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| Welcome to St. John�s Episcopal Church. On this Advent Sunday the liturgy is centered on the second Advent of Christ, when he will return as judge and establish the kingdom of God. In today�s Gospel reading Jesus tells his followers that his return will be sudden and with no warning. Therefore, we are to live at all times as though his return is imminent. In the first reading, the prophet Isaiah foresees that kingdom as God�s reign over a united and peaceful humanity. All people will know themselves to be the children of God and brothers and sisters to all other people. The second reading from Romans exhorts us to live as though we were in the last days. We are to live as though the kingdom has come, shunning darkness and living in the light of God�s presence. The Advent theme which points to Jesus� first coming in his birth becomes the sign for us of the Advent yet to come. As we gather in the Eucharist we find in our liturgical action a foretaste of the unity and peace of God�s kingdom. We recognize that in this in-between time�between Jesus� first coming and his second coming�we ourselves are caught up, in the Eucharist, into the kingdom. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| From The Rite Light: Reflections on the Sunday Readings and Seasons of the Church Year. Copyright � 1998 by Michael W. Merriman. Church Publishing Incorporated, New York. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| PAST LITURGIES | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Sunday Eucharist Service at 9:30AM Mother Geraldine (Gerry) Clemmons | ||||||||||||||||||||||
 | St. John's Episcopal Church of Cohoes |  | ||||||||||||||||||||
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