If your smart phone is new enough, you have a photo feature titled "portrait." When you use this feature, the item in the foreground comes into focus while everything else becomes a bit blurry. This highlights the selected item and shows it in a new way. In this season when we return to the familiar story of Jesus' birth, we are invited to see the story - and the world around us - with a different lens... one that helps us see everything in a new way. This season we are invited to use a lens that highlights the holy all around us. This year we are invited to see that all of life is pregnant with Christ... not just Mary in a story from long ago. This year may we discover that everyone and everything is capable of bursting forth with goodness and grace, that everything reflects the sacred. Worship Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GgP2m5z-IQQ

What is the scariest thing you've ever done? And not in the way of haunted houses and spooky walks in the woods at night. But in the way of making big life decisions, stepping into situations with uncertain outcomes, and entering into unknown ventures. How did you gather the courage and confidence to do these things? How did you decide that these were good and right choices? Joseph, the earthly father of Jesus, faced a big unknown in taking the pregnant Mary as his wife. In choosing God's peace over his fear, he was able to do this really hard thing. And we can do the same when we choose sacred knowing over fearful not-knowing. Worship Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rF79DH2mkAA

In these last days of the Christmas season, many of us rush to get all of the special "experiences"... experienced. We want to drive and see the Christmas lights. We want to get in one more special Christmas concert. How about the visit to Santa? And of course, the many visits 'home' - whether that be grandparents', parents', or some other special persons' homes. And all of this hustle and bustle is filled with the hope that in these particular places, we might experience some of the magic of the holidays. But what if the 'magic' of this season is not to be found in a geographic location, but in the less glitzy spaces of our hearts where we've carved out some room for sacred? Maybe the magic of the holidays isn't to be found in a particular place, but in the spaces where we make room for the Christ child. Worship Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=muhvS92zzNc

The goodwill of the Christmas Season seems to soften our edges and make us more gentle and generous in many ways. We might drop some coins in the red buckets as we go in and out of stores. We might buy a gift for an underserved child. We might even make some year-end donations to causes we care about. But how might we carry this goodwill and generosity into all areas of our lives and the other eleven months of the year? Maybe if we refocus the lens of our hearts to see all people as God's beloved, we might discover that every person, in every season, reflects the sacred and is indeed worthy of respect, acceptance, love, and grace - always. Worship Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EhD236Ww5Ao

Time is a funny thing... We count it as precious, and we waste it without a second thought. It stretches out before us as though it is endless, and we hoard it, monetize it, and treat it like a limited commodity. We label it based on its value and usefulness - break time, bedtime, time to go, spare time, time to get busy. And yet, all of it is a gift from the Creator, given freely and generously for our benefit. What if we thought less about what we wanted to get from time and more about what it had to offer? What if we began to see each moment as holy, reflecting the heart of the sacred? If we did, this might change the way we experience the Christmas season... and all of life. Worship Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wWwMMmrMoBU

In the world's economy we are taught that there is only so much to go around; that if someone gets an unfairly large amount then someone else goes without. We learn to judge who is deserving of a fair share and who is not. In the world's economy it's all about scarcity, and we don't want to be on the side that gets short-changed! In God's economy, we see that there is more than enough for everyone. When God has authority over our resources, needs, hearts, and desires, we discover that we have enough. And not just us—everyone has enough! By God's divine abundance, we have enough for ourselves, each other, and all that God calls us to. Worship Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2UG8yQQhWB8

Have you ever wondered how much is enough? How much sleep at night is enough? How much time off is enough? How much money is enough? We tend to think that we never have enough of what we want (and too much of those things we don't!) While we feel as though we never have enough, God's word to us is that there is always enough. With God, in faithful community, there is enough. With God, we are enough, we have enough, and there is enough. And that is more than enough to celebrate! Worship Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Rs9yT8oScE

Families are strange and wonderful things. Some are formed through births and marriages. Some are chosen. Some of us have no choice about the families in which we find ourselves, while some of us have carefully chosen whom we will call family. And yet, every family finds that it has its own unique cast of characters that make life together interesting, fun, meaningful... and difficult. In all of it, family is family regardless. Connected by love, a common heritage, covenants, commitments, and shared experiences a family travels through time together. Families are shaped by all those members who went before, and they will continue to evolve as future generations come and go. And so it is with the church. Connected in Christ, we are who we are because of who has come before, who is among us now, and the lasting legacy we hope to leave for those yet among us. On this All Saints Sunday we celebrate the household of God in its yesterday, its today, and its tomorrow. Worship Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YsS_atMmR4k

If you had to spend the rest of your life on a deserted island—and you could only take three things with you—what would you take? It's likely that you would choose to take things that ensured your survival into the future, like a knife, matches, and a water filter. While we might want to take things of sentimental value, it is really only those things that contribute to a meaningful future that would earn a place in our backpack. When we think about our futures, what kinds of things do we suppose will have meaning there? Will our children value our old furniture - or the resiliency and work ethic we gifted them? Will the organizations we've been a part of need the things we accomplished through them in the past - or the quality culture we helped build? And when we think about the future of the Church, what will the future Church need to remain a faithful and effective witness for Jesus in the world? There really are only a few things of value that the future Church needs... and those things are all about God's promise, provision, and direction. Worship Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1KTEVfCGQis

Hymn Sing Sunday! Sing along or simply just sit back and listen to all your favorite hymns presented by Andy Riggs, Minister of Music and the Worship Team at Union Chapel Indy. Worship Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=an6cQVUB2nU