Advent at Remedy
Advent is a season recognized by the church that traditionally starts four weeks before Christmas. The purpose of the Advent season is to focus our hearts on the coming of Christ. For most of us, Christmas comes like a whirlwind, is gone before we know it, and much of our attention is drawn to gifts, food, and family.
While none of those are bad things, the purpose of Christmas is to celebrate God sending Jesus into the world to save us from our sins. All of those things can be part of that celebration, but without intentionality, the season becomes consumed by them.
Advent is designed to help us avoid that. It is a season designed to remind us of the darkness and despair of our own hearts, that God promised to rescue us from that darkness, and that he ultimately sent Jesus, born as a baby, to become that rescue. The purpose of Advent is to help us avoid rushing into Christmas, but instead to anticipate it, reflecting on what it means, and to cause us to rejoice at the coming of Jesus.
Advent is designed to remind us of the darkness and despair of our own hearts, that God promised to rescue us from that darkness, and that he sent Jesus to become that rescue.
Sundays During Advent
We have focused the month of December around the idea of rescue. We will look at three themes: Our need to be rescued, God’s promise to rescue, and the Arrival of that rescue. The messages on Sundays and the Advent Guide will go hand in hand and will direct our focus together toward Jesus, reminding us that our hope is in him.
In addition to Advent themed messages on Sundays, we will also be adding a few other elements for the month of December. Each week we will read a kids book or story that points toward the coming of Christ at Christmas. We will also use an Advent wreath and candles as a symbol of the light that is growing in the darkness. You can see more about the Advent wreath and candles in the Advent Guide.
Listen to current and past Advent messages.
The Advent Guide
The Advent Guide includes several resources to help us navigate the season. There are family and personal devotionals for each week along with suggested songs and other resources, ways to leverage the season missionally, and creative ways to help you establish Christ-centered traditions.
Download the Advent Guide.
Christmas Challenge
What are you giving for Christmas? Not the usual question, but it is permeated with the aroma of the gospel–to give is [much] better than to receive. God has generously blessed us in order to bless others. In light of that, here’s our challenge to you this Christmas and Advent season:
Will you give as much toward the mission of the church as you intend to spend on gifts? You can give throughout the month of December, and 100% of what is designated for our Christmas Challenge will go toward orphan care and church planting.
The Garcia family is part of Remedy and has three foster kids in addition to their other kids. We are going to bless them this Christmas. You can pick up a gift card “stocking” from the small tree on at our worship gathering or give a regular financial gift designated for this purpose.
Anything above what we need for the Garcia family will go toward planting new churches, specifically toward our team living in SE Asia, working among a people who have had little to no access to the gospel. You can give in the regular ways and designate the gift for the Christmas Challenge.
Christmas Service
Our Christmas service is on Sunday, December 20, at 6pm and will happen at the Waxahachie YMCA. We are excited about this special evening. We encourage you to invite family, friends, and neighbors to be your special guests. We will not meet that morning. Please enjoy the morning with your family and make plans to gather that evening as we celebrate the arrival of Jesus together.