Matthew 28:20, John 14:23, Luke 24:13-35, Isaiah 7:14, John 1:14, Luke 2:1-20, Psalm 23:4, Zephaniah 3:17, Mark 4:35-41, John 14:2-3, Revelation 21:3-4, Matthew 17:1-8
Be near us Lord Jesus we ask you to stay, close by us forever and love us we pray. Immanuel, we invite you to draw near and dwell with us. Surround and sustain us with your tender caring presence tha...
Isaiah 7:14, Matthew 1:18-25, John 1:1-14, Isaiah 9:6-7
O Come, O Come Emmanuel You who are flesh Vulnerable and Lowly and Small Come, O Come Emmanuel You who are Great Holy and Powerful and Forever Come, O Come Emmanuel The Fullness of God with us Make ...
Leader: "The people walking in darkness have seen a great light: upon those who live in the land of the shadow of death, a light has shined." People: "For to us a child is born, to us...
Matthew 1:22-23, Isaiah 7:14, Luke 1:46-55, Luke 2:1-7, Micah 5:2, Luke 2:8-11, Isaiah 9:6-7
When we turn toward Advent, the name on our lips is Emmanuel, God with us . So much in Christian faith relies on what the faithful actually mean when we say that name. Western Christianity has fo...
John 15:13, Philippians 2:6-7, Matthew 2:13-15, Matthew 5:44, Romans 5:8, 1 John 4:19, 2 Corinthians 9:15
Jesus – Savior: Praise You. Thank You. We’d never have done what You did We’d never give up so much for someone else who cared so little about us. … and we can’t imagine anyone doing it for us. But Yo...
Isaiah 40:31, Psalm 27:14, Romans 12:2, Matthew 1:23, John 11:25-26, Hebrews 13:3
Lord—we’re so anxious we can’t wait! Some of us can’t wait for Christmas to come, while (honestly) some others of us can’t wait for it to be over. We’re not proud of it—but that’s just the way it is ...
Isolated at Christmas It’s an isolating feeling to be on the outside looking in. We’ve all felt it. Some of us especially feel this way at Christmastime. We might relate to Frank Abagnale in the mov...
Luke 1:26-38, Luke 1:46, Isaiah 7:14, Matthew 1:19, Revelation 11:15, Luke 1:46-48, John 8:41, 1 Corinthians 1:23, 1 Corinthians 1:27-29
Ancient lens What's the historical context? Couldn’t See That Coming Powerful parents with a family pedigree derived from Judah and the Davidic line was the common narrative for how most peop...
Luke 1:26-38, Luke 1:46, Isaiah 7:14, Matthew 1:19, Revelation 11:15, Luke 1:46-48, John 8:41, Luke 1:29, 1 Corinthians 1:23, 1 Corinthians 1:27-29
Advent 2023: Make Some Noise! AIM commentary Ancient lens What's the historical context? Couldn’t See That Coming Powerful parents with a family pedigree derived from Judah and the David...
Isaiah 9:2-7, Genesis 1:3-4, Isaiah 9:2, John 1:9, John 1:5
Preaching Commentary Ancient Lens What’s the historical context? Light in the Darkness Light is good. When God created the heavens and the earth, we are first told that “God said, ‘Let there be l...
Ancient Lens What’s the historical context? Light in the Darkness Light is good. When God created the heavens and the earth, we are first told that “God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was ...
Father God, Out of the darkness You spoke the word: “Let there be light, and there was light”. Into our darkness You spoke Your Son, the Word made flesh to live among us the Light of the World to brin...
John 1:14, Philippians 2:6-8, Luke 2:6-7, 1 Corinthians 1:27-29, Matthew 18:2-4
The incarnation is a kind of vast joke whereby the Creator of the ends of the earth comes among us in diapers... Until we too have taken the idea of the God-man seriously enough to be scandalized by i...
Father in Heaven, we confess that we never knew you had come down. We confess that we were in the dark as to your light among us. Though the world was created through your Word, we could not grasp the...
Pastor: "My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant." All: "for he who is mighty has done great things ...
John 1:1-4, Philippians 2:6-8, Colossians 1:16-17, Isaiah 7:14, Micah 5:12, 2 Corinthians 8:9, Luke 2:11-12
He by whom all things were made was made one of all things. The Son of God by the Father without a mother became the Son of man by a mother without a father. The Word Who is God before all time became...
Philippians 2:6-8, 2 Corinthians 8:9, John 1:14, Luke 2:7, Isaiah 9:6, John 3:16
The incarnation has often been described as “The Great Exchange,” whereupon God took on human form so that we might participate in God's divine life (through the Holy Spirit). In a sermon on the n...
You came to us, Word made flesh, to show us what it means to love. You came to us, Word made flesh, to teach us how to serve. You came to us, Word made flesh, to remind us to clothe the naked and fe...
Pastor: Today in the town of David, a Savior has been born; People: He is Christ the Lord! Luke 2:11 Pastor: Let us go from this place proclaiming that we have seen the glory of G...
Genesis 1:1-3, Genesis 2:7, Matthew 10:30, Psalm 139:1-4, Romans 5:8, Luke 19:1-10, Hebrews 13:15
God of majesty and power, Who spoke and this world was, Who breathed and this world lived, Who counts the hairs upon our head, Who sees our thoughts and reads our hearts, Who loves us more than we des...
John 1:1-14, John 1:1, Genesis 1:null, Colossians 1:null
God expressed Himself J.B. Phillips paraphrases the first line of John 1:1, “At the beginning God expressed himself ”. God’s word is more than mere speech. His word is action. When God speaks in Gen...
Luke 1:18-25, Galatians 4:4-6, Luke 2:1-20, Philippians 4:7, Romans 5:1, Micah 5:2, John 1:14
Pastor: Gracious God, with joy and thanksgiving we gather as Your people to ponder anew the timeless story of Christ’s birth. For at just the right time, You worked in the most unlikely ways to fulf...
John 1:1-14, John 1:1, Genesis 1:null, Colossians 1:null
Preaching Commentary God expressed Himself J.B. Phillips paraphrases the first line of John 1:1, “At the beginning God expressed himself ”. God’s word is more than mere speech. His word is action....
Pastor: In the dark and quiet of this holy night, we gather to worship in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. People: Amen. Pastor: We celebrate that when the fullness of time...
Malachi 4:2, Isaiah 9:6, 2 Corinthians 12:9, Hebrews 4:16, Titus 2:11, John 1:16, Isaiah 9:6
Leader: People of God, rejoice! The sun of righteousness has dawned with healing in His wings. To us a Child has been born; to us God’s Son has been given! His eternal reign has broken throug...
Philippians 2:5-8, John 1:14, 1 Corinthians 10:13, 1 Peter 2:24, Romans 8:3, Matthew 20:28
What self denial! What self abasement! What self emptying! He, whom no infinitudes can hold, is contained within infant’s age, and infant’s form. Can it be, that the great ‘I AM THAT I AM’ shrinks int...
God, you come to us and meet us in the strangest ways: sometimes in the stillness at the eye of the storm or in the midnight of our lives; sometimes in the raging whirlwind or in the high noon of our ...