THE
A DVENT 2023 | VO L 7 5 | I SSU E 3
JOINING GOD'S WORK IN THE WORLD
B Y T O M M Y T H O M S ON, GLOBAL MIS S IONS TE AM CHAIR, AND MEL ISSA SEL F PAT RICK, DIRECT OR OF COMMUNIT Y MI N ISTRIES
I
IPC ME MBERS VISIT ED OUR L ONGT IME MISSION PART NERS AND F RIENDS IN C HRIST IN MWANDI, ZAMBIA IN MARCH.
When we journey to new places, experience other cultures, and see first-hand the great variety of Christ-likeness around the world, our understanding of God, of Christian community, and of who we are in relation to God and God’s world deepens in transformative ways.
JOURNEY WITH IPC IN 2024 We invite you to join us in 2024 as we journey to Malawi, Kenya, Mexico, the Dominican Republic, Zambia, and Wilcox County! Keep reading to learn more about IPC’s past mission journeys and watch our CO NTI N U ED ON PG 3
FEATURING
FEATURING
ADVENT
CHRISTMAS EVE
IPC's 2023 Holiday House Returns In Person P G 4
The dedication of IPC's Columbarium expansion PG 9
Celebrate the Season with your church family PG 6
IPC's Services on Sunday, Dec. 24 SEE BAC K
3 1 0 0 H I G H L A N D AV E N U E | B I R M I N G H A M , A L 3 5 2 0 5 | 2 0 5 - 9 3 3 - 1 8 3 0 | I P C - U S A . O R G
1 | I P C | T H E WI N D O W
PC Global Mission Journeys were back in full swing this year with fifty-nine IPC members and friends who journeyed to Zambia, Mexico, Rwanda, and also to Wilcox County in the Alabama Black Belt. With the exception of our sixteen-member team that traveled to Chiapas, Mexico in 2022, IPC’s mission journeys had been on pause since 2019 due to the pandemic. Standing on the foundation of the Great Commandment to love God and to love our neighbor, we follow the Great Commission of our Lord who told his disciples to go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that he commanded them. As followers of Jesus Christ, we are called to live out the Gospel, serving one another in concrete acts of love, justice, and compassion. In each of our mission journeys, we seek to serve Christ and our neighbors in concrete ways. We receive guidance in the structure of our acts of service by first asking what is most needed in every place we travel, and our mission partners guide us in our mission activities.