This Sunday is the first week of Advent, a new year for all who call themselves Christians!!!  It is also the start of our Advent series entitled "MARY HAD A BABY" based on the book by Cheryl Kirk-Duggan and Marilyn E. Thornton.  (Note:  we are using this same book in our Tuesday and Wednesday Bible study classes and there are a few copies left in the narthex.)  Each week we will hear a different spiritual done in a variety of formats by different people/groups. 

This week's spiritual is "MARY HAD A BABY" arranged by Roland Carter.  It is performed by the Nathaniel Dett Chorale, Canada's first professional choral group dedicated to Afrocentric music of all styles, including classical, spiritual, gospel, jazz, folk and blues.  Their mission is to build bridges of understanding, appreciation and acceptance between communities of people, both Afrocentric and other, through the medium of music.

It seems like such a simple (and unfortunately common in our day and time) concept.....young girl has a baby before marriage takes place.  But this is no ordinary young girl and certainly no ordinary baby!!  This is certainly "A JOURNEY WITH DESTINY".  What difference would a baby make in this world?  Why place any emphasis on their lives and who they are?  Why should we even care?  What does this young woman and this baby have to do with our lives for Advent 2018? 

REFLECTION: " We have been entrusted with God's greatest gift and we are responsible for imparting this gift of love and hope to the world, so the world can change." - Faye