Christmas Preparations

The weeks leading up to Christmas are always busy with preparations. There are presents to be purchased, trees to be decorated, cards to be written, food to be prepared and parties to be planned. We put a lot of energy and effort into making sure that Christmas is a wonderful time for our family and friends. But what do we do to get ourselves ready for Christmas? How do we prepare ourselves mentally, emotionally and spiritually to experience the wonder of God coming to be with us? If we aren’t internally prepared for Christmas, we can miss the moment and Christmas can become just another holiday on the calendar. Join us through this advent season as we prepare for Christmas together.

Christmas Preparations: Love

Sunday, December 23, 2018 by

While we give gifts to each other at Christmas as a sign of how much we love each other, the principal of reciprocity means that human beings feel an underlying obligation to give a gift in return.

But God came into the world without expectation or condition.  He simply loves us. We do not need to earn or repay that gift of love, but simply receive it and live in the reality of that gift.  Are you prepared to accept God's gift of love as free, without condition, expectation or obligation? And how can we begin to learn to love in the same way with the people around us?  Listen here to find out!

Christmas Preparations: Joy

Sunday, December 16, 2018 by

We often allow our circumstances to impact our attitude and assume that happiness is found in achievement or accumulation.  But the Shepherds were relative social outcasts and yet the angels came to them; their experience of joy was not limited by their circumstances. How can we prepare ourselves to be joyful this Christmas?  What are practices that we can develop that will help us to “rejoice in all circumstances”, even when holidays like Christmas can serve as reminders of loss, hurt and lack in our lives? Listen now to find out!

Christmas Preparations: Faith

Sunday, December 9, 2018 by

We often think faith is the absence of doubt, but what if faith is not about developing certainty in what we believe, but about learning to trust God’s heart, even in our doubts?  Listen here to find out!