Advent/Christmas
We all long for that perfect Hallmark movie Christmas. But too many times our Christmas is filled with stress and anxiety. Don’t let stress and anxiety control your Christmas and your life – there is hope! In this message, we will find the message of hope in some of the traditional Christmas symbols. It’s through those symbols that you will be reminded that God is for you.
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God is with us – in answered promises, realized dreams, and refreshed hope. How could we help but sing? In this series, we will explore the songs born from our joy that Christ has entered the world.
“A thrill of hope,
the weary world rejoices.
For yonder breaks
a new and glorious morn.”
If you were to describe the climate of our collective lives today, you’d be hard-pressed to find 2 words that can more accurately summarize us than “weary world”! Many people today can relate to that phrase. But the song also reminds us that you can still experience hope even if there’s a weary world in you. You can experience a thrill of hope and inside your weary world you will find the faith to rejoice, why? Because even in the chaos of this night, there is a new and glorious morn. The next day when the sun comes up, the Savior has been born, and on the new and glorious morn everything is different because a day with Christ can change everything.
“O come, all ye faithful, joyful and triumphant!”
During the Christmas season, we can feel anything but faithful and joyful and triumphant. In fact, many times we may feel weary and burdened. But the good news is that Jesus calls the weary and burdened. And if we answer that call, Jesus can help us to become more faithful.
The carol “O Little Town of Bethlehem” is really an evangelistic prayer. “Evangel” means “good tidings” and the carol is a song of “good tidings,” the “best news,” that Christ has come into the world in order to redeem it. What does this great news mean to you this season? How does this news compare to the rest of the news you are hearing? With what words and in what ways will you share this good news with someone who needs to hear it this week?
“O Come O Come, Emmanuel.”
Emmanuel means: God with us. God is with you, God was with you, God will be with you. And that’s the best news ever. But does that make a difference in our lives? Our we living our lives like God is with us? There’s no question that God is with you. The real question is: Are you with God?
