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1450 East Mitchell
Petoskey Michigan 49770
(231) 347-5448
crossofc@sbcglobal.net
Services:
September through May
Sunday 8:30 a.m.
Sunday 11:00 a.m. w/ Nursery available
Sunday School:
9:45 a.m. to 10:45 a.m.
(Adult forum in the sanctuary;
youth in the lower level fellowship hall)
5th Sundays of a month:
single service @ 10 a.m.
June through August
Sunday 8:30 a.m.
Sunday 10:00 a.m. w/ Nursery available
No Sunday School or Adult forum during the summer
Pastor Sherry McGuffin
Lay Minister:
Jean Smith
Music Director
and Organist:
Kathy Schanski
Choir Director:
Mary Michelsen
Church Secretary:
Tricia Rodgers
We encourage ALL to join us.
Use the links at the top of the main page to navigate our other pages
Food Pantry item
of the month:
Everything
These items can be placed in the bin in the Upper Fellowship area to be donated to Brother Dan's food pantry.
Our website is in its formative stages.
Please contact Tricia with
ideas and suggestions on how the website can be improved to meet your
needs.
Photos currently on this page are the works of Tricia Rodgers
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This week as I have visited many of you, I have
seen many preparations for the Christmas holidays…trees raised, manger
scenes sitting out and prominent, Wednesday night Advent dinners more attended
than ever before…and I give thanks…and my home…well, laundry
piling high, dust thicker than I ever imagined that I would allow, no decorations
up at all…didn't feel like it. After last week's sermon, I decided
that I would come home and prepare the house for the Christmas season…which
I have always done on the day after Thanksgiving…and I do this with
my entire family from Washington DC to Florida…we talk on the phone,
we drink hot drinks and we listen to carols on the radio. Tradition…but
this year, a tradition that I missed…and then on Sunday, after the
youth group left the parsonage, I really had every intention of getting
the house ready…now I don't know if this comes with age or not, but
I have come to realize that I cannot do what I once used to be able to do.
I used to be able to accomplish much more in a day than I can today…But
now, I think that I am slowing down and focusing more on the task at hand…not
just doing it to get done, but doing it and sitting in it and working with
it and experiencing whatever is at hand…it may be slowing down, or
it may be just jumping in a little bit further…which often times causes
other things to lag behind a bit, but I still had to get things done around
the house…I wanted to prepare for the anticipation of the newborn baby
in a manger. I had every intention of preparing my home for Christmas, but
the phone rang, and I can only reach so far on the cord and for hours, talked
and talked and talked to people who called all night long…until midnight.
So needless to say, I didn't decorate last Sunday..
Yet, in visiting your homes and feeling the excitement, the urgency,
the thrill of the season, I did at last join in. I began to give thanks
for all of you, yet again, because in your own traditions and ways of
doing things, you shared the preparations of something huge…something
that is excited and anticipated. I heard your stories of tradition …from
egg nog to reading the Christmas story together while eating waffles and
syrup on Christmas morning…to decorating the Christmas tree on the
last day of Advent. And as we have looked briefly at Advent and Christmas
in different parts of the world, it came to me also that the world is
sharing in the excitement and anticipation and preparation of the birth
of our Savior…Children's Christmas pageants are happening all over
the world.
And so…on Friday, I pulled out my Advent wreath and candles and
I set up my manger scenes…and this year, I took out Baby Jesus from
the manger scenes that I can and I have hidden him in my home. Something
that I learned from you…And on Christmas day, I will place him in
the manger stall and I will again read the Christmas story..just Charlie
and I…and my family will call and friends will call and all of our
anticipation will be filled with joy. And I give thanks to God for this
community that continues to share the Gospel story from beginning to end
so that the energy of the Holy Spirit moves us into love actions and preparations
for this new day at hand. You prepare the Royal Highway as you chose to
live your lives by serving, loving and empowering others to live healthy
and safe lives….seeking justice and peace and walking humbly with
our God.
That is what John the Baptist is crying in the wilderness…prepare…and
no, he doesn't mean with Advent wreathes and the sort, but prepare by
turning towards God…see what God is calling us to do, to be and to
live. John preaches that we are to repent which literally means, to change
our direction and turn towards God….and that in doing so, the valley's
and hills would be made equal! Imagine that! In the first few verses of
the Gospel reading today, John lists all of the rulers and the leaders
who are at the top…John's prophecy that everyone will be on the same
level path probably was very offensive to them. Yet, John knew and proclaimed
truth: The work of God, of God's son, will turn the world upside down…and
those of us who believe that we are better than anyone else in the world,
will soon be in the valleys…and those who have been judged by humankind
as not worthy or good enough or too much of a sinner, will be turned and
brought up to the mountain tops…the ordinary will become extraordinary…and
those who believe that they are extraordinary…well….they will
fall…and not out of revenge or hatefulness or neglect, but out of
shear humility.
When I first moved to Michigan, I received an email with jokes from one
of my seminary professors…jokes about Michigan…one of them being
the state mascot is the orange barrels on the highway…a sign that
they are always being repaired, renewed…fixed. When my cousin Rachel
and I were in Chicago, I made a wrong decision at a subway stop and we
got pretty lost in an area that we probably had no business being in.
When we told our shuttle driver about the incident the next morning on
our way back to the subway he said, "Just remember, whatever you
did wrong yesterday is still wrong today." This is true, but for
you and I and for an entire world invited into the everlasting embrace
of our Lord and Savior, we also get to experience the gifts of the Christchild.
We have the privilege of confession and repentance. We get to turn towards
Christ with the help of the Holy Spirit. We are invited to share the good
news that on this pathway of preparation we meet a man who lived and walked
the path and continues to be present with us today…and as the state
of Michigan is witness, those orange barrels don't go away for long…the
roads get broken again by plowing and digging and wrecks…and so do
we…we are cleansed by Jesus Christ, and we are renewed by him, and
we are human…and so we are broken and are called to return to God
over and over again and God's grace prevails! We are covered in a love
that is so very faithful and safe and we are able to stand again with
open arms to serve and to love.
God's grace and peace to you as you navigate the path. Remember to seek
the Lord who is always there with you…turn towards God in decision
making and love one another as you have never loved before! That is living
life abundant! That is preparing the Royal Highway. Amen
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