Anderson Hills

Research has shown that the transformation journey of becoming like Christ has ten stops en route to wholeness and freedom. And most Christians never move past stop five—having invited Christ to be their Savior and then engaging in a lot of religious activity. In other words, a majority of us never reach the second half of the stops on the journey to wholeness and fruitfulness. For us to fulfill our call to transform the world, we must seek and experience an awakening. We must make a commitment to pursue transforming our own hearts and minds from simply “believing” in Jesus to “becoming” real disciples who have developed a profound love of God and others

The church’s primary mission will always be to share the good news of Jesus and make disciples for Him. The motivation behind this, as we will see in this series, should come from a profound love of God, and for others, that develops as we progress on the journey to become like Christ. Even though our mission remains the same, the pandemic is forcing us to make changes in how we do evangelism and how we practice the other Six Habits. The apostle Paul was willing to change and adapt to win people to Christ and so should we. Now is a good time to evaluate where you are on your faith journey and then make plans to grow spiritually in 2021

The church’s primary mission will always be to share the good news of Jesus and make disciples for Him. The motivation behind this, as we will see in this series, should come from a profound love of God, and for others, that develops as we progress on the journey to become like Christ. Even though our mission remains the same, the pandemic is forcing us to make changes in how we do evangelism and how we practice the other Six Habits. The apostle Paul was willing to change and adapt to win people to Christ and so should we. Now is a good time to evaluate where you are on your faith journey and then make plans to grow spiritually in 2021.

After the birth of Jesus, Magi from a distant land came with their gifts fit for royalty. They bowed down in worship before the one who had been born, not merely King of the Jews, but as King of all kings, the Lord Supreme over heaven and earth. The desire of the wise men to worship this glorious King is the same desire God has put in every one of our hearts. When we try to fill the deep desires or the core longings of our hearts with anything or anyone other than God, we will become restless. God is calling each of us to seek Christ, to behold His truth and grace, and to bow down and worship Him with all that we have and all that we are. When we do that, our restless hearts will find rest and true joy, and our faith will flourish.

After the birth of Jesus, Magi from a distant land came with their gifts fit for royalty. They bowed down in worship before the one who had been born, not merely King of the Jews, but as King of all kings, the Lord Supreme over heaven and earth. The desire of the wise men to worship this glorious King is the same desire God has put in every one of our hearts. When we try to fill the deep desires or the core longings of our hearts with anything or anyone other than God, we will become restless. God is calling each of us to seek Christ, to behold His truth and grace, and to bow down and worship Him with all that we have and all that we are. When we do that, our restless hearts will find rest and true joy, and our faith will flourish.

In this line of the hymn, Wesley reminds us that Jesus is the fulfillment of all the Old Testament messianic prophecies promising that one day Messiah would come and strengthen, comfort and restore God's ancient people, Israel. Although He fulfilled Israel’s prophecies, Jesus came to bring salvation to the entire world. He is the consolation of His people, both Jews and Gentiles. There were many prophecies that looked forward to Messiah’s coming, and many devout Jews prayed earnestly for the day when He would arrive. Simeon, a man of faith, was “looking for the consolation of Israel.” When he saw Jesus as an infant, Simeon knew that this Child was the fulfillment of his messianic hope; this inspired Wesley’s song.

In this line of the hymn, Wesley reminds us that Jesus is the fulfillment of all the Old Testament messianic prophecies promising that one day Messiah would come and strengthen, comfort and restore God's ancient people, Israel. Although He fulfilled Israel’s prophecies, Jesus came to bring salvation to the entire world. He is the consolation of His people, both Jews and Gentiles. There were many prophecies that looked forward to Messiah’s coming, and many devout Jews prayed earnestly for the day when He would arrive. Simeon, a man of faith, was “looking for the consolation of Israel.” When he saw Jesus as an infant, Simeon knew that this Child was the fulfillment of his messianic hope; this inspired Wesley’s song.

This week we are going to look at the connection between fear, sin, and rest in Christ. How exactly does Advent celebrate our release from fear and sin? The writer of Hebrews helps by showing what God has done for us in Jesus. Each of the three aspects, atonement, incarnation and mercy, helps us move from fear to rest. You cannot know true release from fear without a relationship with Jesus Christ. Sin and fear are directly related—sin creates fear. Putting your faith in Jesus and receiving Christ is the first step toward freedom and rest for your soul.

This week we are going to look at the connection between fear, sin, and rest in Christ. How exactly does Advent celebrate our release from fear and sin? The writer of Hebrews helps by showing what God has done for us in Jesus. Each of the three aspects, atonement, incarnation and mercy, helps us move from fear to rest. You cannot know true release from fear without a relationship with Jesus Christ. Sin and fear are directly related—sin creates fear. Putting your faith in Jesus and receiving Christ is the first step toward freedom and rest for your soul.

The second line of our Advent hymn could be summarized with the word power. Wesley celebrates the fact that Jesus’ birth was the beginning of the end of the hold that sin and death had on mankind. His birth set the stage for spiritual freedom. All human beings face the spiritual problem of bondage of our innate and natural sinfulness. This problem created the need for the Advent of Jesus and the freedom and wholeness we long for in His Second Coming. Advent was the beginning of God calling people weighed down by empty living to a life of freedom, grace, and forgiveness. It is not merely about being born again—you become a totally different person from the inside out. It means you have been set free!