So our Advent sermon series is El Peace. That
is how, probably the better way to say that Greek
word, El Peace, El Pez, however you want to do
that. That is a Greek word for hope. That we
are waiting in hope where we're looking at the
prophets that spoke of hope of the Messiah. But
I wanted to kind of bridge where we've been because
we were in a pretty big sermon series for the
last three months in the book of Acts. We walked
deeply in the start of the church, those first
eight chapters. And many of you wanted to keep
going. And believe me, there was a part of me
that wanted to as well. But I think it was a
good journey of those eight chapters of how really
the story of us, the church, got started. The
highs and the lows. God birthed the church. Wind,
fire, power, and mission with unstoppable gospel
momentum. In a reflection I have, there are many,
but one that kind of leads me to Advent is what
the church didn't need. That as we look over
kind of the centuries at the church, what was
this kind of vagabond group of people called
the way. It wasn't even called Christians at
that point. It was the people of the way. They
just kind of went. They didn't plan too much
for it. We saw when they needed to elect new
officers for elders, when they created deacons.
There wasn't a whole lot outside of just relying
on the Holy Spirit to show up and do the work.
And a reflection that I've had over the last,
I don't know, three, four weeks is maybe how
much we've gotten away from that. That a lot
of times in the church, we look at statistics.
We look at a lot of data that we can look at
as far as making decisions. And I go, wow, we've
come pretty far, but maybe not always in the
best things when it comes to just being the church.
Now don't get me wrong, being the organization,
being a non -for -profit, a 501c3 organization,
they didn't worry about any of that then because
they didn't have that. And so in the culture
we live in now, that is Christ in culture, the
church engages. But one of the things that Acts
taught us that applies to today's church as it
did in the start of the church, is four things.
That God keeps his promises. God pours out his
spirit on the church. He builds the church. And
he always finishes what he starts. And I think
for churches, those are four key things to keep
kind of right here when it comes to mission and
vision. And you're going to hear a lot about
that over the coming three, four months. Vision
and mission. And what does that look like for
214 Ridge Road? But the thread of faithfulness
to God is one that we cannot. gloss over here
at Munster Church. All you have to do is look
at the history boards going all the way back
to Reverend Malama, right, 155 years ago, though
he wasn't the pastor at that time yet, to be
able to say that a century and a half of God's
faithfulness has been upon this church, and not
because all of us are awesome, but because God
is, and that God is faithful. And that's really
the bridge of God's faithfulness from the start
of the church to Advent. Because hope is really
the first celebration in Advent. It's not sentimental.
Even though we can get wrapped up in all the
ribbons and the bows of the coming weeks. What
Advent is, is it's historical. It's covenantal.
It's deeply rooted in the character of God. The
same God who called, who empowered, and sent
the early church. Is the God that spoke through
the prophets. Promising a hope of the Messiah.
Capital M. And who faithfully fulfilled the promise
in the person of Jesus. Acts shows us the church
on mission because Jesus came. The Messiah came.
Advent shows us the Messiah in promise. In prophecy.
which is always exciting and a little scary,
or a lot of scary, and in the incarnation of
Jesus coming as a baby. So, El Peace, our Advent
journey, is going to be on hope. And one of the
things I want you to take time with this week
is, what are the things you put your hope in?
What are the things that you hope for in life?
We all, together, walk through a hope that one
day... Whether this church or another church,
Sloan, hopefully this church, that Sloan stands
on this stage and declares her faith in Jesus
Christ. That is hope. And that is hope that we
are excited to have. But if we're being honest,
sometimes our hope can be a pretty flippant thing
in our life. Whether it's hope for something
very small and really doesn't mean much, to hope
that, oh, when I ask her, she's going to say
yes. For those that might be looking to get engaged
this year or just got engaged. There's hope that
we have for all the things. But what's deeply
rooted in the character, in the fabric of who
God is and what Jesus means to us in our life
as Lord and Savior is hope. But a hope that comes
with perspective. And that's what we're going
to journey in this month. So let's look first
from the hope from the past. So we're looking
at hope from the past, the faithfulness of God.
That is going to be kind of our first point.
And we're going to look at Jeremiah 33. We're
just going to look at two verses today that we're
going to find ourselves as we start Advent. Behold,
the days are coming, declares the Lord, when
I will fulfill the promise I made to the house
of Israel and the house of Judah. In those days,
at that time, I will cause a righteous branch
to spring up for David. And he shall execute
justice and righteousness in the land. In those
days Judah will be saved and Jerusalem will dwell
securely. This is the name by which it will be
called, the Lord is our righteousness. Jeremiah
and Isaiah, known as the weeping prophets, had
a job that none of us would want to do. That
they had to go and prophesy really hard things
to the people of Israel. Right? Jeremiah, we
find, writing this to a broken nation. Jerusalem
has already been besieged. The king is weak.
The temple is compromised. Idolatry run rampant.
The exile is near. Hope almost gone. And then
God wakes Jeremiah up as a prophet. To go say
these things to a people, to a nation. But what
God says and what they may be experiencing are
not necessarily the same. And in that we find
hope. God says the days are coming. Not they
might come. We're going to roll the dice. It
could happen. Not I'm thinking about doing this,
but I'm not totally sure. But he says declaratively,
the days are coming. You see, hope begins not
with our circumstances, but with the promise
-keeping character of God. That God keeps his
promise. How many of you have always kept your
promises that you've made in your life always
ever absolute? Bingo. God does. I'll take my
hand down because I haven't. Hope begins not
with our circumstances. Because I guarantee if
you sat down with the people of Israel, all the
bad things I just listed that were going on for
them, my guess is the hope of a Messiah like
Jesus was going to be wasn't going to be their
first choice. Their hope was going to be in not
going to exile. Not being beaten down by surrounding
people groups. That the temple wouldn't be compromised.
That they would live holy lives. But something
needed to change. And it's a righteous branch.
That he says. That he gives that message. God
promises a branch from David. Right then and
there. That's going to give people hope. Why?
Because David was the king that they looked to.
If you really read the prophets, that this shoot
from David, this offshoot, this lineage of David
was going to come a Messiah like they have never
seen or heard before. A Messiah that would execute
justice and righteousness. This is covenant language.
God has been consistent in his covenant throughout
history. God is reminding his people as they're
sitting in the muck, in the mire of what is to
come. The promise holds true. I have not abandoned
what I promised. My covenant stands. My word
remains. So now, fast forward that to your 2025.
In the muck and mire you may find yourself today.
Does that promise still give you hope? Does that
promise still give you comfort? I have not abandoned
what I promised. My covenant stands. My word
remains. This continuity is called the covenant
of grace. The way God weaves his story through
Genesis, all the way through Malachi, into Bethlehem,
onto Calvary, into the empty tomb. That you are
a part of God's covenant. That God has called
you. Not because you're awesome, not because
I'm awesome, but that is what his covenant calls
for us to recognize him as Lord and Savior and
to live a life as holy as we can on this side
of glory. Understanding that when we are asked
what I declared in the beginning of Ida's service
yesterday, the question that comes to us from
the Heidelberg Catechism, Lord's Day One, what
is your only comfort in life and in death? The
covenant answer is not that I am my own and I
do this all my way. No. It's I am not my own,
but I belong, body and soul, in life and in death,
to my faithful Savior, Jesus Christ. And then
it lists the ways that that happens. Hope from
the past means the God who promised is the God
who will always deliver. But here's the thing.
Some of us, I don't know if we buy it. We think
that's a little hallmarky. That's a little kitschy.
I don't know if I like that. The God who promises
is the God who always delivers. Can we use always
and never when it comes to God? Friend, hear
me today. Absolutely we can. Guess what? You
and I cannot. It's one of the biggest teachings
I give in premarital counseling before the wedding
and in marriage counseling afterwards. Because
it's funny. They're taught not to use it in premarital.
You can't say to your spouse, you always do that
or you never do that. Right? Never a good idea.
Okay? Don't do that. Yet as they get into their
marriage, right, a couple years, a couple months,
maybe an hour, all of a sudden it starts up again.
You always do that. You never do that. And that
doesn't help in conversation, doesn't it? It
just shuts conversation down. But when it comes
to God with what he promises, he will always
deliver. That is the hope that Jeremiah is trying
to bring to a broken people. You will not remain
broken. God has not abandoned you. Let me ask
today, how many of you may need to hear that
today? Maybe not in the same way the Israelites
did back in Jeremiah's day. But maybe you're
at the end of your rope. Maybe you just can't
seem to figure it out. Maybe sleep has escaped
you because anxiety has set in. Have you forgotten
that God will deliver you? But the hard part
is, it might not be in the way we want it to
go. That's pretty consistent in the Bible, isn't
it? That God's going to show up the way God,
the sovereign God, the creator God, decides to
show up in your life. And when that differs from
ours, sometimes it wavers our confidence or our
assurance of our faith in God. Well, that's hope
for the present. Right? Hope for the present
means that we wait in confidence. You see, Jeremiah's
audience had to wait. Where did we hear that
about two and a half months ago? Where did we
hear the waiting? Does anyone remember? Go ahead.
Yeah, the church. He was calling the church,
Acts chapter 1, but they were told to wait for
the Holy Spirit. That part of a Christian's life
is waiting. In uncertainty, in fear, maybe even
in longing, we might be called to wait. We wait
for the news to change. We wait for the marriage
to heal. We wait for that prodigal to return.
We wait for clarity about futures. We wait for
answers to prayer. We wait on direction from
God. Let's be honest. Our waiting often feels
like silence, doesn't it? But Advent tells us
that waiting is not empty. Waiting is, in fact,
discipleship. Let that wreck your week, month,
year, whatever. I don't like to wait. Yes, it
would be better if my relationship with God was
more like Burger King's motto, right? My way,
right away, at my relationship with Christ now.
It's not like that. That we are called to wait.
And if you struggle with that, come and join
me. That means the Lord's teaching us patience.
How many of us are patient? Oh, I thought at
least a couple of you would raise your hand.
We have a lot of work to do. We'll get there.
But Advent tells us waiting is not empty. Waiting
is discipleship. That's why Advent, the waiting
we do in Advent, is not a passive waiting. It's
active. That when we wait on the Lord, it's actually
an active thing. That means we're seeking. That
means we're studying. That means we're praying.
When we're in that season of waiting, it's a
lot easier for us to just kind of turn all that
off. When God says, no, lock it in. Let's dig
down, dig deep. Scripture never calls us to passively
wait. Never to sit in the corner and just hope
that things will magically get better. Advent
waiting is active. And here's a list of those
activities. We wait with obedience. We wait with
prayer. We wait with repentance. We wait with
expectation. We wait trusting the promises of
God. Because here is something that I was told
years ago in the beginning of my ministry. That
God will not bless until he knows we're ready
for the blessing. Now, I could probably fight
that theologically. I may be able to argue that
from a scripture point of view. But I'm probably
wrong. That if God is ready to bless you. the
first thing you have to understand is that blessing
might not be what you want it to be. And we need
to be able to discern that. We need to be able
to have that perspective. That is why the L piece,
that hope that we're going to talk about for
the next four weeks, rests not in things, not
in an idea, but in a person. Because through
the person of Christ, our hope and our waiting
is fulfilled. Paul says in Romans 5, we rejoice
in hope of the glory of God because God's love
has been poured into our hearts through the work
of the Holy Spirit. Advent hope is a present
tense strength. We have the hope now to wait.
We look at that as passive or a negative. It's
not. It's positive. Be waiting in that hope.
Be waiting to see God work. Because when Jeremiah
promises a righteous branch who will bring justice
and righteousness, he is pointing to that only
high priest. That Messiah's prophetic and priestly
work is going to begin. But guess what? The Sermon
on the Mount doesn't happen the day after Jesus
is born. But in the most lowly of places, in
a feeding trough in a barn, the Son of God is
born. I wish we had more kind of insights of
Jesus' childhood. We have a little, not a lot.
But then we see him come on the scene in his
baptism, his temptation in the wilderness, his
healings, his miracles, his sermons. You see,
the Heidelberg Catechism 31 reminds us that this
Jesus that we're waiting for, that we find our
hope in, is prophet, priest, and king. He is
prophet. He reveals who God is. He reveals who
God is to us. He is our priest, meaning he intercedes
and sacrifices for us. The cross. And he is the
king who rules and protects us. So what aspect
of Jesus do you need today? As you look back
on a month that was, you look to a very busy
month to come. Does Christ need to reveal to
you more of who God is in your life? The biggest
revelation, if we're calling a spade a spade,
is that God is God and we are not. God is big
and we are little. That's how it should be. Maybe
you need that priest. Maybe you just need that
intercession, those sins, that crying out that
you're doing, trying to make sense of it yourself.
You need to throw on the two -by -fours of the
cross and recognize that Christ already died
for that. He died for you. Or do you need the
king? Do you need to understand that you are
not the ruler of your life? That you aren't the
center of that. That God hems you in front and
back and side to side and he protects you. Because
that is our peace. That is our hope. Because
Jesus is all three for us. Hope for the present
is grounded in Christ's ongoing work. Just because
he has ascended into glory doesn't mean he's
not at work anymore. But it's something that
we look forward to in the future. Our peace is
hope for the future. The Lord is our righteousness.
Jeremiah ends with a phrase that echoes the whole
history of redemption. And this is the name by
which he will be called. The Lord is our righteousness.
Why is that important? Why is righteousness so
important? Because that is what... What God sees
over you. Instead of seeing all your dirty laundry,
all your muck and your mire, all of my muck and
mire, Christ imputes his righteousness onto us.
So when God looks at us, he sees Christ's righteousness.
So let me ask, how are you walking that out?
Ouch. That is very convicting for me. How am
I walking out Christ's righteousness? There are
days I don't do a good job of that, and I'm sure
you're walking that with me. This is not poetic
fluff, my friends. This is the gospel. This is
hope facing forward because Christ is our righteousness.
This is justification. His righteousness is counted
as ours. Our sins are counted unto him. I'm not
going to lie. That's not a fair trade, is it?
We offer Christ nothing, yet he gives us everything
in his life, death, and resurrection. Our hope
is that Christ is coming again. We are in a post
-ascension society. That's where we are in history.
Advent is not only about Bethlehem, it looks
forward as well as backward. We don't just remember
his first coming, we prepare for his second coming.
And here's the thing, none of us know when that's
going to be. But if it were to be tomorrow, are
you right with the Lord? Because Christ will
put all things right. That's the third point
of his righteousness. The righteous branch will
bring a righteous judgment, a righteous restoration,
and a righteous peace to all of his people. That's
why Paul calls Jesus our blessed hope in Titus
chapter 2. In a broken world, in a violent world,
in an anxious world, in a world that feels like
exile, if we're honest, the future of God's people
is not fear, but peace, but hope. Not darkness,
but light. Not defeat, but victory. So as we
land the plane today, I want us to think about
Advent as a cross -shaped... That understanding
that he was born to die. As we begin Advent 2025,
let's root ourselves not just in the manger,
but in the mission that Christ has for all of
us. You were born to die so one day I could pray
to you to save my life. Let that wreck your day
today. Let that kind of take in your thoughts
of what you thought the week was going to be.
The manger and the cross are made of the same
wood. Bethlehem is already pointing to Calvary.
Hope comes wrapped in flesh and laid in a feeding
trough because our Savior was born to die, rise,
reign, and return. That is the mission of Advent.
So let's wait. Let's wait together. How should
we do that? Well, Let's spend some time this
month to look back. God has always been faithful.
He fulfills his promises in the person of Jesus.
Let us stand in the present. Christ is our prophet,
our priest, and our king right now, in this moment.
And we trust him for our waiting. And then together,
let's look forward. He will come again. He will
make all things new. Hope has a name, and his
name is Jesus. So this week, Munster Church,
as we enter Advent, not with frantic busyness,
wishness, or seasonal stress, but let's sit in
holy anticipation. The Lord is our righteousness.
He keeps his promises. He will forever be our
hope. Let's pray.