Salvation: VOICES - ADVENT 2018: Preparing the Way for Hope

Introduction

Let me begin with a discipleship question: how will you follow Jesus in prayer and dependence on God this week?

Main Points

In this lesson shaped by Calvary Boise's teaching on VOICES - ADVENT 2018: Preparing the Way for Hope, Christ invites us to receive truth with humility, practice repentance, and walk in faithful obedience.

Life in the Church

We are entering into the winter the cold months of what will be darker times and colder times and a time for us as. The season of a church to enter into our own version of that which is the season of Advent it's the church wide calendar.

• Time where we come and we realize that there is a season that prepares our hearts for what we're about to celebrate at the.
• End of this month the end of this month we're going to celebrate the coming of the Lord we look back and remember that.
• God is so good that he has revealed himself to us through his son and every year at this time we get ready to.
• Celebrate when he came and right before we get ready there is a time of waiting with eager expectation that is Advent so this.

Year we're gonna do it in four sermons we're gonna take a time in this season that is part of a healthy discipline of. The Christian life and the church to wait on God meditate on him and say what are you doing to invade into our world.

Identity in Christ

To receive what does it mean to wait on God to show up well first in this week we look at the way that. God prepared the way through the prophets the entirety of the Old Testament is a way for us to look to the culmination of.

• The fullness of time when God revealed himself the plan of God's reconciliation was to invade our world when the word would become flesh.
• On Christmas morning and the prophets were used throughout the Old Testament the books of the prophecies are to point people to that to.
• Create an eager expectation in the nation of Israel for God's people that God is on the move and to keep your eyes on.
• His coming that's the message of the Prophet so today we will look at Isaiah chapter 9 Isaiah is one of the key prophets.

That we can look at and study that points us to God invading our world we're going to celebrate that on Christmas and as. We do that we will look at the way that God prepared messengers for the moment that he's coming and will say what does.

Sin and Salvation

Are proclaiming as we wait for what God is going to do so as we look back send his son but also to come. Again as we not only look back to celebrate we also wait with eager expectation of what God is still yet to do that. Exists and to get to that question let's start in Isaiah chapter 9 and listen to his message this is how the message of. What he is doing to prepare the people for something God is doing starts and it's inner woven throughout the complex book of Isaiah. But let's look now at Isaiah chapter 9 it says in verse 1 never the glue nevertheless the glue will not be upon her. Who is distressed as when at first he lightly esteemed the land of Zebulun in the land of Naphtali and afterward more heavily oppressed. Her by the way of the sea beyond the Jordan in the galilee of the gentiles here it is there is this thing that. Was happening in the context of Isaiah's day that wasn't good there was challenge and oppression and there was idolatry within the kingdom of. Isaiah's day and his job was to point to the greater day the day that you couldn't see in his day as he looked. Out and his job in the preparation of the way of what God was going to do was to realize that God has. Work to do now and this is what he says on that day where God is releasing the oppressed on that day that we. Can look forward to God is doing a good thing the people who walked in darkness have seen a great light those who dwelt. In the land of the shadow of death other translations say of deep darkness they have seen a great light and this is the. Message that we proclaim as we wait for the coming of what Christmas represents it comes by saying this where there is darkness where. There is deep darkness when the land that God has set aside for his people is invaded with things that are not of God. Not of the God of light but of the darkness of a fallen world what happens here's the good news when the darkness falls. There will be a light to shine upon them those who lived in the shadow of death or in that deep darkness there is. Coming today when light will shine upon them and.

Faith and Obedience

Then he goes on to proclaim that when that day comes it will be followed with joy and it will usher in this new. Government of everlasting goodness that will never go away and this is what the people are waiting for the people are waiting for this. Simple message of the Advent season to say this there is hope in God no matter how dark the deep darkness looks and feels. That were reminded of when we wake up to a blanket of snow we're in the winter the season is getting darker when you. Look around the world that you live in we realize that we ourselves have some darkness surrounding us the message is a message of. Hope darkness will be invaded by light it's a radical message of people who believe in God that no matter how deep the darkness. No matter how hard it gets there is light on the way that God can invade a world that seems to be spiraling downward. And he can flip it on its head and where there's dark there will be light where there is oppression there will be freedom. Where there is a corrupt government when the kingdom falls prey to idolatry of the other nations God is doing something to send an. Invasion of light to contrast the bad for his good this is a message of great hope but not yet and this is why. We start with the importance of us taking part in the proclamation of this message because it's not only a message of hope when. We study the prophets they are pointing us to this day when God's light will invade but they are also reminding us of a. Simple truth that we first have to start with in this season of waiting and expecting God to do something the season of trusting. Him to invade the darkness of our world the first step in this and we learn this from the message of the prophets the. First step is this there is actually in fact such a thing as darkness in this world and that can be so quickly glossed. Over we love the hope of this season we like the idea that it's the most wonderful time of the year and that everybody's. Coming home for the holidays and that the kids are eventually going to go back to school after Christmas break that's all part of. The Christmas song we like the hope but you do not have.

Repentance and Renewal

Hope you don't have real substantial hope you don't have reason to believe that God will do something to make the darkness turn into. Lie until you establish the reality that there's such a thing as darkness at all there was a darkness in Isaiah's time Isaiah lived. About a hundred years before the fall of the Kingdom of Israel and Judah and they would eventually go into exile and he spoke. Of that darkness needing a great light there was a darkness in the time that Jesus invaded as the word becomes flesh he comes. Under roman decree for a census Luke chapter two why is that important to remember it means that God's people were not living free. From the oppression of the Roman Empire there was a dark time and they were still waiting and here's the reality there is darkness. In our day and this is the message of Advent and waiting on God that cannot be skipped because if you try to go. Right to the reason we are hopeful right to the reason that we believe light will invade and overcome darkness we first have to. Go back to this simple truth the world that we live in is fallen the world that we live in wherever there is deep. Darkness there comes a need that is so radically proclaimed by the prophets from Isaiah up until John the Baptist who will be a. Fulfillment of the precursor to Christ there is a need to say a word that is like a curse word to our culture there. Is a need to say the word repentance there is a need to say we desire hope and there is one way to get. It and there are a lot of ways that will not actually lead to hope now the darkness of our world is not something. We typically have to convince people of you don't have to spend a lot of time in a theological debate or really complex logic. To try to look around the world and wonder if it seems to be just a myth something seems broken and typically you don't. Have to look to global news you can see it in the hearts and the minds of people that we interact with and for. Some of you I don't have to convince you because you have come with an invasion of darkness in your heart and your mind. On the burden of your shoulders darkness is a real thing.

Repentance and Renewal

Here's the message that we have to do to take it a step further than just identifying it we have to say that it's. Bad we have to say that any or any trust or anything that you look to other than the eager expectation of what God. Will do to show his glory is something that will lead you down the wrong road and this is a message the word repentance. Going towards a word called sin which means there's a way that you're supposed to live and you may not be living that way. This is a message that may make you feel a bit unsettled to tell people that they are living their lives in a way. That will point them downs towards darkness and eventually a darkness that will consume them to show people that there is no hope outside. Of God may put you on that unshaken where you aren't comfortable but here's why this is important our culture is desperate for the. Message of repentance they actually crave it there are people living in the lost world still in the dark tangled in the warfare of. The darkness of the fallen world that are waiting for a message of hope and they don't know where to look that is the. Dirty secret of our culture's obsession with giving people whatever they want and because we want to help people that they're wrong we're pointing. People towards hopelessness listen to what this says this is a from a journal of health and entitled the epidemic of hopelessness this is. The title of the journal article this is what it says much to the alarm of public health experts not to mention the public. Itself life expectancy in the u.s. Fell in the last two years which means that when we study how long we can expect adults. Living in this country to live and we try to make an average of how long it's actually happening that average is going down. Why this is alarming it's alarming because you think our average would be getting extended we should be growing older we've eradicated so many. Disease technological advances have made medical access available to people we aren't any time of civil war or Wars at large why are we. Going down in the way that we're actually living out the years that God has given us this is what they say this is. A so-called casualty of despair of is caused by the surge.

Repentance and Renewal

Of Americans dying younger pulling the national average lifespan down further and further due to an epidemic of the symptoms of hopelessness one of. The symptoms of hopelessness they identified for one alcohol poisoning is killing people because people are turning to alcohol as an answer for this. Thing that is missing the darkness is everywhere but we're not pointing them to the invasion of light and we don't want to tell. Them that they can't live however they want so they have to self medicate their symptom of despair their symptom of hopelessness its alcohol. Poisoning drug overdose suicide and murder we have a culture that is eating its own tail and we don't want to tell them to. Stop we don't want to tell them stop there is a better way the way that you are handling the hurt and the pain. Of your heart and medicating it and covering it will not work it will lead you to death are we willing to proclaim that. Message because before there is hope we have to point out the darkness and we have to point it out in ways that go. Far beyond the symptoms that are displayed in this study we have to point out the darkness and greed and materialism we point out. The darkness and living with your body however you see fit it will take you down a road of despair and there is a. Message in the Prophet that says stop what you're doing or you will die are we willing to do that now here's the greater. Challenge the greater challenge is that the prophets were typically speaking to God's people the greater challenge is that Isaiah was speaking about God's. Nation in darkness John the Baptist the fulfillment of the voice crying out in the wilderness that Isaiah will prophesy about came and preached. What repentance the kingdom of God is near and who is he fighting on it God's people the religious Pharisees and zealots were arguing. Over repentance with him because oftentimes the idea that we need to turn from darkness that will never actually be the substance of our. Faith that leads to hope hebrews chapter 11 we're so free we are so afraid to call that out that we allow people to. Wander into the despair of the symptoms of hopelessness and we allow it to happen not just in our city but we allow it. To happen in our own hearts in our own minds and just.

We return to the opening teaching: discipleship is not just information, it is transformation through faith and obedience to Jesus. If we receive His Word and walk it out, He will shape us into people who endure and bear fruit.

Lord Jesus, help me hear Your Word, obey it with faith, and grow as Your disciple. Amen.

Conclusion

We return to the opening teaching: discipleship is not just information, it is transformation through faith and obedience to Jesus. If we receive His Word and walk it out, He will shape us into people who endure and bear fruit.

Closing Prayer

Lord Jesus, help me hear Your Word, obey it with faith, and grow as Your disciple. Amen.