This Sunday, we begin our new sermon series, Numbers: The Journey Home. Over the next year, we will join Israel on their long and often winding journey from the base of Mount Sinai to their new home in the promised land of Canaan. This journey is not for the faint of heart. There will be setbacks and disappointments. There will be rebellion and punishment. Yet in the midst of it all, there will also be grace, mercy, forgiveness and redemption. This Sunday, we will see how the Lord begins to prepare Israel for their journey home as we study Numbers 1-2. Reading: Numbers 1-2, Psalm 147:4, Matthew 7:14; 28:20 and Westminster Confession of Faith 14.2,3.

Moving toward the new year, it is appropriate to reflect on our lives. What did we devote our lives to in the past year and what do we want to devote to in the year to come? We see that Jesus Himself regularly devoted Himself to the word of God as the source of His life direction. It is no wonder that Jesus regularly quoted the scripture, because it had a central place in His life and as He lived a perfect life for our salvation. This Sunday we will begin our New Years Eve together asking why we ought to devote our time this new year in God’s word, the Bible. We will see how Paul encourages us to devote ourselves to the scriptures because of the various Gospel promises we receive in our time before God in His word. To prepare for this Sunday, read through 1 Timothy 4:1-16, Psalm 19, and the Westminster Confession of Faith Chapter 1 of The Holy Scripture.

Did you ever receive a Christmas present that you just didn’t want? As a child, it was always disappointing to get something practical like socks or a tooth brush. As an adult, you hope not to receive something useless or offensive. “You think I wear what size?” And sometimes the hardest gifts to receive are the ones that we truly need. Yet, it takes love to give these types of gifts. This Sunday, we will conclude our Advent series by focusing on the theme of love. In Isaiah 52-53 we will see that the gift of God’s love is a gift that the world did not want to receive, nevertheless, it was the one gift that this broken world truly needed. To come prepared for the sermon, take time this week to read and meditate upon Isaiah 52:13-53:12, John 1:11, 1 John 4:9-10 and Westminster Shorter Catechism #’s 19-22.

Johnathan Edwards once wrote, “Self-denial will also be reckoned amongst the troubles of the godly… But whoever has tried self-denial can give in his testimony that they never experienced greater pleasure and joys than after great acts of self-denial.” The third Sunday of Advent, we focus on the theme of joy. Yet we can often miss the biblical pathway to joy. We tend to think that joy comes when we have all that we want. Joy comes when we get the Christmas presents we were longing for. Joy comes with the Christmas dinner and the Christmas desserts. These blessings can bring joy in the moment, nevertheless, there is a lasting joy that only comes when we are willing to follow the path laid out for us by Christ. This Sunday, we will continue our Advent series by going to Matthew 13:44. Here we will see that lasting joy only comes when we are willing to deny ourselves for the sake of following Christ. Reading: Matthew 13:44, Philippians 3:7-16, John 15:11 and Westminster Shorter Catechism #36.

Peace is a strange word to associate with the holiday season. How are you to have peace with all the traffic? How are you to have peace when you have added fifteen Christmas parties/events to your calendar? What is peaceful about Walmart in December? What is peaceful about children hyped-up on the excitement of presents and the rush of sugar? What is so peaceful about spending time with family members who have very different religious, political, or cultural views than you? We see signs in the mall as we run from store to store that say, “Peace!” Ironically, our overpriced caffeine boost is poured into a cup which has the word “Peace” written on the outside. The question becomes then how can you regain the peace of Christmas in a world that is filled with too many obligations and not enough time? Too many expenses and not enough money? How can you have peace in a world where expectations rarely meet reality? Where being alone makes you feel depressed and being with others makes you feel overwhelmed? How can you have peace in a world filled with so much chaos? This Sunday we will continue our advent series by going to Isaiah 66:7-14. Here, we will see that to experience peace in the midst of the chaos of this world we must find our peace in Christ alone. To come prepared for the sermon take time this week to read and to meditate upon Isaiah 66:1-14, Colossians 1:20, and Revelation 21:1-4.

Christmas Cantata presented by the Sanctuary Choir

In our sermon series on Colossians, the last few weeks we have learned what it means to take off the old self and put on the new self. Through our union with Christ, we have been changed and have hope in this life and hope for the life to come. Yet, sometimes we struggle to convey the hope that we have and are not sure how to share the good news of the gospel. As we conclude our study of Colossians, Paul gives practical tips in Colossians 4:2-18 on how to declare the mystery of Christ to an unbelieving world. We will see that the declaration of the gospel involves our prayers, actions, and words. To be prepared for the sermon read Colossians 4:2-18, John 17:22-23, and Matthew 5:13-16.