Weekly Update

December Worship Ministry Sign-Ups
...can be found here
 

Common Threads will resume Tuesday, January 7
6:00 PM to 8:00 PM
At the home of Sue Peterson
Common Threads is a group at the ECCLT who meet weekly to knit and do other sorts of handwork.  Gatherings begin with sharing a meal.  Please bring something to share!  All are welcome and you don’t have to know how to knit! We have lefties and righties who can teach you. If you are new to knitting, we have supplies to share to get you started.

• Please submit all 2024 receipts for expenses requiring reimbursement by Sunday, December 29 and we will endeavor to issue reimbursements by Zelle before 1 January.  Please include your mobile number or E-mail address, whichever is your Zelle cash transfer address.  If you prefer a paper check, those will be prepared by December 31 but issued in early January.
• Please review your congregational giving for 2024 and ensure that any additional gifts that you choose to make for the current tax year are delivered in the offering baskets by Sunday December 29 or postmarked by December 31 if mailed to Episcopal Church of the Cross, 18101 Highway 71 Ste 120, Austin, TX  78738-2718.
• IRA owners age 70½ or over can transfer up to $100,000 to charity tax-free each year.  These transfers, known as qualified charitable distributions or QCDs, offer eligible older Americans a great way to easily give to charity before the end of the year.  And, for those who are at least 73 years old, QCDs count toward the IRA owner's required minimum distribution (RMD) for the year.  QCDs must be made directly by the trustee of the IRA to the charity, so these transactions require assistance from the IRA Custodian.  It may be too late for this idea in 2024, but Leigh wanted to remind our members about this tax strategy that can benefit your charitable gift recipients.
• If you have been paid for employment by ECC and have earned at least $600 during 2024, Leigh requests that you complete a new W-9 form for tax reporting purposes.  These can be completed on a paper copy (Leigh will have these on Sundays) or using the fillable PDF form available at https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/fw9.pdf and E-mailed to Leigh at [email protected].

Daily Scripture Readings
 

Sunday, December 22:

Morning Psalms: 24, 29                            Evening Psalms: 8, 84
Isa. 42:1-12; Eph. 6:10-20; John 3:16-21

Monday, December 23:

Morning Psalm: 61, 62                                               Evening Psalm: 112, 115
Isa. 11:1-9; Rev. 20:1-10; John 5:30-47

Tuesday, December 24:

Morning Psalm: 45, 46                                                      Evening Psalms:  89:1-29
Isa.35:1-10; Rev. 22:12-17,21; Luke 1:67-80

       Wednesday, December 25:

Morning Psalm:  2, 85                                          Evening Psalms:110:1-5(6-7), 132           
Zech. 2:10-13; 1 John 4:7-16; John 3:31-36

 Thursday, December 26:

Morning Psalm 28, 30; 2 Chronicles 24:17-22; Acts 6:1-7
Evening Psalm 118; Wisdom 4:7-15; Acts 7:59-8:8

Friday, December 27:

Morning Psalm 97, 98; Proverbs 8:22-30; John 13:20-35
Evening: Psalm 145; Isaiah 44:1-8; 1 John 5:1-12

Saturday, December 28:

Morning Psalm 2, 26; Isaiah 49:13-23; Matthew 18:1-14
Evening Psalm 19, 126; Isaiah 54:1-13; Mark 10:13-16

Dear Church of the Cross community,

This week we celebrate a beautiful thing.  As the Scripture says, "the people who have walked in darkness have seen a great light."  We will begin the week, celebrating our last Sunday in Advent, before gathering together on Tuesday at 5pm for our celebration of Christmas.  For many years scholars thought that we celebrate Christmas on December 25th because it replaced a pagan holiday that was celebrated by the Romans.  But more recent scholarship in the last thirty years has demonstrated otherwise.  We celebrate Jesus birth on December 25th because it is 9 months after the Feast of the Annunciation, when Mary is visited by the Angel and told she is with child.  It may seem hard to believe now, since Christmas is such a big celebration for us today, but the earliest Christians, Easter was the great holiday (holy day), and records of celebrating the Mass of Christ (Christmas) start from the 4th century.  Things have changed!  

But here's one thing that has stayed the same: and that is God's love for us all, that we celebrate at Christmas.  As that cherished old poem by Christina Rosetti reminds us, "Love Came Down at Christmas."  May you and your family experience God's love in this holy time, moving from the end of Advent and into the great and spiritual light of God's love in Jesus.  

Here are two prayers by Ted Ferris as we move this week into the shortest of the church seasons: the 12 days of Christmas.

Christmas
We thank thee, O God, for the light that came into our world in the life of Jesus.  Help us as we try to catch that light in our own lives; let it shine through us to pierce the darkness of some dark place this Christmas.  We ask these things in the name of him who was born in a stable, Jesus Christ our Lord.  

Christmas
As we try to find our way through the dangerous places in life, through the dark tunnels of everyday existence, open our eyes, O God, to see thee as thou didst come to us in Jesus.  Give us the grace to trust him and to find in him all thy power and love, the fullness of thy very Being, so that knowing that thou dost love us, we can love thee and all mankind in response.  We ask this as we remember how you came to us, a tiny baby, held in the arms of a loving mother.  Amen.