Sermons on Advent

Sermons on Advent

Exodus: Immanuel, God With Us

Please find a Bible and open with me to Matthew chapter 1. Today is the last day of Advent, and the hinge point between Advent and Christmas. So I thought we’d base this morning’s sermon on the first Christmas passage. Let’s read the great story. 18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy…

Exodus 40: God dwells with his people

Please turn with me in your Bibles to Exodus chapter 40. This morning we finally come to the end of our 20 week walk through of the book of Exodus. The theme couldn’t be more fitting for this time of year, the season of advent. Advent is from a latin word that means “arrival” – and as we said at the beginning of the service, it is a time where we remember and reflect on what it must have been…

Luke 2:21-38 – Waiting Patiently

In this week’s passage, we are introduced to two faithful Israelites: Simeon and Anna, both of whom had spent their life waiting for the promised redeemer, God’s Messiah. Unlike the Pharisees who were trying to bring about the Messiah’s arrival through their good works, the Sanhedrin who had capitulated to Roman politics, the zealots who were trying to liberate Israel by force, or the Essenes who withdrew from engaging the world at all, these two faithful believers trusted God’s promises in his timing, and so found themselves in a position to meet and receive the Messiah at his arrival. The parallels for us today are obvious.

Luke 1:57-80 – Christ our Sunrise

The time of John the Baptist’s birth were days of wonder and praise, for after 400 year of silence from heaven God powerfully visited his people. Like a psalmist, Zechariah sang praises to God, declaring the mighty attributes of God and his Son and prophesying about events that would soon shake the world. This Sunday we will read of these extraordinary days and the fullness of God through his Son, learning that through this we can love him and trust him more.

Deferred Hopes, Fulfilled. An advent reflection on Luke 1:5-25

The wise King Solomon, having understood and experienced many things, and blessed by God with great wisdom, makes a simple observation that we can all resonate with: “A deferred hope makes the heart sick.” – In our passage this week, we will watch a faithful Israelite couple have two of their deepest, deferred hopes suddenly fulfilled. Their reaction can give us great insight about ourselves, and point us to an unshakeable hope that will never fail us.

Advent: The Long-Awaited Messiah

For us today, we say, “Jesus the Messiah has already come.” But for centuries prior to that history-making day, the people were in high anticipation. This Sunday three of our pastors will have a panel discussion examining many of the remarkable Old Testament prophecies of the advent– the coming– of Jesus.