Part 4: A Night for Praise Released
December 17, 2023 • Ryan Oddo • Luke 2
It's not praise until you let it out. Pastor Ryan concludes our Christmas series with the shepherds and what it looked like for them to release their praise of the incarnate Jesus, the present Messiah and King of Israel. They weren't formally trained, they didn't have experience as orators, but they knew the message they had received and the encounter with the angels that they had experienced. No slick argument could undo that and they extoled the glory of God as a result.
Part 3: A Night for Christ Revealed
December 10, 2023 • Cami Wittwer • Luke 2
The Light of Christ is always shining, and on Christmas Night it burst forth in a fresh and glorious way. It revealed itself to the lowest of lowly social outcasts in the shepherds. It burst forth and lit the way out of the bondage of their poverty, oppression, and low standing. What's more, Christ continues to be revealed to us today and continues to light the way through the darkness.
Part 2: A Night for Relationship Restored
December 3, 2023 • Ryan Oddo • Luke 2:1–7
Sin has driven a wedge between humanity and the God that created them. Put simply, choosing what seems good in our own, limited eyes at the expense of trusting the way of the loving God who created everything has led us away from relationship with that benevolent God. Praise God, though, that He sent His one and only Son to pave the way for our relationship with God to be restored. What's more, is through His Holy Spirit we have the ministry of reconciliation in our grasp, putting down offense, and engaging in emotionally healthy and healed relationships with those around us.
Part 1: A Night for Hopes Renewed
November 26, 2023 • Ryan Oddo • Luke 2:1–6
Hope is the frame that informs all of how we approach life. So the question is, where is your hope? Is it in a bonus at work this Christmas season? What about next years elections in the US and who wins the presidency? Is it in your family to take your hurts away and soothe your pain? Or is it in the only good and perfect One; Maker of Heaven and Earth; The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit? Biblical hope in God and who He is will carry you through any time of waiting and uncertainty, looking forward to a promised future where He restores heaven to earth and makes all things new.
Part 4: The Gift of Being Drawn
December 11, 2022 • Ryan Oddo
Pastor Ryan ends the teaching series on Wonder with a look at the wisemen (or magi) and how they were drawn to worship Jesus. All people are created for, and do, worship. The question is simply, "what do you worship?". Do you worship (or put your trust in) money, good works, yourself, a political party or ideology; or do you trust in the Living God who rules over all creation? This Christmas, remember to never lose your wonder at the ways God draws us into relationship that we might know and worship the only One worthy.
Part 3: The Gift of Good News
December 11, 2022 • Sean Thompson
The Good News is good no matter where you are in your relationship with faith. Whether you feel like there have been too many damages to that relationship to ever be made whole again or you've been faithfully pursuing Jesus for decades, we all need to be reminded of the beauty, majesty, and power of the Good News of the present and future Kingdom of Jesus Christ. This Christmas, remember to never lose your wonder of the restorative and regenerative work of the Good News.
Part 2: The Gift of Faith
December 4, 2022 • Ryan Oddo
So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ. - Romans 10:17 (ESV) What does a life of faith look like? What does it mean to trust God when He says "Go."? Where does that faith come from and what does it form in us to practice it? Pastor Ryan continues our advent series of Wonder by looking at the story of Joseph, the man who acted as Jesus earthly father, and the gift of faith. This Christmas, remember to never lose your wonder at the ways God has invited us to trust in Him and to let Him lead our lives.
Part 1: The Gift of Partnership
November 27, 2022 • Ryan Oddo
God is the giver of every good and perfect gift. This week begins a new series of Wonder at the gifts that God gives us and the ways that we can respond to His generosity. Week 1 looks at the way that God chooses to partner with humans throughout the entirety of Scripture but specifically through the lens of Mary, the mother of Jesus. She was a fallible human in a city most thought badly of. She was unremarkable by most earthly metrics, and yet, the God of the universe saw fit to partner with her for the sake of His entry into flesh in order to save the world from their sins. That is remarkable! This Christmas, remember to never lose your wonder of the ways God has chosen to partner with us.
Part 4: Peace
December 24, 2021 • Pastor Ryan Oddo
Part 3: Hope
December 19, 2021 • Pastor Ryan Oddo • Luke 2:25–35
Your expectation of the future affects how you live today. As followers of Jesus we have a hope that cannot be matched. We have a Biblical expectation for a future where God restores creation to wholeness. How can that hope shape the way you live? How can it affect the way you love? Where does the knowledge of Jesus having come to earth and the hope of His return manifest in your life?
Part 2: Joy
December 12, 2021 • Pastor Ryan Oddo • Luke 2:8–20
What is the joy of the Lord? How does it look? Where does it really come from? When does it present itself and when is it needed most? Pastor Ryan looks at how Jesus made Joy Incarnate and how He continues to empower us with His joy today.
Part 1: Love
December 5, 2021 • Pastor Ryan Oddo • John 1:1–5
Pastor Ryan begins a new series on how Jesus incarnated the characteristics of the Advent season; Love, Joy, Hope, and Peace. In Part 1 he looks at the ways Jesus was the embodiment of love on earth and how we, as His followers, can continue to do so through the empowerment of His Holy Spirit.