The Advent Conspiracy
How do you feel right after Christmas? If you are like millions of other Americans, December is jammed full of busy-ness (..have to get it all done!) and worries (…have to get the perfect gift!) and buying sprees (it takes most American 3-5 months or more to pay off their Christmas debts!)…that at the end of December leaves most Americans feeling worn out, tired, let down, and empty.
What if through all of this we are really missing Christmas altogether? What if it was meant to be different? What if there was a better way? What if it was the way of Jesus, the One born on that first Christmas night? What if this is, finally, why Jesus came? Maybe we’ve taken a wrong turn; maybe we’ve missed the peace, joy, hope, love, and rest that Christmas is all about. And maybe Jesus wants to give it back to us as a …. Christmas gift!
This is what the Advent Conspiracy is all about. Advent: The arrival of Jesus. Conspiracy: plotting and planning to actually enter into the Christmas story in order to live in its gifts. Yes, we are starting our Christmas preparation a little early this year. But we are serious about making it different. And it takes time to plot to make it so. But then, we think Jesus is serious about it as well. We think He wants to give you this gift; the gift of Christmas reborn in your life!
November 7, 2021 Worship Fully
“Come and worship. Come and worship. Worship Christ the new-born king.” (From the well-known Christmas carol “Joy to the World.”) To have the Christmas and its gifts that we all seek – love, peace, joy, hope, and rest – one needs to worship Jesus, the One born on Christmas. What does it mean to worship something? Well, what is the most important thing in your life at any given moment? That is what you are worshipping. We were created to be happy and whole and complete only when we are worshipping this God revealed in Jesus. This Christmas, Jesus would give us the gift of showing us what this means anew – and what it can look like in our lives.
November 14, 2021 Spend Less
Christmas is about God entering our world and our lives personally. It is the gift of His personal presence with us together with all that this means! This is called the “Incarnation” which simply means that God became man and entered our world as one of us so that we might be His. This is the story of Christmas! But the question remains, how do we enter into this story and live it out in our lives? How do we embrace and know the joy of living out Christmas in our lives?
November 21, 2021 A Time of Thanksgiving
Sometimes there is something so important that it calls for one to just stop everything else and do it. This National time of Thanksgiving is one of those times. Please join us either personally or online for this, “Time of Thanksgiving” as we turn our hearts to our gracious God through whom every good and perfect gift is given to us! O give thanks to the Lord for He is good and His mercy endures forever!
November 28, 2021 Give More
“For God so loved the world that He gave…” Giving is the heart of Christmas. On Christmas, God emphasizes that He gives us Himself as the name of Jesus spoken by the angel is, “Immanuel – God with us!” What does it look like to live this out in our lives? What does it look like to “do” the REAL Christmas?
December 5, 2021 Love All
Ok. This is the story of Christmas. “For God so loved the world that He sent Jesus at Christmas…” How do we enter into this truth of God’s love for all revealed at Christmas? How do we live out Christmas for our great joy and for the good of many? It’s what we talk about today.