![[Wednesday] Advent at Grace 3](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5852f18a20099e30cd2c01dc/1670950500592-E7Z36Q2O7GGP5RZ1WPNK/Green+Red+Funny+Simple+Illustrated+Christmas+Party+Invitation+Flyer+%281920+%C3%97+1080+px%29+%281%29.jpg)
[Wednesday] Advent at Grace 3
Bring your Christmas Stories. Stories from your past, Your favorite story. Really anything to put us in the Christmas spirit.
Pot Luck Dinner 5:30PM
December 14th - Popular Christmas Carols and your Favorite Christmas Stories.
Wear your Christmas Sweaters!
What Had happened at Grace this week.
![A June Mets Game [Photos]](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5852f18a20099e30cd2c01dc/1752198727255-RW7CQYV6TH5ADZ2NT8WB/IMG_2638.jpg)
![[Sunday] July 6 - Who is the Beloved? - Christ in the Psalms](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5852f18a20099e30cd2c01dc/1751648088877-RHR8B8T4M71WDD60X315/2.jpg)
![[Sunday] June 29 Christ in the Psalms The Gift That Keeps On Giving](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5852f18a20099e30cd2c01dc/1751038491595-3TO5P50WP7Q9WBH6WPCH/2.png)
![[Sunday] Who is the King of Glory - Christ in the Psalms](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5852f18a20099e30cd2c01dc/1750268103162-AZ75T8PGHYOBHXHGDGLG/1.jpg)
![[Sunday] Joy Comes In The Morning - Christ in the Psalms](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5852f18a20099e30cd2c01dc/1749737432576-MPNDC04BW8XXTV08ROH3/1.jpg)
![[Sunday] Christmas Cheer for All to Hear - The Book of Advents](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5852f18a20099e30cd2c01dc/1670595258960-1JWIS954GJWDOSJTIZA2/BOA+3a.jpg)
[Sunday] Christmas Cheer for All to Hear - The Book of Advents
They knew the script, it had been written for them for years and years. Yet one day they heard a voice singing a song of fire, and that song changed everything.
Jesus saw him not in the grandness of his spirituality but in the shade of a tree, and God saw Jacob not in his pursuit of grandness but in the lowness of a stone pillow. The advent of God comes not in the grand things but in the shady stones.
Countdown to Christmas Eve at 4 PM
Questions for this week.
Describe a life changing event you’ve been through?
Read Exodus 3:1-14. How does Moses’ life change as God comes to him in the burning bush?
Read Matthew 1:18-25. How does Joseph's life story change when the angel appears to him?
Think about how Jesus comes for you. What does he do to change the story of your life?
What Had happened at Grace this week.
![[Sunday] Zeal In The Way - Missio Dei Part 4](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5852f18a20099e30cd2c01dc/1752278147934-JOT5HNNFKQO2MQ2AX8V1/Missieo+4+Week+1a.jpg)
Love's Pure Light: Christmas With The Herdmans
I thought adults wanted perfect kids, I wondered if God wanted the same.
Read the full article at Love's Pure Light: Christmas with the Herdmans - Mockingbird (mbird.com)
In the nights leading up to last Christmas, I read Barbara Robinson’s The Best Christmas Pageant Ever to my daughter. She was in third grade, and I had fond memories of my third-grade teacher, Mrs. Koenigs, reading it to our class almost thirty years prior. Though I remember being skeptical when she announced the title. I’d been in Christmas pageants. What could possibly be worth writing a book about? Harried parents herding miniature bathrobe-clad shepherds and sobbing tinsel-haloed angels to the front of the church to sing “Away in a Manger” before returning to the pews for a droning, by-the-numbers message followed by more Christmas music? In my mind, a book called The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, written by an adult, was going to be a slog. I had it in my head that “best” in the eyes of an adult meant perfect, as “being good” seemed to elicit praise from adults,…………………..
![[Wednesday] Advent at Grace 2](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5852f18a20099e30cd2c01dc/1670423381996-DHN22Z6K0GHQMXBHK7D5/1.jpg)
[Wednesday] Advent at Grace 2
Best Christmas Pageant Ever Tonight!
Pot Luck Dinner 5:30PM
December 7th - Coli Leads discussion of the Best Christmas Pageant Ever.
December 14th - Popular Christmas Carols and your Favorite Christmas Stories.
Wear your Christmas Sweaters!
What Had happened at Grace this week.
![[Sunday] A Shady Stone - The Book of Advents](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5852f18a20099e30cd2c01dc/1669947827451-7LQ4MUUZC5ITG6FSANMN/BOA+2a.jpg)
[Sunday] A Shady Stone - The Book of Advents
Jesus saw him not in the grandness of his spirituality but in the shade of a tree, and God saw Jacob not in his pursuit of grandness but in the lowness of a stone pillow. The advent of God comes not in the grand things but in the shady stones.
Jesus saw him not in the grandness of his spirituality but in the shade of a tree, and God saw Jacob not in his pursuit of grandness but in the lowness of a stone pillow. The advent of God comes not in the grand things but in the shady stones.
What Had happened at Grace this week.
Ready or Not, Here He Comes
You haven’t been left behind. You’ve been chosen, elected, hand-picked.
You haven’t been left behind. You’ve been chosen, elected, hand-picked.
Read the whole article at Ready or Not, Here He Comes - Mockingbird (mbird.com)
ere we are with Thanksgiving gone past in a flash. November is ending and the December holiday craze has begun. Are you ready? I know I’m not. I don’t do Black Friday and haven’t purchased a single gift. I have my mind elsewhere, with only two weeks left in fall semester. That’s fifteen hundred minutes of class time until finals. Six classes and I still have some month-old papers to get graded. And don’t get me started on Christmas plans. On second thought, maybe you should get me started, because I might just be ready in 25 days.
I tried to warn my students about this when we first looked the syllabus back in August. I told them there would come a day when they look at the list of course work and papers and test they would have come the end of the semester and wonder how they ever got to that place. Well, both those students and their professor have landed in that spot. Who in the world plans to fall behind? Who puts together a to-do list that will be completed two weeks after a dead…………………………..
![[Wednesday] Advent at Grace 1](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5852f18a20099e30cd2c01dc/1669773836597-HC39G5CX20XS9NYUG9H5/Green+Red+Funny+Simple+Illustrated+Christmas+Party+Invitation+Flyer+%281920+%C3%97+1080+px%29.jpg)
[Wednesday] Advent at Grace 1
Lots of Christmas Carols and stories about Holiday Foods from around the world.
Pot Luck Dinner 5:30PM
November 30th - Sacred Carols and Stories of International Haliday Foods.
December 7th - Coli Leads discussion of the Best Christmas Pageant Ever.
December 14th - Popular Christmas Carols and your Favorite Christmas Stories.
Wear your Christmas Sweaters!
What Had happened at Grace this week.
![[Sunday] Promises, Troubles, and Automobiles - The Book of Advents](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5852f18a20099e30cd2c01dc/1669397241488-WX61JYQFQQUR3JKMPLM8/BOA+1a.jpg)
[Sunday] Promises, Troubles, and Automobiles - The Book of Advents
Abraham just received the best promise from God - it’s like he can do no wrong. However, his life still falls into struggle and troubles, and when he and the promise, Isaac, climb the Lord’s mountain. Abraham truly sees the advent of God for himself.
Jesus, who called his disciples, now sends them on their first mission trip, to tell that the kingdom of God is at hand. Is that threatening language from Jesus a clue that we better shape up, or is it a promise of hope for all those who feel like a sheep without a shepherd?
What Had happened at Grace this week.
The Book of Advents (Teaching Series)
The Christmas season is filled with so much tradition, but so often we feel tired and frustrated by our attempts to fulfill our own desires. However, the Bible is the book of advents, the book of new beginnings when we see God come in a new way to save us all.
Abraham just received the best promise from God - it’s like he can do no wrong. However, his life still falls into struggle and troubles, and when he and the promise, Isaac, climb the Lord’s mountain. Abraham truly sees the advent of God for himself.
Reading Plan
Read around the readings for Sunday
11/27/22
Genesis 18:1-15
Romans 4:18-21
John 8:48–58
12/4/22
Genesis 28:10-17
1 Peter 3:15-22
John 1:43-51
12/11/22
Exodus 3:1-15
Hebrews 3:1-6
John 6:32-40
12/18/22
Joshua 1:1-6
1 Peter 1:3-9
Matthew 24:36-44
12/25/22
Isaiah 52:7-10
Titus 2:11-15
Matthew 1:18-25
1/1/22
Isaiah 63:7-14
Galatians 4:4-7
Matthew 2:13-23
1/8/22
Isaiah 60:1-6
Ephesians 3:1-12
Matthew 2:1-12
![[Sunday] Following Light - The Book of Advents](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5852f18a20099e30cd2c01dc/1672969335403-APA5I5N562IPH71T9X0Q/BOA+7a.jpg)
![[Sunday] Simeon - The Book of Advents](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5852f18a20099e30cd2c01dc/1671683973557-KHIHT6N1G4G8TVFXZEGE/BOA+6a.jpg)
![[Sunday] Prince of Peace Christmas - The Book of Advents](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5852f18a20099e30cd2c01dc/1671683129733-WENISFPSXKWH4SV3FA3E/BOA+Christmas+Dayjpg.jpg)
![[Sunday] The Promised Christmas - The Book of Advents](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5852f18a20099e30cd2c01dc/1671156329189-FUDG78ZOCCZNTCXZ33HT/BOA+4a.jpg)
Service of Thanks 2022 | Thanksgiving
Join us for the Service of Thanks
Available Wednesday at 6pm
![[Sunday] Christ the King Sunday 2022](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5852f18a20099e30cd2c01dc/1668790279406-XDA7DMAZZLMIAH68AK2N/Christ+the+Kinga.jpg)
[Sunday] Christ the King Sunday 2022
Just as Christ is “the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end,” at the close of every liturgical year, we look forward with a renewed hope in Christ’s coming again in glory to reign as Lord forever. In the same way, we look forward to our own resurrection and the time of a new earth — an earth that is no longer broken by sin and groaning. Christ will come again in glory just as surely as He came the first time — when He was born. So we have “transition” at the end of the “long green season” into the Advent season, the new beginning of the liturgical year.
Jesus, who called his disciples, now sends them on their first mission trip, to tell that the kingdom of God is at hand. Is that threatening language from Jesus a clue that we better shape up, or is it a promise of hope for all those who feel like a sheep without a shepherd?
What Had happened at Grace this week.
Lord of All
Ultimately, there is only one Lord of the Universe, and he does not share power. If Jesus is Lord, Caesar is not.
Read the Whole Article at Lord of All (1517.org)
In Rome, the mausoleum of Caesar Augustus has recently been reopened to the public after many years of neglect. This place of the dead, located north of the old city along the Tiber River, is once again on the tourist map and alive with activity.
Augustus, whose real name was Gaius Octavius (or Octavion), was a man of great ambition. This is evidenced by the fact that he began designing his own mausoleum even before he was named the emperor! It is the largest cylindrical tomb in the world, originally crowned with a large bronze statue of the great leader, and surrounded by pillars and a plaque listing all of his accomplishments.
Octavion’s career began after the betrayal and murder of his famous great-uncle Julius Caesar by Brutus on March 15th (the Ides of March) in 44 BC. At the time, a comet appeared in the sky that was so bright, it could be seen …………………………
![[Sunday] The Kingdom is at Hand - Triple H](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5852f18a20099e30cd2c01dc/1668091987547-OI28DUWV8XHB2R6X1OOY/TH+Weekly+4a.jpg)
[Sunday] The Kingdom is at Hand - Triple H
Jesus, who called his disciples, now sends them on their first mission trip, to tell that the kingdom of God is at hand. Is that threatening language from Jesus a clue that we better shape up, or is it a promise of hope for all those who feel like a sheep without a shepherd?
Jesus, who called his disciples, now sends them on their first mission trip, to tell that the kingdom of God is at hand. Is that threatening language from Jesus a clue that we better shape up, or is it a promise of hope for all those who feel like a sheep without a shepherd?
What Had happened at Grace this week.
Sleeping in Church
When Sanctuary Is Safe
Read whole article at From Issue 21: Sleeping in Church (https_mbird.com)
As a preacher, I can proudly say that I’ve never bored an audience so thoroughly that someone fell asleep and fell out a window. (“Fell asleep,” okay, yes. But never “fell out a window.” I know, it’s a low bar.) I plan to give the apostle Paul a little dig about that if, as I hope, I get to meet him someday………………….
FLGA Middle School Gathering Photos
Great time this year
Pastor Cris, Coli, Pam, and Kyler had fun at the FLGA Middle School Gathering
![[Sunday] Cares of the Heart - Triple H](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5852f18a20099e30cd2c01dc/1667515149467-MQM5PIZUIL0WJPHSOX7I/TH+Weekly+3a.jpg)
[Sunday] Cares of the Heart - Triple H
For all those whose hearts have been hurt, to those who have been thrown away and told you don’t belong here, we see that Jesus comes into the midst of them to change and heal hearts.
For all those whose hearts have been hurt, to those who have been thrown away and told you don’t belong here, we see that Jesus comes into the midst of them to change and heal hearts.
What Had happened at Grace this week.
While our fervent passions can inadvertently get in the way, God's relentless love empowers us to join His expansive mission, extending grace to all.