On November 20th Grace hosted a Thanksgiving Service in conjunction with Christ Community's annual food distribution program.  Hundreds filled Grace Church to share in a service that featured prayer, songs, and remarks from representatives of College Hill's local churches, specifically College Hill Presbyterian, Second Baptist Church, New Life Missionary Baptist Church, and First United Church of Christ.  It was truly inspirational to see every seat filled in the church.  I considered the experience a glimpse into Grace's future!

Advent is marked by a spirit of expectation, of anticipation, of preparation, of longing. There is a yearning for deliverance from the evils of the world, first expressed by Israelite slaves in Egypt as they cried out from their bitter oppression. It is the cry of those who have experienced the tyranny of injustice in a world under the curse of sin, and yet who have hope of deliverance by a God who has heard the cries of oppressed slaves and brought deliverance!  It is that hope, however faint at times, and that God, however distant He sometimes seems, which brings to the world the anticipation of a King who will rule with truth and justice and righteousness over His people and in His creation. It is that hope that once anticipated, and now anticipates anew, the reign of an Anointed One, a Messiah, who will bring peace and justice and righteousness to the world.  Part of the expectation also anticipates a judgment on sin and a calling of the world to accountability before God.