What are we waiting for?
The story of Jesus’s birth is really a very ordinary, earthy story. Jesus didn’t materialize out of thin air or fall like a comet from the sky.
Nothing flashy or eye-catching. Something quite silent and hidden.
He was carried to term, given birth, nursed and nurtured by a human mother — just like each one of us. The astonishing claim is that this is the way God chose to come into our world!
Are we expecting God to work in us and through us? If so, are we looking for God only in the spectacular and attention-getting? Or are we expecting God in the common and ordinary, the silent and the hidden?
Join us for our 2023 Advent series, starting Sunday, December 3rd, 2023.
-
Advent is more than a countdown to December 25th. Originally it was a season of prayer and fasting to prepare our hearts for Christmas. A time of preparing our souls for the arrival of Jesus. Both in the historical sense, looking back to his birth. And in the future sense, looking forward to his return, when he’ll make all things new.
Advent is all about waiting and longing for that which is beyond us. For that which is beyond our control. It’s a vital reminder that that ache inside us won’t be filled by clicking “buy now,” or by eating that next Christmas cookie, or by relentless streams of holiday nostalgia. Ultimately that ache can only be met by God himself.
That’s why Advent is aimed at shaping us into people whose hearts are awake to our longings, who are dissatisfied with quick fixes, and who know how to have empathy with the pain of the world.
Looking for a way to focus your attention on God in this season? Come to our Advent Prayer Space, Wednesday nights from 7-8PM.
-
Nova Church, we are a Jesus-centered community. That means we want to root ourselves in the story of Jesus so we can share the life of Jesus with our city.
One way we do this is by following the seasons of the liturgical calendar. Each season invites us to enter into and rehearse the story of Jesus anew year after year.
Sunday, December 3rd (1st Sunday in Advent)
“Gabriel’s Announcement”
Scripture: Luke 1:26-38
Speaker: Tina Huerta
Sunday, December 10th
Special Event: “Carols Sing-along” and Party
Click here for more information.
Sunday, December 17th (3rd Sunday in Advent)
“Mary’s Song”
Scripture: Luke 1:46-56 Speaker: Talya Bultema
Sunday, December 24th (Christmas Eve)
“God Came Down”
Scripture: Luke 2:1-20; Galatians 4:4-7
Speaker: Chuck Fowler
Sunday, December 31st (No Service)
Looking for a way to focus your attention on God in this season?
Come to our Advent Prayer Space, Wednesday nights from 7-8PM .
“Advent reminds us that it is waiting—not predictability and control—that has a central place in the Christian faith.”
– Sharon Hodde Miller
“Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.”
– Psalms 27:14
*Series art by Skye Young, based on “Mary Consoles Eve” by Sister Grace Remington.