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Advent
We look forward to worshiping with you this Advent season.
Please make note of the schedule changes below, and scroll down to read our 2024 Advent Devotional.
Christmas Eve – Tuesday, December 24th
Pre-K and up will attend the services.
Sunday, December 29th
One Worship Service: 9:30 am
No Community Groups
Nursery is available for 3 year old class and under.
No kids ministry programming.
All children PreK and up will attend the service.
Our MBCC Advent devotional, is available in the Foyer for pick up or you can click below to download a pdf copy.
You can also read each week below by clicking the + sign next to each week.
Introduction
What is Advent?
Advent is a season designed to help us long for God’s coming. It is a time to reflect upon the ancient hopes of God’s people for the coming Messiah and to anticipate the Messiah’s return. Advent readies us for the celebration of Christmas — the wonder of God becoming flesh stirs our own longings for a fresh experience of God’s presence and anticipates the return of Jesus Christ, our King.
In this season, we must remember the miracle that Christ came, but also the miracle that Christ comes—that He comes in the midst of the darkness and despair, when all hope seems lost. He enters directly into the void of this world and our lives to comfort us in the darkness and offer us a way out of the darkness. He promises that He will one day come again.
Christ came. Christ comes. Christ will come again.
This reading guide is intended to help you as you wait and hope this season.
May your observance this Advent be blessed.
– MBCC Pastors
How Do I Use this Advent Devotional?
There are several ways to use this Advent Devotional personally and with family and friends.
- Every Sunday, read the weekly devotional aloud and reflect on the weekly question by journaling or talking with others. The weekly devotional will anchor you in this week’s theme and prepare you for the daily Scripture readings.
- Every day, read the daily Scripture readings aloud and reflect on the daily questions.
- Throughout the week, listen to the suggested worship songs to go along with the Scripture reading. These will help you meditate on Scripture and assist you in family worship. To help you worship through Advent, don’t forget to check out the MBCC Advent playlist available on Spotify!
- Throughout the season, pray about how you can participate in this year’s Advent Conspiracy project. We encourage you to be a part of what the Lord is doing this Advent season through our 2024 partner, Grace House Ministries.
Week #1: Hope (Beginning Dec. 1)
For many people, HOPE is a desire or a wish that things will somehow get better. We live in a broken world full of sickness and disease, war and terrorism, broken relationships and broken homes…death—sometimes it feels like HOPE is a rare commodity, or maybe just a dream.
For the people of God, HOPE is more than just a desire or a dream. It is the confident expectation that God Himself will one day set all things right, that He will restore all things completely. This restoration is made possible by the Advent of Jesus Christ, our Everlasting King.
The word Advent means “coming” or “arrival.” When we use this word at Christmas time, it reminds us of the anticipation, expectation, and HOPE held over hundreds of years by the people of Israel as they waited for the coming of their Messiah and promised King.
As we light the first Advent candle, representing HOPE, we are reminded that just as the people of God long ago hoped for the coming of the Messiah, “the light that was coming into the world,” today, we also HOPE and long for His second coming. The Advent season is a season that grounds us in the HOPE that only comes through Christ.
Weekly Question:
- What is hope?
- Where do I place my hope? Is it in myself/my circumstances or in God?
- What hope does Jesus offer?
- How can we share the hope of Jesus with others this week?
Daily Questions:
- What does this passage teach me about God and the hope He provides?
- How can I apply this passage to my everyday life?
- What practices can I put into place to cultivate hope today?
Scripture
Sunday: Mark 1:1-14
Monday: Psalm 126
Tuesday: 1 Corinthians 15:50-58
Wednesday: Isaiah 40:9-31
Thursday: Hebrews 10:19-35
Friday: Psalm 130
Saturday: Isaiah 11:1-10
Songs
O Come, O Come, Emmanuel
Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesus
God Made Low – Sovereign Grace Music King of Kings – Hillsong
O Little Town of Bethlehem
Week #2: Peace (Beginning Dec. 8)
To be human is to long for PEACE. In Scripture, PEACE is not simply the absence of conflict. It is a word that describes completeness, wholeness, fullness, the way things are supposed to be. God created all things to be at PEACE.
Yet, PEACE is not a word that describes our world today. Sin disrupts the PEACE that God desires for His people and His world, a world full of conflict and brokenness. Mankind’s only hope for true PEACE is the coming of Jesus Christ.
When Jesus was born as a human, He came to restore harmony and order, and He did so through His death, burial, and resurrection. He offers this PEACE to any who will trust in Him alone for their salvation.
Jesus promises that, one day, He will come again to completely reverse the curse of sin and restore all things back to perfection. The Advent season reminds us of our secure hope for PEACE through the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
The second Advent candle represents PEACE, the shalom, unity, and harmony that comes into the world through Jesus Christ.
Weekly Question:
- What is peace according to the Bible?
- Where do you find peace?
- How can we experience peace by trusting God?
Daily Questions:
- What does this passage teach me about God and the peace He provides?
- How can I apply this passage to my everyday life?
- What practices can I put into place to cultivate peace today?
Scripture
Sunday: Isaiah 9:1-7
Monday: John 14:15-31
Tuesday: Romans 15:4-13
Wednesday: Colossians 1:15-23
Thursday: Romans 5:1-11
Friday: Ephesians 2:11-22
Saturday: Ephesians 4:1-16
Songs
Hark! The Herald Angels Sing
Peace, Peace – Sara Groves
Glory (Let There Be Peace) – Matt Maher Shalom – Ten Thousand Fathers
God With Us – All Sons & Daughters
Week #3: Joy (Beginning Dec. 15)
Week #4: Love (Beginning Dec. 22)
LOVE. One of the great wonders of the world is the fact that God loves us even though we don’t deserve it. Throughout Scripture, we see promise after promise that God loves His people with an unfailing, never-ending, steadfast LOVE. His ultimate expression of this LOVE is displayed in His Son, our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Because God loves us, He sent Jesus to be born as a human.
Because God loves us, He commissioned Jesus to grow up and die as a sacrifice for our sins.
Because God loves us, He resurrected Jesus from the grave and claimed victory over sin, death, Satan, and hell. God’s LOVE for His people is not abstract—it is tangibly expressed in the reality that “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us,” and that this Word, Jesus Christ, broke His body and shed His blood to pay the penalty for our sin.
The LOVE of God makes possible the forgiveness of our sins, so we can have peace with Him. It paves the way for entrance into His eternal kingdom, and all of this is ours by grace through faith in Christ alone.
The fourth Advent candle represents “LOVE,” the immovable, irrevocable, unconditional LOVE of God for us.
Weekly Question:
- What is love according to the Bible? How does it differ from how our culture defines love?
- What are the ways God shows His love to us daily? Make a list of the ways God has shown His love to you and add to it daily this week.
- How can we receive God’s love for us and extend God’s love for others this week?
Daily Questions:
- What does this passage teach me about God and His love for us?
- How can I apply this passage to my everyday life?
- How can I receive and reflect God’s love today?
Scripture
Sunday: Isaiah 43
Monday: Philippians 2:1-11
Tuesday (Christmas Eve): Matthew 1:18-2:23
Wednesday (Christmas Day): Luke 2:1-21
Thursday: Titus 3:3-9
Songs
Labor of Love – Andrew Peterson
What Child is This
O Holy Night
All Glory Be to Christ – Kings (MHM)
Go, Tell It on the Mountain
Worship Times: Sundays at 8:30 and 11:00 am, Community Groups at 9:45 am.