Signs/Mission Sunday

Happy Thanksgiving!

We have an exciting Sunday planned for this week. Sunday is both the first Sunday of Advent (the church looks amazing!) and Missions Sunday. We are going to tie both to the Gospel of John and our Signs series.

In John, many of Jesus’s signs and sermons happen on Jewish holidays. The healing of the paralyzed man in chapter 5 happened during one of the feasts (we don’t know for sure which one!). The feeding of the 5000 and the walking on water happen at Passover (6:4). Jesus’s “water of life” statement happened at the Feast of Booths (7:2). The crucifixion happens on the Day of Preparation before the Passover (19:31).

One of Jesus’s sermons on mission also happened during a feast—Hanukkah! Hanukkah, or the Feast of Dedication, celebrates the Jewish defeat of the Seleucids under Judas Maccabeus in 167–60 BC. During the revolt, the Maccabees retook the temple from the Gentiles and then consecrated and rededicated it to the Lord.

With images of Judas Maccabeus consecrating the temple in their minds, Jesus tells the crowds that the Father has consecrated him and sent him into the world. Then, as they are trying to wrap their minds around the temple going out into the world, Jesus drops a bomb on them: “the Father is in me and I am in the Father” (10:38).

Join us this week as we talk about Advent, the mission of Jesus, and opportunities for us to join Jesus on mission right now! The Bolivia short-term mission trip is back and I am excited! That’s just one way to get involved—there are many other things you can do during Advent and beyond.

Join us this week and see what is going on!

See you on Sunday!

Service times are at 9:30 & 11:00. If you can’t make it in person, you can watch live at those times.