Advent 2022 at First Pres
Christmas Eve – Saturday, December 24, 2022
4 p.m. Family Service – In person in the First Pres Sanctuary AND online.
10 p.m. Candlelight Service – In person in the First Pres Sanctuary AND online.
Christmas Day – Sunday, December 25, 2022
9:30 a.m. Worship Service – In person in the First Pres Sanctuary AND online.
New Year’s Day – Sunday, January 1, 2023
9:30 a.m. Worship Service – In person in the First Pres Sanctuary AND online.
Download our 2022 Christmas Activity Kit here!
(PDF format – 2.6 mb)
The poor little child of Mary and Joseph came into the world with no place to sleep. No handmade crib, no fancy blankets or new onesies from the store. Sleeping where cattle were fed, he was kept warm with strips of material and perhaps some straw.
Follow our ABCs of Advent each day through Christmas! You can see the previous days’ posts at https://firstpresevanston.org/advent2022! #FPCEAdvent2022
Merry Christmas! Advent (our preparation for the arrival of Jesus) has ended. But our Joy is eternal! Just as Mary considered all that had happened, may we all keep the lessons of this season alive in our hearts throughout the year ahead!
You can see all of our Advent posts at https://firstpresevanston.org/advent2022! #FPCEAdvent2022
In the end, we will see all of history and all of the future joined together. If we did not have Jesus, we would have to face God’s judgement with great fear. But because Jesus came, we can look forward to our reunion with him with great joy!
Follow our ABCs of Advent each day through Christmas! You can see the previous days’ posts at https://firstpresevanston.org/advent2022! #FPCEAdvent2022
God never ages. He does not change. Since before the beginning of time, he has existed and always will. We look ahead to Christmas day and beyond, celebrating his goodness. He looks at all of his creation and says it is good!
Follow our ABCs of Advent each day through Christmas! You can see the previous days’ posts at https://firstpresevanston.org/advent2022! #FPCEAdvent2022
When the prophet Zechariah wrote his book in the early 500s B.C., the Jews were returning from exile and would begin rebuilding the Temple. Jesus dwells within us, his New Covenant temples, and we can rejoice that all of this was planned long before his birth!
Follow our ABCs of Advent each day through Christmas! You can see the previous days’ posts at https://firstpresevanston.org/advent2022! #FPCEAdvent2022
Herod’s outburst and the wailing of those whose children were killed massacre of the innocents in Bethlehem stand in stark contrast to the peace of the nativity and the Good News being proclaimed. Our lives can have both great joy and great pain, often at the same time. The holidays are not an escape from reality, but rather a balm to soothe and comfort our hearts.
Follow our ABCs of Advent each day through Christmas! You can see the previous days’ posts at https://firstpresevanston.org/advent2022! #FPCEAdvent2022
Jesus was an immigrant. Like many of those who seek a new country to live in today, he and his parents were fleeing a land they loved to avoid harm and possible death. The family’s flight to Egypt keep them alive and fulfilled ancient prophecy from Hosea 1.
Follow our ABCs of Advent each day through Christmas! You can see the previous days’ posts at https://firstpresevanston.org/advent2022! #FPCEAdvent2022
Isaiah’s image of the raising of valleys and lowering of mountains and hills would have resonated with his contemporaries who had to travel the harsh terrain of Israel. Today, we might be asking God to smooth and straighten our lives. We can trust that someday we will see God’s glory fully revealed and all life’s trials obstacles will be removed.
Follow our ABCs of Advent each day through Christmas! You can see the previous days’ posts at https://firstpresevanston.org/advent2022! #FPCEAdvent2022
Advent Sermon Series
Preaching Themes
November 27 – First Sunday of Advent
Text: Isaiah 2:1-5
Theme: The view from the mountain top
Big Idea: God’s kingdom provides a hope-filled view of life on the ground.
Notes: Advent is a time of hope and longing, but also a time of repentance. Isaiah reminds Israel (and us) that we can’t appreciate the promise without hearing the judgment. If there is no need, there is nothing for which to hope.
Isaiah 2:1–5 foresees the day when one holy mountain will stand supreme, reducing all others to utter insignificance. In this sense Isaiah’s vision is exclusive. It is also inclusive, however, because it envisages all nations and many peoples coming to Zion to share with Israel in the blessings of the Lord’s rule. Finally, it is a vision of universal peace, described in terms which have reverberated down through the centuries.
December 4 – Communion Sunday Second Sunday of Advent
Text: Isaiah 11:1-10
Theme: The view from the valley
Big Idea: The realities of life in this world will not prevent the redemptive work of God’s servant.
Notes: Isaiah 11 reminds us that while we live in a violent world, God will not rest until peace captures the hearts and minds of all people and nations. God will not stop making peace until all predators and prey, as well as all enemies live together in peace. Here the shoot/Branch is a metaphor for the Messiah, through whose advent and rule this will be accomplished.
December 11 – Third Sunday of Advent/Lessons and Carols
Text: Isaiah 35:1-10
December 18 – Fourth Sunday of Advent/ Children’s Pageant
Text: Isaiah 7:10-16
December 24 – Christmas Eve
Text: Isaiah 9:2-7
Theme: Light shining into the darkness
Big Idea: In the Messiah, light overcomes the darkness of sin
Notes: The world seeks feverishly for a politician, or a technology to change its sorry conditions. Isaiah predicts a time that God’s Messiah is the one to deliver us from all the bondage, violence, and unhappiness that infects this world. Isaiah calls him a Wonderful Counselor and the Prince of Peace.
December 25 – Christmas Day and Last Sunday of 2022
Text: John 1:1-14
Theme: In praise of a materialistic Christmas
Big Idea: The message of Christmas celebrates the unseen God taking a tangible, visible body.
Notes: C.S. Lewis was right when he said the greatest miracle of all time was not the atonement, and it was not even the resurrection. The greatest miracle of all time was the incarnation. To think that the almighty God of heaven condescended to come to earth born of a virgin, and then to sleep in a stable with the animals as a commoner—defied conventional wisdom of the Greco-Roman world.
