The season of Advent is all about waiting for the coming of our King, Jesus. God promised that he would send a Savior and he did. He followed through on his promise. Jesus has promised he will come again. We trust that he will. In the meantime, we wait.

During the Sundays of Advent, we will trace the lineage of Jesus according to the genealogy at the beginning of Matthew. We will see that Jesus is the true Messiah fulfilling all of Old Testament prophecy.

Today's sermon focuses on the reality that Jesus is the Son of David - our King!

"Pride cometh before the Fall." Many of us are familiar with this wise saying. It comes from the book of Proverbs (chapter 16), and applies to all sorts of situations: NFL football players boasting before losing the game; high school students trying to "fit in" with the cool kids before blundering in front of their class...even Old Testament Kings trying to mirror the kings of their surrounding culture - and ignoring the God who made them king along the way (that's Saul! Check out 1 Samuel 15).

In this sermon, Pastor Kevin traces out the problem of Pride by looking at a different character from the book of 1 Samuel: Hannah. In her story we see not only the problem of pride, but it's product...as well as a path forward - to avoid feeling too low OR too puffed up about ourselves.

At the end of chapter 11, we see David as King - enjoying rest in his house after defeating the Israelites. But the Almighty God is living in a tent! David wants to pay God back for all the God has done for Him; David wants to build God a house. But God says: "No." Why?

In this sermon, Pastor Kevin looks at this key text from 2 Samuel chapter 7, where instead of David building God a house, God builds David a "house." Through it all - we see God's heart, his radical grace, and how he operates on a different basis than the ways of the world.

In the first part of chapter 11, we are introduced to David. At this point, Saul (the first king of Israel) had disobeyed God and therefore, God rejected him as king. God, therefore, told Samuel to go to the family of Jesse because one of Jesse's sons would be the next king of Israel. As Samuel, looks at the sons of Jesse, the oldest ones seem to be good, kingly material. However, God has to remind Samuel that man looks on the outward appearance, but God looks on the heart.

This is when Samuel is introduced to David. David is described as "a man after God's own heart."

In this sermon, Pastor Aaron walks us through what it means to be a "man after God's own heart" and how God wants our hearts to be aligned with His as well.

Chapter 9 of The Story covers the Book of Ruth in the Old Testament. It is a reminder to us about the importance of following with our whole lives.

Chapter 8 of The Story covers the Book of Judges in the Bible. The Book of Judges tells us of a 4 phase cycle that the people of Israel go through over and over again for a few hundred years. It is a story not all that uncommon with our own understanding of world history as well.

In this sermon, Pastor Aaron connects the dots for us between the Book of Judges, our current state as Americans, and the commemoration of All Saints Day.

The Holy Scriptures are rife with military imagery. But Jesus practiced nonviolence? (See Matthew 5:38-48). So what kind of battle are we dealing with?

Paul said it well in Ephesians: "we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against...the spiritual forces of evil." Our battle takes place in our minds - as our enemy, the Devil, seeks to deceive us into sin.

In this week's sermon: Pastor Kevin looks at the keys Joshua used to gain victory in the Promised Land; so that we might gain victory in our own battles against the Devil.

In this week's sermon, based on chapter 6 of The Story, Pastor Aaron reminds us to pay attention to the signs of God. Most clearly, pay attention to the sign of the cross which is the reminder of Who God is and what He has already done for us through Jesus.

Unlike the Israelites, who lost sight of God's Word, let us be people who love the Word of God and do everything we can do obey it. For God's Word is life!

Why do we bristle when we're told what to do? Why do we sometimes sabotage ourselves by not doing what we're told (even when we know it's probably good for us?). And knowing how we respond to being told what to do -- why did God give us the LAW?

In this sermon, Pastor Kevin explores these questions by looking at Exodus 19:4-5. Moses has received the 10 Commandments from YHWH and the people have responded: "We will do everything the Lord has spoken." Of course, that isn't exactly what happens.

Maybe the Israelites responded poorly to the LAW because they didn't understand God's reason for giving it... Maybe we fall into the same trap. By looking at these key verses from Exodus, Pastor Kevin hopes that we will see the LAW not primarily as a bunch of "have to's" - but as a bunch of "get to's".

In this week's sermon, we are introduced to Moses in chapter 4 of The Story. Moses is a man who is given an important task by God. Yet, Moses responds with an important question, "Who am I?" Who am I? That's one of those questions that not thought about carefully can lead people to moments of mental crisis. Moses finds solace in this question by asking God, "Who are you? Who are you God? What's your name?" And God responds.

This is what we learn, without a knowledge of who God is, we will never truly understand who we are.

In the Sermon, Pastor Kevin explores the question that plagues many in the midst of their suffering: "Why?" Chapter 3 follows the story of Joseph. It's a story of suffering. And yet, in it, we learn one of the most important things we can know about God: How He works through our suffering.