You were not designed to be a self-sufficient, independent, isolated person.  You were made to be interdependent with others.  Even further, God built you to be utterly dependent upon Himself.  Chris Brannon continues in our Advent series by speaking on Immanuel, God with us.  The name “Immanuel” emphasizes a nearness of God.  God came to live with us so that we can live with Him.  Chris Brannon goes through John 1:14 piece by piece to help us understand this concept.  He also explains why God with us is so significant. God with us is salvation, transformation, courage and refuge.

Are we looking forward to the arrival of Jesus?  Not only 2,000 years ago, but as it will happen again.  Chris Brannon continues in our Advent series by speaking on the Glory of God.  There is never a moment where the glory of God is not visible; there are just different amplifications of the glory of God in different seasons, at different time.  Listen as Chris describes the attributes of the glory of God to us.  When the glory of God shows up, it exposes us for who we are, drives out fear and replaces it with joy, creates trust in the Word of God and changes our outlook on the monotony of day to day living.

Think about how different things are at work when you’re grateful for the opportunities that you have been given.  Rather than being more dialed in to the opportunities you feel like you missed out on.  Think about what happens in the lives of your children when you are an expert in the good they’re doing and the ways they are growing.  Rather than being an expert on all the things they do wrong.  Think about what happens when you are dialed in to the billions of ways God is good and merciful to you.  Rather than that one area you feel He has robbed you in.  Gratitude shaped by the Glory of God begins to reshape every aspect of our relationships with others.

What is true peace?  Jordan Brannon kicks off our new sermon series entitled Advent.  The nativity story is a very famous story.  You can look anywhere and find it in nativity scenes, songs, TV, movies and even toys!  It’s so common that we can take the meaning of the nativity for granted.  We need to make sure that we properly value the Scripture and understand the prophecy.  Jordan focuses on Luke 8:14 and tells us what we should learn or know.  First, we should know that we need a savior!  There is no peace if we don’t have peace with God.  Next we should know that savior is Jesus.  That infant in a manger grows up to be the Savior of the world.  The last thing we should know is that Jesus makes us pleasing to God.  He sent Jesus so that we can be saved.

What are the encouragements that we get from the prophecies in the nativity story?  One of the biggest encouragements to us should be from the promise of peace.  That promise of peace somehow gets missed in the retelling of the story and needs to be brought forward.  There are two types of peace: Peace with God and Peace from God.  Jordan explains both of these types of peace.