You can find all of our Advent and Christmas services and activities on our website—we hope you’ll join us during this special season!

ADVENT 2025 WORSHIP SERVICES: December 14, 2025 8:45AM and 10AM: This week our Advent readings return to more traditional stories of angelic visitors announcing miraculous pregnancies, and in so doing, inviting ordinary folk into an extraordinary calling. This week, that invitation is given to Mary, a teenage girl who is engaged to be married. Unlike her cousin Elizabeth, who is married and whose pregnancy can be understood for the most part, Mary’s news is a bit more complicated. Her “yes” requires a healthy dose of courage. And it carries a whole heap of risk. Have you ever been called to do something? Maybe it wasn’t as blatant and obvious as carrying the baby Jesus to term. But maybe it was something with some risk attached. What if we are all called into risky discipleship? Are we willing to say yes?     Come along – online or in person – and let’s see if we can summon some courage together.  Sunday School and Childcare will all take place this Sunday! DECEMBER 14 LIVE STREAM REGISTER HERE TO DONATE BLOOD Don’t worry if you weren’t able to attend the first session of the Men’s Bible Study, come and enjoy the second session with us. The study will be held at Ross MacIver’s house located at 4327 Woodland Ave in Western Springs. Thursday, Dec. 18 will be our next Burger Night Out! We will meet at Hop District Community Brewing Co. which is a cozy community gathering place with 12 tap handles brewed on site.  Our burgers will come from the restaurant next door, Matone’s. Gather at 6:30 pm, Hamburgers (via RSVP) at 7:10 pm Hop District Community Brewing Co. 23 East 31st Street, LaGrange Park RSVPs are important. Mark Laubacher will order ahead from the restaurant next door for the number of people that RSVP and will ask for delivery at 7:10 pm. You can show without an RSVP, but you will need to order (and wait) for your burger to arrive Please bring cash to split the bill (or your Zelle account). RSVP TO MARK You were true Beacons of Light and gave so generously during Gifts of Hope! If you weren’t able to participate but would still like to support our mission partners, you can do so using the shopping link. GIFTS OF HOPE SHOPPING LINK PLAN AHEAD FOR END-OF-YEAR CONTRIBUTIONS!     Pledge payments and other gifts intended for your 2025 tax statement (deductible in 2025) must be:  Received in the church office by 9 AM on Tuesday, December 30   Dated December 31, 2025 or earlier  These payments will be deposited into our bank account at noon on December 31.  Please note that the church office is closed on December 31, although checks arriving by mail on December 31 will be opened and deposited.   Payments through Realm will be recorded on the date of the transaction (which may be several days later than the date of your Realm submission). Please make your gifts through Realm by December 26 if possible.  Contributions of securities will be dated on the day the stock is sold by our transfer agent (not the date you request the transfer), so please plan ahead! This process often takes a several days or more.  For all 2025 and 2026 pledge payments and other gifts, kindly note the purpose of your payment on the memo line of the check or Realm transaction.   Please contact Nancy O’Brien at 708-391-0448 (church phone), 708-927-2357 (cell or text) or nancy@wscongo.org for assistance with Realm payments or with any other questions.  We are so grateful for your faithful and generous support of our ministries, programs and operations!  REACH OUT TO FINANCE NANCY MAKE YOUR 2026 PLEDGE HERE VOLUNTEER TO BRING FOOD FOR PAULA’S RECEPTION OR ASSIST WITH RECEPTION VIEW THE LIVE-STREAM HERE Let us weep with those who weep and rejoice with those who rejoice.  Prayers of Concern Prayers of Joy 32 high school and junior high students gathered for mission work at Feed My Starving Children on Saturday. The release of Jose from a detainee center on Monday and the joy of the team that helped with this process. May God’s Love Abound… If you have Joys & Concerns that you would like to share with the congregation in this weekly email, please email them to Meredith by Tuesday at 12PM. We try to include the joys and concerns of every church member. If we’ve somehow missed yours, please email Meredith so we can include it in next week’s edition.