December 15, 2024
When The King Comes | Where Can I Find Joy In Life?
Advent 2024
When the Wisemen arrived in Jerusalem looking for the ‘King of the Jews’, the scholars read our Micah passage and told them to go to Bethlehem. Bethlehem was the place of the king's birth. That prophecy had been given 700 years before Mary and Joseph trundled into sleepy Bethlehem. All of this: Micah’s prophecy, the difficulty of his time in history, translates into joy for us and potential joy for all the generations of the earth.
Songs for this week: Spotify
- Look over your life; when did you feel the most joy? Tell that story to your group.
- How would you explain joy to your friends asking you about the Christian faith?
- Have you ever felt ‘under siege’ or that you’d been struck in the face emotionally? How did you respond? Do you think Jesus cares about your hard times? Explain.
- How do you explain “one whose origins are from of old, from ancient times”? Is this a legitimate claim to Jesus being God, or does it mean something else?
- What is gained in Jesus being our shepherd? Does that term deliver hope and joy, or does it feel underwhelming to you?
Share with a friend
Recent Sermons
Galatians 5:16-26 - The Holy Spirit surprised both the convinced and the curious in the early Church—working through powerful deeds and transforming lives from within to become more like Jesus.
Acts 2:1-21 - The long-awaited gift of God’s Spirit given to ordinary women and men finally touched down! A few unlikely believers huddled together in an upstairs room were the first recipients. This story unlocks the plan that the Spirit of Jesus has for us all.
Luke 4:14-21-Jesus announced that the Spirit of the Lord was on him to proclaim the good news. The Holy Spirit empowered Jesus for his mission. And Jesus gives us the same Spirit for the same mission.
Joel 2:28-32 - Begin a seven-week journey exploring the person and work of the Holy Spirit—from Genesis to Revelation. Discover how the Spirit moves through the Old Testament, revealing a presence that is mysterious, powerful, and deeply woven into the story of faith.
Mark 16:1-8 - The resurrection of Jesus Christ brings clarity to the entire Bible, redeeming every story from the Garden of Eden onward. Though surprisingly understated in Gospel of Mark, this moment secures a powerful hope—offering grace today and the promise of a future face-to-face with Jesus.
Mark 11:1-11 -As Mark’s account of Jesus moves toward the Cross, the Triumphal Entry may seem quiet to us—but for those who had waited centuries, it was electric. The question of the true King wasn’t just Israel’s struggle—it’s still ours today.
