This Sunday, we began a new series for the Advent series, What Do You Fear?: Insisting on Hope This Advent. 

Luke’s Gospel begins the story of Jesus with this opening line: “In the time of Herod…” This detail may seem minor to modern readers, however, it reveals layers of information about the fearful world Jesus entered, one filled with rampant oppression, economic disparity, uncertainty, and instability. A world not so unlike our own. And yet, throughout the stories of Christ’s birth, we hear the whispers of angels delivering a surprising message: “Do not fear.” In our own time, we might ask: is it even possible to be fearless in a fearful world? When Mary, Joseph, the shepherds, and the magi are each called into God’s redemptive story, they do not deny their fears—they move through them. They ask questions, hold fast to courage, trust in good news, and say, “Here I am, Lord.” When we find ourselves in fearful times, can we acknowledge our fears while also insisting on hope?

You can read Rev. Dr. MLK Jr's sermon on fear here.
Olivia Guy-Evan's article "Fight, Flight, Freeze, Or Fawn: How We Respond to Threats" here.
Thanks Johanna for sending this in - if the idea of fawning as a response to threat is new to you, you can listen to an interview with Dr. Ingrid Clayton, author of Fawning: Why the Need to Please Makes Us Lose Ourselves—and How to Find our Way Back here. (Unfortunately this is behind a paywall, but you might have access to it through Spotify, Apple Podcasts, etc.)
One of the many sources for the content of this series is the book Hope: A User's Manual by MaryAnn McKibben Dana.

If you would like to chat about the series between Sundays, you can join the discussion group here.

There is a devotional booklet that goes along with the series. You can pick up a hard copy on Sunday or fill out this form and we will mail one to you.

Our friends at A Sanctified Art have provided a special e-reader version of this year’s Advent devotional, which you can access on your computer and mobile devices: online.flippingbook.com/view/361593675/ (In order to protect their work, please refrain from sharing this link or posting it on social media.)

Thank You!

This week we delivered several boxes of baby and toddler toys to Guatemalan Maya Center. Thank you for your abundant generosity in responding to this need in our community! These gifts will go to immigrant families right here in Lake Worth and Palm Beach County. We received items from as far away as Ohio (thank you Jacobs!) Thank you to our Missions Committee in leading us in this ministry.

For our Advent and Christmas offering this year, we are supporting the Guatemalan Maya Center, an organization that is doing amazing work in caring for and protecting the immigrant community in Palm Beach County. Among the many ways they are doing this is educating the community about how to respond and protect themselves when approached by ICE agents and reuniting children with parents who have been deported. You can join Lake Worth UCC in giving here. Every dollar collected will be matched by the church with the total amount being given to GMC in January. You can give securely online here.

Resources for Staying Centered, Grounded, and Connected

Our friends over at Sojourners magazine have published a fantastic Holiday Survival Guide - a collection of their articles on the holidays from a faith and justice perspective. You can find it here.

Beginning today and for the next two Thursdays, we are invited to join the United Church of Christ in a worship series, Finding Joy in Advent. 

🌟 Join us December 4th @ 3:30 PM Eastern, for Finding Joy in Advent Series, Part I: "Joy as Resistance," with Rev. Dr. Cheryl A. Lindsay, UCC Minister for Worship & Theology, and Rev. Dr. Neal D. Presa, author of "Worship, Justice and Joy: A Liturgical Pilgrimage."

🌟 The season of Advent invites us to embody joy. Yet, the times in which we live may challenge joyful experiences, practices, and encounters.

🌟 Worship helps bridge recognition of the current reality with hope for the future...making space for JOY. We hope you'll join us for some joy this Advent season!

No registration is required. The series will be braocast on YouTube here.

The Hope Circle Book Club

Lake Worth UCC Member Johanna Castillo is facilitating a new group, The Hope Circle Book Club. They meet every other Thursday evening in person in our office and online. They are currently discussing The Book of Hope by Jane Goodall. You can find more information here.

Together: On the Brink of Everything

Our Together group which meets on Wednesday nights at 6:30 will be taking two weeks off and begin meeting again on Wednesday, October 22nd when we will spend a few weeks discussing Parker Palmer's book On the Brink of Everything: Grace, Gravity, and Getting Old.

From beloved and bestselling author Parker J. Palmer (Let Your Life Speak, The Courage to Teach, Healing the Heart of Democracy), comes a beautiful book of reflections on what we can learn as we move closer to "the brink of everything."

Drawing on eight decades of life -- and his career as a writer, teacher, and activist -- Palmer explores the questions age raises and the promises it holds. "Old," he writes, "is just another word for nothing left to lose, a time to dive deep into life, not withdraw to the shallows."

But this book is not for elders only. It was written to encourage adults of all ages to explore the way their lives are unfolding. It's not a how-to-do-it book on aging, but a set of meditations in prose and poetry that turn the prism on the meaning(s) of one's life, refracting new light at every turn.

We will be discussing Chapter 4, "Writing a Life," this Wedensday night on site at 1415 North K St and via Zoom

Spiritual Direction 

Lake Worth UCC member Stacey Harter is a seminary student focusing on spiritual direction. She is currently open to taking new directees. You can learn more about her and spiritual direction at Nautilus Spiritual Direction.

It is easy to give online at our website lakeworthucc.org/give.

Our app is now back up and running on all of your favorite app stores. You can watch services, keep up with what we are doing, and connect with one another. Go to our app page to find the links to download.

Join us at 10:00 on Thursday morning as we gather to catch up with one another! Currently we meet only on Zoom - you can join us here. We will resume in person meetings later in the year.