Forty degrees in Philadelphia feels very different from forty degrees in Prescott.  Clint and I were chatting about this yesterday, grateful for the warm coats we brought along with us. It’s probably the humidity and grey skies that make the air feel colder, more biting back east.  We walked to Chinatown for lunch and saw scores of homeless people sleeping on vents in the sidewalks.  My heart went out to them-they feel the cold acutely and have few places to warm up.  When we lived here years ago, our church’s youth group collected warm blankets for them.  It’s terrible to be cold.

Last week I learned that Casa Adobes UCC in Tucson is collecting coats for border refugees.  It gets so cold in the desert at night this time of year.  I wondered if we at CCOV could help and spoke with the church member there coordinating this effort.  He said the collection will go through the end of this month.  They have special need of children’s coats as well as adult sizes small and medium.  Used coats and jackets are fine as long as they are in good condition.  If you have any contributions, please bring them to church this month and give them to either Clint or me, and we will hand deliver them to Casa Adobes UCC at the end of January.  After all, we are to treat these children of God as we would treat Jesus himself.  

I will be preaching on Jesus’ Baptism on this second Sunday of Epiphany.  The scripture is Isaiah 43:1-7 and Luke 3:15-22.  I look forward to seeing you all on Sunday!
Grace and Peace,
Pastor Sandi