The Promise in the Shadows

Heaven Came Down

“Today feels like two beginnings rolled into one.” It’s the first Sunday of Advent — a season that points us toward the hope, the light, and the promise of Christ’s coming. But it’s also the first Sunday of a new chapter for this church — for you and for me together. And if we’re being honest, moments like this can feel a little uncertain. You might be wondering, ‘What kind of pastor is he going to be?’ And I’ll admit — I’ve wondered, ‘What kind of church are we going to become together?’

That’s perfectly natural. New seasons bring both excitement and questions. But here’s the beautiful thing about Advent: Advent begins in darkness. It doesn’t start with fireworks or celebration — it starts with longing, with waiting, with a people who can’t yet see what God is doing, but who trust that He’s doing something. Advent reminds us that God always starts His best work in the dark.

(Pause briefly — shift tone slightly to storytelling.)

Let me tell you a little story. A few years ago, our power went out in the middle of the night. One moment everything was fine, and the next — total darkness. No soft glow from the alarm clock, no nightlight, no streetlight coming through the blinds — just pitch black. I got up, fumbling around, trying to find my phone flashlight, bumping into furniture like a blind man in his own house. And as I stood there with my hands out, I remember thinking, ‘I know where everything is… but I can’t see any of it right now.’ The house hadn’t changed — my vision had.

And I think sometimes that’s where we find ourselves in life, and even in the church. It’s not that God’s disappeared. It’s just that the lights feel dimmer than they used to be. We know the truth — we’ve heard the stories, sung the hymns, kept the faith — but we can’t quite see where things are headed. That’s how the people of Israel felt when the prophet Isaiah spoke in chapter 9. They’d walked in darkness for so long that they’d started to believe maybe this was just the way it would always be. But then, through Isaiah, God gives them a promise — a promise that a light is coming.

(Now shift tone from personal to pastoral — soft invitation.)

So this morning, as we begin this Advent season together — and as we begin this new chapter as pastor and congregation — I want to start right there: With a God who doesn’t wait for us to find our way up to Him…But who shines His way down to us. Because the same God who kept His promise to Israel… still keeps His promises to His people today. And that’s what I want for us — not to figure everything out overnight, but to trust that even in the shadows, the Light is coming.

(Now transition naturally into the reading of the text.)

“The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned.” — Isaiah 9:2