CONNECTION IS NOT COMMUNITY. Genesis 2:18 NLT

COMMUNITY IS IN OUR DNA. Genesis 1:1-2, 26-27; Matthew 26:38 NLT

“Communities are constituted by physical proximity, shared concerns, real consequences, and common responsibilities.”-Sherry Turkle, Social Scientist

Your shadow is the accumulation of untamed emotions, less-than-pure motives and thoughts that, while largely unconscious, strongly influence and shape your behaviors. It is the damaged but mostly hidden version of who you are. -Peter Scazzaro, Emotionally Healthy Leader

COMMUNITY MEETS OUR DEEPEST NEED FOR BELONGING.

YOU ARE DESIGNED TO THRIVE IN COMMUNITY.

NEXT STEP: GATHER WITH THE FAMILY.

Why are we here?

The church exists to help CHRISTIANS become more like Jesus. Ephesians 4:11-16

How can I be MORE like Jesus?John 8:5-8 NLT

The Parable Explained:

• Seed: God’s Word (the Gospel)
• Footpath: message hidden by the enemy
• Rocks: faith without roots that withers
• Thorns: concern for riches & pleasures
• Fertile Soil: honest or good people who make room for the message to grow

The Gospel is ineffective when the enemy hides God’s plan from our hearts, when we fail to root ourselves in Godliness, or when we allow the pursuit of worldly pleasure and riches to overtake our desire for the things of God.

Noursih the seed that God planted in your HEART.

WHY DOES GOD’S GLORY MATTER? John 1:10-14 NLT

GOD’S GLORY FALLS WHERE HIS PRESENCE DWELLS. Exodus 40:34-35, 2 Chronicles 7:1-3, NLT

LET THE SPIRIT OF GOD HAVE HIS WAY IN YOUR LIFE. Romans 8:11-14, Colossians 3:16 NLT

God sent his love to illuminate a dark world. Isaiah 9:1-2, John 1:1-5 NLT

Christmas offers God’s light for your life. John 8:12-19 NLT

Godliness prepares us to WEATHER whatever may come. Genesis 3:6-7, Psalm 1:1-3,

The CROSS was the very first Christmas Tree. Deuteronomy 21:22-23, Galatians 3:13-14 NLT

The Christmas tree is a PROMISE of eternal life Genesis 3:22-23, Revelation 22:1-5 NLT

Scriptures: Genesis 1:3, 6-7, 9, 14-15, 20, 24, 26, 28-31 Deuteronomy 8:14-19, Hebrews 13:14-16 NLT

God displayed his GENEROSITY as the very first giver of gifts.

Gifts were meant to be EXCHANGED between us and God.

God’s gifts remind us to live other-WORLDLY.

Christmas was always part of God’s plan for restoration.

Genesis 3:15 NLT

...I will cause hostility between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring. He will strike your head, and you will strike his heel.”

Genesis 49:8-10 NLT

“Judah, your brothers will praise you. You will grasp your enemies by the neck. All your relatives will bow before you.

9 Judah, my son, is a young lion that has finished eating its prey.

Like a lion he crouches and lies down; like a lioness—who dares to rouse him? 10 The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from his descendants, until the coming of the one to whom it belongs, the one whom all nations will honor.

Isaiah 7:14 NLT

...Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son and will call him Immanuel (which means ‘God is with us’).

Isaiah 9:6-7 NLT

For a child is born to us, a son is given to us. The government will rest on his shoulders. And he will be called: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. 7 His government and its peace will never end. He will rule with fairness and justice from the throne of his ancestor David for all eternity. The passionate commitment of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies will make this happen!

Christmas brings righteousness, holiness, and PURITY .

Isaiah 1:16-18 NLT

Wash yourselves and be clean! Get your sins out of my sight. Give up your evil ways. 17 Learn to do good. Seek justice. Help the oppressed. Defend the cause of orphans. Fight for the rights of widows. 18 “Come now, let’s settle this,” says the Lord. “Though your sins are like scarlet, I will make them as white as snow. Though they are red like crimson, I will make them as white as wool.

Christmas makes the GODLY whiter than snow.

Revelation 3:1-5 NLT

...“I know all the things you do, and that you have a reputation for being alive—but you are dead. 2 Wake up! Strengthen what little remains, for even what is left is almost dead. I find that your actions do not meet the requirements of my God. 3 Go back to what you heard and believed at first; hold to it firmly. Repent and turn to me again. If you don’t wake up, I will come to you suddenly, as unexpected as a thief.

4 “Yet there are some in the church in Sardis who have not soiled their clothes with evil. They will walk with me in white, for they are worthy. 5 All who are victorious will be clothed in white. I will never erase their names from the Book of Life, but I will announce before my Father and his angels that they are mine.

What MEMORIALS do you need to build? Joshua 4:1-7

Wilderness Miracles (Exodus 13-17)

• Daily provision of manna and quail
• Provided water from a rock
• Protected them against enemies
• Led them with a physical presence
• Sustained their resources
• God kept his promises

What STORY do you need to share? Deuteronomy 7:4-10 NLT

What MERCIES do you need to recall? Psalm 103:1-5 NLT

God’s Tender Mercies

• He forgives our sin
• He heals our disease
• He redeems us from death
• He crowns us with love
• He renews our strength
• He gives us justice
• He showers us with compassion
• He is patient and slow to anger
• He withholds the punishment we deserve
• He understands our weaknesses
• He saves the children’s children of those who live for him