Over the next couple of Sundays, as we lead up to Christmas, we are going to focus on the praise that happens surrounding the announcement and the arrival of the Messiah. This week, we will look at Mary’s praise. Next week, we will look at Zechariah’s. Then, on the 22nd, Dr. Brian Thomas will focus on the praise of the angels and shepherds in Luke 2.

One of the most beautiful experiences that we can have in life is watching a young person who has been truly captivated by Jesus and the hope of the gospel. Mary, the mother of our Savior, is a young person who has been thrust into the living story of the saving plan of God for humanity. Mary will carry the Christ. What is beautiful is that Mary not only believes the message of the angel, but she explodes with delight in her God and Savior. Her trust in God far exceeds all the potential complications that this role might place on an engaged yet unmarried girl in her Jewish culture. She believes that her God is good; that her God is gracious; that her God is faithful. The message is called Mary’s Magnificent God. If you want to read in advance, the passage is Luke 1:39-56.

Let’s come together and see that what thrills Mary should thrill us. What shapes Mary’s obedient faith is what should shape our joy, our faith, and our hope as well. Looking forward to worshiping with you all.

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One of the most powerful statements that someone can ever say to us is “I am with you.” It is infinitely more powerful when that person is the Lord Jesus Christ himself. In this passage that we are studying today (Acts 18:1-17), the Lord Jesus appears to Saul at Corinth in a dream and tells him: “‘Do not be afraid, but go on speaking and do not be silent, for I am with you...’”. This is exactly what Christ said to the disciples at the end of Matthew’s gospel when Jesus gives the great commission. He ends by saying “I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

On Thanksgiving weekend, we give thanks for the comfort and courage that comes from the promise of Christ’s presence in our lives. November 30 is the first day of Advent. Over the next several Sundays leading up to Christmas, we will celebrate the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Here’s the great news. He came the first time in order to show us by His life and death and resurrection, that He would never ever leave us alone. He is with us!

The Christmas season can be a time of loneliness, sorrow, and struggle. Yet, the core message to each of us is this: His name is Immanuel, God with Us! Come this Sunday, as we merge our study of Acts with the message of hope in Christmas: Christ is with us forever! He will never let us go! May we find strength in this together and may His presence be with us even as we worship Him as a church family.

Join us for Christmas Eve at 3PM - Season of Great Joy!

This Sunday, we studied the apostle Paul’s encounter with the major philosophers of his day in Athens. He encounters a myriad of Greek religious and philosophical ideas. How does he effectively engage them with the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Our study will be taken from Acts 17:16-33 and it is entitled “Now is the Appointed Time.” I don’t know if you have ever thought about the question, “If you could live at any point in history and any place in history, where would you choose?” We often can have a rather romantic notion of some time in history when we thought the world was a more beautiful, or a more exciting, or more noble time in which to live. We think that our times are the hardest for Christians and the mission of Christ.

The doctrine of God’s providence teaches us that God has chosen and appointed the very times and the places for each and all of our lives. That’s what Paul proclaims in Athens. We are living in exactly the right time and the right place for God to do His good work in us and through us for His glory. As we consider how to live as Christians in a world full of suffering and injustice, it is helpful for us to know that God is at work and we don’t have to play God to orchestrate the best scenarios for kingdom life and gospel advancement. God is at work and His purposes cannot fail!

My wife’s favorite verse in the Bible is Job 42:2 where the suffering Job declares “I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted.” Can you say that? How does our life and mission change when we believe that God has providentially orchestrated everything for our good and the salvation of others? How does that shape our faith and the sharing of our faith in a world that seems so far from Christ?

Come on Sundays at 9 & 11 and let’s be encouraged together through the Word and the worship of our Lord Jesus Christ. Hope you can come and hope you will invite a friend.