SERMON PREVIEW:
Dear Brothers and Sisters in the Lord,
Have you ever considered the common language we all seem to speak at Christmastime, both among those who are believers in Christ and those who are not?
There are certain phrases and key words that appear over and again, in Christmas cards, Christmas carols, on the decorations in our homes or in our yards, inscribed on ornaments, tee-shirts, postage stamps, and that also flow naturally from our mouths. I’m thinking of words and phrases such as:
‘Peace on earth,’ ‘God-Incarnate,’ ‘Glory in the highest,’ ‘Rejoice,’ ‘Joy,’ ‘Hope,’ ‘Salvation,’ ‘Light,’ and many others.
Well, of course we know that this ‘language of Christmas’ comes from the Bible, and from the true story of the incarnation and birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus. Christmas has a very specific language that we should never take for granted.
That brings us to our series of messages for this Advent of 2022.
Over the next five Sundays, culminating on Christmas Day as we worship together, we will be looking carefully at this ‘Christmas language,’ giving consideration to these familiar words and phrases that tell us what happened there in Bethlehem so long ago.
This coming Lord’s Day our text will be John 1:1-5, 14 and we will examine John’s most unique Christmas phrase, “The Word Became Flesh.”
As we celebrate this blessed Season together, I wanted to provide you with a little Advent Devotional Guide that will correspond with our preaching series. Each of the next five weeks will focus upon one of the Christmas words or phrases that we discover in Scripture. Along with the sermon texts and themes, there are other suggested Scripture readings, plus readings from the Westminster Confession and the Heidelberg Catechism.
I pray that you will be blessed richly as you direct your hearts and minds toward the greatest Gift and most wonderful mystery of all!
I love you so very much!
Mike
2022 Advent Readings for Personal and Family Worship
Week One: November 27-December 3
Sermon Text for November 27–John 1:1-5, 14
Theme: “The Word Made Flesh”
Additional Scripture Readings:
Isaiah 7:1-16; 9:1-7
Psalm 2
Luke 1:26-38; 2:1-20
Galatians 4:4-7
Philippians 2:8-11
Confessional Readings:
Westminster Confession–Chapter 8:1-3
Heidelberg Catechism–Q’s 35-36
Week Two: December 4-December 10
Sermon Text for December 4–John 1:14
Theme: “Glory in the Highest”
Additional Scripture Readings:
Exodus 3:1-9; 19:1-25
Psalm 3
Luke 2:9
2 Corinthians 4:1-6
1 John 1:1-4
Confessional Readings:
Westminster Confession–Chapter 2:1-3
Heidelberg Catechism–Q’s 50-51
Week Three: December 11-December 17
Sermon Text for December 11–John 3:16-17
Theme: “A Savior for the World”
Additional Scripture Readings:
Genesis 12:1-3; 22:1-18
Psalm 5
Luke 2:21-38
Romans 10:8-21
Ephesians 1:3-12
Confessional Readings:
Westminster Confession–Chapter 3:1-8
Heidelberg Catechism–Q 56
Week Four: December 18-December 24
Sermon Text for December 18–John 1:9; 8:12
Theme: “Light in the Darkness”
Additional Scripture Readings:
Genesis 3
Psalm 51
Ecclesiastes 1
Isaiah 53
1 Peter 2:9-10
Confessional Readings:
Westminster Confession–Chapter 7:1-6
Heidelberg Catechism–Q 60
Week Five: December 25-December 31
Sermon Text for December 25–John 15:11
Theme: “Joy to the World”
Additional Scripture Readings:
Psalm 14
Isaiah 25:1-9
Matthew 2:1-12
Romans 5:1-10
Confessional Readings:
Westminster Confession–Chapter 17:1-3
Heidelberg Catechism–Q’s 1-2
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Christmas Eve Service: We will have our annual Christmas Eve service of worship on December 24 at 5 PM. Visitors are most welcome!
Children’s Ministry: Parents Night Out Christmas Edition on December 9th from 5:30-8:00pm for ages Birth – 5th grade. Register in the Church Center app. We need more volunteers, so please contact Ashley Turnbull if you are interested in serving at this event.
Christmas Gifts for Care Center: Care Center Toy Need Description: We plan to serve about 150 children this year at our Christmas Shop; the majority are aged 10-17. Most children served through our Christmas Store include children approved through our Bags of Blessings ministry. We also help children whose families are experiencing some crisis (house fire, job loss, medical diagnosis, etc.). The Christmas Shop is set up in a way where no money is exchanged, the parents receive a voucher to come to the Christmas Shop, and it helps to protect the family’s dignity.
Here are some specifics that may help. We ask for new toy donations for our families:
– Family-friendly/children’s board games
– Fidget/sensory-friendly toys
– Headphones (no Bluetooth)
– Boy/neutral bikes ranging in size
– Boy items- Sports balls, Sports equipment(it is okay to include skateboards, fishing equipment, musical instruments such as guitars and harmonicas, etc. we serve high school students), outdoor toys, STEM kits, science experiments, Lego kits, remote/model cars, watches, boy hygiene/cologne kits,
– Girl/neutral bikes ranging in size
– Girl Items- Art kits/supplies, jewelry/ kits, nail kits, makeup kits, purses, Barbie/accessories, dolls/accessories, girl hygiene/perfume kits, Disney items,
– Always needed:
socks, clothes, Pajamas, books, blankets, hats/scarfs
*School backpacks are currently not a need. We also ask for no tablets, phones, computers, or electronic type devices.
Here is our Christmas amazon wish link if it is helpful – https://a.co/eGktX5j
Second Sunday Lunch: We will have our monthly fellowship lunch December 11 immediately after church.
Fall Sunday Night Youth Group:
December 4th
December 11th (Christmas Party)
Sunday night youth group runs from 4:30 to 6:30 pm at the church house!
Roots Retreat: We wanted to invite our youth to the annual Providence Presbytery Roots retreat on January 20th-22nd. Roots provides Gospel-centered teaching, worship, and fellowship for the youth in our presbytery. The retreat will be at Camp ToKnowHim and will be attended by various youth from churches in our Presbytery.
We are needing to know if your child (or children) plan to attend so that we can know if we have enough of our students to send a group from CPC! Please review the information below and respond by clicking on the link provided below letting us know if you plan to attend. Please let us know by the 14th of December so that we can ensure everyone is registered and that we can acquire chaperones.
Where: Camp ToKnowHim
When: Friday, January 20th – Sunday, January 22nd
Cost: The cost of the retreat is $145 which includes lodging, meals, and t-shirt. If the cost of the retreat would prevent your child from attending, please let us know to see if we can provide financial assistance!
Speaker: The guest speaker is Austin Lennox, the Director of Youth Ministry at Redeemer Presbyterian Church in Memphis, TN. The theme for this year is – You Are Not Your Own: Belonging to God in an Age of Self-Belonging.
Let me know if you have any questions. You can email Matthew at mattke@live.com.Thank you!
Senior Fellows: The Senior Fellows will have breakfast on December 6 at 9 AM at the church.
Women’s Ministry:
Monthly Lunch: Our next monthly luncheon will be on December 1 beginning at 11 AM at the Timbers Edge Clubhouse located at 1 Timbers Main, Brownsboro. It’s potluck – feel free to bring a dish or just yourself. If you have questions or transportation needs please contact Pat Galecki at 256-244-0612
Christmas Dinner: Join us for food, fellowship, and fun with singing and a raffle. Get in touch with your creative side and make someone smile with a handmade item or store bought gift. Dec 8th, 6-8 pm. Huntsville Country Club. Cost: $15
Men’s Ministry:
Book Study: There is a book study of Pilgrim’s Progress every Tuesday morning between 6:15 and 7:15 at the Cooper house in downtown Huntsville: 405 Randolph Ave SE, Huntsville, AL 35801. See Joseph Prinzinger for details.
Career Group: Our Sunday evening Bible study & fellowship meets at 5:30 PM at the home of Jim and Sharon Daughtry, 5726 Jones Valley Drive. To get on our mailing list for regular communications, please email Sharon at sdaughtry5123@gmail.com
PRAYER REQUESTS:
Healing: Please pray for the health of the following individuals: Collins Bailey, Ramona Edwards, Steve Terry, Bill Cowley, and Elizabeth Holton. Additional details may be found in the Ministries/Prayer Requests section of the church website.
Expecting: Please pray for the Elys (November); the Butlers (February); the Guytons (April).
Ministries: Please pray for the following missionaries and ministries: Seth and Jessica Lewis (Ireland); Steve and Rita Williams (New Zealand); Noah and Karleigh Stephens (Thailand); Vinnie and Molly Athey (RUF at UAH); Marcus and Jessica Nobles (RUF at Alabama A&M); Ken and Angie Burnett (FCA); Franky and Alaina Garcia (church plant in Canada); Dieter Paulson (church plant in Scottsboro, AL); Gannon Miles (seminary student); The Huntsville Pregnancy Resource Center.
Online Donations:
If you would like to give to Christ Presbyterian, you can do so by clicking HERE.
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