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For several years MissioDei has been partnering with Mercy Housing to help support their efforts to provide affordable housing to formerly homeless or low-income individuals, as well as provide services to help their residents obtain employment. Once again MissioDei has the opportunity to bless the residents at Mercy Housing’s Carlton Apartments in Uptown by purchasing Christmas gifts and hosting a Christmas party. Following the Wrigleyville service on November 14th and November 21st, you will be able to sign up to fulfill the gift requests of the residents. We are asking you to plan on spending $50 so as to make each resident feel equally special. Feel free to go in together with your family or friends. The gifts need to be brought to the church or the office by Monday, December 6th. All are invited to attend the annual Christmas party at Mercy Housing’s Miriam Apartments, 4707 N. Malden Avenue, on Tuesday, December 14th at 6p where we will give the gifts to the residents and celebrate with music and holiday treats.

Please email Kristie with any questions at Kristie@missiodeichicago.com.

admin :: Nov.04.2010 :: events, MD :: No Comments »

The Sunday nearest November 30 marks the beginning of the celebration of the Advent season. From that Sunday until Christmas, it is a time where the scriptures we hear, the hymns we sing, the prayers we offer and the sermons to which we listen should have as their theme the coming of JESUS CHRIST. Not only the incarnation at Bethlehem two millennia ago, but HIS promised return is also sung and prayed for and preached.

The Advent season is intended to look both ways. It looks to the past when “silently, how silently, the wondrous GIFT” was given. It also looks to the future when “the trumpet shall sound, and the LORD shall descend, and the dead shall be raised.” It was in that First Coming that GOD became one of us. “HE who knew no sin became sin for us in order that in HIM we might become the righteousness of GOD” (2 Corinthians 5:21 paraphrased). It is in that Second Coming we will be made like CHRIST. “We know that, when HE shall appear, we shall be like HIM; for we shall see HIM as HE is” (1 John 3:2).

It is absolutely critical that the two comings of CHRIST not be torn apart!

To talk of Bethlehem and Calvary apart from the great future Day of the LORD is to open ourselves to being merely sentimental. We can too easily make of Christian faith a sort of ideal life without any real tough demands or radical changes in our characters. If this is the case CHRIST then becomes some vaguely ideal man.

To talk of that great future Day of the LORD apart from Bethlehem and Calvary is to drain CHRIST of HIS desire-and infinite capacity-to identify with us, to suffer for us, to forgive us. If this is the case CHRIST then becomes the stern, forbidding JUDGE.

But wait…

There is yet a third dimension to Advent. It is this: We properly look backward and forward only as we accept JESUS CHRIST as our LORD here and now! Without HIS present presence, Bethlehem and Calvary are really only chapters in churchy stories and the Judgement is a mere fantasy. Both tales can produce certain emotional effects, but these are by and by escaped, and the stories are detached from daily life.

CHRIST is past and present and future KING of our lives or HE is no KING at all!

The intent of the Advent season is to keep all three of these in balance and constantly on our hearts and minds. As we gaze upon the ever fleeting nativity scenes let us not only be sentimental about our JESUS. As we look ahead to the triumphant return of CHRIST let us not become legalistic in our approach to faith and the Gospel. As we daily move about let us not forget that JESUS desires to be LORD over every aspect of our day to day lives.

Join us as we journey together through Advent at beautifuladvent.com and through our teaching series.

November 27 – JESUS King

December 4 – JESUS Servant

December 11 – JESUS Man

December 18 – JESUS GOD

DECEMBER 25 – NO SERVICE

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