NewHopeGilbert.org | 480-497-4101 | 1380 E. Guadalupe Rd., Gilbert AZ, 85234 |

ADVENT SERMON SERIES

Posted by admin on Nov 23rd, 2011 in Headlines, News, Worship

This Advent Season, we will be exploring the answer to Jesus’ question in Matthew 16:15 – “Who do you say that I am?” Today, many people in our world would probably say that Jesus was a great teacher, or that he was a Jewish prophet, or some might even say that he was a just a good leader who was greatly admired and revered by his followers. However, as Christians, we believe that Jesus was, and still is, the One who brings peace to our lives; he is the One who endured the deepest physical, emotional and spiritual pain imaginable for our sakes and for our salvation; he is the One who triumphed over death so that we can have life; and, he is the One who rules over our lives as King, giving to us power to live our lives every day. Through advent, we are going to be exploring these themes:

November 27th – Jesus is the Prince of Peace – Isaiah 9:6

December 4th – Jesus is the Pierced One – Isaiah 53:5

December 11th – Jesus is the Risen Messiah – Matthew 28:6, Psalm 16:10

December 18th – Jesus is the King of Glory – Psalm 24:8-10

If you have a family member, a friend, a co-worker, or a neighbor who is wanting to know “who is Jesus,” invite them for this series and for our Christmas services.

The Purpose of Worship

To come together before God to honor Him for who He is and to discover what He’s done for us through Jesus Christ.

Worship Formats

We have three main worship formats on Sundays

8:30 a.m. - Traditional Service
10:00 a.m. - Contemporary Service
6:00 p.m. - X-ALT Youth Worship

We also invite the Korean community to join our brothers and sisters in the Korean Gilbert Church @ 1 p.m. on Sundays.

Our Traditional Service features singing from the hymnal and a few liturgical elements that invite the congregation into participatory worship.

Our Contemporary Service is both contemporary in music, but also more contemporary in its structure. The participatory nature of this service is less conventional.

Conversations with God

No matter what style of worship you feel comfortable with, we believe worship is a conversation between the congregation and God. And in like many conversations the goal is to get to know the person you are talking with.

So worship at New Hope begins with an invitation by God to enter into a dialogue and to relate with one another. As we approach God we recognize how awesome God is so we burst out into praises because of God's infinite worth. However we also begin to realize that God is God and we are not. We begin to realize just how pure God is and how pure we are not, so we are honest and acknowledge it.

God reminds us that His infinite Grace through his Son, Jesus Christ has purified us and we are able to approach God confidently to hear what he has to say. God speaks through His Word, through his Son. We hear the good news of Jesus Christ, and when we do we are inspired by Jesus' love for us. When we get to know Jesus we get to know God.

So we respond. We sing God's praises, and we ask the Holy Spirit to empower us to live as Christ calls us to live. We recommit ourselves to follow Christ day after day and so bring honor to Him in the world. That is the conversation with God which is called worship.