bring peace to the world. A love that we can share with others today.

The readings from our Advent Sunday school are available in the sanctuary. Below are the questions that go along with the readings. Please join us for Week 3, The Gift of Joy.

Readings and questions are from the study, "Christmas Gifts That Won't Break" by James W. Moore.

Week 1
1. What does Advent mean to you? Why is it important? What do you hope to receive from participating in this small group?
2. Think about the encounter of Joseph and the angel. What feelings do you think Joseph experienced?
3. Why are names important? Think about some of the ways in which names are chosen. Describe why and how you received your name.
4.List the meanings of the name Jesus. Why do you think this name is appropriate?
5. In what ways could Jesus have been considered a wall-breaker during his ministry?
6. In what ways does Jesus represent the gift of hope?

Week 2
1. Think about a time when you experienced the gift of love. How did it make you feel? How did you respond?
2. What connections do you see between John 3:16 and the Christmas season?
3. List some of the many ways that love of family can be shown. What are some examples from your own experience?
4. What are some of the ways in whihc hte act of loving other people brings about and enhances Christmas?
5. Why is love the perfect gift? List some of the many reasons this gift is cherished?
6. What are some ways we can show our love for God at Christmas?

Week 3 
1. Name some time sin life when we experience joy. What are some examples from your own life?
2. The name Emmanuel means "God is with us." What are some reasons this is so?
3. What does "joyful encouragement" mean to you? What are some examples from your own life?
4. In your experience, does Christmas bring out thoughfulness in people? Why do you think this is so?
5. What are some ways in whihc we experience the joy of graciousness at Christmas?
6. When you think of the Christmas gift of joy, what thoughts or images come to mind?

Week 4
1. Think of times in your life when you needed the gift of peace. Did you receive it? Why or why not?
2. What does it mean to be a peacemaker and give the gift of peace?
3. During the Christmas season, what are some of the ways in which we receive the gift of peace?
4. What are some of the ways we can seek inner peace? Recall some of the times in which you successfully found inner peace.
5. What factors can prevent us from being at peace with others? List some simple ways to become a more peaceful person.

I have said these things to you while I am still with you. But hte Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything and remind you of all that I have said to you.  -John 14:25

Yesterday I went to swim. I love to swim, I love being in the water, I love the up and back rhythm of swimming laps. I find it very relaxing and peaceful, which I don't find in other forms of exercise. The trick to swimming is that instead of fighting against the water, you have to let it do the work. If take it easy and let go of your fears about sinking, you'll find that it's easy to float because the tension of the surface of the water holds you up. In fact, it's a lot harder to make yourself sink than it is to float on top of the water.

Sometimes our church life is like swimming. Too often we fight against the movement of the Spirit, when it is the Spirit we should be relying on to hold us up. The Holy Spirit came to humanity, at Christ's request, to be our Advocate, our Helper and our Comforter, and so we can trust the movement of the Spirit in our hearts and minds to lead us in the direction God intends for us to go. Rather than struggling to figure out ourselves what God is asking of us, we can let the Holy Spirit take us where we need to go. If we let the Spirit do the work we will find that we are supported and comforted in remarkable ways.

So how do we know it's the Spirit moving in us and not just our own desires? For me it's the small, still voice that makes me restless, or that Knowing that something is right or wrong. It is the "aha!" moment when everything comes clear.  It is the creative flash that goes beyond my own abilities. It is the feeling of floating, of being supported and helped by something larger than myself. It is the Spirit of God living in me, as it also lives in you.   

As I'm looking out my office window, it is a grey rainy day. Most of the trees around the church thta I can see have lost their leaves, except for one bright red tree by the building next door. We're deep in the throes of fall; Advent begins a week from Sunday and Christmas and New Years are right around the corner.

Time always passes quickly for me in the churches I serve as interim pastor. It usually seems as if I just get to know the people and it's time to move on. I've been here at Highland for a little over 6 months, which is about the halfway point if things go forward smoothly. Most churches I serve I only have one Advent season and one Lenten season and some ordinary time-- and then I'm off to something new. But this is a good thing, because when we get to that point I know I've done my job and the church will move forward into the future God has for them.

The second letter of Peter tells us that "with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years is like one day." When we get in a hurry to live our lives, when we get so busy that we can't see straight and the days just run together; when the seasons of the year come faster and faster; when we are frustrated and feel abandoned by God because things don't happen as fast as we want them to, we can remember these words and take comfort in the fact that God is with us always-- and not just when we command God's presence.