ADVENT WEEK 1 - HOPE - THE PROPHET'S CANDLE

HOPE

The word “Advent” comes from the Latin word adventus, which means “coming.”

What is coming? Who is coming? Family? Gifts? Credit card debt?

Advent should be time when we prepare for the coming of the Savior – celebrating both when He came but also coming again

The symbolism of the Advent Wreath –

Evergreens – symbolizes everlasting life even in the midst of winter and death.

Circle Wreath – like a wedding band – the never ending of God’s love for us – symbol for infinity – eternal

Pinecones – heat and drought cause them to open and release the seeds so new life can begin - new life that Jesus brings to thru His resurrection

Candles – provide light – Jesus is the light of the World –

John 8:12 – Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

Father, let your hope arise in our hearts! Lift our eyes up to see that you alone are where our hope comes from. Help us to shake off the anxiety, discouragements, and distractions that have filled this year.

May we pause to remember that we have hope in you.

You know the end of our stories, and we give thanks because you have promised that it will be a victorious ending. Give us the grace we need to wrap up this year joyfully.

We invite your Spirit into this beautiful Advent season. Renew our sense of holy anticipation! Let us be those who are waiting eagerly for Jesus to come again.

More than anything, we ask that you be glorified in this season of expectation. Amen.

Advent Week 1 – Hope – The Prophet’s Candle – Why the 1stCandle is Prophet’s Candle – the relayed prophecy and waited for the Messiah to come

Isaiah 2:1-5 – The word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem. It shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and shall be lifted up above the hills; and all the nations shall flow to it, and many peoples shall come, and say: “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob, that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths.” For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. He shall judge between the nations, and shall decide disputes for many peoples; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore. O house of Jacob, come, let us walk in the light of the Lord.

1. What is Prophet –

a. Chosen By God

Isaiah 6:8 – And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then I said, “Here I am! Send me.”

1 Samuel 3:10-11 – And the Lord came and stood, calling as at other times, “Samuel! Samuel!” And Samuel said, “Speak, for your servant hears.” Then the Lord said to Samuel, “Behold, I am about to do a thing in Israel at which the two ears of everyone who hears it will tingle.

b. Speaks Divine Revelation – not original thoughts

Isaiah 6:1-7 – In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one called to another and said: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!” And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!” Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. And he touched my mouth and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.”

c. Teaches truth and interprets the Word of God

Numbers 12:6 – And he said, “Hear my words: If there is a prophet among you, I the Lord make myself known to him in a vision; I speak with him in a dream.

Deuteronomy 18:18 – I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers. And I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him.

Jeremiah 1:9 – Then the Lord put out his hand and touched my mouth. And the Lord said to me, “Behold, I have put my words in your mouth.

2. What is the Prophets Message?

a. Hope for today

Psalm 39:7 – “And now, O Lord, for what do I wait? My hope is in you.

Psalm 71:5 – For you, O Lord, are my hope, my trust, O Lord, from my youth.

Psalm 119:114 – You are my hiding place and my shield; I hope in your word.

Romans 15:13 – May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.

Romans 12:12 – Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.

b. Hope for tomorrow

Jeremiah 29:11 – For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.

Isaiah 40:31 – But they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.

Romans 8:25 – But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.

Proverbs 23:18 – Surely there is a future, and your hope will not be cut off.

3. Prophet’s Work for Christmas in your life

Isaiah 7:14 – Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.

(How do we recalculate to make this the center of Christmas?)

Isaiah 9:2-7 – The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shone. You have multiplied the nation; you have increased its joy; they rejoice before you as with joy at the harvest, as they are glad when they divide the spoil. For the yoke of his burden, and the staff for his shoulder, the rod of his oppressor, you have broken as on the day of Midian. For every boot of the tramping warrior in battle tumult and every garment rolled in blood will be burned as fuel for the fire. For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.

As the world darkens itself to God, how do focus on the light?

2 Timothy 4:3-4 – For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.

Isaiah 9:6 – For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Hope in wonderful counselor - pele-yoez in Hebrew

Pele means miracle, marvel, wonder, while yoez is to advise, counsel, devise – thus the source of all wisdom

Mighty God – powerful, magnifies, warrior God who goes before and fights for us

Everlasting Father -without end, consistent and unchanging, eternal head of the family, household, and respected and honored family leader

Prince of Peace – safe, prosperity, and health – sound welfare –

Galatians 4:4-8 – But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.

We were all slaves to sin – but when the time was right God sent His son – what we celebrate soon – born of a virgin, under the law to redeem us – to buy us back by His blood so we could be adopted – receiving full rights and honors –

Roman adoption made adopted children equal to biological children and thus equal heirs

This is the hope we live on – we are adopted, grafted into the family of God

As we head into Christmas remember to hope

Romans 12:12 – Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.

And we can rejoice in hope because

John 15:16 – You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you.

Hope is not dependent on us – He chose us He appointed us He adopted us for His good and in these we have hope for today hope for tomorrow