Looking into the lectionary - New details released on PC(USA) restructuring

Matthew 24:36-44 First Sunday of Advent November 30, 2025 Recently, I ordered “60 Experiments in Looking,” a deck of cards from a group called We Are Just Looking. Their mission is simple: to celebrate the slow, mindful, and creative observation of ordinary moments — because that’s most of our lives. Why would anyone want to miss that? The cards are meant to help us “rewild” our attention. Each invites a simple act of noticing: find a moving shadow. Look for something red. Trace the shape of a cloud. They’re small practices, but powerful ones. Because, as the creators of Just Looking say, “every scientist, artist and person who was once a child knows, once we start looking, whole new worlds begin to emerge from hiding.” In Matthew 24, Jesus is preaching about a whole new world, God’s kingdom to come. This section of Matthew comes at the end of a long, apocalyptic speech, warning of the onset of hatred, sacrilege and suffering, a disaster that will happen so quickly, Jesus advises, don’t stop to get your coat. The disciples have been pressing for details: When? What will it look like? How will we know? And Jesus, in his maddening way, refuses to give them what they think they need. The timing of God’s coming realm, he says, is something “no one knows.” So instead of providing a timeline, he gives them a task: Wait expectantly. Keep awake. Watch for the signs. Don’t miss what matters. Some signs will be obvious, he tells them – wars and rumors of wars, famines and earthquakes – and others will be small and subtle, like the way the branch of a fig tree becomes tender before it puts forth its leaves, signaling summer is near. The world is full of hints, if we have the eyes to see them. And the greatest sign of all, the one we wait for this Advent, will come not in thunder or flame, but in the quiet cry of a newborn child. A baby born to poor, displaced parents in a borrowed manger because there was no room for them elsewhere. Slow down. Wait. Pay attention. ... Read the rest of the commentary at pres-outlook.org. Want the worship resources for November 23, 2025? You can find them here. Order of worship — November 30, 2025 by Teri McDowell Ott Glittery. Down-home. Prophetic. by Lindy Vogado  At least seven faith leaders arrested at Broadview ICE facility protest by Jack Jenkins Horizons — The Prodigal Child, Luke 15:11-32 by Rosalind Banbury A free Advent candle liturgy by Shardaé Henry and Shea Watts Longest night service: A liturgy of light and hope by Rae Watson IN CASE YOU MISSED IT... Oz was always political — ‘Wicked’ simply makes it clear Long before "Wicked" soared across stage and screen, L. Frank Baum’s world carried a political pulse. The new film reminds us that Oz’s magic has always included questions of power, propaganda, and resistance, writes Michael Parker. “An authority for love”: Portland faith leaders stand with immigrants outside ICE facility “People have said to me, ‘I didn’t know churches could do good things.’” In Portland, clergy are showing up daily to support immigrants and witness to hope at the ICE site. — Harriet Riley PC(USA)’s Interim Unified Agency adds details to denominational restructuring Existing ministries to remain; no staff reductions planned. — John Bolt First Presbyterian Church of Columbus, Indiana, abolishes $1.78 million in medical debt for Hoosier families Congregation’s bicentennial celebration helps free more than 1,450 residents three counties from burdensome debt. — First Presbyterian Church of Columbus, Indiana A song of prophetic hope Music is protest and praise — from Miriam to Mary, Dylan to Doechii. The prophets of song remind us: art is not luxury, it’s testimony and hope, writes Alex Evangelista. Tupac Shakur — Poetic. Prophetic. Profound. Chris Burton reads Tupac’s catalog as street-level theology — lament and hope in conversation with Scripture — and asks what Pac’s “ghetto gospel” still demands of the church today.