The Carmichael SDA Church is providing spiritual growth resources for individuals, couples, families, and small groups as an extension during this pandemic for a church that is scattered like salt and to indeed be salty; to be light and receive another infusion of power. Pick and choose from these resources for your spiritual growth, whether it’s during your time of personal devotions or family worship or small group gathering. The 10 options include:

INTRO
ADVENT (from Lat. adventus “coming”). A term often taken to designate either the incarnation of Christ or his second coming

How excited have you ever been when you heard someone was coming to visit for the Holiday Season? It could be an uncle, aunt, cousin, grandparents or even some friends.  Depending on your level of excitement, you could be anticipating the arrival by counting down the days. Way back in Genesis, God had promised that a son would be born that would crush the head of the serpent (Gen. 3:15). That would seem like a long time to fulfill a promise, yet the apostle Paul wrote that Jesus came "at the right time" (Gal. 4:4; Rom 5:6).

The promise created a sense of expectation from generation to generation. Some had forgotten about this promise to come to our planet and visit his children in person and to make things right. Thousands of years after the promise in the Garden of Eden, Jesus arrives on planet earth.  Not as God alone, but as a fully human person; not only fully human, but also born into this world like everyone else. His entrance into this world was not by an apparition. Jesus' miraculous entrance into this world took place through the fully human experience of being born of a woman. Totally unperceived by everyone with the exception of a handful of shepherds and some wise men from another country. Mary and Joseph didn't have a reveal party or even a baby shower. Jesus wasn't even born in a proper place. Instead he was delivered in a stable, surrounded by barn animals and his crib was a trough filled with hay where animals feed and drank from. This miraculous and unnoticed entrance into our world is called the "First Advent".

Later on, Jesus tells his disciples that he will go back to heaven and "come again" (John 14:3). This time his advent will not be confined to a small village in Bethlehem and to a handful of guests. Instead Jesus says that when he comes "again" that he will come with "all of his angels and in the glory of his Father." (Matt. 16:27; 25:31). The apostle John, writes as it was revealed to him, that "every eye shall see him" (Rev. 1:7).

In the New Testament, the word for the second advent is Parousia which means "appearing". A visible, noticeable, and an impossible event to ignore. The apostle Paul describes it like this: "For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. Therefore encourage one another with these words." (1 Thess. 4:16-18).  May you be encouraged with this week's Spiritual Growth Resource on the topic of the 1st and 2nd Advent.

Read Revelation 22:7-20, noting the dialogue between Christ and his people, back and forth, with the word “Come.”
Vs. 7 Jesus says, “Look I am coming soon!”
Vs 12 repeats Christ’s promise, “Look, I am coming soon!”
Vs. 17 the Spirit and bride (we) say, “Come!”
Vs. 17 invites the one who hears (us) to say, “Come!”
Vs. 17 encourages the one who is thirsty to “come.”
Vs. 20 contains Christ’s promise again, “Yes, I am coming soon.”
Vs. 20 also includes our response again, “Come, Lord Jesus.”
These seven renderings of the word “Come” at the end of Revelation match the most frequent number in the book; the perfect number seven. Three of these (the symbolic number for God) come from Christ, and four of these (the symbolic number for the world) come from us.

Select from these questions, or let them prompt your own questions. You can reflect on these by yourself, or discuss them with another person or group of people.

How does one live with the awareness and expectation of the 2nd Coming. We sometimes tend to focus too much on the event of the 2nd Coming and the events and signs surrounding the 2nd Coming and it's easy to lose sight of WHO is coming. 

Have you ever come close to an important person and they know your name? How impressed would you have been that a person like that remembered my name? Why would they even know your name? He would have to know who you are, that person took the time to match your face with your name. This implies that there’s some kind of relationship with this person. Now imagine that at the 2nd Coming, Jesus calls your name. 

What does it take for Jesus to know your name? There’s a story in the Bible where Jesus tells people that he doesn’t know their name or who they are. These were people who claimed to be Christians but didn’t help those who were sick, hungry and in prison. Apparently, in the interim between the 1st and the 2nd coming, those who Jesus “knew” were those people who didn’t focus so much on the 2nd Coming, but on taking care of the “least of these”.

John 14:1-3
1 Thessalonians 4:16-18
Revelation 1:7
Revelation 22:7, 12

Enjoy the variety of music that speaks of God's Presence