Proclamation of Joy
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Proclamation and Joy
This week we continue our sermon series through the Advent Candles
What an awesome series this has turned out to be
The first week what the Expectation of Hope
LIGHT THE CANDLE
28 so Christ also, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time for salvation without reference to sin, to those who eagerly await Him.
Jesus is coming again Church
That is our Hope that Christ is who He says He is and will do what He said He will do
We can rest in the fact that Jesus is coming again and church that should give us HOPE
We can have HOPE in a hopeless world only because we have a relationship with Christ
The last week we had out Children’s Christmas Praise
What a joy that was to see and hear those children sing and read scripture
We also looked at the Preparation of Peace
LIGHT THE CANDLE
5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart And do not lean on your own understanding.
Jesus is our PEACE in this life
It is only through a personal relationship with Christ that we can have peace in this life
Are you starting to see that HOPE and PEACE came in the form of a child born of a virgin to die on the cross for you and I
But that you will only ever experience them through a personal relationship with Christ
Christ came to give us those free gifts but we need to accept those free gifts
This week we will look at the Proclamation of Joy
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.
This is the birth announcement right
We have all seen those and it would seem that now instead of the newspaper they are only official if they are put on social media
But this particular scripture is the birth announcement proclaiming that Jesus is coming and this is what He will do
I would assume that most of us have been to a hospital but throughout the hospital you can hear a bell or something like that every time that a baby is born
What a great sound
There is joy in that sound
There is joy in birth announcement
And church there is Joy in this particular birth announcement because This is PEACE, HOPE, and JOY coming
Church we find Joy in Christ because He came to do these things
Jesus as our Wonderful Counselor
7 I will bless the Lord who has counseled me; Indeed, my mind instructs me in the night. 8 I have set the Lord continually before me; Because He is at my right hand, I will not be shaken. 9 Therefore my heart is glad and my glory rejoices; My flesh also will dwell securely.
When Jesus guides and directs us we can have peace we can have hope and we can most certainly have Joy
Our hearts should be glad because Jesus guides and directs us
It is not just on Jesus through we have a responsibility to be obedient to His direction
Although I think what we do is we are excited about Jesus and then we tell Jesus to sit in the backseat and be quite
And then believe we can navigate through this thing call life
I can tell you that as a Pastor I have prayed and prayed for wisdom
I can tell you our church leadership has prayed and prayed and prayed for wisdom as we navigate this period in our church
I believe God has graciously poured it out on us but it is our responsibility then to choose to either do it or not
Church our hearts our glad and filled with Joy when we are obedient to His direction in our lives
Mighty God
26 And looking at them Jesus said to them, “With people this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”
It would seem we have come to an impossible place in our lives, in church, and in our nation and the world
What we have to remember is that God is in charge and with God nothing is impossible
See when they were beating Jesus, He was supposed to die, then when they nailed Him to the cross He was supposed to die
Then when they took Him off the cross and buried Him, He was supposed to stay dead
But church because Jesus was the son of God and because it was not part of God’s plan, Jesus got up and walked out of the grave
See church with God nothing is impossible
Praise the Lord that we serve such the Powerful God
Everlasting Father
2 Before the mountains were born Or You gave birth to the earth and the world, Even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God.
Before there was anything
Before there was Genesis 1:1
God was
Church we haven’t just created a god and made up a story and passed it down from generation to generation to fit what we want
We have taken the Words of God and wrote them down so that you and I can read and reread them and then through the Power of the Holy Spirit our lives can be molded after them
God was there before there was a there
Prince of Peace
1 Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,
It is because Peace came and died on the cross for your sins and my sins that we can have Peace
It is through faith
Through a personal relationship with Christ that we can and do have peace today right now
And church the verse says that is only through Jesus Christ that we have peace
Do you see all the way back at the birth announcement in Isaiah how Jesus went on to fulfill those things and still today continues to fulfill those names He was given
Church there is JOY in knowing Jesus
That is what we are celebrating this season is the fact that Jesus came
You can I have have Hope we can have Peace and we can have Joy all because of a personal relationship with Jesus
CLOSING
Maybe you are here and you are lost
We want to invite you to the front and you can speak with someone about starting a personal relationship with Jesus
They can show you through scripture how you are to repent and believe
To turn from your sin and to believe in Jesus
Or maybe you are here and you have a personal relationship with Jesus but you have traded the Hope of Jesus, Peace of Jesus and the Joy of Jesus for the things of this world
I want to encourage you to come to the front and spend sometime at the altar and run back to Jesus
Or maybe you simple need to pray at the altar
The altar is open