Refuge Church

Welcome to the 3rd sermon in our series on the joy, hope, and peace that our perfect King is bringing. (3 of 3)

What does it look like to wait for Christ our King? Advent is the first season of the Christian liturgical calendar. Just like the Israelites in the Old Testament were commanded to celebrate certain holidays at various times of the year to remember what God had done, the early Church began a yearly cycle of regular remembering. Each time they met together they read Scripture, explained and applied what had been read, sang songs, broke bread together, and gave of tithes and offerings ‘so that none had need.’ In the 4^th century they began to formally associate each season with certain parts of Scripture so that they could move through the entire story of Scripture each year.  Advent became a retelling of the Old Testament focusing on the coming of the Messiah. So it is in this season that we celebrate the coming of Jesus and anticipate his return. Join us for the next few weeks as we focus on the joy, hope, and peace that our perfect King is bringing to earth.

Welcome to the 2nd sermon in our series on the joy, hope, and peace that our perfect King is bringing. (2 of 3)

What does it look like to wait for Christ our King? Advent is the first season of the Christian liturgical calendar. Just like the Israelites in the Old Testament were commanded to celebrate certain holidays at various times of the year to remember what God had done, the early Church began a yearly cycle of regular remembering. Each time they met together they read Scripture, explained and applied what had been read, sang songs, broke bread together, and gave of tithes and offerings ‘so that none had need.’ In the 4^th century they began to formally associate each season with certain parts of Scripture so that they could move through the entire story of Scripture each year.  Advent became a retelling of the Old Testament focusing on the coming of the Messiah. So it is in this season that we celebrate the coming of Jesus and anticipate his return. Join us for the next few weeks as we focus on the joy, hope, and peace that our perfect King is bringing to earth.

Welcome to the 1st sermon in our series on the joy, hope, and peace that our perfect King is bringing. (1 of 3)

What does it look like to wait for Christ our King? Advent is the first season of the Christian liturgical calendar. Just like the Israelites in the Old Testament were commanded to celebrate certain holidays at various times of the year to remember what God had done, the early Church began a yearly cycle of regular remembering. Each time they met together they read Scripture, explained and applied what had been read, sang songs, broke bread together, and gave of tithes and offerings ‘so that none had need.’ In the 4^th century they began to formally associate each season with certain parts of Scripture so that they could move through the entire story of Scripture each year.  Advent became a retelling of the Old Testament focusing on the coming of the Messiah. So it is in this season that we celebrate the coming of Jesus and anticipate his return. Join us for the next few weeks as we focus on the joy, hope, and peace that our perfect King is bringing to earth.

Welcome to the 4th sermon in our series on the season of advent – the season of waiting, remembering, and expecting. (4 of 4)

Two themes that are expressed over and over again in the Bible that we might often miss are the themes of “waiting” and “remembering.” Throughout the Hebrew Scriptures, God tells his people through visions, through names, through prophets and dreams to remember that He has provided and to wait on him to provide again. Over and over we are tempted to make our own world, construct our own reality. We are often tempted with impatience that is fueled by our forgetfulness of God’s provision yesterday and a single vision for something else we need tomorrow. When we wait and remember, we enter into a trusting relationship with the God of scripture who, "in the fullness of time sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.” (Gal 4:4-5)

Welcome to the 3rd sermon in our series on the season of advent – the season of waiting, remembering, and expecting. (3 of 4)

Two themes that are expressed over and over again in the Bible that we might often miss are the themes of “waiting” and “remembering.” Throughout the Hebrew Scriptures, God tells his people through visions, through names, through prophets and dreams to remember that He has provided and to wait on him to provide again. Over and over we are tempted to make our own world, construct our own reality. We are often tempted with impatience that is fueled by our forgetfulness of God’s provision yesterday and a single vision for something else we need tomorrow. When we wait and remember, we enter into a trusting relationship with the God of scripture who, "in the fullness of time sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.” (Gal 4:4-5)

Welcome to the 2nd sermon in our series on the season of advent – the season of waiting, remembering, and expecting. (2 of 4)

Two themes that are expressed over and over again in the Bible that we might often miss are the themes of “waiting” and “remembering.” Throughout the Hebrew Scriptures, God tells his people through visions, through names, through prophets and dreams to remember that He has provided and to wait on him to provide again. Over and over we are tempted to make our own world, construct our own reality. We are often tempted with impatience that is fueled by our forgetfulness of God’s provision yesterday and a single vision for something else we need tomorrow. When we wait and remember, we enter into a trusting relationship with the God of scripture who, "in the fullness of time sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.” (Gal 4:4-5)

Welcome to the 1st sermon in our series on the season of advent – the season of waiting, remembering, and expecting. (1 of 4)

Two themes that are expressed over and over again in the Bible that we might often miss are the themes of “waiting” and “remembering.” Throughout the Hebrew Scriptures, God tells his people through visions, through names, through prophets and dreams to remember that He has provided and to wait on him to provide again. Over and over we are tempted to make our own world, construct our own reality. We are often tempted with impatience that is fueled by our forgetfulness of God’s provision yesterday and a single vision for something else we need tomorrow. When we wait and remember, we enter into a trusting relationship with the God of scripture who, "in the fullness of time sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.” (Gal 4:4-5)

Welcome to the 4th sermon in our series on a better Christmas story. (4 of 4)

We are entering into the first liturgical season of the Church - Advent, which is Latin for coming. Just as in the season of Lent, we enter into the suffering of Jesus before we celebrate his resurrection, the season of Advent is a season of waiting and longing that ends with the celebration of the incarnation, the birth of Jesus. . .Christmas! The celebration also points us forward to the Advent yet to come, Christ's return!

Culturally, this is known as the "holiday season," where it has become an extended time of shopping and parties and light shows and nostalgia. It seems like Christmas Day is when we finally collapse after all of the busyness, only to recoup just enough energy to celebrate the new year! . . but this year, let's try to recover just a bit of what the meaning of Advent was designed to be.

Our Advent series will tell "a better story" about the history and the future of the world. A story that enters into the longing, but also awaits with glorious anticipation the fulfillment of all time! We will look at the story each week as we Wait, Prepare, Rejoice, and Love. I promise you, this story holds more hope and joy than you could possibly imagine and will fulfill the longings far beyond what nostalgia can only dream about. This is hope. This is advent. This is a better story.

Welcome to the 3rd sermon in our series on a better Christmas story. (3 of 4)

We are entering into the first liturgical season of the Church - Advent, which is Latin for coming. Just as in the season of Lent, we enter into the suffering of Jesus before we celebrate his resurrection, the season of Advent is a season of waiting and longing that ends with the celebration of the incarnation, the birth of Jesus. . .Christmas! The celebration also points us forward to the Advent yet to come, Christ's return!

Culturally, this is known as the "holiday season," where it has become an extended time of shopping and parties and light shows and nostalgia. It seems like Christmas Day is when we finally collapse after all of the busyness, only to recoup just enough energy to celebrate the new year! . . but this year, let's try to recover just a bit of what the meaning of Advent was designed to be.

Our Advent series will tell "a better story" about the history and the future of the world. A story that enters into the longing, but also awaits with glorious anticipation the fulfillment of all time! We will look at the story each week as we Wait, Prepare, Rejoice, and Love. I promise you, this story holds more hope and joy than you could possibly imagine and will fulfill the longings far beyond what nostalgia can only dream about. This is hope. This is advent. This is a better story.

Welcome to the 2nd sermon in our series on a better Christmas story. (2 of 4)

We are entering into the first liturgical season of the Church - Advent, which is Latin for coming. Just as in the season of Lent, we enter into the suffering of Jesus before we celebrate his resurrection, the season of Advent is a season of waiting and longing that ends with the celebration of the incarnation, the birth of Jesus. . .Christmas! The celebration also points us forward to the Advent yet to come, Christ's return!

Culturally, this is known as the "holiday season," where it has become an extended time of shopping and parties and light shows and nostalgia. It seems like Christmas Day is when we finally collapse after all of the busyness, only to recoup just enough energy to celebrate the new year! . . but this year, let's try to recover just a bit of what the meaning of Advent was designed to be.

Our Advent series will tell "a better story" about the history and the future of the world. A story that enters into the longing, but also awaits with glorious anticipation the fulfillment of all time! We will look at the story each week as we Wait, Prepare, Rejoice, and Love. I promise you, this story holds more hope and joy than you could possibly imagine and will fulfill the longings far beyond what nostalgia can only dream about. This is hope. This is advent. This is a better story.