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The primary focus of Advent is on the second coming of Christ, who will arrive in glory on the last day to consummate the kingdom of God. That is the special note of Adventits orientation toward the promised future. The other seasons in the church calendar follow the events in the historical life of Christhis incarnation (Christmas), the manifestation to the Gentiles (Epip...

Advent is the beginning of the church year for most churches in the Western tradition. It begins on the fourth Sunday before Christmas day, which is the Sunday nearest November 30, and ends on Christmas Eve (Dec 24). The word Advent means "coming" or "arrival." The focus of the entire season is the celebration of the birth of Jesus the Christ in his First Advent, and ...

Advent is marked by a spirit of expectation, of anticipation, of preparation, of longing. There is a yearning for deliverance from the evils of the world, first expressed by Israelite slaves in Egypt as they cried out from their bitter oppression. It is the cry of those who have experienced the tyranny of injustice in a world under the curse of sin, and yet who have hope o...

What does an advent wreath symbolize? A wreath is from ancient times a sign of victory. The circle of the wreath reminds us of God himself, his eternity and endless mercy, which has no beginning or end--as well as everlasting life--the eternal victory we have over death through Jesus Christ. The evergreens that make up the wreath speak of God's faithfulness to his people-...

From the Fall of 2018 through the Spring 2019, a group of us (some of the Diaconate team plus David Ellis) from ACC attended City to City's City Lab: The Biblical Calling to Engage in Community Renewal. After the initial bi-monthly trainings, there have been ongoing training gatherings 2-3 times per year up to the present. Al Santino, City to City Community Engagement Di...

I want to share just a snippet of how God has been faithful to meet my needs. We often read "God will meet all your needs according to his riches in glory" (Philippians 4:19) But that verse starts with AND. What preceded it was Paul being thankful for the Philippian church sharing with him in the matter of giving AND receiving. (Philippians 4:10, 15, 19) Very early on G...

Give praise to the Lord, proclaim his name; make known among the nations what he has done. Sing to him, sing praise to him; tell of all his wonderful acts. Psalm 105:1-2 It's the season for reflecting on God's greatest gift to us and rejoicing in His Son's birth. In His great love,He gave. God's lessons on giving be...

Twenty-two years ago, this June, I sat in Athens Square Park in Astoria, staring at the traffic on 30th Avenue. I had just signed a lease on an apartment a few blocks away to which my family would soon move from North Jersey. I had been offered a job as pastor, but there was no congregation for me to serve. The plan was to plant a new church. I sat on a step in the park, ...

In the traditional church calendar, this is the week when Christians remember the ascension of Christ to the right hand of the Father. Accounts of Christ's ascension are found in Mark 16:19, Luke 24:50-53, and in Acts 1:6-11. Other passages that touch on the ascension are Acts 7:55-56; Ephesians 1:19-23, 4:8; Colossians 3:1; Hebrews 4:14, 9:24; 1 Peter 3:22; and Revelation...

In Ephesians 3:14-19, the Apostle Paul explained to his readers what he was praying for God to do in their lives. Essentially, he was praying that the Holy Spirit would work within them so that they would continually grow in their knowledge of Christ's love. At the end of verse 17, he described two essential ways they needed to know the love of Christ. They needed to be "...