Takeaways from Alpine Lutheran’s Worship Series
Advent and Christmas are times when we prepare, acknowledge, and receive the presence of Jesus into our lives. Listed below are the main truths that we encountered as a congregation on our Journey to Bethlehem.
Christmas Takeaways 2023
- The key for Jesus was to allow God’s voice (and words) to guide and shape his life and worldview.
- God is speaking. Will we listen?
- God does not give up on us, no matter how much we give up on God.
- God (and all of heaven) rejoices when we turn back to God.
Advent Takeaways 2022
- Hope changes the way we wait and prepare. It changes our perspective on what is coming. We place our hope in God, not in what we ourselves can accomplish
- We get ready for Christ’s coming to counteract the selfishness of this world.
- Advent helps us to wake up and focus on the coming blessing of Christmas
- Repentance is the process of discovering the messed-up parts of our lives and doing some house cleaning.
- God is concerned about the next life just as much as this one.
- Sometimes the miracle of Christmas is not that we get what we so desperately want, but that God uses our circumstances to give someone else what they so desperately need.
- Joy comes from trusting God
- Joy comes from realizing that God is with us, always. No matter where our lives are heading, we have a wonderful companion.
Fall 2022 Takeaways
- Do you see and understand that we are torn between two kingdoms? Which one will we choose to put down our roots in?
- What relationships do we consider as most beneficial for us?
- Whom we put our faith in determines how powerful it is (not how much we possess).
- Our faith is that God will take care of our needs. Our task is to live the life God created us to have.
- Our faith is prone to wander
- Expressing gratitude is an act of faith that results in us experiencing wholeness
- Paul regarded his life as wonderful because he spent it helping others encounter God.
- Zacchaeus is not a good person. Jesus sees him and restores him into a community – God’s family.
- In response to Jesus’ generosity, Zacchaeus makes a commitment to repentance and restoration.