Advent at MCCC – 2024
Theme: “Stay Awhile: Advent Lessons in Divine Hospitality”
MISSION: Donations for the 4C’s and Kids Weekend Meals
This Advent season, we invite you to join us in exploring the gift of hospitality—not just the kind that sets the table and fluffs the couch pillows, but the kind that welcomes us into a space where we can feel truly at home. In this season, we’ll reflect on how we offer hospitality in our homes, extend it into our spiritual lives, and apply these lessons during this sacred season. Hospitality is deeply tied to our understanding of home—not always the home of our childhood, which might not have been a safe or loving space for everyone, but the home we all long for: a place where we can be fully ourselves, deeply loved, and truly at rest. It’s where our weariness finds comfort, brokenness finds healing, and joy springs up like a long-awaited sunrise. In Advent, we prepare our hearts to welcome Christ anew—a tiny, vulnerable guest who comes to make a home among us. In doing so, we
also prepare to hear the most precious words any wanderer longs to hear: “Welcome home.” Whether we are travelers, wanderers, or simply weary, we all long for God’s embrace.
This season, we’ll ask ourselves: How do we create spaces where others feel at home? How do we open our hearts to those in need? And how do we allow Christ to make his home in us? May this Advent be a time of sacred welcome—for ourselves, for others, and for the Christ-child who comes to dwell within us.
ADVENT CALENDAR
9:30am Sunday Advent Worship Services
Sanctuary Worship and YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/mantuacentercc
Sunday, December 1 – Advent Hope
INVITE (Jeremiah 33:14-16; Luke 21:25-36)
Sunday, December 8 – Advent Peace
PLAN (Jeremiah 29:5-14; Mark 1:1-8)
Sunday, December 8 at 1-5pm MCCC Christmas Party (Childcare Provided)
Bring a wrapped hand-made gift and an appetizer to share
Sunday, December 15 – Advent Joy
PREPARE (Isaiah 61:1-11; John 1:6-8, 19-28)
Sunday, December 22 – Advent Love
WELCOME (Zephaniah 3:14-20; Luke 1:39-55)
Children’s Pageant
Sunday, December 22 6:00pm – Longest Night: A Service for the Weary
Making space for sorrow and grief during the season of joy
Tuesday, December 24 6:45pm – Carol Sing
Join us to sing carols before the service
7:00pm – MCCC Christmas Eve Candlelight Service
Traditional Candlelight worship with carols and scripture
