We are in the third week of our advent series, “Missing Home” because many of us miss home during the holidays. But also because with all the frantic busyness of the holidays, it’s easy to miss what Christmas is trying to tell us. One of those things that we can miss is just how unbelievable some of the elements in the Christmas story are. Wise men being led by a heavenly object toward where the Savior lay. Angels and prophecies. But perhaps especially, the virgin birth of Christ. According to a 2017 study, a narrow majority of Americans still believe in the virgin birth but that number has been rapidly declining every year for decades. And some Christians will get mad about that saying, “Christmas is ruined!” or “We need to take back Christmas!” But we need to realize that Mary and Joseph didn’t believe it either! They needed a dream and an angel to tell them what was happening. Because a virgin birth IS unbelievable. Many of the elements of that very first Christmas ARE unbelievable. Even for those who hoped in its coming.

If you are accustomed to hearing the Christmas story you are used to it starting out something like this: “Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit.” But what we often forget is that there are 17 verses that come before that familiar start to the the account of Christ’s birth. Granted they aren’t very exciting for us. But Jewish readers and rabbis at the time regarded the first 17 verses of the Christmas account as a miracle on the same level as the parting of the Red Sea. We are in our Advent series leading up to Christmas called “Missing Home,” because many of us miss home during the holidays if we are away. But also because with the rush and busyness of the holidays, it’s easy to miss what Christmas says about our true home; it’s easy to miss what Christmas tries to slow us down to hear in the month to come. And it’s easy to miss all of the hope and fulfillment that are hidden in the first 17 verses of Matthew’s account of the Christmas narrative. So, let’s read it together and see how the Christmas story really begins.

There is another season that we can choose to enter into that comes between Thanksgiving and Christmas: the season of Advent. The word Advent means coming or arrival. And in modern times Christians typically focus the coming weeks of Advent on remembering and celebrating the anticipated coming of Christ as a baby in a manger, the long awaited savior born in Bethlehem. However, Advent was also a term that originally described waiting not just for the coming of Christ’s birth, but also describing our waiting for the coming of Christ’s final return. And we don’t want to miss that aspect of our waiting. That even now, with the hope we have of Christmas, we still await a final and better hope. We await our eternal home which we have been promised where there is no more fear, anxiety, sorrow, pain and exhaustion. We are calling our Advent series this year “Missing Home.” Because this is a time that we often long for home if we are away, but also because it’s easy among all the holiday clatter to miss what this season has to tell us about our true home. The heavenly home we are waiting for made possible by Christ’s birth, life, death and resurrection over 2000 years ago. This morning as the first Sunday of Advent we are going to take the morning to look ahead to the hope and the home we are still waiting for in Christ’s return before looking back in the weeks to come to the hope that has already come in the manger.

See the stricken boat as it is tossed upon the sea. Hear the fearful cries that wake the man from Galilee. He stands before the raging, speaks peace and harmony. Winds and waves obey, He is the man who calmed the sea.

God has welcomed us by grace, and because of this grace we have the privilege of welcoming others to be local and native in the city of God. Becoming a citizen of God’s kingdom means receiving His unbelievable love, embracing the diverse membership of this city, and joyfully drinking of the life-giving water God gives to us. Join us this Sunday as we look at the promises in store for those who belong to the city of God in Psalm 87. (ft. David Rapp, Church Planting Resident at Deer Creek Church).

This Sunday, we want to celebrate a milestone in the life of Elevate Hope! God has given to His church the sacraments of the Lord’s Table and of Baptism, and has given us membership in the church as a local expression of being united to Christ as His body. This Sunday, we are having a special Baptism and Membership Celebration Service, where we will be baptizing several new believers and children, receiving communing members from their latest Communicants Class, and receiving our second round of adult members! Celebrate with us during this exciting time in the life of our church!

Maybe you are a brand new parent. A soon-to-be parent. A parent whose kids are now grown and on their own. Or maybe you aren’t a parent at all. But the Bible has a lot to say to parents and children; after all, God is called our Father and we are called His children. Out of all 10 of His commandments, God singles out the parent and child relationship as the one that has the promise and potential to bring long life. Join us this Sunday for the last part of our series, “Building Healthier Relationships,” as we look at what the Bible says about parenting our children in godly and healthy ways.

Isolation is becoming endemic within our culture with disastrous results, even inside churches. Many adults don’t have a lot of deep and lasting friendships because as adults, no one really tells us how to make and keep friends. And yet we need them. Join us this Sunday for Part 5 of our series, “Building Healthier Relationships,” as we look at what the Bible says about friendship and the importance of life together with others.

Throughout his first letter, John gives three tests of genuine faith that characterize the basics of the Christian life: 1) The test of belief - do we believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God who was born in the flesh, fully God and fully man? 2) The test of obedience - do we seek to obey God’s commandments and practice righteousness? 3) The test of love - do we seek to love one another? In this morning’s passage, we will focus specifically on the test of love. In this passage, John speaks of “loving one another” three separate times. The kind of love John is talking about isn’t a ‘convenient’ love, but rather an ‘agape’ love - unselfish, sacrificial, ‘get your hands dirty’ kinda love. However, this kind of love doesn’t come naturally for us - so join us as we look at why this standard of love is difficult for us, and how John models this kind of love for us to enact in our lives. (ft. Chad Donohoe, Pastor of Community Life at Deer Creek Church).

Forgiveness is the key to making marriage and relationships work. Yet it can be so hard to ask and to give forgiveness sometimes. Join us this Sunday for Part 4 of our series "Building Healthier Relationships" as we look at what the Bible says about being safe enough to say we are sorry.

How is your marriage lately? No matter where you are in your marriage, there can be hope! Join us this Sunday for Part 3 of our series "Building Healthier Relationships" as we look at how to have a more fulfilling and resilient marriage.

How are your relationships lately? Whether it is your marriage, your parents, your kids, your boss or your employees, relationships can be our greatest source of joy or our greatest source of heartache. Join us this Sunday as we discover what the Bible declares to be ‘love’ in a world where ‘love’ has become a subjective idea, as we examine ‘love’ as one of the key elements to building healthier relationships.

How are your relationships lately? Whether it is your marriage, your parents, your kids, your boss or your employees, relationships can be our greatest source of joy or our greatest source of heartache. Join us this Sunday for a new series this Fall examining the key to building healthy relationships in our friendships, dating, marriage, family, and in our personal and work lives.

Join Elevate Hope this Sunday as we look at what the Bible says about suicide and mental health. There is hope. But often that hope is lost with misinformation about what the Bible really says about suicide and those struggling with mental health issues. Together we CAN reduce the loss and suffering from suicide in Metro Denver. (If you are having suicidal thoughts or struggling or know someone who is call 988 immediately).

This is the final part of our series, Live Boldly, in which we explore the lives of the apostles and the early church in the book of Acts. Acts begins with Jesus telling His disciples that they will receive power as the Holy Spirit comes upon them, empowering them to be witnesses to the good news of the Gospel to the surrounding region and all the earth. Acts ends with an imprisoned Paul, who despite his captivity, continues to boldly proclaim Jesus to the early church AND his Roman captors. This emphasis on the unhindered message of the Gospel, despite the physically hindered messenger, reveals that perhaps the greatest witness to the power of the Gospel message is the weakness of the Gospel messengers. This means whatever is going on in your life, whether or not you feel bold enough or able enough to be an effective witness to the Gospel of Christ, God can use you to spread the message of His grace to the ends of the earth.

In Acts 17 we will look at Paul’s famous sermon on Mars Hill in which he confronts the rampant idolatry in the city of Athens. Through this account we can learn how we can boldly confront the idols in our own life that we worship without knowing it. And we can learn how to boldly stand against and help to gently tear down idols in our own culture that keep others from the real and everlasting God of hope.

The first century church wrestled with a particular question in regard to God’s ceremonial laws found in the Old Testament: should followers of Jesus keep themselves separate from the rest of the world in order to remain righteous? This Sunday we will look at God’s revelation to Peter in Acts 10 and how this challenges the church, both then and now, on their ideas of who they should be spending time with and how they should see themselves in relation to those around them.

Jesus had the gift of getting right into people’s hearts and lives, primarily by asking questions. In fact, the gospel accounts record Jesus asking over 100 questions and answering over 60 questions during his lifetime ministry - and people flocked to Him because of the truth of His message and the compassion they felt He had for them. This morning in Acts 8 we will see Philip ask one question that will lead an unlikely man into greater hope than he could ever have imagined possible. And hopefully we can see that we too can point others to life and hope in Jesus by loving them enough to be a good question asker and a good listener in their life.