Month: November 2016

Advent begins this Sunday (Nov. 27)

On By Aaron AllisonIn CIL News, History, UncategorizedLeave a comment
advent-cilred

After enjoying Thanksgiving, let’s gather this Sunday in anticipation of what God is going to do. We’d love to meet your visiting family, and believe God’s Word will speak to them, as well as to us, as I preach from Romans 13:1-14. It will be a blessing to enjoy a Family Sunday together.

ADVENT, a word with Latin roots, means “coming.”   Advent designates a period before Christmas when Christians prepare for the celebration of Jesus’ birth. This practice began in the church over sixteen hundred years ago! Sermons focused on the wonder of the Incarnation. By the Middle Ages four Sundays had become the standard length of the Advent season. Since then, Advent has been considered the beginning of the church year.

This Sunday at CIL we begin our fifth year anticipating the celebration of Christmas by preparing our hearts through the season of Advent.

Here are our themes:
November 27            Anticipate
December 4               Prepare
December 11              Rejoice
December 18             Adore

These themes will prepare us for a Jesus-centered Christmas!  We will gather on Christmas Eve at 3pm and 4:30pm for services that welcome the Lord Jesus fully into our lives and church.

Also, we are collecting items for the Christmas Blessing this Sunday through Christmas Eve. Items needed: Coats (new or in good condition) Hats, Gloves, Scarves, Socks, Blankets, (new or in good condition) Sleeping Bags, Individually wrapped candy, Fruit Snacks, Peanut butter, or Cheese crackers, Little Debbie Snack Cakes, Chapstick, Cough drops, Pocket Pack Kleenex, Band-aids, Feminine Products, $5 McDonald gift cards.

 

My hope from the Presidential Election

On By Aaron AllisonIn Culture, Current Events, UncategorizedLeave a comment
I would like to post something uplifting, hopeful or original about the presidential election, but I have little to contribute in those areas. We are not a better people because of this election. We have not been inspired, lifted or given a vision. We are more divided, confused and uninformed.
But, we will survive. America is still exceptional.
Our founding fathers created a brilliant system of checks and balances that limit the power of the presidency. Neither candidate can accomplish much of what they claim. Representative government across the 50 states is designed to limit the influence of one person. Its time for us to de-emphasize the role of the executive branch, and we should expect Congress to assert greater authority in forming our national direction.
This is my hope from this presidential election.