We celebrated today the first anniversary of our congregation. The ten pound cake, cut in 150 tiny pieces, provided a taste for the majority of those present. We rejoiced to look back at how God prepared the church to plant this second congregation and how God brought Jan and I here to help in leadership. Combined with the first Sunday of Advent, it made this a very special Sunday service.
We presently have a musically gifted Korean family in our congregation. The father has graduate music degrees from both Korean and German universities. The teen age daughters are very gifted on violin and cello. Today their trio played "O Come, O Come Emmanuel" in the middle of our Advent reading and candle lighting. Wonderful!
Our sermon theme for Advent this year is "Are We There Yet?". This is the Season when we identify with the people of Israel who waited so long for the Messiah to come. Promised to Abraham 2000 years before His birth; promised through the prophets Isaiah and Micah 700 years before His birth - it was a long wait. How many times through those generations did Jewish people wonder "Are we almost there yet?"
Finally Christ came.
"Are we there yet?" Are you asking that question, though in other words, right now? Lord, will you allow me to change jobs or locations soon? Will you bring an end to my pain now? Will you bring relief to the one I love now? Will my struggle with temptation soon end? O Lord, how long? Am I there yet?
And as we survey our world with all of the war, hunger, disease, poverty, corruption and injustice, we wonder: when will Christ return? When will the Prince of Peace bring his rule "on earth, as it is in heaven"?
Are we there yet? How long, O Lord, how long? So we wait for Christmas, and for Christ, during this Advent Season.
We presently have a musically gifted Korean family in our congregation. The father has graduate music degrees from both Korean and German universities. The teen age daughters are very gifted on violin and cello. Today their trio played "O Come, O Come Emmanuel" in the middle of our Advent reading and candle lighting. Wonderful!
Our sermon theme for Advent this year is "Are We There Yet?". This is the Season when we identify with the people of Israel who waited so long for the Messiah to come. Promised to Abraham 2000 years before His birth; promised through the prophets Isaiah and Micah 700 years before His birth - it was a long wait. How many times through those generations did Jewish people wonder "Are we almost there yet?"
Finally Christ came.
"Are we there yet?" Are you asking that question, though in other words, right now? Lord, will you allow me to change jobs or locations soon? Will you bring an end to my pain now? Will you bring relief to the one I love now? Will my struggle with temptation soon end? O Lord, how long? Am I there yet?
And as we survey our world with all of the war, hunger, disease, poverty, corruption and injustice, we wonder: when will Christ return? When will the Prince of Peace bring his rule "on earth, as it is in heaven"?
Are we there yet? How long, O Lord, how long? So we wait for Christmas, and for Christ, during this Advent Season.
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