Advent
Blessed Hope
Sunday, November 30, 2025
With eyes to see, And ears to hear,
With lips to sing, And hands to help:
Let us worship God with the fullness of our being.
Praise Songs
Advent-Brigitte
Intro: We all need hope. For without hope, there is despair. And sadly, we see despair all around our world, even right around us. God does not desire any to live in despair so He made a way and sent Hope into our world, through the birth of His Son. This hope is for all nations, even those who resist Him currently or haven’t heard of Him yet, the gift is intended for all, so that no one will parish in despair.
God loves His creation, so much, that even while we were yet sinners, He sent His Son, Jesus to leave His place of glory and be born a man, living in the flesh like all of us, and ultimately living so He would one day die in our place, for our sins. His birth brought hope for not only Israel that had a long history of falling away from God and living in despair over their oppressive conditions, but His birth caught the attention of gentile nations too and instilled in their hearts, faith for what was to come.
When we find ourselves living in despair and darkness seems to be closing in, I want to encourage you to consider where you have placed your hope-in whom? In what? Do you hope at all?
For hope is real, when we place our hope in the One who is hope. Hope is life-giving, chain-breaking, light dawning, sickness healing, and freeing to those who look to and trust in Jesus. God has told us where and in whom to place our hope:
As Brigitte read in Colossians 1:27 says: To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.
For our kids joining us today, this hope we have in Christ, is not like I hope I get the gift I most want for Christmas. I hope I do well on my test in school. I hope I win my race or the game I’m competing in. I hope I get all my steps right in my dance routine and don’t make a mistake.
We say things like this all the time, “I hope” something does or doesn’t happen according to what I want right? But in these things, we don’t really know what will happen, it might not work out like we want at all.
But when we talk about hoping in Christ, we are saying I believe who You are Jesus. I believe what Your Word says about You. I believe You were born and fulfilled all that was spoken about You. I believe You died for me to save me from my sin. I believe You are coming back to get me to be with You as You see fit and I will live with You forever. I believe You are with me now through Your Holy Spirit and will be my helper for everything I need. I am putting my hope, a certain and absolute belief, in You, for what You say is true and I can trust Your Word. This hope is very different.
This is the hope I want to remind us of today and why we should be so excited to celebrate the birth of our Savior this Christmas! His arrival, has changed the world forever and set in motion the great and eternal plans God had decided long ago. In Old Testament times, God put His Spirit upon certain people-prophets, some kings, priests and He would give them messages to share with people about what was coming-that they might trust in Him and grow their faith in Him as their God.
Today as we’re pondering this Blessed Hope we have in Jesus, let us look to the prophet Isaiah and hear what was spoken about our Savior’s coming and His mission to fulfill. Listen with fresh ears to why Jesus came and what His coming offers you. Look for the hope that is only found through Jesus. Isaiah’s ministry was about 700 years before Jesus’ birth. This is what God spoke through Isaiah. This is what Jesus fulfilled in His coming.
Isaiah 61:1-3, 10-11 NIV
The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives
and release from darkness for the prisoners,2 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God,
to comfort all who mourn, 3 and provide for those who grieve in Zion— to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes,
the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise
instead of a spirit of despair.
They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord
for the display of his splendor. 10 I delight greatly in the Lord;
my soul rejoices in my God. For he has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of his righteousness,
as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest,
and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.
11 For as the soil makes the sprout come up and a garden causes seeds to grow, so the Sovereign Lord will make righteousness
and praise spring up before all nations.
The Coming Messiah.
Isaiah 61:1 The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor.
Now what I love about Scripture so much are the many layers of messages. This message was likely to the Israelites for a not too far off future of being restored after they had been exiled to Babylon. God did bring them back and restore the ruins of Jerusalem and the surrounding area of Judah. So this message would definitely bring hope and encouragement to those waiting for this time to come about.
And…. This message on a much larger divine scale, was most assuredly talking about the coming of Jesus, as our Messiah. We know this because as we look to NT and regarding the birth of Jesus we see it is His birth that brings good news and that He is called Messiah which also means Anointed One.
Luke 2:10-11 10 But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. 11 Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord.
We also know this is speaking of Jesus’ coming because He Himself reads this very Scripture to the Jews and declares it was talking about Him.
Luke 4:16-21 16 He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. He stood up to read, 17 and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written:
18 “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free,
19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”
20 Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him. 21 He began by saying to them, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”
Jesus said, I’m here and because I’m here, all these things have and will be accomplished. This is why I came. At first they marveled at what He said. But then once He let on this great blessing was for all people, even the gentiles…well they were not having it and tried to throw Jesus off a cliff. How quickly they shifted their hearts.
But…He’s God, so their plans were foiled. You know whose plan hasn’t been foiled, not ever, God’s. And aren’t we so glad that when Jesus said today this Scripture has been fulfilled-He was thinking of you and me also! And all nations around the earth! We ARE the Gentiles He was including!
So Jesus came, as we will soon celebrate with great reverence and joy at Christmas. And in His coming He had a mission. He didn’t just come to hang out with mankind; He came to set them, and all of us who believe in Him, free! Free from what? The power of sin over our lives leads us into thoughts of despair and darkness and that separates us from our Holy God. Let’s listen again to what His purpose for coming included.
Messianic Mission.
Isaiah 61:1 He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives
and release from darkness for the prisoners
Jesus has come to make us whole, to bind up the wounds of our brokenness, to give us freedom when we have been enslaved to sin and to shine a glorious light into the darkness that has loomed over creation.
Have you felt this in your life? Have you been lifted out of the pit of despair? Have you had wounds He has healed? Have you been set free from the grip of sin in your life? Have you been called out of darkness? Let us give thanks today to our Savior! You know He continues to do all these things again and again and again as we call on His name and ask for help.
THIS is why Jesus came! Because He is our Messiah, the Anointed One, sent by God as our hope and salvation. THIS is what God wants all the world to know and experience through Jesus. This is why we are called to share the Good News to the ends of the earth. This is why we give and support mission efforts, to bring this blessed hope, the Good News of Jesus Christ, to all the nations.
His coming has brought what God calls the year of the Lord’s favor-we are living in this time. God’s time is not limited to our time, so a year to God is not at all the same as a year we know here on earth. We are living in this time of favor, a time of inviting for all to come to know Christ and receive Him as their Lord and Savior.
Isaiah 61:2 2 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God,
to comfort all who mourn, 3 and provide for those who grieve in Zion—
There is a promise that Jesus will return and restore all things as they should be and deal with evil and darkness once and for all. That will be the day of vengeance-notice that is only a day, again not like a day as we know it-but notice the message. “A year” of favor and “a day” of vengeance.
To all who mourn over evil currently at work in the world. Jesus has come to comfort-this is our hope we cling to.
In the time we have here on earth and walk with Jesus we also have a blessed hope that He changes us from the inside out. He removes our shame and guilt. He changes our destructive thinking. He purifies our hearts and teaches us how to live in His righteousness.
Transformation and Restoration.
Listen again to what was said about what is coming for those who trust in Jesus.
Isaiah 61:3 to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair.
Isaiah 61:3 They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor.
This transformation process is affirmed in NT teaching, when the Apostle Paul states’
2 Corinthians 3:18 18 And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.
So in light of this reading and in remembering the birth of our Savior, what are we to do?
Rejoice! With Holy Joy.
We have every reason to rejoice in what has been fulfilled and what is yet to come!
Isaiah 61:10 10 I delight greatly in the Lord; my soul rejoices in my God. For he has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of his righteousness,
as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.
This is the blessed hope for all nations to rejoice in!
Isaiah 61:11 11 For as the soil makes the sprout come up and a garden causes seeds to grow, so the Sovereign Lord will make righteousness and praise spring up before all nations.
Now to get us really excited let’s look ahead, remembering Isaiah’s words were about 700 years before Jesus was born, to the time of the Apostle John-after Jesus’ death and resurrection. John was given a vision in the spirit of the great fulfillment of God’s plan and Jesus’ mission.
Revelation 7:9-10 9 After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. 10 And they cried out in a loud voice: “Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.”
Revelation 21:1-2 Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,” for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. 2 I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.
Revelation 21:5 5 He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”
Trustworthy and True. What is written will come about. This is our destiny as a people of God, and our inheritance. This is our blessed hope.
Conclusion: Our Messiah was promised to come and bring the Good News of our salvation through Him. He came! He is promised to come again to bring all believers into glory with Him, and to make all things new. He will come! This is the blessed hope we hold that came down from Heaven when Jesus was born.
Let’s pray
Offering: Use the QR code to give online.
Prayers
Bdays: Connor Houk 12/1
Final Song
Final Blessing: Romans 15:13 May the God of hope fill
you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.
