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The Beautiful Gospel - Good News For All

4/13/2018

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WEEK 3 // DECEMBER 17 – 23

12/17/2017

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READING PLAN
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Sunday: Isaiah 19:16-21:17; Psalm 10:1-8;
Mark 13-14
Monday: Isaiah 22; Psalm 10:9-18; Mark 13-14
Tuesday: Isaiah 23; Psalm 11; Mark 15-16
Wednesday: Isaiah 24; Psalm 12; Mark 15-16
Thursday: Isaiah 25-26; Psalm 13; Mark 15-16
Friday: Isaiah 27-28; Psalm 14;
1 Thessalonians 1-3
​Saturday: Reflect and catch up
ADVENT DEVOTIONAL

As incomprehensible as an angelic visitation and pronouncement that she would carry the Son of God in her womb were for Mary, that event was just the beginning. The angel left, and the reality of the news began to settle in. The incredible promise spoken by Gabriel faded into the reality of being a young, not-yet-married woman who had to answer to her future husband, her family and all those she encountered about the nature of her pregnancy.

Luke tells us that Mary stayed with Elizabeth for three months, but we aren’t told much else about what her pregnancy was like. As with any pregnancy, there were likely difficult days, happy days and all kinds of days in between. Regardless, her pregnancy must have been marked by a sense of expectancy. Not just because she was anticipating the arrival of the Son of God, but because she was…expecting.

We experience "advents" of Christ all the time. He is still coming to us. We can relate to the expectancy Mary must have felt. Mary received the good news that she would be carrying in her womb the King who would sit on David’s throne. Those who put their faith in Christ, too, have received the good news that a King has come. 

PASSAGE:
LUKE 1:26-38
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In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin’s name was Mary. And he came to her and said, “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!” But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be. And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” And Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?” And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God. And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. For nothing will be impossible with God.” And Mary said, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.
PRAYER

Lord, Blessed Trinity, to You alone be the glory this day. Father, Son and Holy Spirit, thank You. I thank You for the grace and mercy of Your wondrous salvation.I have done nothing to deserve such a tremendous gift.Even calling salvation a “tremendous gift” does not encompassThe fullness of its beauty and wonder. God, You have sent Jesus, Your only beloved Son,To die on the cross and rise three days laterTo obtain the salvation that may only be found in Him. All who receive Jesus, You have given the right To become Your children, O mighty God.You have saved me.Thank You, Lord.
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Advent Week Two

12/10/2017

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​WEEK 2 // DECEMBER 10 – 16

READING PLAN
Sunday: Isaiah 10:5-34; Psalm 6; Mark 7-9
Monday: Isaiah 11-12; Psalm 7:1-7; Mark 7-9
Tuesday: Isaiah 13; Psalm 7:8-17; Mark 10-12
Wednesday: Isaiah 14; Psalm 8; Mark 10-12
Thursday: Isaiah 15-16; Psalm 9:1-7; Mark 10-12
Friday: Isaiah 17:1-19:15; Psalm 9:8-20; Mark 13-14
Saturday: Reflect and catch up
PASSAGE: MARK 13:32-37
“But concerning that day or that hour, no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor
the Son, but only the Father. Be on guard, keep awake. For you do not know when the
time will come. It is like a man going on a journey, when he leaves home and puts his
servants in charge, each with his work, and commands the doorkeeper to stay awake.
Therefore stay awake—for you do not know when the master of the house will come, in
the evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or in the morning—lest he come
suddenly and find you asleep. And what I say to you I say to all: Stay awake.”
SONG: “COME, THOU LONG EXPECTED JESUS”

Come, Thou long expected Jesus
Born to set Thy people free
From our fears and sins release us
Let us find our rest in Thee
Israel’s strength and consolation
Hope of all the earth Thou art
Dear desire of every nation
Joy of every longing heart
Born Thy people to deliver
Born a child and yet a King
Born to reign in us forever
Now Thy gracious kingdom bring
By Thine own eternal spirit
Rule in all our hearts alone
By Thine all sufficient merit
Raise us to Thy glorious throne
DEVOTIONAL

It happens every year—what we expect to be a slower-paced summer whirs by, and before we know it, it’s Labor Day weekend. Autumn comes and goes faster than a withered leaf falling to the ground from a lofty branch. Fireworks give way to football, then pumpkins to pilgrims. Now, it’s all we can do to finish our Christmas shopping and
get our yuletide greetings in the mail before the “guaranteed delivery by Christmas” date. And the reality is, if left unchecked, we’ll be right here again this time next year wondering, “Where did the time go?” The Advent season calls us out of our slumber. It bursts into our passive experience
of time and calls us to “stay awake.” Jesus’ words from Mark 13:32-37 are a stunning reminder that Jesus is coming again. Our Master has departed on a journey, but He’s left us with work to do while He’s away. And the work we’re called into cannot be put off until later because Jesus’ second advent will come at a day and hour that only the Father knows. It’s so easy to get lulled into slumber by the turning of time, buzzing by at what seems to be an ever-increasing pace. But this sleepy apathy toward time’s passing is not the life we’ve been called to live. Advent reminds us that we are a commissioned people, granted a stewardship of the gospel message. We have the privilege of heralding this message day by day, season by season, year by year, eagerly anticipating the return of Christ. Our Master is away, but He’s coming again. May we be a people about His work, hastening His return.
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Advent Week One

12/3/2017

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​WEEK 1  // DECEMBER 3 – 9

READING PLAN
Sunday: Isaiah 1-2; Psalm 1-2; Mark 1-3
Monday: Isaiah 3-4; Psalm 3; Mark 1-3
Tuesday: Isaiah 5; Psalm 4; Mark 4-6
Wednesday: Isaiah 6-7; Psalm 5:1-4; Mark 4-6
Thursday: Isaiah 8; Psalm 5:5-12; Mark 4-6
Friday: Isaiah 9:1-10:4; Psalm 6; Mark 7-9
Saturday: Reflect and catch up

PASSAGE: ISAIAH 2:2-5

It shall come to pass in the latter days
 that the mountain of the house of the LORD
shall be established as the highest of the mountains,
 and shall be lifted up above the hills;
and all the nations shall flow to it,
 and many peoples shall come, and say:
“Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD,
 to the house of the God of Jacob,
that he may teach us his ways
 and that we may walk in his paths.”
For out of Zion shall go forth the law,
 and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.
He shall judge between the nations,
 and shall decide disputes for many peoples;
and they shall beat their swords into plowshares,
 and their spears into pruning hooks;
nation shall not lift up sword against nation,
 neither shall they learn war anymore.
O house of Jacob,
 come, let us walk
 in the light of the LORD.
DEVOTIONAL
​The brokenness of our world is inescapable. Watching a newscast or quickly scrolling through your social media timeline reveals atrocity upon atrocity. Whether it’s acts of terror or nations warring or genocide or injustice or senseless acts of murder, we remain a people bombarded with this reality: Things are not as they should be. The season of Advent breaks into our broken world and reorients our hearts around a better reality—the present darkness which shrouds creation has been defeated in Jesus Christ and will one day be fully realized. Advent is a turning away from despair and toward hope. The prophet Isaiah heralded this hope to Israel, and like him we can look ahead in hope when the instruments of war, destruction and death of our day are hammered into plowshares and pruning hooks. The Light of the World shines into the darkness. Let us join with the prophet Isaiah in his exhortation, “O house of Jacob, come, let us walk in the light of the LORD.”
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​PRAYER

Almighty God, give us grace to cast away the works of darkness, and put on the armor of light, now in the time of this mortal life in which your Son, Jesus Christ, came to visit us in great humility; that in the last day, when he shall come again in his glorious majesty to judge both the living and the dead, we may rise to the life immortal; through him who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
Amen.
SONG:  “O COME, O COME, EMMANUEL”

O come, O come, Emmanuel And ransom captive Israel That mourns in lonely exile here Until the Son of God appear Rejoice, rejoice, Emmanuel Shall come to thee, oh Israel

O come, Thou Dayspring, come and cheer Our spirits by Thine advent here Disperse the gloomy clouds of night And death’s dark shadows put to flight Rejoice, rejoice, Emmanuel Shall come to thee, oh Israel Rejoice, rejoice, Emmanuel Shall come to thee, oh Israel

O come, desire of nations bind In one the hearts of all mankind Bid thou our sad divisions cease And be Thyself our King of Peace Rejoice, rejoice, Emmanuel Shall come to thee, oh Israel Rejoice, rejoice, Emmanuel Shall come to thee, oh Israel

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Noel - Advent at Faith Joy Fellowship

11/30/2017

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Noel - Come and See What God Has Done

Advent is here and what an exciting time it really is. Over the next few weeks we will be posting devotion and prayer ideas for your families to gather and and reflect on Immanuel. Let's start with a little history on what Advent is and the Church Calendar.

​WHAT IS THE CHURCH CALENDAR?

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Practiced for over 1,500 years, the Church Calendar serves as a way to order our lives around the Christian story. Inspired by the annual feasts and celebrations of God’s people throughout the Old Testament, the calendar can be traced all the way back to the early Church, when Christians began establishing rhythms and rituals based on the one story of Scripture.

Despite its details and approaches changing over time and looking different across traditions, the Church Calendar has almost always hit the same plot points and themes with the seasons: Advent (the birth of Christ), Epiphany (the manifestation of Christ), Lent (the temptation and death of Christ), Easter (the resurrection of Christ) and Pentecost (the Spirit of Christ).

The Church Calendar can come across to many as legalistic or as empty ritual, given some of the abuses we’ve seen throughout Church history. It can also feel strange and foreign to those who are new to church or who grew up in churches that didn’t follow this calendar. But the seasons of the Church are really just a way to center our lives around the gospel by entering the story of Jesus each year. It’s a practical way to follow the words of Paul in Romans 13:14: “But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.” While we should always make sure we’re not falling into meaningless routines and simply going through the motions, it’s hard to think of a better way we can spend our time each and every year

The gatherings, the practices and the traditions of the seasons help us remember the one true story of the Bible—who God is and what He has done in Jesus Christ—and help us to live in that story every day as the people of God. 

Advent In The Church

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Of all the seasons, Advent probably feels the most familiar. Many people, regardless of faith, have used an Advent calendar—the ones with little windows to help you count down the days until Christmas. Yet, even though Advent is certainly about anticipating the coming of the Messiah, we don’t seem to be very good at it, and what we generally call “Advent” looks pretty different than what the Church historically has called “Advent.”

Formed from a Latin word meaning “coming” or “arrival,” Advent is the traditional celebration of the first advent of Jesus in humility and the anxious awaiting of His second advent in glory. The season is a time for remembering and rejoicing, watching and waiting. In American Christianity, we’ve got that first part down. As soon as Thanksgiving is over (and sometimes even before), we start putting up the tree and listening to our favorite Christmas songs. There’s nothing wrong with doing these things, of course, but the whole point of Advent is to spend several weeks—four weeks, to be exact—preparing for Christmas instead of celebrating Christmas. It’s about stepping into the shoes of the Israelites, longing and crying out for the Messiah to come. It’s about reflecting on our sin and shortcomings and our need for a Savior. It’s about looking around at our broken world and hoping for the second coming of Jesus. And, once we get to Christmas Day, the celebration of Jesus’ birth becomes that much more spectacular and meaningful.

As we remember and enter this story, the coming of Jesus Christ, we deconstruct and deny the false stories that we find ourselves caught up in, especially those connected to our culture’s concept of Christmas—individualism and consumerism. Instead, we reconstruct and embrace the true story of the gospel in our lives, specifically the focuses and themes of Advent. We recognize the weight of sin personally, corporately and cosmically and why we need Jesus Christ, Immanuel, to dwell among us, restoring and reconciling creation back to the Father by the Spirit. Celebrating the Son of God coming as a gift, not to be served but to serve, we respond out of praise and gratitude, using this season to serve and to give to others.

​HISTORY & TRADITIONS

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The Advent season begins on the fourth Sunday before Christmas and continues up to Christmas Day, or Christmas Eve in some contexts. There are a variety of ways to celebrate the season, depending on tradition and background. Many people use an Advent calendar, typically made up of 24 “windows” containing Scriptures, stories, poems or gifts, to count down the days until Christmas. As each window is opened and the final day draws closer, our expectation increases. This reminds us of the hopeful yet anxious waiting God’s people experienced as they longed for the promised Savior to come.

Another popular tradition is marking the progression of the season through an Advent wreath made up of five candles. This symbol is borrowed from the emphasis throughout Scripture of Jesus Christ being the Light of the World (Matt. 4:16; John 1:4-9; 8:12). Each week, a new candle is lit in anticipation of Christmas Eve. The last candle, called the Christ Candle, is lit on Christmas Eve to represent Jesus’ first advent. Through this theme of ever-increasing light penetrating the darkness, we see a picture of the gospel.

​Regardless of the tradition, Advent is a significant time in the life of the Church. It’s an opportunity for believers to remember God’s promise to send One who would overcome sin and death forever. God promised a Savior, and He kept that promise perfectly

Check back in on Sunday for Week One devotions

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Noel - Come and See What God Has Done: Advent Resources

11/28/2017

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Advent 2017

I talked Sunday about posting some Advent resources to help our families celebrate Christmas this year.
I hope these will help:

Advent Devotions

Good News Of Great Joy -  John Piper (Free PDF)
https://www.desiringgod.org/books/good-news-of-great-joy​

The Village Church Advent Guide
This Free PDF has devotions and even a weekly Advent candle devotion for the family each week.

https://d1nwfrzxhi18dp.cloudfront.net/uploads/resource_library/attachment/file/916/Lead_Pastors_-_2017_-_Advent_-_Guide_-_Digital.pdf

The Dawning of Indestructible Joy - John Piper (Free PDF)
https://www.desiringgod.org/books/the-dawning-of-indestructible-joy

Advent Candles

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Advent candles are a great way to gather your family once a week over Christmas to pray, talk and remind yourself what this season is all about.
We normally add a white candle in the middle to light Christmas day.
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Link to purchase Advent candles

https://www.amazon.com/Christmas-Advent-Candle-Set/dp/B001B7MLRG

Here is a link to an awesome Family Advent Candle Devotion to do each week:
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http://www.graceplace.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/advent-family-devotional-2011.pdf

And If You Are Still Bahumbugging....

Check out this movie:
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Family Stuff - What Matters Most

6/20/2017

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This past Sunday we talked about the family once again and I spoke about finding out what matters most in your family. What is it that you want for your family? I gave a few of what I thought mattered in the Cox family and I wanted to share those again to maybe inspire you to sit down and write out 4 or 5 things that matter most to your family:

What Matters Most To The Cox Family:

1. Our kids have an authentic relationship with Abba Father

2. They know that neither their mom or I will ever stop pursuing or fighting  for a right relationship with them.

3. That our relationship with God and with each other has a huge effect on our kids.

4. Just being together can never substitute for interacting together in a healthy way.

5. We know that we can not be the only adults involved with our kids so we will encourage healthy relationships with our families and church families.

All of these connect thru honest and valued relationships (Matters of the Heart). 

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