Waiting can be difficult. We’ve all experienced delays where our internal clock begins to tick telling us the outcome should come sooner rather than later. Or when things feel beyond our control and we’re at the mercy of someone else. Waiting is also hard when you are going through a season of seemingly unending pain. We can sympathize with psalmist who asked, “how long, Oh Lord?”.
As we approach the Christmas season we are approaching a season of waiting. We call it advent. Advent means coming. In one sense it’s a time of reflection. It’s a time to slow down and remember that the savior of the world, God himself, was born as a human baby. We remember the humble circumstances of his birth and worship with amazement the lengths our God went to save the world.
Advent is also a season that looks forward to Jesus’ second coming where all the work that his first coming accomplished is fully realized. It reminds us that we are all waiting. Once this waiting is realized all our difficult waits will be over. There will be no more internal time clocks, or seasons of sufferings. We will be fully at ease seeing Jesus’ full control exercised over all his creation.
This Christmas season we are launching into a new series titled Waiting. This series will encourage us to shift our focus from the waits of this life to Jesus, the one whose return we eagerly await. So, come, bring friends, and be encouraged this Christmas season.

Have you ever questioned why you are here? It’s a question that has sent many people on a quest to discover that answer. This Sunday will wrap up chapter 1 of Colossians before we step away for our Christmas series. This chapter ends as Paul describes our purpose with such clarity and simplicity. You won’t want to miss it. In addition, this is a very special Sunday because we will be celebrating communion and ordaining Randy.

Do you enjoy a good mystery? I know I like the suspense and thrill of uncovering the different clues and piecing things together. This week we will be talking a bout a mystery that was hidden for generations and now made known – the grandest mystery of all time. Brennan Penner, our missionary to Belgium, will guide us as we continue our study of Colossians.

Have you ever done something completely wrong but thought you were doing it right? I remember studying to learn Hebrew and I had a method for how to learn the language. A friend of mine found out about my method and said, “Oh no, you’re doing it all wrong. You’ll never learn Hebrew that way. Let me show you how.” That conversation completely changed my Hebrew studies. On a more fundamental level, we’ll see in our study of Colossians that our very lives were broken apart and how came to put everything as it should be.

It’s not hard to look around and see the brokenness in the world. At every turn in one way or another we are confronted with things that internally we know are not as they should be. As we continue our study in Colossians, we’ll see that Jesus reconciles all things. He will set all things as they should be. What an inspirational conclusion to this powerful Colossian hymn!

Have you ever held a diamond or a prism and just watch what happens to the light as hit hits that diamond – the rainbow of beautiful colors that are cast from that diamond? You can hold it at different angles and see the beauty expressed in several different ways. As we continue our study of this Colossian song, it’s almost as if Paul is presenting Jesus in several different ways just to take our breath away as we consider the identity of our redeemer. We’ll feel that this Sunday.

There are certain words called prepositions that have little to no meaning on their own. So, they never show up on their own. They are used in a phrase which gives them meaning. This week we come to section where 3 prepositions are used. Their context illuminates some wonderous truths about Jesus and how we should live.

Everybody likes to make a good deal. At the same time we all get a little weary if a deal seems too good to be true. This Sunday we’ll look at the greatest transaction in history. A deal that seems far too good to be true, but it is. Through Jesus we have been rescued from the domain of darkness and brought into the kingdom of light. There’s no better trade than that.

What would you like to see God accomplish in your life? What are some areas that He needs to develop in you? Now, think about those same questions in relation to your friends and family members. Then, consider how do you pray. For most people there is a gap between living out all the purposes of God and the content of our prayers. There was no such gap in the way Paul prayed. This week we’ll look at a prayer that all of us would desire that someone prays for us. It’s also a prayer we should pray for others.

Have you ever been to the beach and have a towel or an umbrella blown away by the wind? Perhaps, you thought there was enough sand on the towel or around the umbrella to keep it anchored, but it didn’t hold. In life, people anchor their hopes to many different things. However, this Sunday we’ll see that only Jesus is sufficient to hold the hope of our life. Bring friends as we continue our study through Colossians.