Focus: What do you yearn to see before you die?  What would make you say, “Now I can die happy”?  The Holy Spirit told Simeon that he would see God’s Messiah, Israel’s rescuer, before he died.  For a people, and world, that had been waiting for hundreds of years, many generations without seeing the Messiah, hope could have been lost. Text: Luke 2:22-40

Focus: Our faith isn’t based on observational logic, and reproducible experiments.  A virgin who is engaged, Angel messengers, the Holy Spirit, and the birth of the One who would be given David’s throne and reign forever, the God-man Jesus.  In the midst of all of that, even Mary was confused as to how this could be since she was a virgin.  May God work the response in our hearts as we know that He is coming back, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be [to me] according to your word.” Main Text: Luke 1:26-38

Focus: Can you hear the representatives of the Jewish leaders asking, “Who do you think you are?”  What gave him the right to call people out to the wilderness to repent and be baptized?  What gives followers of the revealed Son of God, Jesus, the right to claim what Jesus did, that He is the only way, and that repentance that God works is needed?  Just who do you think you are? Main Text:John 1:6-8, 19-28

Focus: If people in Jesus’ day were looking for the prophet Elijah to return to announce the coming Messiah, would they recognize someone clearly dressed and acting like the prophet Elijah?  If they were looking toward the call to make straight paths, would they recognize the call to repent and have their hearts made right?  If preparing in John’s day meant repentance and being turned back to the Lord, what does it mean today? Main Text: Mark 1:1-8

Jesus is coming back.  Just like with Jesus’ incarnation, the coming of the Messiah, no one knows the time, not even Jesus knew, but God does.  So, if we have anything to look forward to, anything to be sure of, it is Jesus coming back to gather up all of His people.  In fact, Jesus says that we can be more sure about the coming kingdom than we can about the ground our feet stand on and the air we breathe.  There is nothing more certain.  Christmas isn’t just about looking back, it’s about looking forward to the coming kingdom.  Will you be ready, or will you be caught unprepared? Main Text: Mark 13:24-37