“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.”
Romans 15:13
Ready or not, Christmas is just around the corner. While I’m not sure exactly what that means for the world in general these days, for us as Christians it is a great excuse to celebrate our joy at the coming of Jesus! The traditional word for this season of celebration is “advent” from the Latin word “adventus” which means the “coming” – in this case the coming of Jesus into the world. During this season of celebration we turn our eyes in anticipation to the joy, the peace and the hope we find in the good news that Christ has come into this dark, world to bring light and life – and we rejoice that He is also coming again!
During this year’s Advent season, the elders will present a series of sermons focused on three themes found in Romans 15:13 – Hope, Peace and Joy. Beginning next Sunday, each of us will take one of these themes and try to show the amazing difference Christ’s coming has made for the world, and especially for us who believe! We want everyone to see how the incarnation of Christ brings hope for the hopeless, peace to the restless, and joy to the downcast!
With that in mind, here is a list of the messages that will be preached at Rockport from now through the beginning of the New Year, starting with this morning’s message from 1 Peter (the last in our Fall Culture Series). Please pray that God will be glorified as He word is faithfully proclaimed.12/4 – Living as Aliens and Strangers in the World (1 Pet 2:9-12)
12/11 – Our Hope in the Coming of Christ – Warren Kesselring
12/18 – Our Peace through the Coming of Christ – Kyle Davis
12/25 – Our Joy at the Coming of Christ – Scott Lee
1/1/23 – First of All… Pray – Scott Lee
1/8/23 – We will return to our study of the Gospel of John in John 18
Let’s Celebrate the One Who has come and is coming again!
Pastor Scott