Debbie Reese - December 10, 2017

The Comfort of Repentance

To Be Continued

How does our preparation for the Christmas season cause us to miss Christ? Often, our lives become cluttered with busyness and sin that keep us from seeing the God who comes to us at Christmas. Both Isaiah and John the Baptist invite us to prepare a path for God in our lives. They insist a call to repent is a comfort for us! How is repentance a sign of God’s comfort during a busy holiday season?

From Series: "To Be Continued"

Advent is the season in which we prepare to welcome Jesus into the world. It's a season of hope - the light has not come, but it is coming into the world. It's the time of day just before the sun peeks over the horizon. As we anticipate Jesus' birth, we come to realize that God's story didn't end at Christmas - it was only beginning. And the story is still being told today - a story of love, hope and promise. What does it mean to say that God is still telling the great story of love through us?

Discussion Guide     Manuscript

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This message was written and delivered by Tommy Cash

My wife Teresa and I started dating around Christmas time. So one of the first things I learned about her is that she LOVES Christmas lights.   We would go out on a date, to eat, or for coffee, and we would get back in the car to take her back home and she would get this mischievous gleam in her eyes.  Almost like that little kid who just got caught in the act of something terrible.  

I would smile and say, “What are you thinking?” We went Christmas light hunting.  You know like house hunting, but with Christmas lights, we would look for the creative displays, the ones that go along with music in your car, we would drive through street after street just looking for that sparkle that pierced through the darkness.

I think one night we used a whole tank of gas looking at Christmas lights. For Teresa, Christmas lights embody Christmas, they are the beauty that shines through the night, the beacon that screams Christmas is here.  If she could spend every night looking at Christmas lights I am convinced she would.

Right now, we can see Christmas lights everywhere.

We all have that one neighbors that takes Christmas lights a little too seriously (like National Lampoon’s Christmas vacation or Jingle all the way), or the two neighbors that are at war for the most lights you could possible fit on one single house.  If you don’t know who that is in your neighborhood it might be you.

Sometimes with things like Christmas we forget the meaning behind our traditions.  Christmas lights were not originally hung for decorations or contests. Christmas is that light of hope, Christmas reminds us that Jesus is the light of the world.

Christmas lights remind us that we become the bearers of Christ’s light by choosing to act towards restoration.

Join us Sunday as we learn what it means to shine the light of God’s hope into the world this Christmas season.

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