Sometimes a concept is overused so often that it loses the heart impact it so rightly deserves. Love is one of those concepts. Worn-out and often abused in our society, love begins to sound trite and trivial. But, it is the centerpiece of the Christian faith and is absolutely necessary for human flourishing. As we close out our Advent-ageous series and look towards the new year, we will be exploring the concept of love from 1 Corinthians 13. Pastor Daniel will explore the necessity of love, the quality of love and the eternality of love. This is a message that you will definitely want to share with your friends too!

The nation is still recovering, ever so slowly, from the shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School. Funerals for the victims continue on, and people argue vehemently over gun control. During a season when people are usually driving to the mall, shopping, baking, hosting Christmas partie, and singing "Joy to the word, the Lord is come," not many are feeling very "tis the season to be jolly...fa la la la la, la la la la." Yet the Bible tells us that the angel said, "Dont be afraid! I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people." Real joy. Joy that is above and beyond our most difficult circumstances. Dont you want that joy? This message is about just that. Not just that joy exists, but how to bridge the gap between what we sing and what we see. God wants to give us real joy this Christmas!

Christmastime was intended to be a season of peace. Even as the angels declared, "Glory to God in the highest, peace on earth, goodwill toward men," Jesus the Prince of Peace was born. When we reflect on the gift of the Christmas season, Jesus coming to earth and putting on flesh, we remember that God is very much interested in peace. Yet the holidays seem to get more and more stressful with each passing year. We all want peace in our life, and in this next Advent-ageous message, Pastor Daniel will give us a firm grasp on the ways that Jesus is our peace and brings us God's peace.

We all have hopes. Stuff that we really want to happen, like, "I hope the sun comes out," or "I hope I don't get the flu!" or "I hope we have a good Christmas this year." Romans 15 says, "May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope..." but like the words love and faith, our culture has morphed the real meaning of hope into something much less powerful and meaningful than God originally intended. This Christmas, God brings us hope, and in this first message in the series Advent-ageous, we will learn why hope is so important to each of us. God wants to show you what hope really is, and His hope will strengthen your life and help you move forward with joy this season!