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Showing posts from 2019

"Are We There Yet? Joy" - Sermon, December 15, 2019

Community UMC, Quincy “Are We There Yet? Joy” Rev. Andrew Davis December 15, 2019 Isaiah 35: 1-10 Matthew 11: 2-11             As we are a little further into our Advent journey this morning, the questions “are we there yet?” Or “is it over yet?” might be getting a little more intense as we get closer to Christmas.  As of today, we are halfway there, although Christmas Day is only a week away from this coming Wednesday!!  It’s coming up faster than we may have imagined and surprisingly, I’m way ahead of the game this year when it comes to preparations, as all the worship bulletins are pretty well done, the choir is ready for their big moment at the Courthouse Sing this afternoon and will be ready for the 7:00pm Christmas Eve service, and the pageant is coming together nicely for next Sunday.  I can say for me, as busy as this season has been, I am actually feeling a good deal of peace, hope, and joy this year.  I’m really feeling more like Clark Griswald or Buddy the Elf

"Are We There Yet? Hope" - Sermon from December 8, 2019

Community UMC, Quincy “Are We There Yet? Hope” Rev. Andrew Davis December 8, 2019 Isaiah 11: 1-10 Matthew 3: 1-12 How’s your Advent journey going so far?  Have you said, “are we there yet?” as we make our way to Christmas?  I admit that I feel a little off kilter with Advent this year, as I am used to talking about my favorite word, hope on the first Sunday of Advent, not the second Sunday.  Better now than never, though.  With the way the Scriptural  texts fall  in the RCL, we started with peace last week, which makes sense since this is the time of the year where we hear the message of “peace and good will on earth and towards all” as we prayer to welcome the prince of peace, and because we are always in need of peace, in our world and our hearts.  Like peace, we are always in need hope as we continue  our Advent journey, even though our journey might take us through the dessert, up the mountain, back into the valley, or even when we have unplanned stops along the way.

"Are We There Yet? Peace" - Sermon for December 1, 2019

Community UMC, Quincy “Are We There Yet? Peace” Rev. Andrew Davis December 1, 2019 Isaiah 2: 1-5 Matthew 24: 36-44             Since we are coming off of Thanksgiving and now looking towards Christmas, the holidays can bring back memories of getting in the car or hopping on a plane or train to visit loved ones.  How many of you remember such trips to visit family during the holidays?  The longest I think my family traveled for Thanksgiving or Christmas that I can remember was to Cameron Park, as work schedules often prevented us from traveling out of state.  Yet during seminary, I was able to escape to Amesbury, MA one year and Nashville for Thanksgiving other years, then would fly back home on Christmas morning for a couple weeks.  I didn’t mind the flights to Boston or Nashville since they were relatively short, although the flights back to CA could be a stretch.  Inevitably, that dreaded phrase, “are we there yet?” would start crossing my mind about the last hour of t

"Allegiance to the Reign" - Sermon, November 24, 2019

Community UMC, Quincy “Abiding in the Reign: Allegiance to the Reign” Rev. Andrew Davis November 24, 2019 Jeremiah 23: 1-6 Luke 23: 32-43             Once again, time has flown by this year, as here we are at the edge of another holiday with Thanksgiving coming this Thursday, then it will be all about Christmas until December 25.  Meanwhile, in the church, we come to the end of the church year with today being Christ the King, or Reign of Christ Sunday.  It’s one of those preacher’s conundrum’s, as we have both Thanksgiving and Christ the King Sunday, as this is the first time this has come up in my time of being a pastor.  While Thanksgiving has been around much longer, Christ the King Sunday is a fairly new construct in the Christian year, as we look at Jesus’s kingship this morning and conclude our November worship series, “Abiding in the Reign.”    To set some historical context for this morning, Christ the King Sunday was created in 1925 by Pope Pius XI.  During t

"Shaped by the Reign" - Sermon, November 17, 2019

Community UMC, Quincy “Abiding in the Reign: Shaped by the Reign” Rev. Andrew Davis November 17, 2019 Isaiah 65: 17-25 Luke 21: 5-19             One of my favorite traditions in our church is the Annual Fall Dinner, which is fitting since I love good food.  I was bummed that I had to miss last year’s Fall dinner, although my sister’s wedding in Santa Barbara at that time was a joyous occasion to be a part of.  One of the hallmarks of our Fall Dinner is that no matter how close to panic-level we might get to in  preparing for it, everything always comes together in the end and everyone steps up in one way or another, as we have many doers in our congregation.  Except it’s not possible without the organization it takes, ranging from Jackie & Kitty & John, along with everyone who made pies, roasted turkeys, made mashed potatoes, stuffing, gravy, salads, and for all who were hosts/hostesses, and anyone who helped in any way is amazing!!** Being able to offer our gi

"The Spirit Abides" - Sermon, November 10, 2019

Community UMC, Quincy “Abiding in the Reign: The Spirit Abides” Rev. Andrew Davis November 10, 2019 Haggai 1: 5b-2:9 Luke 20: 27-40             We have made it through the first week of November and one of the busiest weeks too, filled with administrative meetings, worship committee, Christian education, and charge conference in addition to all the other activities that regularly happen around our church.  And yesterday, we celebrated the life of Marian Gonzalez and once again, I am grateful for everything we do as a church, and especially the love you have shown and continue to show Barbara, (Angela) Andrea, and Leah as we remembered Marian and the love she showed her family.  God’s Spirit abided with us through this past week and continues to abide with us today and beyond.   Of course, this coming week is one of our biggest events of the year, as we host our annual Fall Dinner on Thursday afternoon and into the evening, welcoming hundreds of people to our campus for