Table of Contents Preface: I November 30 Introduction The Advent of Christ First Focus: Hope 1 December 1 Isaiah 11: 1-2 Deep Rooted Hope 2 December 2 ​ I​ saiah 11: 3-4 Lost Frauds to Recovered Heirs 3 December 3 I​ saiah 11: 5 Safely Secured 4 December 4 ​ Isaiah 11: 6 Improbable Hope 5 December 5 I​ saiah 11: 7-8 Walk in Peace and Hope 6 December 6 ​ Isaiah 11: 9-10 Better than a Vacation Second Focus: Peace 7 December 7 I​ saiah 8: 19-20 Finding Light in the Darkness 8 December 8 ​ Isaiah 8: 21-22 Real Hope for Real Life 9 December 9 I​ saiah 9: 1-3 Peace and Humbled Beginnings 10 December 10 ​ Isaiah 9: 4-5 War and Peace 11 December 11 ​ Isaiah 9: 6 Masterpiece of Peace 12 December 12 ​ Isaiah 9: 7 The Incomparable Gift of the Father Third Focus: Love 13 December 13 Isaiah 40: 1-2 Merciful Love of A Savior 14 December 14 I​ saiah 40: 3 Living with Clarity 15 December 15 ​ Isaiah 40: 4-5 See Christ Clearly 16 December 16 I​ saiah 40: 6-7 Eternal Comfort 17 December 17 I​ saiah 40: 8 Red Carpet Anticipation 18 December 18 I​ saiah 40: 9 Passion for Home 19 December 19 I​ saiah 40: 10-11 Safely Positioned Fourth Focus: Presence 20 December 20 I​ saiah 41: 1-6 Strength through Weakness 21 December 21 I​ saiah 41: 7 United in Christ 22 December 22 ​ Isaiah 41: 8-9 Chosen Children 23 December 23 I​ saiah 41: 10-11 Hope in the Midst of Fear 24 December 24 I​ saiah 41: 12-13 Hope in Emmanuel Advent: Arrival 25 December 25 ​ Isaiah 61: 1-3 He was Sent to Send November 30, 2020 The Advent of Christ Rob Harden The Christmas season is a wonderful time of the year. It is a dedicated time for us to uniquely celebrate Christ. Although the world has a different focus, Christmas is a special time for the believer who fully understands the reason for the season. Believers are recipients of four special gifts that are especially prevalent at Christmas time: hope, joy, peace, and love. As a church family, our desire is that we will take advantage of this special time to intentionally experience the beauty of the season. Our goal is to ready ourselves in eager anticipation to experience God’s presence through this Advent season. So, what exactly is Advent? Advent comes from the Latin word which means, “arrival” or “coming.” It is looking back to the world’s longing for a Savior (Christmas) and looking forward in anticipation of Christ’s return (second coming). In this special series, we will allow the prophet Isaiah to lead us as we focus on the prophecies of Christ woven throughout this Old Testament book, written over 700 years before Christ's birth. Isaiah never saw his prophecies come to pass. But we can rejoice now looking back at Jesus' birth, ministry, death, and resurrection. And with joy we look forward to Christ's return. Isaiah is a beautiful, prophetic book revealing God's love and plans for us. These visions and words speak of the restoration of God’s Kingdom, of the coming of Messiah, and the anticipation of complete fulfillment of God’s kingdom. Isaiah’s faithful announcement is that God will bring hope, joy, peace and love “down” to us. As we open our hearts to the presence of God and receive his hope, joy, peace, and love, we clearly see God at work. All the while, we anticipate restoration through the Savior who will bring ultimate peace, justice, and righteousness into the world. Over the coming weeks, our desire is that we see and hear God’s great vision in a way that is so clear that we are blinded by his glory. Please join us as we journey through Advent together. December 1, 2020 Deep Rooted Hope Corwin Oglesby Isaiah 11:1-2 Then a shoot will grow from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots will bear fruit. The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him—a Spirit of wisdom and understanding, a Spirit of counsel and strength, a Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord. (CSB) I remember once going on a walk and coming across an enormous oak tree. It had a massive trunk and its branches were a tree unto themselves. This tree was a sight to see, a statement of strength and longevity. A few years later, we walked that same path, and the great oak tree had fallen. You could see that at some point, branches had broken off and dropped to the ground. It had grown weak and could no longer withstand the rushing winds. I am no arborist, nor do I have a green thumb, but when I looked closer, I could see that the tree started to grow sprouts out of the roots that were still in the ground. The giant oak tree’s legacy would live on. We often place our hope in the things that we can see or control. However, when those things come tumbling down, we can lose hope. The problem is our misplaced confidence. We have put our trust in the tree rather than the creator of the tree. We have placed our faith in the ​things​ of God rather than God himself. When earthly things fall short of our wants and desires, it doesn’t change God’s plan for us. God is not a man that he would lie, and his character doesn’t change because we do. That is where we should place our confidence and trust and then we’ll find hope. December 2, 2020 Lost Frauds to Recovered Heirs Trent Egbert Isaiah 11:3-4 His delight will be in the fear of the Lord. He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes, he will not execute justice by what he hears with his ears, but he will judge the poor righteously and execute justice for the oppressed of the land. He will strike the land with a scepter from his mouth, and he will kill the wicked with a command from his lips. (CSB) Do you ever feel like a fraud? You keep up appearances with what you say, how you dress, who you associate with, but you know that inside there is sin, there is failure, there is disappointment. Or maybe your struggle is the opposite and pride deceives your mind into thinking you have it all together. If your struggle is misplaced pride, then verse three reminds you that you may be able to deceive yourself and other people, but you cannot deceive your Creator. Verse four says he will strike the land with a scepter from his mouth. That is referencing the Word of God. Read it honestly and be reminded of your desperate need for a Savior and recognize that we are all frauds, we are all poor, we are all oppressed by our sin. If we were to stop here, there would be no hope. But there is hope like a new morning in verse four, “He will judge the poor righteously​ and execute justice for the oppressed of the land.” This use of “judge” is not a condemning but a making right of things. When Christ came as a savior, he came to “seek the lost” (Luke 19:10). He came to bring righteousness and justice to those who recognize they are lost frauds. Nothing we do could earn such love. Let us hope in “the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ: Though he was rich, for your sake he became poor, so that by his poverty you might become rich” (2 Corinthians 8:9). December 3, 2020 Safely Secured Hernan Urrego Righteousness will be a belt around his hips; faithfulness will be a belt around his waist. - Isaiah 11:5 (CSB) In this verse and the previous verses, Isaiah continues to lay out the bedrock of the character of the Messiah. At his core, the Messiah will be both righteous and faithful. This Messiah will go beyond the human capacity of merely knowing​ right from wrong, but he will live out his moral superiority by ​doing the right thing ​every​ ​time​. He is faithful. When I think of serving a “righteous God,” I sometimes fall into the trap of feeling fear and angst, waiting for him to drop the jackhammer of judgement for all the sin I have committed that violates his holy standard of living. Then when I look out at this broken world and all the pain and suffering, I feel overwhelmed and utterly powerless to bring change. However, as I reflect about these passages, hope emerges. How? In this advent season, we picture baby Jesus, born into humble circumstances, yet with the power to save humanity. He could have come in all his glory, raining down his righteous judgement as he did over Sodom and Gomorrah. Yet, as stated in Philippians 2:6-7 “Though he (Jesus) was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.” We are loved by an infinitely good, faithful and patient Savior. Let us celebrate that Jesus loved us so much that He emptied himself, He served us, and He died for us.