Preparing with purpose
In the years and months before Jesus’ arrival in the world, John the Baptist preaches with intensity and urgency, but his words are a call to a real, joyful transformation. Today, John lays out for us three ways to prepare this Advent with purpose: through repentance, generosity, and hope.
The Lord reigns
God’s people can live with complete confidence in our Lord’s complete authority over all things, His redemptive work which we are privileged to participate in, and His return as judge and king over all the world.
Confidence in calamity
Because of Christ, we have confidence in God’s presence, we hold firmly to the hope we have because it is a sure hope, and that meeting together as God’s people is critical as we daily live out our faith.
Hope, inheritance, and power
I’m sure we can all agree that unity is a good thing to strive for in any context, but especially the church, but we’re historically terrible at maintaining it. It is faith in Christ that truly unites the church and gives us hope.
The true joy of Christmas (Is. 62:6–12)
The arrival of the Son of God as a human being, and what he would ultimately do for us, is the only true source of lasting joy at Christmas.
Challenge, products, hope (Ro. 5:1–5)
Paul talks about the Trinity by talking about our daily lives. He explains why the Triune God matters for us.
Healing division (Ep. 1:15–23)
The Christians in Ephesus had their own problems, the main one being division. Sound familiar? Despite our learnings and improvements, we still get tripped up by the same problems.