The Church Calendar- Advent

* Hope* Peace* Love* Joy

ADVENT ~ Week 1

Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

PHILIPPIANS 4:4-7

In a world of chaos, in a life of pain, how can we find peace?

Literal or metaphor?

My Story

STRIFE IN OUR WORLD,PAIN IN OUR LIVES…

Jesus Is The Way, The Truthand The LifeWay (Greek = a way, a road)

The key to peace = Forgiveness

Recognizing the brokenness of the world

Sin (literally means “missing the mark)

“… humans are to be God’s image-bearers, that is, they are to reflect his sovereign rule into the world. Humans are the vital ingredient in God’s kingdom project. When we ask about the way in which God wants to run the world and then focus this on the sharper question of how Jesus now runs the world, we should expect, from the whole of scripture, that the answer will have something to do with…”

SACRAMENTAL PRESENCE

“…the delegation of God’s authority, of Jesus’s authority, to human beings. This is why several of the New Testament writers make a direct connection between Jesus’s rescue project, climaxing in his crucifixion, and the renewal of the human project. Jesus rescues human beings in order that through them he may rule his world in the new way he always intended.” N.T. Wright

SACRAMENTAL PRESENCE, cont.

We Are The Way God ChoosesTo Bring Peace to The World

Takes courage

Pray for boldness

Forgive like Jesus- Pray for those who hurt you- Forgive as you have been forgiven

We Are The Way God ChoosesTo Bring Peace to The World

“You have heard it was said, ‘Love yourneighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you,love your enemies and pray for those whopersecute you.” (Matthew 5:43-44)

The Promise: Presently andIn The Age to Come - Advent

“Comfort, comfort ye my people.” (Isaiah 40:1-11)

“And we know that in all things God works forthe good of those who love him, who have beencalled according to his purpose.”(Romans 8:28)

The Promise: Presently andIn The Age to Come - Advent

“But in keeping with his promise we arelooking forward to a new heaven and anew earth, where righteousness dwells.” (2 Peter 3:13)

ADVENT ~ Week 1

Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one; you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ And, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”

MARK 12