Sermon Preview
Friday November 30, 2018
Dear Brothers and Sisters in the Lord,
This coming Lord’s day is the First Sunday of Advent. During this blessed season we are going to be considering a passage from Matthew’s account of the life of our Lord that, upon first glance, may appear to have little if anything to do with Christmas and the celebration of Christ’s Incarnation. However, I believe that as we look carefully at this passage of Holy Scripture, we will soon discover that it really has everything to do with the First Advent of our Lord and Savior. It is in this admittedly mysterious event that we see both our Lord’s perfect divinity and His perfect humanity.
Matthew 4:1-11contains the story of our Lord’s temptation by the devil in the wilderness.This is likely a story that you are familiar with, but you have probably not associated it with a celebration of the Incarnation. But I believe that here there is a vital link to Christmas, and one that will not only help us to come to understand who our Lord was and is, but will also provide us with a profound measure of comfort, assurance, and hope!
Our focus this Sunday morning will be upon the first two verses of Matthew 4 where we read:
“Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry.”
Following Sunday’s message, the schedule for our Advent sermons will be:
Sunday December 9—Matthew 4:3-4, “The First Temptation.”
Sunday December 16—Matthew 4:5-7, “The Second Temptation.”
Sunday December 23—Matthew 4:8-10, “The Third Temptation.
Monday December 24—Matthew 4:11, “The Devil’s Departure.”*
*Our annual Christmas Eve Service of Worship and Communion will be at 5:00 PM.
I hope you will get familiar with this passage of Scripture, and it may be helpful to look over the same account as recorded in Luke 4:1-13.
Thank you in advance for your prayers are we prepare to deliver these messages!
Special Invitation to an Advent Hymn Singing
Everyone is invited to Jeremy & Megan Brown’s home this coming Sunday evening, Dec. 2 at 6:00 PM, for an Advent-focused hymn sing and casual fellowship. Please bring a Trinity hymnal if you have one, and consider bringing a snack to share if you’d like.
Their address is: 2204 Scarlet O’ Hara Circle SE, Huntsville, 35803.
I love you all so much!!
Mike
Upcoming Events:
December 2, 4 PM – Alleluia Choir at Church House
December 3, 9 AM – Senior Fellows Bags of Blessings at The CARE Center
December 4, 9 AM – Senior Fellows Breakfast at the Church House
December 4, 9 AM – Mother’s Morning Bible Study at Church
December 4, 6 PM – Women’s Evening Bible Study at Church
December 5, 10 AM – Women’s Morning Bible Study at Church
December 9, 12 PM – Second Sunday Fellowship Lunch
December 9, 4:30 PM – Youth Group at Church
December 10, 9 AM – Senior Fellows visit to Tutt Fann Veterans’ Home
December 11, 6 pM – Women’s Ministry Christmas Dinner
December 13, 6 AM – Men’s Morning Bible Study at Church
Order of Worship:
You can access this week’s Order of Worship by clicking here
If you’d like to sing the songs with your family beforehand, the songs for this week are:
Hallelujah, Praise Jehovah
The Son Of God Came Down
Come Thou Long Expected Jesus – Hymn 196, all 4 verses
Who Would Have Dreamed
Announcements:
Alleluia Choir: Alleluia Choir meets again December 2 from 4:00-4:45 pm in the Church House. All second graders through age 12 are encouraged to join us.
Women’s Christmas Party: The Women will have their annual Christmas party on Dec. 11 at 6 PM. For more details, and to sign up, please check the following link:
Missionary Letters: At Christmas we have the special opportunity to send a card or greeting to our missionary families listed in the bulletin each Sunday. They have spoken often about how meaningful it is to receive these greetings! They love the picture cards or notes and letters that many of us are sending to family and friends. They are family for us and friends as well. To make it possible for you to include them in your Christmas list we are providing addresses for each family. The PO has global stamps for sending a card or letter to Ireland and New Zealand for about $1.15. If you purchase several at a time you always have a stamp handy for future mailings! It is one way we can be connected to this part of our church family. They have the church directory to remember who they met last summer. It is a good idea to send the cards near the beginning of December to give them time to get to the destination by Christmas. Mailing packages is quite expensive but certainly some small item could be sent as well, something that could fit into the envelope but may require an extra stamp. If you have any questions or need help contact Judi Fikes (judifikes@gmail.com) please email only or catch me at church! Judi has the addresses, so talk to her, or see the email that was sent out earlier this month.
Athey Visit: Vinnie Athey is the RUF Campus minister at UAH. He and his wife Molly will be visiting our congregation on Dec. 9 to tell us more about their ministry. They will also be joining us for Second Sunday Lunch.
Senior Fellows: The Senior Fellows have three events coming up in December. First, on Dec. 3 at 9 AM the Senior Fellows will participate in Bags of Blessings at The CARE Center in New Hope. It will be in new building behind the Post Office, which is down the street/around the curve from the old building. Second, they will have breakfast at the church house on Dec. 4 at 9 AM. Finally, they will visit the Floyd E. “Tutt” Fann Veterans’ Home on Dec. 10 at 9 AM. It’s located at 2701 Meridian St. Optional, bring gifts including FULL-SIZE CANDY BARS (THEIR FAVORITE BINGO PRIZE!!), LOTION, BODYWASH, DEODORANT, TOOTHPASTE, TOOTHBRUSHES, SHAMPOO. ELECTRIC RAZORS, UNDERSHIRTS, SWEATSUITS, LOUNGE PANTS, TUBE/CREW LENGTH SOCKS (BLACK OR WHITE), DIABETIC SOCKS, HANDKERCHIEFS, MAGAZINE SUBSCRIPTIONS, RADIO/CD PLAYERS, LITTLE DEBBIE SNACKS, SMALL BAGS OF CHIPS/CRACKERS, SODAS). They will have lunch afterwards
Youth Group: We will meet again on Sunday, December 9 at the Church Fellowship Hall. The times will be from 4:30-6:30 pm and this will be for students ages 13-18 years of age. We ask that those who attend be at least 13 years of age due to the content of some of the discussions and the wide age range in the group.
Also of interest to the youth, there is a winter retreat coming up, and you can get more info by clicking here.
Prayer Requests:
Healing: Please pray for the health of the following individuals: Larrabee Kirkland, Cynthia Dent, Katie Dyer, Andy Trent, Suzanne Nimon, Robin Holloway, Chris Smotherman, Elizabeth Holton, Janet Chou, Ramona Edwards, and Nolan Osmer.
Bereavement: Please pray for Stanley Gibson, whose father died this week.
Ministries: Please pray for the following missionaries and ministries: Seth and Jessica Lewis (Ireland); Steve and Rita Williams (New Zealand); Vinnie and Molly Athey (RUF at UAH); RUF at Alabama A&M; Ken and Angie Burnett (FCA); Franky Garcia (seminary student).
Emails:
general inquiries: admin@christpreshamptoncove.org
benevolence needs: benevolence@christpreshamptoncove.org
counsel and ministry needs: matthew@christpreshamptoncove.org
men’s ministry: men@christpreshamptoncove.org
women’s ministry: women@christpreshamptoncove.org
children’s ministry: children@christpreshamptoncove.org
youth ministry: youth@christpreshamptoncove.org
senior fellows: seniorfellows@christpreshamptoncove.org
Address:
288 Old Highway 431
Owens Cross Roads, AL 35763