Are You Prepared (Advent II)

December 8, 2024

Malachi 3:1-6 (ESV)

¹ “Behold, I send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. And the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple; and the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight, behold, he is coming, says the Lord of hosts. ² But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears? For he is like a refiner's fire and like fullers' soap. ³ He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, and they will bring offerings in righteousness to the Lord. ⁴ Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the Lord as in the days of old and as in former years.

⁵ “Then I will draw near to you for judgment. I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, against the adulterers, against those who swear falsely, against those who oppress the hired worker in his wages, the widow and the fatherless, against those who thrust aside the sojourner, and do not fear me, says the Lord of hosts.

⁶ “For I the Lord do not change; therefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed.

Kingdom Citizens: Serving Our King (Christ the King Sunday)

November 24, 2024

John 18:33-38 (ESV)

³³ So Pilate entered his headquarters again and called Jesus and said to him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” ³⁴ Jesus answered, “Do you say this of your own accord, or did others say it to you about me?” ³⁵ Pilate answered, “Am I a Jew? Your own nation and the chief priests have delivered you over to me. What have you done?” ³⁶ Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting, that I might not be delivered over to the Jews. But my kingdom is not from the world.” ³⁷ Then Pilate said to him, “So you are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world—to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.” ³⁸ Pilate said to him, “What is truth?”

Revelation 1:4b-8 (ESV)

^4b Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are before his throne, ⁵ and from Jesus Christ the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of kings on earth.

To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood ⁶ and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. ⁷ Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all tribes of the earth will wail on account of him. Even so. Amen.

⁸ “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”

Guest Missionary Speaker

November 17, 2024

Hope—The False and The True

November 10, 2024

Psalm 146 (ACNA BCP 2019)

¹  Praise the LORD, O my soul;
      while I live I will praise the LORD.
²  Indeed, as long as I have my being,
      I will sing praises unto my God.
³  Put not your trust in princes, nor in any child of man,
      for there is no help in them.
⁴  For when one breathes his last, he shall return again to the earth,
      and in that day all his thoughts perish.
⁵  Blessed is the one who has the God of Jacob for his help
      and whose hope is in the LORD his God,
⁶  Who made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is therein;
      who keeps his promise for ever;
⁷  Who does right to those who suffer wrong;
      and who feeds the hungry.
⁸  The LORD sets prisoners free;
      the LORD gives sight to the blind.
⁹  The LORD helps those who have fallen;
      the LORD loves the righteous.
¹⁰ The LORD cares for the strangers in the land; he defends the fatherless and widow;
      but the way of the ungodly he makes crooked.
¹¹ The LORD shall be King for evermore,
      even your God, O Zion, throughout all generations. Praise the LORD.