Advent 2024 at FXBG BAPTIST
December 1, 2024 - First Sunday of Advent
Worship at 8:30 a.m. & 11 a.m.
Focus Scriptures: Luke 1:26-38 | Isaiah 43:1-7
Mary is described as “blessed among women” (Luke 1:28). She is neither wealthy nor powerful, and yet she is chosen to bear God’s child. Her story begins with blessedness and so does ours, for the prophet Isaiah declares that we are claimed by a God who calls our name. We are a blessing because we belong to God. When blessedness is our beginning, we begin to see the world—and others—through the eyes of a God who says: “You are precious in my sight” (Isaiah 43:4).
December 8, 2024 - Second Sunday of Advent
Worship at 8:30 a.m. & 11 a.m.
Focus Scriptures: Ruth 1 | Ecclesiastes 4:9-12
One of life’s most essential lessons is that we are never meant to go alone. And yet, modern culture pushes us more and more into lonely silos. If Ruth had followed her culture’s norms, she would have gone home to her family of origin after her husband died, but instead, she commits herself to her mother-in-law, Naomi. Together they form a new family and covenant. Ruth and Naomi travel together to Bethlehem at the beginning of the barley harvest, foreshadowing the journey Mary and Joseph will one day take to be counted in the census. Both Ruth and Naomi as well as Mary and Joseph are unconventional pairs, but if God can bring unlikely people together, God can form us into a covenant community too.
December 15, 2024 - Third Sunday of Advent
Worship at 8:30 a.m. & 11 a.m.
Focus Scriptures: Luke 3:7-16 | Isaiah 58:9b-12
As John the Baptist is teaching about bearing good fruit, the crowds, tax collectors, and soldiers ask him, “What, then, should we do?” His answer to each group is slightly different, but ultimately the same: “Do the good that is yours to do.” We can each bear good fruit through acts of justice and righteousness. We can all be what Isaiah calls “repairers of the breach” by satisfying the needs of the afflicted.
December 22, 2024 - Fourth Sunday of Advent
Worship at 8:30 a.m. & 11 a.m.
Focus Scriptures: Matthew 1:18-25 | Luke 1:46-55
Hope is vulnerable and can feel like a tremendous risk, especially if you’ve experienced loss or trauma. But Mary shows us a resilient hope that takes risks—she risks her body to bear a son who will become the hope of her people. Similarly, Joseph makes a risky choice to stay with Mary; dismissing her quietly would have kept him safe. But instead, he chooses hope. He chooses to trust the angel, and it makes all the difference. It can feel safer and easier to be a cynic, but the world doesn’t need more cynics. It needs people who say, “It can be better," and make it so.
December 24, 2024 - Christmas Eve
5 p.m. Family Candlelight Service
7 p.m. Candlelight Service
Focus Scriptures: Luke 2:1-20 | Isaiah 9:6
Christ’s birth makes the vastness of God personal. The God who made the seas and the stars is also the God who made your beautiful hair and your striking eyes. The God of creation takes on flesh, which means you are fully known. When the angels visit the shepherds in the fields, their message is global but also personal: “To you . . . a savior is born.” This birth is good news for everyone, especially those who are ignored or disenfranchised. On this night, God is born, and this God of love knows your name.
December 25, 2024 - Christmas Day Worship
Worship at 10 a.m.
December 29, 2024 - First Sunday after Christmas
Worship at 10 a.m.
Focus Scriptures: Luke 2:10 | Matthew 2:10 | Isaiah 9:2-3 | Psalm 148
The birth of Christ brings good news of great joy to all people, which is cause for celebration. On this Sunday after Christmas, we encourage you to be playful, to not take yourself too seriously, to laugh. For laughter is like hope—it has a ripple effect. It’s one of many ways we live and share good news.
January 5, 2025 - Epiphany
Worship at 8:30 a.m. & 11 a.m.
Focus Scriptures: Matthew 2:1-12 | Isaiah 43:16-21
Too often, we’ve been told that a successful life is a linear one. But in reality, our lives unfold with many unexpected twists and turns. The Magi follow a star, embarking on a long journey in a foreign land in order to honor the newborn Christ. Instead of returning to Herod as commanded, they trust their dreams and go home by another way. Their road isn’t straight, but God “makes a way in the wilderness” (Isaiah 43:19) as they follow their intuition and diverge from the expected path.
