Be sure to join us tonight for an Advent Conversation in the Fellowship Hall.
Be sure to join us today at 2 pm or tonight at 6 pm for an Advent Conversation in the Fellowship Hall. For the evening session there will be a family friendly light meal will be served beginning at 5:15 with a teaching time from 6:00 to 7:00. Please feel free to arrive at a time that works best for you and your family. Advent activities for children will be available during the 6 pm teaching time. If you need childcare for either session, please call the church office to sign up.
Our reading for today is filled with Advent language and imagery.
Jesus speaks about being ‘sent’ and about ‘coming into the world’ as a light that will dispel the darkness. Remember that Advent is all about the arrival of the Messiah who has the power and authority to transform the world. Our personal Advent task is to be alert to the ways God is arriving in our lives and being sent into the world today. Our personal Advent assignment is all about waiting with a spirit of expectation and sensitivity so we become certain that we are in the best position possible to experience the grace of God. This section of Scripture reminds us about the unity that exists between the Father and the Son. They are of one mind and speak with one voice. As a result, those who believe in and listen to the Son are also connected to the Father. Have you looked at the calendar lately? Did you realize that just two weeks from today will be Christmas day? On that day we will celebrate the birth of Jesus with Christian believers all around the world. Many families will read the second chapter of Luke as a way of remembering the Bethlehem birth that changed the world forever. It will be a very special day! The Bethlehem manger always reminds me that our faith is not just built on the teachings of Jesus. Our faith is really dependent on a solid understanding of the Trinity. So the birth of Jesus is centered on the will of God the Creator and was made possible through the power of the Holy Spirit that brings life and light to our journey of faith. The unity of God, the great three in one, is essential to our ability to believe. Have you ever wondered what the world would be like if Jesus had not been sent into the world? Do you think we could set aside this day as a time of reflection and thanksgiving for all the good that God has brought into the world through Jesus? Perhaps our simple prayer request for today could be, “Come Lord Jesus.”
John 12:44-50 44
Then Jesus cried aloud: ‘Whoever believes in me believes not in me but in him who sent me. 45And whoever sees me sees him who sent me. 46I have come as light into the world, so that everyone who believes in me should not remain in the darkness. 47I do not judge anyone who hears my words and does not keep them, for I came not to judge the world, but to save the world. 48The one who rejects me and does not receive my word has a judge; on the last day the word that I have spoken will serve as judge, 49for I have not spoken on my own, but the Father who sent me has himself given me a commandment about what to say and what to speak. 50And I know that his commandment is eternal life. What I speak, therefore, I speak just as the Father has told me.’
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