Pastor's Post

Dear People

Last Sunday, we finished our Harvest Spiritual Campaign series, The Real Heaven – What The Bible Actually Says.  Feedback from this series has been encouraging.  People have gotten a lot out of it, and there’s been much discussion during Life Groups.  I also understand that many now have a new vision of what Heaven is like presently, and the awesome place it will be in the future in the New Heaven on New Earth.  Prior to the series, a number of you didn’t realize that this future Heaven would be physical filled with rewarding work, travel, adventure, and of course, fellowship with other believers from our time on earth and from the past as well.  And most importantly, as most did know about, we will be in the presence of God the Father and Jesus Christ.  This series was in great part about the Second Advent or Second Coming of Christ.

Last Sunday, although finishing up our Harvest Spiritual Campaign, we celebrated the First Sunday of Advent.  We are now in the Advent/Christmas Season.  The word, advent, means coming.  We just studied about the Second Advent or Coming of Christ, and now as we are in December, we turn our attention to the first advent or coming of Christ.  In the traditional church liturgical calendar, the four Sundays prior to Christmas are the Sundays of Advent with Advent ending on Christmas Eve.  Advent is a time of joyful anticipation and preparation for Christmas.  As took place last Sunday, during each Worship Service, an advent devotion and prayer is given, and one candle will be lit emphasizing that Sunday’s Advent theme.  The first Sunday’s theme is hope, the second is peace, the third is joy, and the fourth Sunday’s theme is love.  Three of the five candles to be lit are purple with the Third Sunday of Advent, the one celebrating joy, being pink.  And then the center candle, the Christ Candle, is white, and is lit on Christmas Eve.  And in fact, it is from this Christ Candle that all the candles of the congregation are lit.  What a wonderful festive time this is!

Tomorrow is the Second Sunday of Advent, celebrating and reflecting upon peace.  Besides the Advent reading, prayer, and candle lighting, we will start this year’s Advent series, When You Wish Upon A Star, with the message “Wise Men.”  As you may have guessed, this year’s Advent series is from Matthew 2:1-12 about the wise men or magi that came from the east to visit the Christ child.  Tomorrow we will look at five marks of a wise man, or really, person.  To add to our celebration it is also Communion Sunday.  What a wonderful day it will be as we not only remember the coming of the God of the universe to earth, but also the reason He came.  Hope to see you! 

Pleased As Man With Men To Dwell, Jesus, Our Emmanuel

Randy