Sermon Tone Analysis

Advent

This time of year we are remembering and celebrating God with us, Emmanuel.

We are remembering God becoming flesh, dwelling among us.

It is one of the biggest times to celebrate.

Regardless if you believe Jesus was born in August or September or choose to celebrate in December, the fact remains that Christ’s appearing, His coming was the most significant birth to happen in all of history.

Advent simply means coming or appearing in Latin.

The word in Greek is parousia.

This year, we (at KICKO) gave out local gifts to some of our supporters.

One of the gifts we gave was by a local author, Jim Branch.

He has written a number of books, but we included his book for Advent, Watch and Wait.

Each night, the kids and I have been sitting down and reading/reflecting on Jesus’ coming.

It has been so rich.

I have sensed an uncanny ability to slow my spirit down this year, to watch, to reflect, to tune in.

Are you joining me in sensing the Lord during this season?

It is so easy to get distracted with the business, the routine, with life…and miss the opportunity to posture our hearts heavenward, watching and waiting.

Here are a few key verses as we reflect on His Coming:

You may remember me mentioning this idea before that oftentimes prophecy has multiple layers of fulfillment.

There is often a present state of fulfillment, along with a future understanding of how it will again come to pass, and there even remains the possibilities of multiple layers of fulfillment (giving credence and remembrance to God’s Word to us).

A final fulfillment is most often understood in relationship to the reign and rule that Christ will bring to earth with His final appearing.

Christ has come; He is coming; He will come.

Listen to how Paul places supreme importance upon the notion of Christ appearing to us:

Part of our story of what Jesus has done for us is how He has appeared to us.

This is why in our Mission and Vision you hear us say: ENCOUNTER, CONNECT, GROW.

We believe God appears to us; we have a life-changing encounter with Him.

We taste and see that the Lord is good.

We experience His kindness, which as Romans tells us leads us toward change, transformation, and repentance.

A couple of weeks ago, I talked about how we come into His presence (through gratitude and thanksgiving).

When we come into His presence we are able to see Him for who He is.

He is holy.

He is righteous.

He is just.

He is full of mercy, love and forgiveness.

That is what the psalmist is reflecting upon in this chapter.

Who could stand before such am amazing God.

“But with you there is forgiveness.”

The ESV puts it this way:

It is the Lord’s kindness, His goodness, that leads towards transformation/repentance. When we see Him, when He comes, we are overwhelmed by His goodness, His forgiveness.

In all of our brokenness and humanity it brings us to awestruck wonder.

We serve with reverence.

The fear of the Lord grips us at the sight of His mercy and forgiveness.

He redeems and restores, and it is awesome.

One of the first things that His coming into our world and lives brings is HOPE.

We begin to be filled with HOPE.

This year, the theme of hope has resinated.

Building upon the craziness of 2020, we have sensed that what people need now more than ever is HOPE.

Hope in a divided age.

Hope in a culture that uses fear to control.

Hope for all of us, those that have less hope as well as those that feel hopeless.

Waiting for Him, having Him come near, brings and fills us with eternal hope.

So often we use the word HOPE in ways the Biblical authors never would.

We hope things get better.

We hope things work out.

We hope our team wins the game.

We hope for so many things that carry very little weight or significance.

The HOPE that Christ provokes within us is so much greater.

It is on a grander scale and has so much more significance.

The hope He bears in our hearts leads to things eternal and even brings eternal matters to our present lives and situations.

It is this hope that bears the fruit of peace in our lives.

His hope leads us into His peace.

Listen one more time to this passage from Isaiah on the One that was hoped for:

Jesus was anticipated for centuries before His arrival.

The common Jew believed that a Messiah would arrive on the scene and put an end to their slavery once again, establishing a kingdom that would bring stability and rest for the people of Israel.

One of the things these verses highlight is the unique nature with which God would establish His kingdom.

It would be established with justice and righteousness.

His government and peace would be everlasting.

The common interpretation was a physical kingdom established through the Christ, freeing and leading the people into peace and rest.

The word peace is repeated in both of these verses describing the nature of this Savior as well as the type of reign and rule He would bring.

This morning I want us to look at who this coming One was and is...

As well as, some of the barriers of peace we experience in our lives.

I want us to consider for a few minutes this morning the great truth that He, the Messiah Jesus Christ, is peace.

Christ is the peace of advent.

Peace defines His person or character; and it defines the work He came to do.

One of the Messianic titles declared by the prophet Isaiah in Isaiah chapter 9 is that He will be called the Prince of Peace.

Jesus Christ is peace and He came to bring peace.

What is this peace that He came to bring us on that first Christmas?

Our experiential understanding of “peace” is that it is always temporary at best.

Think about how peaceful the tiny baby looks in his or her mother’s arms, yet only a matter of minutes later, when the crying starts, there is no peace – for the baby, or for the entire household – perfect calm one minute; perfect chaos the next.

This illustrates for us the nature of peace on earth.

We start crying at the beginning of our lives; and the crying never fully ends until the end of our life.

In between we look for peace, and during our lives we find different degrees of peace.

STORY: As many of you know we have had quite a few foster children through our home over the past few years.

We have had more babies than anything.

Part of this is due to the ages of our own kids, but also has to do with the nature and disposition of my wife, Candi.

In addition to our 2 biological kids, we have had 7 other babies in the past 5 years.

Each of these kids came from different families with different genetic makeups and dispositions.

What we began to notice was how important environment was to their stability and success in our home.

Candi is a baby wearer, partially out of necessity but partially out of desire to bond and create a soothing environment for the child.

As a result of her calm demeanor and ability to create a soothing aurora each child we had was significantly happier and good natured.

This isn’t to say if you have fussy babies there is something wrong with you.

Instead, it is to recognize that we absorb and even imitate the atmospheres we are most often around.

The Lord is the Prince of Peace, and, as Scripture would remind us, we benefit from this peace when we remain fixed on Him.

Listen to this verse out of Isaiah:

The Hebrew words translated “perfect peace” are a duplication of one word for emphasis.

It says, “You will keep in PEACE PEACE (SHALOM SHALOM) whose mind is stayed or kept on you...”

The peace we experience in this life has less to do with mindfulness and more to do with the One with whom we become mindful of.

What do I mean?

It is has more to do with the object of our thoughts and attention that brings us this eternal peace.

It has to do with His very nature as the Peace-maker, that brings us peace when we fix our thoughts on Him.

Have you ever been anxious about something?

For me, it consumes my thoughts.