The old wartime tune, "Pack Up Your Troubles in Your Old Kit Bag and Smile, Smile, Smile" makes it sound like it's very easy to pack away your problems, guilt, shame, and anger and just... smile. In reality, we know that the problems, burdens, and worries of life cling to us, and we tend to carry them with us. Old hurts, failed relationships, lost jobs - the things we'd rather forget - seem to be those things that haunt us most tenaciously. What would it feel like to truly ditch those burdens and live more freely into a hopeful, possibility-laden future? With Jesus it's possible. Worship Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lkgDEfpdCQQ

Sometimes resentment, anger, and grudges begin because someone didn't meet our expectations. The new coworker never pulled their weight - and you suffered for it! Your new friend just hasn't been there for you. You are writing them off - you won't be burned again! It's one thing to hold a grudge against another person and arrange our lives to minimize our interaction with those people. But what if it's God who doesn't meet our expectations? What if it's God who has let us down? What do we do with our grudges and anger toward God? We can walk away from that relationship, too. But God is open to another strategy. Are you? Forgiving is hard, and forgiving God is harder. But a little deeper understanding of who God is might go a long way in restoring that relationship. Worship Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M2TrzCx1jN8

No one gets through this life unscathed. Whether it has been small slights by thoughtless friends, or deep betrayals by those dearest to us, we all carry scars of past hurts. Enough of these kinds of hurts can leave us calloused, bitter, and resentful. The burden of carrying these grudges becomes an everyday reality. But there is another way. You have the power to let go of the pain that you carry with you. It's as easy as... forgiving. Doesn't sound so easy? With Jesus, even freedom from grudges is possible... Worship Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ai6pnHi-aoA

Forgiving Offenses When someone hurts you, the pain that follows can weigh you down and keep you from moving forward. But you have the power to let go of the hurt that you’ve been carrying. Forgiveness leads to freedom. Find it this week at Union Chapel Indy... Worship Link: https://www.facebook.com/UnionChapelIndy/videos/1792085841308160

Here we are, just days into a New Year, and many of us have already lost the wonder and excitement of beginning a new year. We may have celebrated on New Year's Eve and had grand visions for this new season, but already we have fallen back into comfortable routines and familiar patterns. How might we be inspired to carry the hope of a new year into and through the months to come? The Magi (whom many of us know as the Three Wise Men of Christmas) had a long journey to find the Christ Child. Commitment, community, and a sense of curiosity encouraged them on an uncertain journey. May we find that their story inspires us to enthusiastically journey into this new year with our own sense of hope and wonderment. Worship Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DGwf_1a-Tlw

Fitness Clubs and Diet Plan marketers are taking advantage of the seasonal urge to renew ourselves. As the calendar turns over a new year, many of us feel the desire to turn over a new leaf in ourselves. The allure of a new body or renewed health makes the gym membership tempting. The new year is also a time we might turn the page of our spiritual lives. What can we leave behind of the old year, celebrate of today, and work towards over the next twelve months that could enliven and deepen our relationship with God? On this New Year's Eve at Union Chapel Indy we celebrate the God of our yesterdays, today, and tomorrows, and look forward to a year of renewed faith. Worship Link: https://www.facebook.com/UnionChapelIndy/videos/278946768138739

Wherever you journey this night, this week, this next year... - to the streets and neighborhoods - across your office to a co-worker - down the street to the new family that just moved in... ...go with God to be light and love to a world in need of all that God gives... - Hope - Love - Joy and - Peace.... - Share generously the light and love of Christmas... Worship Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pw4Xf3ZeWpI

There are so many beautiful Christmas Carols to enjoy this time of year. And near the top of every list of favorites is "Silent Night." Maybe it is beloved for its beautiful, lilting melody - or maybe for its poetic words that paint such beautiful images in our mind. Or maybe it is so loved because it calls us to be still in the middle of a hectic season and in that quiet, lift our hearts to the One who is born Savior on the most holy of nights. And while we may know that any night on which is baby is born is not really a silent night, we can be assured that as we draw near the Babe of Bethlehem, we will find peace and rest. Worship Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=udOOtwVk1F4

One of the joys of Christmas music is the stories that the songs tell. The ten stanzas of "Frosty the Snowman" tell us all about Frosty, from his creation to his fun antics to his departure and promise to "be back again someday." The touching song "The Christmas Shoes" tugs at our heartstrings as we meet a little boy seeking to get a gift of new shoes for his ailing mother because he wants "her to look beautiful if mama meets Jesus tonight." And "O Little Town of Bethlehem" transports us to the place where Jesus was born as we also learn of the people and events of that world-changing story. As we sing the songs of Christmas, we are reminded that the story that took place so long ago, in the "little town of Bethlehem," is also a story for us today. "O come to us, abide with us, our Lord Emmanuel!" Worship Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CQ5Ydv1mAOc

It has been famously said, "Where words fail, music speaks." (Hans Christian Andersen) Maybe that's why Christmas music holds such a special place in our hearts. Our hopes for the season are so deep and so profound that words often fail us. But the music we sing gives voice to those hopes and wishes... giving life to the deepest desires of our hearts. As we sing of that "holy night" when "the stars are brightly shining," we reflect not only on the beauty of the Christmas event, we also pray that "the gospel of peace" will reign in the world and that "all oppression shall cease." This year in both word and song, we celebrate the Prince of Peace, come to us in the infant Jesus. Worship Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=igDaWRsrc5I