George Hermanson

Christmas Eve - A Night of Hosting

Year A, B, C, Season of Christmas
Christmas Eve / Day
December 24 / 25, 2010

Faith-provoking, historical insights into the lesson by David Ewart, Luke 2:1-4, (15-20).

December 24, 2007
Edwards (Knox) United Church
Christmas Eve

Merry Christmas to all.

Isaiah 9:2-7
Read the passage: The Message   or   The New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

Luke 2:1-14 (15-20)
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The Rev. Dr. George Hermanson

We gather to catch our breath, to clear out the busyness of the days, to awaken out imaginations.  We gather to rehearse, retell, and re-sing a formative story of our faith. We come to reflect and sing.  In this time there is a note of wild and joyous exuberance in the songs we sing.  "Rejoice!  Exult!  Sing aloud!  Shout!  I will bring you home says the Lord"  No wonder these phrases get picked up in great liturgical music.  It is hard to sit still.  Isaiah sings: "Surely God is my salvation!  My Strength! Sing aloud!  Sing for Joy!"  Mary belts out her song.  She sings with confidence in what God has done.

Now A Good Word For Joseph

Year A, Season of Advent
Advent 4
Sunday Between December 18 and December 24 Inclusive
December 19, 2010

Faith-provoking, historical insights into the lesson by David Ewart, Matthew 1:18-25.

December 23, 2007
Edwards (Knox) United Church
Fourth Sunday of Advent

Isaiah 7:1-7
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Matthew 1:18-25
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The Rev. Dr. George Hermanson

We come to the last Sunday of our waiting with two stories of expectation.  The first is a warning from Isaiah to the king.  The King has been worried about the wrong things.  He has been focused on issues that are transitory and missed the bigger problem waiting there in the future of his kingdom.

Fear, Comfort, Joy

Year A, Season of Advent
Advent 3
Sunday Between December 11 and December 17 Inclusive
December 5, 2010

Faith-provoking, historical insights into the lesson by David Ewart, Matthew 11:2-11.

December 16, 2007
Edwards (Knox) United Church
Third Sunday of Advent

Isaiah 35:1-10
Read the passage: The Message   or   The New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

Matthew 11:2-11
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The Rev. Dr. George Hermanson

In Advent we explore  anticipation and waiting as ways of teaching our emotions.  There is power in the practice of waiting before we move into new territories of life.  Anticipation can form our hearts for new adventures and new ways of being.  Anticipation can build excitement and energy for the events and tasks of life.  Waiting sorts the helpful feelings of anticipation from the unhelpful so it can inform our acting.

Times Are Achanging

Year A, Season of Advent
Advent 2
Sunday Between December 4 and December 10 Inclusive
December 5, 2010

Faith-provoking, historical insights into the lesson by David Ewart, Matthew 3:1-12.

December 9, 2007
Edwards (Knox) United Church
Second Sunday of Advent

Isaiah 11:1-10
Read the passage: The Message   or   The New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

Psalm 72:1-7, 18-19
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Romans 15:4-13
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Matthew 3:1-12
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The Rev. Dr. George Hermanson

What a roller coaster of readings this morning.  An emotional ride of seeming contractions - threat and peace.  The Isaiah reading for Advent 1 looked forward to a time when Zion would be made the highest of all mountains, to which the nations would come for instruction in the Way of God, the reign of peace initiated by coming root of Jesse will transform the entire created order.  Not only will nations cease from warfare, but even natural enemies, predators and prey, will not hurt or destroy. In some of the most quoted lines from scripture, the prophet foresees that “The wolf shall live with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the kid, the calf and the lion and the fatling together, and a little child shall lead them.” Cows and bears, lions and oxen, snakes and human children will coexist without injury or harm. It is the fullness of Peace—the Harmony of harmonies, reconciling intensities in mutual richness of life. There  there will be shalom, wholeness, completeness, shared well-being, in the broadest biblical sense of the term. All this will happen because the earth—not just the human population, but the entire world-fabric itself—“will be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.”

Being A Light In Difficult Times

Year A, Season of Advent
Advent 1
Sunday Between November 27 and December 3 Inclusive
November 28, 2010

Faith-provoking, historical insights into the lesson by David Ewart, Matthew 24:36-44.

December 2, 2007
Edwards (Knox) United Church
Advent 1

Isaiah 2:1-5
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Matthew 24:36-44
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The Rev. Dr. George Hermanson

There is a building on Bank and Somerset that is in the news. You know the one - the old heritage building where the interior collapsed and left the outside walls, the facade, standing.  No one seems to know why it happened. But the building is so unstable that they have had to close the street to traffic.  The slightest vibration could bring the rest crashing down.  From the outside it looks fine - red brick and white plaster.  A lovely old building, a heritage building, so of course we must keep it, no matter how long it takes to repair and rebuild.