Ark Community Church > Sermons Advent - Are you a person of hope?

Advent - Are you a person of hope?

Steven DiIoia
Nov 30, 2008
Series: Advent

I. Introduction – Advent

Today is the first day of advent. Advent is from the Latin word adventus meaning arrival or approach. So advent is the arrival, the approach, the coming of the Lord Jesus into the world through His birth. The season starts on a fourth Sunday before Christmas. So if you are the typical male, it is a good reminder that you have about four weeks before you need to start your Christmas shopping. I am pretty sure that was not the official reason for starting of the advent season but it was probably one of the reasons for it.

Seriously, the real reason for this season is to mark the waiting for and the preparation for the birth of our Lord and savior Jesus Christ.

Now for us it is the season which starts roughly a month before Christmas … roughly a month. Not much waiting, not much time to prepare. Maybe it depends on your age. The younger you are the longer and slower that month seems. Christmas can’t get here soon enough. The older you are, perhaps Christmas gets here too soon with too much to do, too much to buy, too many parties; Christmas can’t get over too soon. I have encountered many people who are well, I don’t want to say old but let’s just say, well past the age when all they needed to do was circle what they wanted in a catalog and wait for Santa. For many people and perhaps you are one of them, Christmas has perhaps lost its’ luster that you remember from the past, lost its’ hope, lost its’ joy, for many it has lost its’ peace and perhaps for some, it has lost its’ love. In fact for many the Christmas season has become the opposite of what it should be, it has become the season of

Despair – instead of hope

Sorrow – instead of joy

Stress / Disharmony – instead of peace

Anger / dislike – instead of love

Well, it is through advent season that we can try to get hope, joy, peace, and love back into Christmas because that is what the four candles represent and are to remind us about

II. Advent – in biblical time

Maybe it is because we have only a month and not enough time to prepare ourselves. Most of that time, we of course focus and prepare for the wrong things. And the world doesn’t help with the stores starting each year with the Christmas decorations and advertisements earlier and earlier. But what I am talking about is enough time for the true preparation for Christmas, the preparation of our hearts and souls for the coming of Jesus.

Maybe it is because we are in a world that can’t wait? It our computer takes longer than 10 seconds to do anything we think it is broken. If we don’t answer the cell phone now, the world will end. If we don’t get the newest, greatest, latest, thing now … I need to have it now … and if we don’t do it now, have it now, get it now;

Despair

Sorrow

Anger

Stress

Maybe since we seem to be conditioned like this, this get it fast, get it quick, get it now, and because of this conditioning we feel that we can truly prepare ourselves for the true meaning and spirit of Christmas on Christmas Eve when all of the shopping is done.

Have you ever stop to realize how long the real advent took? … The real waiting, the real preparation for the coming of Jesus … It was over thousands of years. We call it the Old Testament. The nation of Israel waited for thousands of years for the birth of the promised Messiah. They waited and prepared themselves for His coming and waited and prepared, and waited and prepared … As we heard from reading Isaiah 9, one of the more commonly known prophecies of the Messiah, written some 600 hundred years before the birth of Christ.

1Nevertheless, there will be no more gloom for those who were in distress. In the past he humbled the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the future he will honor Galilee of the Gentiles, by the way of the sea, along the Jordan-

2 The people walking in darkness
       have seen a great light;
       on those living in the land of the shadow of death
       a light has dawned.

III. The beginning of Advent - Hope

What does that sound like to you … it sounds like Hope doesn’t it? Isaiah is saying, look no more gloom, Galilee will be honored, (Galilee should ring a bell - that is the region where Jesus will be raised and begin His ministry) people in darkness, those in the shadow of death, a light has dawned. Hearing that sounds like something to look forward to, something to hope for doesn’t it? The shadow of death is no longer cast on the people because of the light. We are that people, death casts no shadow over us for through Christ we have eternal life. It filled many Israelites with hope. That should fill us with hope … amen?

Why does advent season, the first Sunday deal with hope?

Why does it appear that Isaiah’s prophecy starts with hope?

Why does it seem that in Luke 2 the announcement of the birth of Jesus to the shepherds begins with hope?

8And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.

9And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.

10And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.

That sounds like it would generate some hope … “good tidings of great joy” … It makes sense; I truly believe that you need hope before you can experience joy and joy before peace and peace before love. Listen to what the angel of the Lord says next when reading Luke 2,

11For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord.

12And this shall be a sign unto you;

IV. Signs –

I want to show you a clip from the movie Signs. Great movie if you haven’t seen it. At this point of the movie there have been hundreds of crop circles all over the world formed in one night. Strange things have been happening and now everywhere close to the crop circles there have been lights in the sky at night. We are about to see two brothers who have been watching the news have a discussion, one played by Mel Gibson whose wife was killed by car when the driver fell asleep at the wheel and who has since lost his faith in God and the other played by Joaquin Phoenix.

Play Movie clip

So my question to you is this advent is what type of person will you be? The one that doesn’t see the signs or the one that sees and finds comfort, finds hope?

Please listen to this because I believe this was not just a message for the shepherds …

11For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord. 12And this shall be a sign unto you;

I pray, that the beginning of this advent season will shed light so you;

May see the sign given unto us ...

May see Christ moving in your life ...

May feel the comfort and hope from seeing these things ...

And so you may really prepare yourselves this advent for Christmas to truly experience;

the hope of forgiveness

the hope of salvation

the hope of eternal life

the hope of joy, peace, and love

given to us through the birth of Jesus Christ.