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Happy Easter: Looking Forward to New Work To Do!
We made! We made it to Easter! Remember last Easter. Just a year ago we were canceling services, clumsily learning Zoom, saying goodbye...

Pastor Russell Willis
Apr 3, 20213 min read


Sixth Week of Lent 2021: Venturing into Holy Week
The final six days of Lent are also known as Holy Week, Beginning with the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem, and then following...

Pastor Russell Willis
Mar 27, 20212 min read


Fifth Week of Lent 2021: I will Be Their God, and They Shall Be My People
Jeremiah 31:31-34 The days are surely coming, says the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of...

Pastor Russell Willis
Mar 18, 20213 min read


Fourth Week of Lent 2021: Not to Dwell on Death
John 3:14-21 And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him...

Pastor Russell Willis
Mar 10, 20213 min read


Third Week of Lent 2021: The Heavens Are Telling the Glory of God
Genesis 19: 1-6 The heavens are telling the glory of God; and the firmament proclaims his handiwork. Day to day pours forth speech, and...

Pastor Russell Willis
Mar 8, 20214 min read


Second Week of Lent 2021: What's in a Name?
Genesis 17:1-7, 15-16 When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to Abram, and said to him, "I am God Almighty; walk before...

Pastor Russell Willis
Feb 28, 20213 min read


Ash Wednesday 2021: Our Lent Begins with some 0il, some Ash, and a Gift
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ: the early Christians observed with great devotion the days of our Lord's passion and resurrection. ...

Pastor Russell Willis
Feb 17, 20214 min read


"Darkness Cannot Drive Out Darkness..."
Martin Luther King, Jr. first uttered these words in a sermon entitled "Love Your Enemies." That sermon was delivered on Christmas Day,...

Pastor Russell Willis
Jan 18, 20213 min read


Merry Christmas!
Neill Ginter took this photo of the United Church of Colchester several years ago. Things have changed since then. For instance, the...

Pastor Russell Willis
Dec 25, 20202 min read


Fourth Candle of Advent 2020: Love
John 3:16 For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal...

Pastor Russell Willis
Dec 18, 20202 min read


Third Candle of Advent 2020: Joy
Isaiah 55:12 “For you shall go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and the hills before you shall break forth into...

Pastor Russell Willis
Dec 9, 20202 min read


Second Candle of Advent 2020: Peace
Peace - Do Not Let Your Hearts Be Troubled John 14:27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world...

Pastor Russell Willis
Dec 2, 20201 min read


First Candle of Advent 2020: Hope
photo by Waldemar Brandt on Unspalsh Happy New Year! Many of us are ready for a new year considering what 2020 has been like! Well, here...

Pastor Russell Willis
Nov 28, 20202 min read


A Statement on Racism
To the American Baptist Churches of Vermont and New Hampshire: At the virtual July 18 ABCVNH Board of Trustees meeting, the Board...

Pastor Russell Willis
Aug 26, 20203 min read


Say "Cheese"
A couple of weeks ago the United Church of Colchester ventured back into in-person worship. It was a small step, but a step nonetheless....

Pastor Russell Willis
Jul 25, 20201 min read


Pentecost -- A Sign of What's to Come
On this Pentecost Sunday we experience the Holy Spirit sparking us with the fire of God's creative love. It will be this spark of...

Pastor Russell Willis
May 31, 20201 min read


The Church in COVID-time: Loving our Neighbors
We all long for the time when the United Church of Colchester looks more like good friends sharing life and faith together than looking...

Pastor Russell Willis
May 23, 20203 min read


The Church Is Not (Just) a Place
"I'll meet you at the church." "See you at church." "Yeah, I go that church" So often when we refer to "the church" we mean a particular...

Pastor Russell Willis
May 9, 20202 min read


Until We Meet Again
This age-old message of hope, a blessing as old as human culture, is amplified in this time of COVID-19. "Until we meet again" in normal...

Pastor Russell Willis
Apr 29, 20202 min read


Faith in a Time of Uncertainty
John 20: 24-25 But Thomas (who was called the Twin), one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples told...

Pastor Russell Willis
Apr 17, 20202 min read
The Messenger
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