Sunday evening service, looking at the Heidelberg Catechism/Orthodox Catechism question 1 and 2: Where is true, lasting comfort found, both in life and in and through and after death? In the profound reality that our life is hidden with Christ in God.

Guest Preacher John Miller opens up from Hebrews 11 the transformative power of faith in Jesus Christ, through which believes overcome the world's opposition and destruction. From this text we see courageous faith that resists tyrannical persecution, worldly pleasures, and the fear of power, and we see a confident faith that delivers from divine judgment through the Passover Lamb.

Guest preacher: Pastor Brandon Smith, Pastor at Trinity Reformed Baptist Church in Jackson, GA. Here from 2nd Corinthians we see how God alone is the only true source of comfort and peace, particularly in a world marked by suffering, moral decay, and spiritual confusion.

God creates a home for Adam and Eve -- but more than just a home, as the Garden of Eden is the first temple, the sanctuary where God dwells with His people that they might enjoy communion with Him. All of this points us to Jesus Christ as the second Adam, the builder of God's house, the one through whom we commune with God and have access into His glorious presence.

Here in the creation account, the Sabbath is set forth as a picture of our ultimate purpose and meaning in life: to enjoy God and glorify Him forever.

Sunday School Hour: An overview of the Introduction and Chapter 1 of Benjamin Keach's classic book, The Glory of a True Church.

humanity was created with God-given capacities like knowledge, righteousness, and holiness, so that we might live in covenant fellowship with God and function as His royal representatives, reflecting His ordered goodness into creation. Though sin has grievously marred this image, the image of God is neither destroyed nor redefined; it is perfectly revealed in Jesus Christ, the true and final Image of God, who by grace restores us into renewed image-bearers through the gospel.

What is the meaning and purpose of life? Why are we on earth? Well, God's word answers these questions for us right up front in the creation account. Here, God doesn't answer questions about purpose and meaning by pointing us inward to our dreams or aspirations, or even to our productivity --what we can produce in life, what positives we bring, what we can change, etc. Rather, God answers these questions by directing our gaze upward to Him, and outward to where He has placed us and gifted us in life.

Advent is not merely a celebration of past events, but a call to patient endurance, holy longing, and unwavering trust in God's faithfulness, knowing that grace abounds where sin reigns and that Christ's final victory is certain, even in the midst of present trials and the world's opposition.

Sunday School Hour: A brief overview of the Christian Classic, "On the Incarnation" by Athanasius.