What did a day in the life of Jesus look like? The Gospel writers give us the highlights of his mission to proclaim and demonstrate God's reign. In Luke 4.38-44, we see a snapshot of a day, evening, and morning in Jesus' life. One thing that stands out is Jesus' rhythm of work (teaching, healing, exorcising) and rest (spending time alone with his Father). It's this regular time of rest that recharges Jesus in the power of the Spirit for God's mission. So, how do we rest? How do we work with God? What does a day in your life with Jesus look like?

Pastor Adam had planned to give part two of our brief New Year's series "Plans and Detours"...and ironically, took a detour instead. Wherever we are on our journey with Jesus, it's important to rest, to be still, and to hear his invitation: "Come to me." This message is an introduction to a time of prayer with hope that we would be quiet enough to hear and then have faith enough to come.

The New Year means it's time for New Year's resolutions. We make plans for the future hoping we'll be better off this time around...then reality sets in. "Reality" can be that unexpected detour, that challenge, that obstacle--that thing we never planned for. What do we do? God wants us to be present enough to follow him through the detours with great faith that he will lead us through. Jesus was supremely present to the Spirit of God which made him supremely present to others. Jesus meets two desperate people and shows them great compassion and power because he always seems to do his best work in the detours of our lives. It's up to us to look to him and reach out.

The wait is almost over. Advent will soon give way to Christmas when we celebrate the God who has come to a weary world in need of rescue. What we see in the manger is the supreme example of what God has always been about -- aligning himself with the least and the abandoned. God loves to make the insignificant significant. He loves to care for the uncared for. Micah gives Israel a surprising message of how a Shepherd will come from a humble place. The hard part, however, is waiting for a Shepherd that's still a long way off. So how do we respond when rescue is not coming as soon as we'd like?

Our guest preacher, Colte McCorkle, reminds us that true joy is found in the God who is joyful over us, even when we didn't deserve restoration. Colte served PCC as a Missional Community leader and intern several years ago. He and his family live in Mineola, TX.

No one likes waiting, just ask a child waiting for Christmas morning. When the waiting feels like forever we can get lulled into thinking what's promised will never come. Advent is our wake-up call. It's a season of waiting, sure, but it's an active waiting -- a kind of waiting that is so certain of what's promised that we live in that reality today. Isaiah saw through the gloom and spoke of a light dawning on God's people who were lost in darkness -- he was sure their waiting would come to end and God would restore the world. God's answer to all the darkness, violence, and bullies of the world was a Child called the "Prince of Peace." The light dawned, the Child came, and we wait for him to come again.

Words have power. We all know how much words can affect our view of ourselves, others, and the world. So what do we say in the darkest of circumstances? The prophet Jeremiah had the difficult task of speaking a word of hope that might propel God's people through their most trying hour. Hope is about believing that our present circumstance is not the last word spoken over our life story. During Advent, hope is about believing God will send a Savior, and that restoration isn't only possible -- it's promised.

We're all born into a culture that shapes how we see the world and others. But for all of us in Christ, the question is the same: how do we live in Christ within our culture? At the close of his letter, Paul finishes up the "house code" section before he gives his final instruction about the reality of spiritual warfare. Our culture has mixed views on the supernatural but for those in Christ, we've got to wake up to the reality that our life is under attack by unseen forces. It's fitting, then, that Paul should close his letter about our life in Christ with the reminder to "be strong in the Lord" no matter what comes our way.

"Submit" is a hard word for many of us to stomach. It's a word that might of caught many Ephesians off guard at the climax of Paul's second half of this letter. But while submission may be hard for us, submission is the way for all of us, even for our life in Christ with those in closest proximity -- the people we live and work with. Paul takes a familiar Roman formula called "House Codes" that described the culturally-defined relationships of husband and wife, children and parents, masters and slaves, and replaces them with Christ-defined relationships. We see that Jesus has redefined every relationship in him and we're called to "Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ" (5.21).

Many people think Christianity is about following a list of "Do's" and "Don'ts." Of course, nothing could be further from the truth. Christianity is about living under the reign of Jesus in God's kingdom. When Jesus gives us a new life in him, he invites us to "Come" and "Follow," learning obedience as we go (not the other way around). Those in Christ have been brought from death to life and we're given the power to live the Jesus way. Paul's teaching in the last half of Ephesians, then, aren't new laws for the Christ follower, they are kingdom reminders--wake-up calls--to live the life they've been called to and empowered to live.