Call to Worship - You are invited to light a candle in your home to welcome the presence of the Holy Spirit
Soon & Very Soon - El Dorado
Passing of the Peace: Through the act of passing the peace of Christ, we offer our sincere desire to love our neighbor.
You are invited to greet one another in the live stream chat on Instagram, YouTube, and Facebook.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
TODAY: During Coffee Hour, we will have a panel discussion with Dr. Jenn Carlier, Rev. Mimi White, pastor of The Way at St. John’s UMC in Memphis, TN, and our own Rick Rives about the relationship between the church and the recovery journey.
DISCIPLE 2 BIBLE STUDY: Mondays at 5:30 PM via Zoom
Classes will resume January 10, 2022
January 10: Chapter 24 - Sent as Witnesses
Day 1: Luke 19:28-48 - Palm Sunday
Day 2: Luke 20-21 - Teaching in the Temple
Day 3: Luke 22 - Betrayal, Passover Meal, the Garden, Arrest and Trial
Day 4: Luke 23 - Crucifixion and Burial
Day 5: Luke 24 - Resurrection and Empty Tomb, Emmaus Road, the Great Command
Day 6: Study Manual, p. 184-19
ADVENT SERMON SERIES: November 28-Jan 2
A Season of Fulfilled Promises:
NOV. 28: JUSTICE & RIGHTEOUSNESS
DEC. 5: PREPARED & UNREADY
DEC. 12: REPENT & REJOICE
DEC. 19: BLESSINGS WHICH AREN'T
DEC. 24: PROMISE FULFILLED - 5:30PM - IN PERSON WORSHIP!
DEC. 26: SABBATH SUNDAY
JAN. 2: EPIPHANY SUNDAY
EL DORADO - SONGS OF THE SEASON
Enjoy the music of our own El Dorado this season here!
GIVING TUESDAY:
VENMO: You can find us here: https://venmo.com/LAFirstUMC
PAYPAL: https://paypal.me/LAFirstUMC
SQUARE: https://checkout.square.site/pay/be673aef7fcb424e98387016d184e57d
UNITED METHODIST RESOURCES:
ADVENT PHOTO A DAY 2021:
The United Methodist Church offers a practice for the Advent season that we hope is more meaningful and rewarding than it is hard: Our Advent Photo-a-Day Challenge. Each day during the season of Advent, we'll post a word for reflection. Take a moment (or several moments) of pause and reflection, then share a response to that word through a picture posted on social media. Post your picture on social media with #RethinkChurch.
You can find 2020’s Advent Song a Day Playlist here.
ADVENT 2021 Song-A-Day Playlist:
November 28 - PROMISE: A Change is Gonna Come - Sam Cooke
29 - FULFILL: Every Valley Shall Be Exalted - Handel’s Messiah: A Soulful Celebration, Lizz Lee, Chris Willis, Mike E.
30 - TIME: What Christmas Means to Me - John Legend, Stevie Wonder
December 1 - JUSTICE: O Holy Night, Brandi Carlile (additionally, Tracy Chapman)2 - RIGHTEOUSNESS: New Compassion - HAERTS
3 - LIVE: Nutcracker Suite: Sugar Rum Cherry (Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy) - Duke Ellington, Harmonie Ensemble
4 - CALLED: Christmas Is - Dolly Parton & Miley Cyrus
5 - HOPE: And He Shall Purify - Handel’s Messiah: A Soulful Celebration, Tramaine Hawkins
6 - MESSENGER
7 - PREPARE
8 - SEEK
9 - DELIGHT
10 - ENDURE
11 - OFFERING
12 - HOME
13 - FEAR
14 - GROW
15 - GLADNESS
16 - VICTORY
17 - RENEW
18 - GATHER
19 - GREAT
20 - WATCH
21 - AWE
22 - AMAZED
23 - TREASURED
24 - SEEN
25 - WORSHIP
*Hospitality Representatives Needed for Our Potentially In Person Christmas Eve Service*
As you may have heard the past two Sundays from Senior Pastor Mandy, we have been planning and preparing to have an in-person service, hopefully, on Christmas Eve at 5:30pm at our home base, our beloved parking lot. In order to make that possible, we are looking for volunteers for our new Hospitality Representatives Team. In order to make sure that all are kept safe under Covid protocols, we will need more hands on deck to greet and guide members and guests so that Mandy and El Dorado and Debbie can focus on the efforts of setting up and running the service. If you think you would be great at this vital new role, please email Debbie at debbie@lafirstumc.org
UMW's Sharing Christmas Dreams Around the World, Saturday Dec 11th 2-3:30 via zoom
Advent-Themed Online Game Available!
An online United Methodist congregation, has developed a choose-your-own-adventure game that can be played on desktop or mobile browsers. In "Not Another Advent Story," players will control the journey of "MC" as they try to make their way to church on Christmas Eve. Find it here!
Church and Society Announces 2021 Winter Webinar Series : Climate & Community: A Faithful Action for Climate Justice , Held on Zoom December 6-9, 2021. Click the titles of the sessions to register for sessions that interest you.
December 6, 2021, 2 PM (ET) Climate Justice as a Global Movement Speaker: Dr. David Pellow, Dehlsen Chair and Professor of Environmental Studies and Director of the Global Environmental Justice Project at the University of California, Santa Barbara.
December 7, 2021, 2 PM (ET) Theological Reflection on Climate Justice Speaker: Rev. Sharon Delgado, is an ordained United Methodist minister, activist and founder and executive director of Earth Justice Ministries.
December 8, 2021, 10 AM (ET) Climate Change and Front-Line Communities Speaker: Dr. Gregory Jenkins, Professor of Meteorology and Atmospheric Science, Geography, and African Studies at Penn State University.
December 8, 2021, 2 PM (ET) Indigenous Climate and Water Justice Speaker: Dr. Kelsey Leonard, is a water scientist, legal scholar, policy expert, writer, and enrolled citizen of the Shinnecock Nation. Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Environment at the University of Waterloo.
December 9, 2021, 10 AM (ET) En-Roads Climate Workshop – Simulating Global Solutions Facilitator: Yasmeen Zahar, Project Manager for Climate and Energy at Climate Interactive. (This is an interactive workshop. Please come prepared to engage with the facilitator and fellow participants. This workshop will not be recorded.)
December 9, 2021, 2 PM (ET) Envisioning a Just Green Transition – Panel Discussion Panelists: Margaret Kwateng, National Green New Deal Organizer at Grassroots Global Justice; Jean Su, Director, Energy Justice Program & Senior Attorney at Center for Biological Diversity; Harjeet Singh, Senior Adviser for Climate Impacts at Climate Action Network International; John Hill, Deputy General Secretary of Advocacy and Grassroots Organizing, Director of Economics and Environmental Justice at The General Board of Church and Society, UMC
Community Resources:
A Holiday Called Home: A Skid Row Community Celebration
Dec 12th- 12-4pm
Free food, open mic, arts workshops, and more! (Our very own UMW donated the hygiene kits that will also be available.)
Los Angeles Job Corps Virtual Job Fair
Join Los Angeles Job Corps online to hear from managers & staff about open positions. Join December 1, 2021 from 1:00 PM - 3:00 PM for entry level positions, and on December 8, 2021 from 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM for experience based positions. To register for the December 1st event, click here. To register for the December 8th event, click here.
Comeback Checks for Small Businesses
Round two applications open Monday, November 29th, for the $25M “Comeback Checks” program. $5K grants are available for 5,000 LA City small businesses. Applications close December 3rd. For more info, click here.
LAPD Central Division Annual Toy Drive
Join LAPD Central Division for their annual toy drive to benefit underprivileged children in Downtown LA. Please donate a new toy that will help make the holidays special for a deserving child. November 29th through December 18th, you can drop off unwrapped toys at our South Park BID office located at 1150-B S Hope St, during business hours.
COVID Testing:
You can get your digital vaccination record: myvaccinerecord.cdph.ca.gov
healthvana.com or carbonhealth.com
LA City is now offering free testing, without appointments at City-run sites. Find a site near you: Coronavirus.LACity.org/Testing. For additional COVID-19 resources: Coronavirus.LACity.org/Resources
Vaccines:
In case you missed it: Pfizer's #COVID19 vaccine is approved for kids 5-11!! Children may now get vaccinated at select, walk-up clinics county-wide. Please call ahead to check availability. Visit vaccinatelacounty.com for info or talk to your child’s doctor
All COVID-19 vaccines are now approved for boosters - Pfizer, Moderna, and Johnson & Johnson. People may also receive booster doses that are different than their original vaccine. For more info and to make an appointment, visit bit.ly/3m3Uspo--
CVS is already prepared to administer boosters. You can make an appointment for the booster of your choice at https://www.cvs.com/vaccine/intake/store/covid-screener/covid-qns
Vaccine requirements are in effect, LA County is providing mobile vaccinations, testing vendors, as well as a toolkit for owners of bars and businesses that serve alcohol, as well as for those running mega events. For more info visit, ph.lacounty.gov/coronavirus
California residents can now request in-home vaccinations and/or transit assistance to get vaccinated by registering at MyTurn.ca.gov or by calling the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) COVID-19 Call Center at 1-833-422-4255.
Everyone 12 years and older in LA County is now eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. Children 12-17 are only eligible to receive the Pfizer vaccine—to find a location near you, visit bit.ly/PfizerSites. Learn more about the vaccines at vaccinatelacounty.com.
Need a ride? Uber and Lyft are providing free rides to and from vaccination sites. Don't have the apps? Call 833-540-0473 to book your ride.
There are several vaccine sites set up by Carbon Health that you can check: https://carbonhealth.com/
LA County: http://www.publichealth.lacounty.gov/media/Coronavirus/vaccine/index.htm
Orange County residents and workers: Register for a vaccination appointment at https://othena.com
ADVENT WREATH LIGHTING: Week 2 – Brian Dyer
Watch and wait for Christ’s coming!
We light candles of hope, peace, joy, and love, remembering the promises of God with prayer.
Hear these words from the prophet Malachi: (Malachi 3:1-4, NRSV)
See, I am sending my messenger to prepare the way before me, and the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple. The messenger of the covenant in whom you delight—indeed, he is coming, says the Lord of hosts. But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears?
For he is like a refiner’s fire and like fullers’ soap; he will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the descendants of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, until they present offerings to the Lord in righteousness. Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the Lord as in the days of old and as in former years.
We light this candle in hope. (Light the first candle.)
We light this candle in peace. (Light the second candle.)
Let us pray: Lord, we look forward with excitement and perhaps dread the day of Christ’s coming to earth. Prepare our hearts, refine our spirits, mold us to your will as we await your son and our savior. Amen.
Verse 2 of O Come, O Come, Emmanuel
Joys and Concerns: We believe that the best way to bear our burdens is to share them with one another. You are invited to share your joys and concerns so that our community can hold these things in our hearts as we lift them to God together.
You are invited to share your prayers in the Facebook Live Chat, or on the YouTube Live chat.
Scripture: Luke 3:1-6, NRSV: The Proclamation of John the Baptist
In the fifteenth year of the reign of Emperor Tiberius, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, and Herod was ruler of Galilee, and his brother Philip ruler of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias ruler of Abilene, during the high-priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the wilderness. He went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, as it is written in the book of the words of the prophet Isaiah,
‘The voice of one crying out in the wilderness:
“Prepare the way of the Lord,
make his paths straight.
Every valley shall be filled,
and every mountain and hill shall be made low,
and the crooked shall be made straight,
and the rough ways made smooth;
and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.” ’
One: This is the Word of God for us, the people of God.
All: Thanks be to God!
Sermon: ADVENT II: A SEASON OF FULFILLED PROMISES: Prepared & Unready - Rev. Mandy McDow
HOLY COMMUNION
Invitation to the Table: As we understand the Body of Christ to be inclusive, we understand God’s table of grace and fellowship can extend into our homes. As you’re able, bring your own elements to this time. Bread, Juice, Coffee, Muffins… the Body of Christ is comprised of wonder and mystery. Today, we celebrate that God can reach us where we are, even if we are not together.
The Great Mystery of our Faith
All: Christ has died
Christ is risen.
Christ will come again.
The Lord’s PrayerOur Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy Name,
thy kingdom come, thy will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory,
for ever and ever. Amen.
MUSIC DURING COMMUNION: Lo, How A Rose E'er Blooming - El Dorado
Benediction Remember:
God is with you,
God is for you,
God refuses to be God without you.
And may all of God’s people say: Amen.
Virtual Coffee Hour Begins now!
Join us today for a panel discussion featuring Dr. Jenn Carlier, Rev. Mimi White, pastor of The Way at St. John’s UMC in Memphis, TN, and Rick Rives on a conversation regarding the church and its role in their recovery journey.
Immediately following worship on Zoom