Advent

Advent 3rd Candle

12-16-2018

Intro -

Welcome to MBF

Recap

last week we sort of rushed through the first 2 candles because I wanted to keep us up to date

Not a problem because we are obviously going to recap them today so if you missed last week

you missed the first 2 candles but more importantly you missed an amazing kids Christmas Program!

The first Advent Candle represents

Expectation of Hope

Jeremiah 33:14–16 NASB95

14 ‘Behold, days are coming,’ declares the Lord, ‘when I will fulfill the good word which I have spoken concerning the house of Israel and the house of Judah. 15 ‘In those days and at that time I will cause a righteous Branch of David to spring forth; and He shall execute justice and righteousness on the earth. 16 ‘In those days Judah will be saved and Jerusalem will dwell in safety; and this is the name by which she will be called: the Lord is our righteousness.’

See the coming Messiah would bring about hope to a hopeless nation

Even through they were Gods chosen people they would still mess up and they would still fall slaves to sin

sin brought about death and hopelessness

But

see the story of the Bible Jesus is the plot twist

changes the direction of the story

Even through sin was bring about death to a nation and people, Jesus was going to bring about hope

Jesus brings Hope to the Hopeless

The second Advent Candle represents

Preparation of Peace

Isaiah 40:3–5 NASB95

3 A voice is calling, “Clear the way for the Lord in the wilderness; Make smooth in the desert a highway for our God. 4 “Let every valley be lifted up, And every mountain and hill be made low; And let the rough ground become a plain, And the rugged terrain a broad valley; 5 Then the glory of the Lord will be revealed, And all flesh will see it together; For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”

You and I need to be prepared for the coming Christ

It isn't that you need to make yourself clean before you come to God but you need to prepare you heart for the coming Christ

the way you do that is by being honest and saying God, I am a sinner and I need you

God will bring about peace in your life that the Bible says this world cannot understand

But even through they cannot understand it, we still need to be prepared to share and give a reason for the hope and for the peace that we have

You and I are to be different from the world if we have Christ in our hearts, and so we as believers need to be prepared to share a reason for the hope we have for the peace we have

we need to be prepared to share the Gospel

This morning that brings us to the 3 candle

So exciting

The third Advent Candle represents

Proclamation and Joy

when we think about Proclamation and joy we start to think of maybe these huge announcements

now the big thing is a gender reveal party, you have a separate party to reveal the babys gender

which of course I am all about finding out because we have the ability and it is just to much to wait

any-who

in light of advent

which from last week is the arrival of a notable person

when we start to put everything together

church we should be proclaiming the coming Christ, there is should be a joy about the coming Christ

this is why

Isaiah 9:6–7 NASB95

6 For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; And the government will rest on His shoulders; And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. 7 There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace, On the throne of David and over his kingdom, To establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness From then on and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will accomplish this.

Jesus was coming to bring about hope to the hopeless

Jesus was coming to bring about a peace this world has never seen not will they understand

Jesus is coming so lets prepare ourselves

The excitement is turning from instant excitement to long lasting joy for the coming Savior

sure we are happy and I think God wants us to be happy but I have always heard that happiness is temporary and joy is long lasting

See Jesus will bring about the Joy that lasts and we need to be proclaiming that

Jesus will being Joy to your life

When you come to Jesus and you start to look at life through the eyes of Jesus he will bring joy to your life

But we have Joy because we have hope and peace through Jesus

And it is only through Jesus that you will receive those

John 14:6 NASB95

6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.

It is only through Jesus church that you will receive joy and hope and peace

sure you can try the things of this world

and they might last for a while but why not invest in the things that will last eternity like your soul

See Jesus loves you enough that he paid your debt of sin on the cross

it should have been you and me up there but Jesus said I got this

He did that so you would have the opportunity to experience joy and hope and peace

That is why Christmas is important is because it is the carrying out of Gods master plan to redeem his creation to himself

the coming of the messiah brought so much Joy to the people

closing

the coming Christ has brought joy and still bring about joy because he is still in the business of taking the old nasty sinful death that you and I once were and changing that if we allow him

we want you to have the opportunity this morning if you want to accept the free gift of salvation through Jesus this morning we want you to come down front and we will have people down front you can talk with

maybe you are here and simply need to spend some time at the altar in prayer or maybe you have drifted away from your first love and need to return

the altar is open