VÄLKOMMEN JUL! | WECOME CHRISTMAS!

Find JESUS this Christmas!
Bring the Family to our Christmas Eve
Candlelight Communion Service at 7:00 pm.
Loving God | Friendly People | Relevant Message

Are you Ready? JESUS is COMING!
He is coming again as our Ultimate Leader, Rescuer, and Friend!
Come hear the Good News of God’s Hope, Love, Joy, and Peace!

Bring your friends and family to our Christmas Eve Candlelight Communion Service at 7:00 pm.
We’ll sing some of your favorite carols, hear the Christmas story, celebrate Holy Communion, and, more importantly, Adore Jesus! He is the reason for the season!

Bring the Child! We’ll have friendly activity bags and gifts for them!
We’d love to see you!

Alla är Välkomna
(All are Welcome)

We want you to experience the Hope, Love, Joy, and Peace of Jesus Christ this Christmas.
Let me know how we can help your family and pray for you!

Christmas blessings,
Pastor Ivan+

UGLY SWEATER SUNDAY – DECEMBER 31

WATCH OUT! This could get UGLY!
Wear your ugliest Holiday outfit for worship on Sunday, December 31 at 10:30 am. Come dressed in an ugly sweater, sweatshirt, suit, tie or shirt! You can even wear the sports uniform of your most disliked team (no hard feelings).

THE SEASON OF ADVENT 2023 – JESUS is COMING! Are You Ready?
WHAT IS ADVENT?

ADVENT is the four weeks of prayer and preparation for the Second Coming of Jesus leading up to Christmas. “Advent” in Latin literally means “coming” or “arrival.”

The Church has looked ahead to Jesus Christ’s Second Coming since his ascension in the first century. The angels told his Apostles, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will return in just the same way as you have watched Him go into heaven.” God promised Jesus would return. As faithful followers of Jesus, we hold to that promise: JESUS is COMING!

Christians have looked forward to Christ’s return to the world – not as the babe of Bethlehem – as the Risen Lord and King. The Season of Advent reminds contemporary Christians not to look nostalgically backwards wishing for the good ol’ days, but to look forward to Jesus Christ’s promises: He will Come Again!

Jesus said, “But when the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory. Before him all the nations will be gathered, and he will separate them one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.”
Matthew 25:31-32

We observe the Season of Advent by reflecting on the four virtues of Hope, Love, Joy and Peace – one theme for each week leading up to the Christmas Eve Service. We light candles, prepare unique wreaths, fast and pray, eat traditional foods, hold special church services, sing contemporary and traditional carols, and read specific Bible verses each day to reflect on the future arrive of Jesus on Earth. Join us each week as we prepare for the Second Coming of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!

1ST SUNDAY IN ADVENT – DECEMBER 3, 2023
Lighting The Prophecy Candle – The Candle of HOPE!

Jesus is Coming! On the first Sunday of Advent, we light the Prophecy Candle and think about the hope that is ours in Christ Jesus. As fully devoted followers of Jesus, we have hope in the anticipated Second Coming of our Lord and King Jesus Christ, our Savior. The prophets wrote of Christ’s incarnation long before his birth. As we hear their words, we remember our struggles and the struggles of our world, and we pray, Lord Jesus Christ…Come!

As we light this candle of HOPE, let us claim the promises we have in Jesus Christ, that now…the Holy Spirit is working in, on, through and among Christ’s followers to be eye-witnesses and citizens of the Kingdom of God, and at Jesus’ return, God will make all things right under the supreme Lordship of His Son, our Lord.

2ND SUNDAY IN ADVENT – DECEMBER 10, 2023
Lighting The Bethlehem Candle – The Candle of LOVE!

Jesus is Coming! On the second Sunday of Advent, we light the Bethlehem Candle and think about the love that Christ demonstrated. His sacrificial love was evident as he took on human flesh and entered our world in humility, as he cared for and healed large crowds of people, as he fed the multitudes, and as he marched to Jerusalem where he said he would be “betrayed, handed into the hands of evil persons, suffer and die, and the third day rise!”

As we light this candle of LOVE, let us pray all people will receive the love of God offered freely in Christ Jesus. As 1 John 4:9–10 tells us, In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

3RD SUNDAY IN ADVENT – DECEMBER 17, 2023
Lighting The Shepherds’ Candle – The Candle of JOY!

Jesus is Coming! On the third Sunday of Advent, we light the Shepherds’ Candle. The church traditionally gives the title “Gaudete” to this week of Advent. “Gaudete” is the Latin word for “rejoice.” May our souls rejoice like the shepherds as we worship today!

As we light this candle of JOY, let us pray that all people may embrace the spirit of joy this holy season as we look forward to the joyful return of our Savior, Jesus!

4TH SUNDAY IN ADVENT – DECEMBER 24, 2023
Lighting The Angels’ Candle – The Candle of PEACE!

Jesus is Coming! On the fourth Sunday of Advent, we light the Angels’ Candle as we marvel at the God who declares to us, “Fear not!” and his gift to us: the Prince of Peace. We remember the words of our Savior who promised the angels would come again…announcing his Second Coming. Jesus said, “For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father’s glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what they have done” (Mathew 16:27).

As we light this candle of PEACE, let us pray for the peace of Jerusalem and Gaza, Afghanistan, Algeria, Burkina Faso, Chad, China, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Ghana, Haiti, India, Ivory Coast, Mauritania, Mexico, Mozambique, Myanmar, Niger, Pakistan, the Philippines, Russia, Sudan, Syria, Tanzania, Togo, Tunisia, Turkey, Ukraine, Uganda, Yemen, and all place where armed conflicts rage. Let us proclaim that Christ is our peace, that we are just peacemakers whom Jesus blessed, and peace on earth starts with making peace with God in our hearts.

ADVENT/CHRISTMAS is all about JESUS CHRIST!

The Church celebrates CHRISTMAS (English word meanings “mass on Christ’s day“) as a festive observance of the birth of Jesus, held on December 25 in the Western Church. God promised through the people and prophets of the Jewish people that God’s Anointed Savior of All People, the Messiah, WOULD COME.

As Christians, we celebrate that the JESUS is the Jewish Messiah…and HE CAME!

Today, we look forward to Christ’s SECOND COMING to the world as the Risen Lord and Almighty King of the Universe. We hold on to God’s promise that Jesus Christ will COME AGAIN!