We kicked off our series with Ephesians 1:1-14. In the Greek text, verses 3-14 are one massive run-on sentence. Paul begins the letter with an explosion of praise to God. It is a theology-rich and glorious text that shows that in God’s new society, all who are in Christ are in One New Family.

Many of us are afraid to hope much for the coming year. 2016 was a hard year for several of us, but we still hope. We find ourselves in a similar position as one located in this text and see an event that has implications for all of our staring into the coming year. This text points clearly to Christ in his coming. Jesus’ coming changes everything, and who he is has a direct correlation to who we are. Who Christ is helps to shape how we see the New Year. Specifically, we see Christ in 4 ways, each one helping to shape us and our view of the coming days.

https://soundcloud.com/rhcdc/the-angels-song

Zechariah’s song bids us o allow God to deal with us in our silence and our wilderness, ultimately calling us to trust in his promises. We will look at the life of John the Baptist, and the Song of Zechariah and find that they are worn maps that help us navigate the relationship between our own doubt and the promises of God. They help us to live within the advent season, in anticipation of the return of Christ.

We were honored to have Pastor Elliot Grudem join us as we continued our series, Advent: Songs of the Coming Christ. Elliot is the founder and president of Leaders Collective and serves as the Lead Pastor for Leadership Development and Church Planting at Vintage Church in Raleigh, North Carolina. He preached out of Luke 1:46-55 on Mary's song of praise: The Magnificat.

As we move past Thanksgiving, the attention quickly moves to Christmas. Black Friday rushes in and the super busy crazy season begins. It is in the midst of this, we are going to take some time for the next few Sundays to step back and celebrate Advent. Advent is the season in the liturgical calendar where we anticipate the arrival of Christ, both looking back to his first coming and anticipating his second coming. Our theme will be "Songs of the Coming Christ". For this series we will be focusing in on the songs that surround the birth of Jesus in Luke 1 2. We begin by looking at Luke 1:5-25 where there is no song. When there is no song many times it is because we can't or don't sing, and it normally means that there is deep pain we are experiencing. This is exactly the situation as we look and see what is happening with Zechariah and Elizabeth. And yet, in the midst of the pain God is still at work and there is hope.

As we move past Thanksgiving, the attention quickly moves to Christmas. Black Friday rushes in and the super busy crazy season begins. It is in the midst of this, we are going to take some time for the next few Sundays to step back and celebrate Advent. Advent is the season in the liturgical calendar where we anticipate the arrival of Christ, both looking back to his first coming and anticipating his second coming. Our theme will be "Songs of the Coming Christ". For this series we will be focusing in on the songs that surround the birth of Jesus in Luke 1 2. We begin by looking at Luke 1:5-25 where there is no song. When there is no song many times it is because we can't or don't sing, and it normally means that there is deep pain we are experiencing. This is exactly the situation as we look and see what is happening with Zechariah and Elizabeth. And yet, in the midst of the pain God is still at work and there is hope.

Ruth 4 is a beautiful portrait of redemption and life. We will work together to gain an understanding of the cultural context of the story. As a church, we get to celebrate God's goodness, grace, and provision, even as we look ahead to Thanksgiving.

Ruth 4 is a beautiful portrait of redemption and life. We will work together to gain an understanding of the cultural context of the story. As a church, we get to celebrate God's goodness, grace, and provision, even as we look ahead to Thanksgiving.

Sometimes we miss things that we really need to hear and wrestle with because we label it, place it aside in our minds, and dismiss it. Jesus didn't do that. Instead, he entered into life with others around him, living out the kingdom in what he said and what he did. He is not only our savior, but our example. Pastor Trey Herweck of Refuge Church in St. Charles, MO joined us to share God's word.