• posted an announcement

    Church Potluck - Sunday Jan 26 @ 11AM

    Come hungry and leave satisfied. We are having our monthly potluck this coming Sunday at 11 AM. We will have a shorter service and a shared meal. Hope to see you there. If you would like more information, email us a info@harvestcolorado.org.

    1. Christmas Eve Service

      Come join us as we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, tonight at 6pm. We are located at 18511 E Hampden Ave, #204, Aurora 80013

      1. Advent: Week 4

        this week’s reflection was taken from an email devotional i got this Sunday. I hope it encourages you.

        Weekly Gospel Reflection

        Seeds

        A seed is planted in darkness, hidden in silence. This is where all things begin. A wise teacher to the student who is ready. You can’t clap and yell at the seed to grow, any more than you can coax the moon to rise. It’s a timing that’s out of our hands, no matter how much we wring them. The seed is doing its’ work, whispering quietly from the earth, “we’ve been doing this long before you were born.”

        Mary accepts the seed of the Spirit. An embarrassed Joseph, not knowing where it came from, plans his quiet exit.* The angel came to him in a dream, saying, “Wait with her…please don’t leave.” And he did just that. The father of God, holding this secret close to his heart, sheltered the mother of God, leaning in close so that this seed of great change would be safe. How they must have clung to each other, protecting the Gift.

        In this season of Advent, in the time of disappearing light, we start over again in darkness, hidden in silence. Like Joseph, we are asked to wait. How hard it is to wait on anything these days. In this naked not yet, what am I supposed to do? Draw close to each other and to your own hearth fire, and walk out into the darkness, which is the best place in which to see your light. In so doing, you honor the seed space within you.

        Don’t be afraid… the seeds know just what they’re doing, even when you don’t. Their hands are clasped in their own form of prayer, lying peaceful and silent in your rich dark earth. There is so much growing in you. Mother Mary whispers quietly, “let it take root in your hungry soil.”

        *Matthew 1:18-25, The Message (MSG)

        –Jim Marsh, Jr., Bread of Life Church



        1. Dec
          24

          Christmas Eve Service

          Tuesday, December 24th  •  6–7 pm (MST)
          Add to calendar

          1. Advent: Second Week

            I took this from a devotional email i received this week. It dovetails nicely with Sunday’s sermon. Peace of Christ be with you.


            Weekly Gospel Reflection

            Repentance and Grace

            It is the Second Sunday of Advent – preparation in the church’s liturgical year for Christ who has come and is coming. And as it is every year, today’s gospel reading tells of the wild figure of John the Baptist in the desert crying out, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!”*

            Repentance as a means of preparation for Christmas has been all but lost on our to-do lists of decorate, bake, sparkle, and buy. (I know.) Repentance is more commonly expected as part of Lent, the other liturgical season of holy preparation. But in the light of celebrating the gift of God’s self in embodied Presence, John’s call to repentance invites radical recollection of who we are as created in God’s image and likeness.

            At the heart of our festivities of good cheer, our hymns of holy longing, our extra gestures of kindness typical this time of year, our lights strung in the darkness, our gift-giving, our stories and the movies that touch us deeply –there is something in us that wants to remember, to understand what really matters, to make a way for new life. But in truth, that something is not easily packaged; we can only realize our need and give ourselves over to God time and again.

            The practice of repentance recognizes that we sin, both personally and collectively. Things are not the way they are meant to be. We have our part to confess. But we are not to get stuck there; John declares, “Bear fruit worthy of repentance.” As we act with mercy and forgiveness, with charity and justice, we experience God’s kingdom at hand – and can genuinely celebrate with joy.

            Today’s invitation is to put down your to-do list. Enter your inner desert. Take a deep breath and pray for release of all that is clenching your heart, hurting you, others, and creation. Let your tears flow as the water of John’s baptism into what is yet to be imagined. Through your broken, beloved life may Christ, God’s Spirit, come into the world now.

            *Matthew 3:1-12 (see also Mark 1:1-8, Luke 3:1-17, and John 1:19-28)

            For reflection:

            • What new awareness is God inviting in your heart this Advent season?
            • How does your life bear witness to the kingdom of heaven at hand?

            –Trish Stefanik, Overlook Retreat House at Dayspring


            1. Books I Recommend

              I have been listening and reading a ton of great books lately and i want to recommend a few to you

              1. Liturgy of the Ordinary: Sacred Practices in Everyday Life https://www.amazon.com/dp/0830846239/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_wrr6Db4K45AJG
              2. Chasing Francis: A Pilgrim's Tale https://www.amazon.com/dp/0310336694/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_-tr6DbB1TZ9TE
              3. The Blue Parakeet, 2nd Edition: Rethinking How You Read the Bible https://www.amazon.com/dp/0310538920/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_Cur6DbMRTRFVZ

              hit me up on Sunday and i can share more about what made these great reads.

              1. Wherever 2 or 3 are gathered

                I read this today and it greatly encouraged me. I hope it does the same for you.

                “This is the secret to understanding the persevering health of the church amid the narrative of decline. Churches are not healthy because they’re sufficiently growing, diverse, or making a profound impact on their communities. Some are doing these things and some are not. But all of them are healthy because when even two or three come together in the name of Jesus Christ, he is in their midst.”

                “Maybe Jesus’ insistence that the kingdom is found in small, overlooked places really does mean something after all.”


                https://internetmonk.com/archive/nothing-can-make-us-more-blind-to-the-holy-spirit-than-the-ordinary

                1. In the article you attached, Chaplain Mike poses the question, "Are we a 'dying' church?" Interestingly enough, he never provides a direct answer. Instead, I believe he infers, "[Yes, but at least] ...Christ is with us." Are we to sit, then, resigned to an inevitable sunset, comforting ourselves because at least we will die with Jesus, or should we, as the laborers in Matthew 20 work through the eleventh hour even as the sun fades? No, this article does not encourage me. It actually makes me a little mad.

                2. Manfred i am all in for working all the way through. I think his point was that we should not judge the health of a church by numbers alone and that Christ is as present in a micro church like ours as much as a larger context. I know i fail to recognize that often. Thank you for engaging with me

              2. posted an announcement

                Pre-Thanksgiving Community Lunch

                Join us on November 24th for a FREE Pre-Thanksgiving meal available to ALL. Click here to sign up: https://harvestcolorado.churchcenter.com/people/forms/76513
                https://harvestcolorado.churchcenter.com/people/forms/76513
                Thanksgiving
                You are invited to join our community for a Pre-Thanksgiving feast on November 24th from 10:30am to 1:30pm. Fill out the form below and we will send you all the details. See you then!
                harvestcolorado.churchcenter.com

                1. 'Nuff Said

                  "A theology that contemplates Jesus will always be mindful of the depths of our own needs, and that should prompt us to 'remember the poor,' not as an optional extra but as a central aspect of our theological knowledge."

                  • Kelly M. Kapic "A Little Book for New Theologians"

                  1. Denver Rescue Mission and Homelessness in Denver

                    Please take a listen to how the Denver Rescue Mission is serving the homeless. We are motivated by their service to do something for the homeless in Aurora.

                    https://denverseminary.edu/sermon/12--homelessness-and-the-denver-rescue-mission/