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I studied biology/pre-med in college, and, as with any major, some courses were more challenging than others. Then there were other classes that were what you might call "filtering" classes. I remember talking to one of my hockey teammates about taking organic chemistry, and he remarked; "That's the class they use to weed you all out, huh?" He was spot on.

Last summer as we were in our Proverbs sermon series, we spent some time one Sunday on the topic of sexual immorality. It's a big theme in Proverbs, and we'll touch on it again this week in Romans. In that Proverbs sermon, I issued an invitation, that if any man wanted to take steps in freedom from lust/pornography, to get a hold of me. Several reached out, but I want to issue that call again.

Do you have any recent experiences that highlight God's grace? Do you have compelling ministry stories? Have you seen God bringing fruit through some of your gospel efforts? If so, we want to hear about it!

If you're like me, there are certain passages and verses in Scripture that have always jumped off the page and stuck with you. One of those for me is Colossians 1:28; "Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ." According to Colossians 1:28, how does Paul present everyone mature in Christ? By proclaiming Him (which includes both warning and teaching).

As hinted at by Pastor Russ last week, and as you might notice as you read this, the CBC Weekly looks a bit different this week! Led by Laura’s efforts, we’ve been working to update the CBC Weekly and Sunday Bulletin (something that we’ve actually wanted to do for a couple years). We are updating these because we found there was a lot of unnecessary overlap in information in the two pieces.

Since we didn’t meet last week, we didn’t have a chance to tell you about our adult Sunday School classes coming up January 12th. (We’ll reschedule those member spotlights for another Sunday.) Here is the information on the new round of classes starting Sunday...

How do you prepare for a new sermon series? I prepare to preach a new sermon series usually with a healthy mixture of excitement and panic. But how do you, or we as a church, prepare for a new sermon series? As we start Romans, I would like to recommend you familiarize yourself with the whole book over the next few months.

Martin Luther wrote that the book of Romans “is worthy not only that every Christian should know it word for word, by heart, but occupy himself with it every day, as the daily bread of the soul.” Luther’s study and reflection on Romans 1:16-17 led him to the understanding that the righteousness of God is a gift we receive by faith, more than a standard we must achieve, to be saved.

The great foundational mystery of Christmas is the miracle of the incarnation. It is much easier to say, “God sent His Son to save us,” than it is to understand the miracle of the act. In the incarnation, the eternal God took on mortal humanity. And in the one person of Christ are united two natures – human and divine.

If I haven’t said it before I’ll say it again – Christmas season remains maybe my favorite time of the year. A lot is added to the calendar, but those extra events are part of the fun. These last two weeks I’ve thoroughly enjoyed dipping into the Psalms (it’s always fun to change genres, going from the narrative of Acts to the poetry of the Psalms). And I find myself especially looking forward to our Christmas Eve service. It’s not because we’re doing anything particularly extravagant.