Hello kind reader, whether Village Bible family or friend!
I pray this finds you well, resting and trusting and growing in the grace and strength of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
This Sunday, we will begin a new preaching series for the month of December; “Advent: A Series On The First Coming Of Christ.” The term Advent may be a new one to you, perhaps not, but if you are in the camp of not knowing what Advent is, keep reading.
If you do an internet search for the term Advent, you will find out that the world views it as nothing more than a fun countdown to Christmas. However, in the Christian Church Advent is a reflection on the event of Christ’s birth, over the weeks leading up to Christmas. Christians are not alone in observing Advent, the Catholic Church also observes advent. However, beyond Christianity and Catholicism, no other religion spends time on it. Of note, Christians and Catholics diverge quickly on our understanding and beliefs regarding the birth of Christ.
In this series, we will focus on various aspects of Christ’s first coming; the need for Messiah’s coming, the prophecy of his coming, and his actual coming. However, a responsible teaching on Christ’s first advent is incomplete if it stops at his birth. The phrase, “the first advent of Christ” communicates something. If we just said, “The advent of Christ,” well ok then, but “first advent” communicates that there will be a second advent. And this is absolutely true, we call it the Second Coming of Christ. But between the first and second advent of Christ, a major event took place and that is the life, death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ; commonly called The Gospel, or Good News, of Jesus. And so in our Advent series we will consider the need, the prophecy, the birth, the Gospel, and the return of Jesus Christ.
It is our prayer that this series will equip us as God’s people to talk about Christ in a better way through this Christmas season and in every season. That we may worship Christ the once newborn, then dead, now alive, and soon returning King, in a greater way, bringing greater glory to the name of our God!
I also want to encourage your involvement and prayer for our participation in Byron’s Christmas In The Village event this Saturday night! Pray for all of those who we will be able to share the Good News of Christ with, through the presentation of a life nativity. Pray for relationships to begin and be furthered in our town to the glory of God!
I’m excited to worship with you all those who gather this Sunday as we begin this journey! Lord willing I’ll see you then!
Grace & Peace,
John
You can reach the elders anytime by email, call, or text at:
Jon Collins, jcollins@thevillagemi.com, (810) 869-3949
John White, jwhite@thevillagemi.com, (810) 275-4267