In this season of Advent I think it’s extremely important that we understand the doctrine of the Incarnation…the truth that God in all His fullness became a man. The article below says it much better than I ever could so I will let Matt Perman explain this pivotal truth – Continue reading
Most of the following is borrowed from The Village Church in Dallas, TX. We appreciate the faithful work of great churches like The Village that allow small churches like Missio Dei to steal their stuff.
Christ is coming. He has come, and He will come again. This is the message of Advent.
Though Advent is often neglected in many contemporary churches, it has a long history of remembrance. It is a season of waiting, a time of anxious and eager anticipation for the coming (advent) of Christ to His bride.
Though it overlaps with modern Christmas celebrations, it is quite different. Whereas Christmas tends to be a season of noise and commotion, Advent is a time to slow down and reflect. It is a season to consider the first coming of Christ and patiently ponder His second.
This year, Missio Dei will celebrate Advent together. Starting the last weekend in November, we will corporately begin to walk through the Old Testament anticipation of a Messiah, the incarnation of the Christ, the amazing message of the Gospel, and the Church’s eager expectation of His soon return. Our children will be walking through these same topics and themes along with us. But we don’t want your celebration to end with our weekly gatherings.
The Village has created a guide to help their people celebrate Advent as family, and we wanted to pass it along to you.
Our hope is that this guide and the weekly sermons will help drive you and your family more deeply into the meaning and message of Advent as we fix our eyes on Christ, glory in His incarnation and eagerly await His return.
Francis Schaeffer the great Christian philosopher and theologian wrote a great article on the purpose for Jesus’ coming and why He chose to come as a baby.
You can read it at Crossway Book’s blog here or I have provided it below… Continue reading
Tomorrow morning we will begin a 4 week series called “God with Us” in celebration of Christmas/Advent. I am looking forward to making much of this holiday season because Jesus thought so much of us that He willingly became like us and took our place by living the life we could never live and dying the death we should have died.
This series will be an exposition through Matthew 1-2
Here is the schedule -
Week 1 (Nov. 28th) – Christmas Didn’t Begin in Bethlehem “The Bible is about Jesus” Matt. 1:1-17
Week 2 (Dec. 5th) – Christmas isn’t Primarily About a Baby “From manger to cross” Matt. 1:18-25
Week 3 (Dec. 12th) – Christmas and Idolatry “Jesus reveals our false worship” Matt. 2:1-8
Week 4 (Dec. 19th) – Christmas Demands Worship “He gave everything…how should we respond?” Matt. 2:9-12
This is an article I wrote for our local newspaper, the Central Oregonian. Continue reading
