Advent: The Promise

All of this occurred to fulfill the Lord’s message through his prophet: “Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel, which means ‘God is with us.’” Matthew 1:22-23

The First Week of Advent:

It had been four hundred years since the Jews had heard from God. For generations he had led their judges and kings, had spoken through the prophets. Then, silence. Now, Rome occupied Israel. It seemed as if God had forgotten them. Had forgotten his promises.

And then God spoke. Not to a king or a prophet, but to a young woman. Through the angel Gabriel God renewed his promise to provide a Savior. Mary had found favor with God. Faithful as ever, she was quick to embrace the message the angel delivered. It sounded crazy. She was just a young woman, engaged to be married. But, like every other young woman, she had grown up hearing the prophecies, she knew what Isaiah had spoken. God’s Son would be born to a virgin. He wouldn’t leave his people in darkness.

Mary embraced the words of the angel. She would carry hope for nine months and then deliver him for the world. For every broken heart, for every hungry soul, God would show mercy.

God wrapped himself in flesh and became a baby. Mary believed in the impossible and became an accomplice to salvation. Her Son would be our path to peace.

Will you, like Mary, believe God’s promise? He has not forgotten you. Even now, in the midst of your hardest circumstances, Mary’s child wants to be your peace.

Sundays Morning Adjustments

We’re making a temporary adjustment to the Sunday morning schedule that will begin Sunday, December 2.

After considerable discussion, the Elders believe the following schedule to be best for the health of First Alliance in this season of transition:

• One Worship Service at 9am with Nursery, Toddlers, and Children’s Church

• Coffee & Connection at 10:15am

• Sunday School Communities at 10:45am

• Evening ministries as scheduled

Some of the factors that have gone into this decision include:

• we have the capacity to accommodate our current attendance in one service with space for guests

• we want to emphasize the unity of the church body during this time of transition

• we want all to experience the vitality and energy of a service where everyone is worshiping, praying, and responding together

• we recognize it will be a little easier on our guest speakers to only have to do one service instead of two

We recognize and acknowledge this may create a difficulty for a few. For that, we apologize. We weighed different options and decided to stick with the 9am worship service time because it is the service that most currently attend and would make it easier to add a second service back when the time comes.

Moving to one service means the room will be more crowded, yet we are still committed to making sure there is room for guests. You can help with that by not only continuing to build relationships with friends and others in your sphere of influence who don’t have a church home and inviting them, but also by making sure there is room for them.

You can help with this by making sure guests can easily find a seat. Will you fill in the centers of the rows instead of camping out on the aisle seats? We know it’s easy to come in and sit down on the end seats of rows and that it’s asking a lot to change old habits, but the Lord reminds us we should always be seeking to please others and not ourselves. We know that guests (and latecomers) don’t particularly enjoy climbing over someone they don’t know to get to a seat, especially if it’s a family. Let’s do this out of selfless love for others as we love God supremely.

Thanks for your flexibility in this matter. Again, this begins this coming Sunday, Dec. 2 and is temporary. We will continue to evaluate and adjust as we move forward to do what is best for the making of disciples and reaching our community. As we are faithful to connect, grow, and engage as biblical, loving, Spirit-filled disciples, we believe God will multiply ministry and expand His kingdom through First Alliance. If you have any questions, please be sure to speak with a leader.

May the Lord bless us as we live in obedience to Him.