Welcome to Advent at Eureka Christian Church. Our worship inspiration for this season is The Book of Joy by Bishop Desmond Tutu, the Dalai Lama and Douglas Abrams. The focus scripture this week is Luke 1:46-55.
December 6, 2020, “Loving Joy”
Our worship inspiration for this season is The Book of Joy by Bishop Desmond Tutu, the Dalai Lama and Douglas Carlton Abrams. The focus scripture for today’s message is Matthew 3:1-12.
November 29, 2020 — “Hopeful Joy”
Welcome to Advent at Eureka Christian Church. Our worship inspiration for this season is The Book of Joy by Bishop Desmond Tutu, the Dalai Lama and Douglas Abrams. This week we will looking at cultivating a sense of Joy and maintaining Hope in what can feel like a dark time in the world. The focus scripture this week is Matthew 25:31-40
2020 Thanksgiving Offering
Our 2020 Thanksgiving Offering to be received November 15 and 22 will benefit fifteen Colleges and Universities and seven Seminaries and Divinity Houses affiliated with the Disciples of Christ. Higher education has been an important focus for Disciples since the very beginning of the movement. Throughout our history, Disciples have founded institutions of higher learning to educate students and form leaders to make a difference in the world.
The Colleges and Universities of the Christian Church provide quality education through classes offered by some of the nation’s top undergraduate and graduate faculty. Many of the campuses are comprised of state-of-the-art facilities, offer diverse degree programs, include dynamic student life activities, offer exciting athletics programs, and much more. The Thanksgiving offering supports everything from scholarships, to religious life offices, to faculty growth and development. By giving to the Thanksgiving Offering you are helping our institutions invest in students as they prepare themselves to become leaders. Please support our Thanksgiving Offering November 15 and 22.
The Thanksgiving Offering also provides scholarship and support for our theological education institutions. Each of our seminaries and divinity houses is committed to educating and forming Christian leaders for church and society. Generations of pastors, community leaders, and agents of social transformation have been educated at our theological institutions. They have flourished and made a difference in the world, thanks to gifts from Disciples congregations and individuals throughout the ages. These institutions continue to prepare leaders for the present age and the age to come. Please give to the Thanksgiving Offering November 15 and 22.
What does it mean to be a college or university of The Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)?
That’s a reasonable question. The 15 schools, while diverse, have a number of things in common:
- A commitment to academic excellence and the liberal arts;
- An environment of open inquiry;
- An inclusive, welcoming community that respects all people and cultures;
- A focus on character, service, and leadership; and
- A passion for social justice.
You’ll find students and faculty with strong values and faith. You’ll also notice a philosophy of faith paired with reason: The best learning and personal growth occur when the intellectual and spiritual are combined.
The Disciples Divinity House offers an exceptional residential scholarship program in conjunction with the Divinity School of the University of Chicago and as one of the seven theological education institutions of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). Through these affiliations, women and men are prepared for visionary leadership in the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and in the wider world. The residential scholarship program cultivates the arts of ministry and scholarship. It includes substantial financial aid, educational programs, and a lively community of faith and learning.
October 11, 2020 “A Wonder-Full Life: Looking In”
The videos we upload to YouTube and post to the website are of just the scripture and message for the day. If you would like to view the entire worship service instead, click here.
This morning we continue our October worship series inspired by the 1946 film “It’s a Wonderful Life.” The scripture for today is Matthew 6:19-24
October 4, 2020 “A Wonder-Full Life: Looking Back”
This morning we begin our October worship series inspired by the 1946 film “It’s a Wonderful Life.” Our scripture for today is Philippians 3:4b-14.
Embedded here is a video of the scripture and message for the day. If you would like to view the entire worship service instead, click here.
Reconciliation Special Offering Sept 27-Oct 4
The 2020 Reconciliation Offering will be received on September 27 and October 4. This Special Offering is used to fund our Church’s mission imperative to “become a pro-reconciling and anti-racist church,” utilizing experiential education, inclusive worship and intentional dialogue. Recent events have reignited the conversation about human brokenness evidenced in the signs of racism perpetuated in our institutional structures and systems. The Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) has a history dating from the 1960s of sharing our resources to address racism in our society and within our own church. We have called this process the Reconciliation Ministry.
The 2020 Vision adopted by our church names this work as one of the four priorities of our mission together as a whole church. This voluntary annual offering is the only source of funding for this ministry. Half of the offerings given to Reconciliation Ministry by our CCIW Region, come back to our Region to be used in anti-racism work in Illinois and Wisconsin.
The form of this ministry may be changing, but the need for addressing racism has never been more obvious. Your generous giving to Reconciliation Ministry is transforming lives and strengthening Christ’s witness in the world, showing that we love one another, even as Christ continues to love us!
We are so blessed to have a church that has developed ways of responding to the systemic sin of racism so that we do not have to stand by wringing our hands and wishing there was some way we could “fix” things. We have a vehicle through which we may respond to this problem.
Because of the pandemic, there will be no special envelopes. Please be sure your contributions to this special offering are marked “Reconciliation” to avoid confusion. You may bring these to church if you are attending services in person, or drop (or mail) them by the church during this two week period.
For more information on the Disciples Reconciliation Ministry, click here.
ECC Christian Education: COVID-19 Prevention
July 12, 2020 “Grand Canyon National Park: Grandeur”
We continue our summer sermon series inspired by the book “America’s Holy Ground: 61 Faithful Reflections on our National Parks” by Brad Lyons and Bruce Barkhauer. This week we explore Grand Canyon National Park in Arizona. The sermon scripture is Genesis 25:19-34
Genesis 25:19-34 New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)
The Birth and Youth of Esau and Jacob
19 These are the descendants of Isaac, Abraham’s son: Abraham was the father of Isaac, 20 and Isaac was forty years old when he married Rebekah, daughter of Bethuel the Aramean of Paddan-aram, sister of Laban the Aramean. 21 Isaac prayed to the Lord for his wife, because she was barren; and the Lord granted his prayer, and his wife Rebekah conceived. 22 The children struggled together within her; and she said, “If it is to be this way, why do I live?”[a] So she went to inquire of the Lord. 23 And the Lord said to her,
“Two nations are in your womb,
and two peoples born of you shall be divided;
the one shall be stronger than the other,
the elder shall serve the younger.”
24 When her time to give birth was at hand, there were twins in her womb. 25 The first came out red, all his body like a hairy mantle; so they named him Esau. 26 Afterward his brother came out, with his hand gripping Esau’s heel; so he was named Jacob.[b] Isaac was sixty years old when she bore them.
27 When the boys grew up, Esau was a skillful hunter, a man of the field, while Jacob was a quiet man, living in tents. 28 Isaac loved Esau, because he was fond of game; but Rebekah loved Jacob.
Esau Sells His Birthright
29 Once when Jacob was cooking a stew, Esau came in from the field, and he was famished. 30 Esau said to Jacob, “Let me eat some of that red stuff, for I am famished!” (Therefore he was called Edom.[c]) 31 Jacob said, “First sell me your birthright.” 32 Esau said, “I am about to die; of what use is a birthright to me?” 33 Jacob said, “Swear to me first.”[d] So he swore to him, and sold his birthright to Jacob. 34 Then Jacob gave Esau bread and lentil stew, and he ate and drank, and rose and went his way. Thus Esau despised his birthright.
July 5, 2020 “Gates of the Arctic: Wilderness”
We continue our summer sermon series inspired by the book “America’s Holy Ground: 61 Faithful Reflections on our National Parks” by Brad Lyons and Bruce Barkhauer. This week we explore Gates of the Arctic National Park in Alaska. The sermon scripture is Genesis 12:1-9
Genesis 12:1-9 New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)
The Call of Abram
12 Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. 2 I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”[a]
4 So Abram went, as the Lord had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran. 5 Abram took his wife Sarai and his brother’s son Lot, and all the possessions that they had gathered, and the persons whom they had acquired in Haran; and they set forth to go to the land of Canaan. When they had come to the land of Canaan, 6 Abram passed through the land to the place at Shechem, to the oak[b] of Moreh. At that time the Canaanites were in the land. 7 Then the Lord appeared to Abram, and said, “To your offspring[c] I will give this land.” So he built there an altar to the Lord, who had appeared to him. 8 From there he moved on to the hill country on the east of Bethel, and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east; and there he built an altar to the Lord and invoked the name of the Lord. 9 And Abram journeyed on by stages toward the Negeb.
