62.5K
Downloads
25
Episodes
“Advent” means “arrival” or “coming,” and it’s a season of the year that Christians have observed for centuries anticipating the birth of Jesus. But for many, December flies by with a flurry of activities - Leaving you worn out and just glad it’s over at the end of the month. It can be the most stressful time of the year. But what if this season actually brought you closer to Christ? What if you were able to create some space to really feel the longing for Jesus to arrive? What if there was time for reflection and refocusing, so you can experience the gifts that Jesus brings—love, peace, joy, and hope? This blog of daily devotions is offered as one simple tool to help us connect with Christ more deeply in the days leading up to Christmas. It will be centered on the core themes of the Christmas story, publishing reflections Monday through Saturday around the themes of...
Episodes
Thursday Nov 07, 2024
Thursday Nov 07, 2024
There are a few precious times in life where we are just bursting with joy. These are the happy exclamation marks and happy face emojis in the midst of life. When you want to dance around with a friend or sing a song. We hear that same joy in Mary through the lyrics to her song Luke 1: 46-55.
God is going to fulfill his promises! God is bringing a revolution to the way things are in this world! God has not forgotten us and is stepping in with his strong power to put things right!
Listen to Johann Sebastian Bach’s musical interpretation to Mary’s song to continue your reflection time with a moment of worship. All songs mentioned in the Advent Reflections Podcast can be found on Mountain’s YouTube Channel at MountainCC.org/YouTube or on Spotify by searching for the playlist “MCC Advent.”
Mountain is one church with multiple locations. Come and be part of a community of people on the journey to discover more about Jesus. Everyone's welcome. Find out more about in-person and online service times and locations at MountainCC.org.
Wednesday Nov 06, 2024
Wednesday Nov 06, 2024
It is joy that is possible because the coming of Jesus brings wayward people back to the Father. Jesus’ coming means broken families will be restored, rebellious people will find wisdom, and people will be open to receiving their Lord. We all know what it is like to wait for restoration, now let’s celebrate with joy, making ourselves ready to receive Jesus. In spite of where we’ve wandered, let us open our hearts to receive Jesus in a new way with a posture of true joy.
Listen to the song “Light of the World” by Lauren Daigle to continue your reflection time with a moment of worship. All songs mentioned in the Advent Reflections Podcast can be found on Mountain’s YouTube Channel at MountainCC.org/YouTube or on Spotify by searching for the playlist “MCC Advent.”
Mountain is one church with multiple locations. Come and be part of a community of people on the journey to discover more about Jesus. Everyone's welcome. Find out more about in-person and online service times and locations at MountainCC.org.
Tuesday Nov 05, 2024
Tuesday Nov 05, 2024
God grants his peace to those who seek Him. For those who consider every circumstance an opportunity to rejoice, God’s peace dwells in them and protects them. For the one who faithfully comes to Him in prayer amidst a trial, God sustains them with peace that is too incredible for words. What a wonderful promise!
Listen to the song “Adore” by Chris Tomlin to continue your reflection time with a moment of worship. All songs mentioned in the Advent Reflections Podcast can be found on Mountain’s YouTube Channel at MountainCC.org/YouTube or on Spotify by searching for the playlist “MCC Advent.”
Mountain is one church with multiple locations. Come and be part of a community of people on the journey to discover more about Jesus. Everyone's welcome. Find out more about in-person and online service times and locations at MountainCC.org.
Monday Nov 04, 2024
Monday Nov 04, 2024
How has Jesus brought you peace? Can you think of ways that you have witnessed God keeping his promises to you? Maybe He rescued you from certain circumstances. Maybe He gave you strength that you didn’t have, or He calmed you inexplicably in a moment of stress. Reflect and thank God for the ways He’s brought you peace today.
Listen to the song “Peace Has Come” by Hillsong Worship to continue your reflection time with a moment of worship. All songs mentioned in the Advent Reflections Podcast can be found on Mountain’s YouTube Channel at MountainCC.org/YouTube or on Spotify by searching for the playlist “MCC Advent.”
Mountain is one church with multiple locations. Come and be part of a community of people on the journey to discover more about Jesus. Everyone's welcome. Find out more about in-person and online service times and locations at MountainCC.org.
Sunday Nov 03, 2024
Sunday Nov 03, 2024
Who wants a God who can be easily explained?! Why do we insist on having a God we can tie down, box up, explain with science or our own understanding? If God can’t make a virgin conceive, how in the world is God going to save your marriage, change your heart, overcome your addiction, or heal a deep hurt? How could he rescue us? How could he create the universe if he can’t put a baby in a young woman’s belly? Into our questions and troubled spirit God sends a message, just as he did to Mary: “Do not be afraid!”
Listen to the song “Mary Did You Know?” by Pentatonix to continue your reflection time with a moment of worship. All songs mentioned in the Advent Reflections Podcast can be found on Mountain’s YouTube Channel at MountainCC.org/YouTube or on Spotify by searching for the playlist “MCC Advent.”
Mountain is one church with multiple locations. Come and be part of a community of people on the journey to discover more about Jesus. Everyone's welcome. Find out more about in-person and online service times and locations at MountainCC.org.
Saturday Nov 02, 2024
Saturday Nov 02, 2024
Perhaps one way that God’s peace can come to us this Christmas is through the reminder that His Word can be trusted. May it bring you peace to know that Jesus’ birth story isn’t just a Hallmark nicety but a real, world-shaping, life-altering event rooted in the soils of history. God showed up. It happened. And just as sure as he came 2000 years ago, He comes afresh whenever we’re ready to welcome Him in. His story can change our story, and then we too become witnesses.
Listen to the song “Emmanuel (His Name is Jesus)” from the Colors of Christmas Mountain Worship album to continue your reflection time with a moment of worship. All songs mentioned in the Advent Reflections Podcast can be found on Mountain’s YouTube Channel at MountainCC.org/YouTube or on Spotify by searching for the playlist “MCC Advent.”
Mountain is one church with multiple locations. Come and be part of a community of people on the journey to discover more about Jesus. Everyone's welcome. Find out more about in-person and online service times and locations at MountainCC.org.
Friday Nov 01, 2024
Friday Nov 01, 2024
When we are threatened or stressed or anxious and desperately longing for peace--or when it seems like all we’ve got left is just a stump--the promise “Just you wait” may still not put us at ease right away.
Faith requires waiting. At Christmas, we’re reminded that the waiting is worth it. In Jesus, God does bring peace—deep shalom, wholeness—even if it is yet unrealized in all the ways we’re hoping for. Let this ancient promise from Isaiah and its fulfillment in Jesus strengthen your faith that God can still bring about true and lasting peace.
Listen to the song “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel” from the Colors of Christmas Mountain Worship album to continue your reflection time with a moment of worship. All songs mentioned in the Advent Reflections Podcast can be found on Mountain’s YouTube Channel at MountainCC.org/YouTube or on Spotify by searching for the playlist “MCC Advent.”
Mountain is one church with multiple locations. Come and be part of a community of people on the journey to discover more about Jesus. Everyone's welcome. Find out more about in-person and online service times and locations at MountainCC.org.
Thursday Oct 31, 2024
Thursday Oct 31, 2024
With the advent (or arrival) of Jesus, God announces that he is fulfilling his promise. This Prince of Peace has been born to us. Right into a warring, tumultuous world—in the hotbed of the Middle East, no less. He does not come with an armed battalion, nor is he born into a seat of power. He comes quietly, granting peace to anyone who would turn to him for it. In this humble child, God is boldly proclaiming that, even in a world bent on fighting against him, nothing can stop his plans for peace …of the greatness of his government and peace there will be no end.
Listen to the song “Silent Night (We Pray for Peace)” from the Colors of Christmas Mountain Worship album to continue your reflection time with a moment of worship. All songs mentioned in the Advent Reflections Podcast can be found on Spotify by clicking here or by searching for the playlist “MCC Advent.”
Mountain is one church with multiple locations. Come and be part of a community of people on the journey to discover more about Jesus. Everyone's welcome. Find out more about in-person and online service times and locations at MountainCC.org.
Wednesday Oct 30, 2024
Wednesday Oct 30, 2024
True love is not some spiritual secret that God has tucked away for only a select few to experience in some enlightened state of consciousness. No, true love has been revealed to us. God’s love shows up in real ways…earthy ways…gritty ways. God loves like that—not with words or speech but with actions and in truth. And God calls us to love like that. How can you show that kind of love this Christmas?
Listen to the song “Born in Bethlehem” by Third Day to continue your reflection time with a moment of worship. All songs mentioned in the Advent Reflections Podcast can be found on Mountain’s YouTube Channel at MountainCC.org/YouTube or on Spotify by searching for the playlist “MCC Advent.”
Mountain is one church with multiple locations. Come and be part of a community of people on the journey to discover more about Jesus. Everyone's welcome. Find out more about in-person and online service times and locations at MountainCC.org.
Tuesday Oct 29, 2024
Tuesday Oct 29, 2024
To watch Jesus is to witness a descent, a literal fall from glory—down, down, down to the straw bed of an animal feeding trough where he was placed at birth, down further to a cross and then a grave where he was laid at death. Such is the depth of his love for us. Jesus chose not to leverage his esteemed status for his own advantage, but rather for our advantage. Jesus loves you incredibly, and there is comfort and encouragement in that. Now, go love others in the same way, with the same humility, with the same self-forgetfulness.
Listen to the song “Away in a Manger” by Moira Dela Torre to continue your reflection time with a moment of worship.
Mountain is one church with multiple locations. Come and be part of a community of people on the journey to discover more about Jesus. Everyone's welcome. Find out more about in-person and online service times and locations at MountainCC.org.