Longing for God

Advent 1

Isaiah 9:2 ESV

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.

Isaiah 9:4–6 ESV

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.

Isa

(Light candle while the interpretation is read)

Interpretation

This morning we light our first candle . The light of the flame symbolizes the illumination of Jesus Christ in our lives.

The disciple John tells us: Jesus Christ is light; in him there is no darkness at all.

This Christmas season, let the light of Jesus Christ shine out of darkness, let his light shine in our hearts so that we may have the knowledge of the glory of God.

(Pray)

Prayer

Gracious Lord. May your mighty blessings be upon all of us this Christmas season.

May your light shine upon our lives removing the darkness about us.

May the joyful good news of Jesus and his coming change our lives and give us hope for when he comes again in power.

Amen.

Intro:

AG: Soren Kierkegaard, the great Danish theologian told this story:

A prince wanted to find a maiden suitable to be his queen. One day while running an errand in the local village for his father he passed through a poor section. As he glanced out the windows of the carriage, his eyes fell upon a beautiful peasant maiden. During the ensuing days, he often passed by the young lady and soon fell in love. But he had a problem. How would he seek her hand? He could order her to marry him. But even a prince wants his bride to marry him freely and voluntarily and not through coercion. He could put on his most splendid uniform and drive up to her front door in a carriage drawn by six horses. But if he did this he would never be certain that the maiden loved him or was simply overwhelmed with all of the splendor. The prince came up with another solution. He would give up his kingly robe. He moved, into the village, entering not with a crown but in the garb of a peasant. He lived among the people, shared their interests and concerns, and talked their language. In time the maiden grew to love him for who he was and because he had first loved her. Contributed by: Christian Cheong

TS: This is the story of Advent, our God coming down to us, to live with us, and to win us, not by his power, but through HIS great LOVE!

Today is the first Sunday in Advent. Advent begins a 4 week journey to Christmas Day. Advent is the celebration of the coming of the Christ Child. For Isaiah the Prophet Advent was a time of prayer. He was hungry to see his God COME DOWN! Too long had the people waited on their God and in their impatience, many seemed to loose sight of the reality He was one day coming. Isaiah would go from wanting to see God’s National Power to seeing God’s personal power!

RS: We have been awaiting Christ’s second advent for 2 millennia! Many grow impatient. Many scoff and have lost hope. This advent, let us restore the hope of Christmas and Christ’s second advent.

Isaiah 64:1–9 ESV

Oh that you would rend the heavens and come down, that the mountains might quake at your presence— as when fire kindles brushwood and the fire causes water to boil— to make your name known to your adversaries, and that the nations might tremble at your presence! When you did awesome things that we did not look for, you came down, the mountains quaked at your presence. From of old no one has heard or perceived by the ear, no eye has seen a God besides you, who acts for those who wait for him. You meet him who joyfully works righteousness, those who remember you in your ways. Behold, you were angry, and we sinned; in our sins we have been a long time, and shall we be saved? We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment. We all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away. There is no one who calls upon your name, who rouses himself to take hold of you; for you have hidden your face from us, and have made us melt in the hand of our iniquities. But now, O Lord, you are our Father; we are the clay, and you are our potter; we are all the work of your hand. Be not so terribly angry, O Lord, and remember not iniquity forever. Behold, please look, we are all your people.

Longing for God to Come Down to the Nation

Isaiah 64:1–4 ESV

Oh that you would rend the heavens and come down, that the mountains might quake at your presence— as when fire kindles brushwood and the fire causes water to boil— to make your name known to your adversaries, and that the nations might tremble at your presence! When you did awesome things that we did not look for, you came down, the mountains quaked at your presence. From of old no one has heard or perceived by the ear, no eye has seen a God besides you, who acts for those who wait for him.

In the length of the waiting, Israel had strayed.

ILLUSTRATION: Scott Hippler writes, “I can remember one late winter’s day when I was about 7, my grandmother had taken a cousin and me to the grocery store. When the shopping was done and the brown paper sacks were in the car, we headed home. On the way, grandma had to stop off at another store for a few minutes, so my cousin and I stayed in the car. Well Grandma took more time than she thought, so what was about to happen was all her fault. Back then, they put prizes in laundry detergent boxes as an incentive for people to buy. Well, we had two giant boxes of soap because Grandma bought everything in bulk. Well I had discovered that you could pop the ashtrays out of the doors in the back seat and when you looked down into them you could see a big black hole. So, we popped both ashtrays out, opened both boxes of soap and began to pour in the soap. Before we knew it, the boxes were empty and we had a nice little coffee cup and a nice little salad dish. It was then that we realized what we had done. I know that we have not been together long, but trust me on this: There is no way to make a soap box look and feel like it ‘s never been opened once you’ve poured all the soap down an ashtray hole in a car! It was all Grandma’s fault anyway! You can get into a whole lot of trouble while you wait! Especially if there is no purpose in your waiting.” Contributed by: Scott Hippler

Israel had drifted from God

Into idolatry

Instead of destroying or driving out the pagans in the promised land, Israel compromised.

That compromise led to accepting idolatry.

God had judged Israel and Judah.

Israel taken into the Assyrian captivity and scattered

Judah into Babylonian captivity and later returned.

Into legalism

The nation of Judah had come home from Babylon and had learned their lesson.

Rather than drift back into worshipping idols, they enforced the word of God

Then they added to it!

To prevent “accidentally” breaking God’s Law and/or drifting into disobedience, they develped an elaborate wall of regulations, interpreting the Law and imposing standards and loopholes which God had never put into place.

The Pharisees tried to enforce living as the Levites did when serving at the temple.

At the same time they tightened down the law, they put in place loopholes to allow those in the know to get around the law.

Into corruption

The High Priesthood and Sanhedrin had become a political body.

At the trial of Jesus, the broke several laws (both God’s and men’s)

Isaiah longed for God to come and put the nation back on the path of righteousness.

AP: We too have drifted.

The Church

The early church was on fire for God.

Acts 2:42–47 ESV

And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. And all who believed were together and had all things in common. And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.

Now, sadly, many churches devote themselves to other things.

We have drifted.

We are accepting lesser goals than God’s stated plan

We have elevated false idols in the place of God.

We focus on ourselves rather than God.

Longing for God to Come Down to Our Heart

Isaiah 64:5–9 ESV

You meet him who joyfully works righteousness, those who remember you in your ways. Behold, you were angry, and we sinned; in our sins we have been a long time, and shall we be saved? We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment. We all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away. There is no one who calls upon your name, who rouses himself to take hold of you; for you have hidden your face from us, and have made us melt in the hand of our iniquities. But now, O Lord, you are our Father; we are the clay, and you are our potter; we are all the work of your hand. Be not so terribly angry, O Lord, and remember not iniquity forever. Behold, please look, we are all your people.

God meets the Righteous with Joy

The relationship with GOD brings joy!

Isaiah longs for God to enter their lives

Remember the context of His call:

After seeing the vision of God in , God called him to proclaim His truth to Israel.

Sadly, God told him up front that he would minister until all was gone.

Isaiah’s heart was longing for the day when the people would repent and turn back to God.

God forgives those who confess

1 John 1:9 ESV

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

When we sin, God convicts us and calls us to repent.

• We have ridiculed the absolute truth of Your Word and called it pluralism.

• We have endorsed perversion and called it an alternative lifestyle.

• We have exploited the poor and called it the lottery.

• We have neglected the needy and called it self-preservation.

• We have killed our unborn and called it choice.

• We have neglected to discipline our children and called it self-expression.

His promise is to forgive us when we confess.

• We have abused power and called it political savvy.

• We have coveted our neighbor’s possessions and called it ambition.

• We have polluted the air with profanity and pornography and called it freedom of expression.

• We have ridiculed the time-honored values of our forefathers and called it enlightenment.

Search us, 0 God, know our hearts today, cleanse us from every sin and set us free in the Name of Your Son, the Living Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen."

What was the response of the legislators? Some of them walked out and expressed their outrage. Contributed by: Davon Huss

God molds us to conform to the Image of Jesus

God is at work shaping us to be like Christ.

His word challenges us repeatedly

To walk as Jesus did

To think as Jesus did

Advent reminds us that although we are waiting for the 2nd advent, Jesus has a real and present relationship with us today.

We may not see Him face to face, but He is present with us.

Conclusion:

As we enter advent season, let us prepare not just our homes for Christmas. Let us prepare our hearts. This season, as we celebrate the birth of our Savior, let us also celebrate what God is doing today.