We have lit the candles, sang the songs, worshipped together and celebrated! Jesus is here! We have gathered with our families and opened presents and shared meals with our loved ones. So now what? What are we supposed to do now that we have welcomed Jesus into our lives once again? Let us live for Christ!

Love is fulfilled promises!

Often, we experience the most Joy in life when outcomes exceed our expectations. We find great joy in the contrasts of life. When we expected to lose a game, we won. When we expect things to turn out bad, then they turn out good. When our expectations are low or we find ourselves in bad situations, and then the tables are turned, it can bring even greater joy. When things go from good to better there is Joy. When things go from terrible to great there is Great Joy! We see these contrasts in Isaiah 35. When Isaiah shares the contrast of the present circumstances to a future glory that God will bring to His People.

This week for Advent we light the candle of peace. As we look to the peace that the Messiah brings and will bring to the world, we can find peace in the midst of this fallen world through a relationship with Jesus Christ that justifies and sanctifies us here and now. However, we also look forward to a time when Jesus will bring peace to God's entire creation. As we will see in Isaiah 11 this is 'not of this world' peace. It is peace that will bring natural enemies together. A peace not ever seen or known in this world. A peace that can only come from the full redemption of God's creation.

As we begin advent, we look around our world and we see division, animosity, hate. There is war, economic pressures, political corruption, increase of crime on the streets…. The list is long. In the climate of the world today it can be easy to despair and even lose hope. However, with God when we find ourselves in the worst of situations it is sometimes there where we find the greatest Hope. Throughout the Bible when God’s people found themselves in circumstances of great despair is also when they received the promises of God that brought the greatest hope.

We have been talking about stewardship over the last month. Stewardship is important because giving to the church is how we support the mission of the Church. If we are asking people to give to support the mission of the church, it is important that we know what that mission is. Over the next two Sundays we will be looking at the four pillars for the mission of the church.

What do we see when we see the "other"? Do we compare ourselves to them? Let's explore praying pharisees, tax collectors and how we might see "the other" as beloved children of God.

As we wrap up our series on Enough we come face to face with our choices to choose Self over God, Control over Trust, and Power over Humility. What are the idols that we serve in our life that keep us separated from God?

In the Gospel, we say Jesus did it all for us, it may make our redemption sound easy. Chad Bird in “Upside-Down Spirituality” says, “We want to turn Jesus into our half life coach and half cheerleader. This Jesus becomes all about our self fulfillment and self accomplishment.” We spend our life trying to improve the old self. Jesus can’t fix you as you are, he starts over. It’s not about trying harder, finding your truth, or improving yourself….it’s dying to yourself…losing your life to find true life. Jesus wants to turn you upside down and inside out.

Repeatedly God’s people get themselves in trouble, cry out, He keeps His promise because He’s faithful and He returns to them and the cycle repeats. In Malachi, they’re supposed to be an example for the rest of humanity, but they are just going through the motions. When God has had enough He will hand you over to the consequences of your actions, but ultimately it is still grace. We’ve seen it in the Bible and in our own lives over and over, we are not able and not meant to do this by ourselves. Are you just going through the motions like the Israelites were? Being half-hearted, just showing up and not engaging is not what God’s looking for?