St. Mark's United Methodist Church

As we enter this advent season, but also on this ‘All Saints’ Sunday, we learn from the Apostle Paul what it means to be a “saint.” Paul teaches us that we are all saints, those who are “set apart,” or “claimed by God” to go out and fulfill God’s call. In being the saints God is calling us to be, how can we think of “seeing purple” in a new way as we light a purple advent candle to mark the coming of Jesus the Christ?

Combining the first Sunday of Advent, a celebration of the saints that have gone before us and a baptisim led us to look at the Genealogy of Jesus. The stories that are part of His history, the stories that are part of our history give us Hope for our future.

The old Hebrew that we translate as thanks is more literally translated as praise. So we extend our hand up to praise God. But we also extend our hands out to connect with others and extend our hands down to help those in need.