Christmas II: The Sequel

Next week starts a new series we're calling "Christmas II: The Sequel". You already know about the first Christmas--angels and shepherds and wisemen, oh my!--but did you know there's going to be a sequel? We're taking a look at when Christ comes back to earth, and what that means to you and me.

Many Christians know that Jesus is coming back again someday, but that fact is little more than an interesting trivia item when it comes to their daily living. OK, Jesus is coming, so what? What does that have to do with me in the here and now? Well, the Bible tells us that this knowledge should make a dramatic difference in how we live out our everyday lives.

How? You'll have to come to the worship services and find out. Here's a link to the church website, which lets you know what we're going to be talking about each week of the series.

In the meantime, here's some factoids to ponder:

• The word "Christmas" comes from the combination of two words: "Christ" and "mass" (the Catholic celebration of communion or eucharist). "Mass" derives its origin from the Latin word for "send" or "dismiss." So "Christmas" literally means "The sending of Christ." The Father will send Christ to earth again, so that's why we're calling this series "Christmas II: The Sequel"!
• The period of time leading up to Christmas is often referred to as "advent." You may have advent calendars or advent candles in your homes. "Advent" means "coming" or "arrival", such as when we talk about the advent of the computer. This term refers not only to the first coming of Christ, but also the second. That's one reason we chose to do this series at Christmas time, to link the two advents
• We'll be talking about both Christmases, the first and the second, how they're similar and how they're different, and what it means to live between the Christmases.

I'm really excited about this series, and I hope you make a point to be at church this month, as we talk about something that I believe very few Christians really understand--the significance of the second coming of Christ for our daily lives. Don't miss it! This time... it's for eternity!