Sermons on “Advent”
Hospitality in Flesh
Jesus came in a human body to be with us in the flesh, and to demonstrate the kind of hospitality that he has in mind for us. This means that our bodies are dignified by the presence of God, and that we can rely on Jesus to empower those bodies to love the way he loved.
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Jesus Came to Show Us Who God Is.
We start our Advent series by looking at how Jesus reveals to us the true nature of God.
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Our Morning Focus
The way we start our day is incredibly important. It can set the entire trajectory for the rest of the day. The Third Way community is embarking on a new journey together by sharing a collective rhythm of daily spiritual practices formed around the Lord’s Prayer. The goal is to daily open ourselves up to God’s influence and transforming power. Our morning focus within the rhythm is centered on “Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.” As a community, we want to use a portion of our mornings to worship God and invite God to direct our day so that God is glorified.
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Costly Incarnation
The incarnation required Christ to pay an immense cost by leaving his heavenly position and emptying himself of limitless power in exchange for mortal flesh, earthly limitations, and the human experience of pain and loss. He came not as kings typically come with pomp and power, but instead, as a vulnerable baby, in the most humble of circumstances. Paul uses this image in the Christ Hymn found in Philippians 2 not just to praises this act, but also to encourage Christ followers to walk in the loving way of Jesus, emptying ourselves for the sake of others.
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Joseph
Joseph had many opportunities to take the easy road before and after he said yes to participating in Christ’s story. He risked his reputation, his career, and even his very life on his journey of humble obedience to God, but in the end, he knew it was worth it. When Christ invites us into his story, its not always easy; its actually quite costly, but its always worth it! Just like Joseph, we too are invited into Christ’s story, and when the journey gets tough, we know that no matter the cost, its always worth it.
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You are not disqualified -Terri Churchill
Mary was an unlikely candidate to be chosen as the God-bearer. She said yes despite the danger, her youth, the risk to her marriage, and the societal assumptions that would have disqualified her as “Theotokos”. What if God is inviting each of us to bear him into the world, despite all of the things we assume will disqualify us?
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Zachariah and Elizabeth
This week we started a new series for Advent, going through Epiphany Sunday, titled “Recounting the Cost”. Its about using the story of Christmas to think through how God invites all of us to participate in his Kingdom, but also to remember it is often a costly invitation to obedience. Bonnie began the series with a look at Zechariah and Elizabeth’s call to obedience in the midst of doubt and frustration with God.
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Hungry for Christ – Terri Churchill
In celebration of Christmas Eve, Terri delves into the nature and purpose of our hungers to show how our deepest cravings are fulfilled in Christ.
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Peace – John Murray
For our fourth Sunday of Advent, John shows that the messianic peace we all crave doesn’t simply come to “fix” violence, but transforms violence into kingdom acts of peace.
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Freedom – Josias Hansen
For our third Sunday of Advent, Josias digs into the freedom the Israelites were craving from their national oppressors. They waited for the Messiah to come and triumph over all their nationalistic oppressors, but instead, Jesus provided the true freedom from their ultimate oppressor and broke their chains of sin and death through his life, death and resurrection. As we hunger for this true freedom, we can now experience Christ’s freedom in becoming the people God created us to be.
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