1. Advent Sermon Series
Last Sunday, City on a Hill Church in Brighton began our Advent: Promises from the Prophets sermon series. Each week through the month of December we will emphasize a particular aspect of Advent: hope, love, joy, peace, and humility. This past Sunday we saw how to have hope in hard times from Isaiah 9:1-7 by looking forward to the hope of heaven, backwards at God’s record of faithfulness, and upwards to Jesus as the ultimate hope.
This is a unique time for those in our church to see why we anticipate this season as one of hope and joy. We have many in our church who are very young in their faith and need to be reminded how the gospel applies to everyday life and not simply salvation. This Advent season we are praying for the hope, love, joy, peace, and humility of Jesus to be markers of transformation in each person within our church.
Pray that J, F, N, L, and the many other unbelievers in our regular weekly services would clearly understand the good news of Jesus coming down to us and come to faith in Him!
2. Church-wide Family Meal
On a usual Sunday, City on a Hill Church in Brighton regularly sees between approximately 70 people between our Sunday morning gathering and our kids ministry. We are at just the right size where we can all know one another, even though we may be in different Community Groups or live in different areas of town. Our church-wide family meals allow every person at CoaH Brighton to spend time with those they otherwise may not see or have a deep conversation with.
Our monthly family meals as a church help us to live out our core values of gospel, community, and mission, including within our own church setting. We have several unbelievers that attend each week and come to family meals like these. These monthly get togethers are a picture of the family of God and what it looks like to be a part of it. These meals also invite believers into a deeper understanding of how the church should act as a community, a family and how we can invite others into this family.
Our next family meal will be on December 15 directly following our Sunday morning worship gathering. Each time we encourage everyone to sit with someone they don’t know very well, and we’ve seen this small action develop new friendships and a familiarity within the church that would otherwise not be present.
Pray for:
-Believers to have a fresh initiative to invite those in our community to be a part of God’s family by sharing the gospel clearly
-Those far from Jesus to be open and ask questions during this lunch with those they meet and get to know
-Our church would understand the significance as more than just sharing a meal but of showing Brighton and our own church community the love and good news of Jesus in everyday actions
3. Christmas Eve Service
On December 24, CoaH Brighton will have its first Christmas as an established church! Our congregation will join with other City on a Hill network churches (Brookline, Somerville, and the future Forest Hills church) in celebrating the birth of Jesus together.
As with many churches, Christmas Eve is a once-a-year opportunity for our church to reach the neighborhood with a clear explanation of the good news of Jesus.
Pray for:
-A bold preaching of God’s Word and Jesus’ coming
-Many people would come to faith in Jesus during this service
-City on a Hill Church can be a light in each community by displaying, declaring, and personally delighting in the gospel