KEY DATES & TIMES
Sunday, December 1 - First Sunday in Advent
Advent Worship Services: 8:30am and 10:30am
Advent Cookies & Cocoa by Liberti Seniors: Coffee Hour (9:55-10:30)
Final Day for New Hope’s Christmas Blessings Express Drive (see below)
Sunday, December 8 - Second Sunday in Advent
Advent Worship Services: 8:30am and 10:30am
Advent Cookies & Cocoa by Liberti Youth: Coffee Hour (9:55-10:30)
Sunday, December 15 - Third Sunday in Advent
Advent Worship Services: 8:30am and 10:30am
Advent Cookies & Cocoa by Global Missions Team: Coffee Hour (9:55-10:30)
Sunday, December 22 - Fourth Sunday in Advent
Advent Worship Services: 8:30am and 10:30am
Advent Cookies & Cocoa by Liberti Young Adults: Coffee Hour (9:55-10:30)
Tuesday, December 24 - Christmas Eve
Christmas Eve Worship Service: 6:00pm
Christmas Eve Offering for KFA (see below)
Sunday, December 29
Family Worship Sunday: ONE SERVICE at 10:30am
ADVENT SERIES
Long Lay the World:
A Savior for the Weak, Wounded, and Wayward
Each year at Christmas we sing these famous words from the song O Holy Night:
“Long lay the world in sin and error pining.”
That line describes so much of our human experience. We find ourselves longing for something or someone who can mend our weary world.
Join us for Advent as we consider texts from the book of Isaiah that reveal Jesus as the Savior for weak, wounded, and wayward people pining to be made whole.
As an added bonus, we're excited to sync up with our friends from Midtown Community Church and Community Evangelical Free Church for this year’s Advent series. Over the first three Sundays in Advent, pastors of our three churches will rotate to preach at each church to help us enjoy this celebration not only in our own church family but Jesus’ broader Church in the Harrisburg region.
ADVENT MERCY OPPORTUNITIES
Gifts for New Hope’s Christmas Blessing Express Drive
Each Christmas season, one of our local mercy ministry partners, New Hope Ministries, hosts a Christmas Blessing Express gift drive. The surrounding community donates new gifts to stock New Hope’s free Christmas store for their guests. We encourage you/your family to buy a gift or two from New Hope’s wish list and bring them to Liberti by Sunday, December 1.
Meals & Mission
You’re going to eat this season. So why not share at least some of those meal times with others? Call up new and old friends – people from your neighborhood or workplace and invite them into your home for a meal. In our culture this is a season of increased parties, festivities and socializing. Join in.
In addition to eating meals with people, think intentionally about being “on mission” this Advent season. Who are you praying for? Are you attending family/neighborhood/work holiday parties with a desire to love those people? What conversations can you have with people about what God’s been doing in your life or why Advent is significant in your life?
Christmas Eve Offering: Keystone Family Alliance
This year, our Christmas Eve Offering will be going to the Keystone Family Alliance (KFA).
KFA has been instrumental in helping us with our local mercy initiative in family advocacy - caring for the fatherless and those in foster care. KFA's aim is to educate, motivate, and equip every Christian in the state of Pennsylvania to meet the needs of orphans and vulnerable children, both locally and globally.
Please consider giving generously to Keystone Family Alliance this Christmas Eve. For more information and to find out how you can get involved, go to www.keyfam.org.
Advent Resources
BOOKS
Everyday Gospel Christmas Devotional by Paul David Tripp
An Advent devotional adapted from the 365-day book of reading and reflections by Paul Tripp called Everyday Gospel.
A free digital download is available by clicking above. And we’ll some printed copies available at the welcome desk.
Good News of Great Joy by John Piper
Come, let us adore him. This beloved Advent refrain captures the heart of the season. Advent is for adoring Jesus. It is a season of preparation to ready our hearts for the glory of Christmas Day as we celebrate the coming of the eternal God in our frail humanity. These twenty-five short devotional readings from John Piper aim to help you keep Christ at the center of the Advent season.
slow + sacred ADVENT by Jennifer Naraki
slow + sacred ADVENT is an ebook that was written to guide families through the four weeks leading up to Christmas. It includes personal stories, Biblical theology, and four weeks of creative, yet simple thematic plans to focus our hearts + homes for the coming of Christ. Each week focuses on a concept of Christ as we look to how the Old Testament covenants have been fulfilled in the Christ Child. Jesus the Seed, Jesus the Star, Jesus the Scepter and Jesus the Savior. Each week there are hymns, carols, handcrafts, recipes, readings, copywork and so much more — to further engage in each concept. Simple, yet meaningful activities, to anchor the season.
AUDIO
Liberti’s Advent Playlist on Spotify
Good News of Great Joy: 25 Advent Meditations by John Piper
John Piper invites us to listen in to his podcast this Advent for daily readings beginning December 1 through Christmas Day.
FOR FAMILIES WITH CHILDREN
The Jesus Storybook Bible Advent Guide
Share with your children the story of Christmas and God's great plan for Jesus' birth! Each day for 24 days you can make an ornament that corresponds with one of the stories in the Jesus Storybook Bible.
Names of Jesus Advent Cards
These cards reveal a new name for Jesus every day.