Christmas Advent Series

Dreams are a big part of Christmas. As children we dream of toys & fun. As adults we dream of loved ones and of a better world. A different kind of dream was prominent in the story of Jesus’ birth. The wise men dreamed, and Joseph had three dreams. In these dreams God protected, guided, challenged, and brought hope. In this series we’ll look at our dreams and the dreams of the nativity story. As we do so, we’ll learn to see God’s hand at work in our lives & our world. Please join us each Sunday at 10:30am for this Christmas Series.

Dec 3: Dreams That Challenge Us (Joseph’s 1st Dream – Take Mary as your wife)
Dec 10: Christmas Cantata
Dec 17: Dreams That Redirect Us (The Magi’s Dream)
Dec 24: Dreams That Guide Us (Joseph’s 2nd Dream – Flight to Egypt)
Dec 24: Simply Christmas (6:30pm Candlelight Service)
Dec 31: Dreams That Bring Us Hope (Joseph’s 3rd Dream – Out of Egypt)

Dreams That Challenge Us – We will discuss God’s call to us in life, and the faith required to enter into that call. The call might be a
life call, it might be a smaller call, such as a call to be involved in a ministry, or to reach out to a non-believer, or to reach out to encourage or serve. When God prompts us by his Holy Spirit, we must first hear, then we must trust, then we must step out in faith. We must obey God and not fear man. In God’s call there is the seed of a dream of what our life can be. As we respond, we move into the destiny God has for us.

Dreams That Redirect Us – We must redirect every facet of our lives to enter the fullness of God’s Kingdom. This requires redirecting our hearts (longing for Christ’s Kingdom), redirecting our thoughts (listening to the Father’s voice), and redirecting our priorities and actions (being led by the Spirit).

Dreams That Guide Us – When God guides, he only reveals what we need for the next step, using the journey both to develop our faith and to accomplish his purposes. GUIDANCE is given one step at a time. The ROUTE to the destination is not always direct. Each STOP has an important
purpose. We obey God’s ASSIGNMENT until he gives us another. God speaks to us through SPIRITUAL SENSE, but also expects us to use WISDOM. God works his plan for us through all CIRCUMSTANCES. The DESTINATION is often a surprise.

Pastor Paul will discuss Matthew 2 from Joseph’s perspective, how he experienced the specific acts of obedience. How God had to choose a man he knew would obey, for without his obedience great prophecies would not have come to pass. Pastor Paul will discuss God’s care and protection over his people, and ways in which God guides, and the faith required to obey.

Simply Christmas- Dreams That Transform Us – We’ll look at the dual meaning of “Dreams”. One being the dreams in the biblical narrative and the other the dreams/yearning we have of the way things ought to be, e.g. our “grown up Christmas list”. Christ came into the world to save & transform us. We have dreams of “the way the world is supposed to be”. Those dreams are planted in our soul by God. As we behold what we are to become, we will change. As we behold what the world is to become, we will change the world. We are not driven by our past; we are drawn by our future.

Dreams That Bring Us Hope – This message will be on the “meta-narrative” of the prophecy “Out of Egypt I called my son.” Pastor Paul will  explain how the trip to and from Egypt symbolized our bondage to sin and deliverance, and corresponded to Israel’s experience (Exile, Passover, deliverance, crossing Jordon to the promised land under the leadership of Joshua, who shared Jesus’ name as a type of Christ). Israel’s experience was a type of the work of Christ. Finally, Pastor Paul will discuss Isaiah 9, and the prophetic significance of Jesus’ ministry beginning in the land of Naphtali. We’ll see how as St. Augustine once said, “The New Testament is contained in the Old, and the Old Testament is explained in the New”. These two testaments are actually one, revealing one Person who is our life. For us, this is a powerful promise of deliverance, but it also shows how we must attain that deliverance, through faith that leads to obedience.