SPECIAL DAYS: December 1, First Sunday in Advent

December 1, 2002 - Lessons: Isaiah 64.1-8; Mark 13.24-27

Sermon Title: Silent Night-Holy Light

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INTRODUCTION:

The following is one J. Walter Cross' favorite Christmas stories because it tells of a frequently encountered human dilemma. (1)

The heroine of this story was doing a final check of the things-to-do-before-Christmas list and discovered she had forgotten to send any Christmas cards. Though the time was short, the clock had not yet struck midnight. She rushed into a store and found two boxes of cards--already marked 50 percent off. Without reading or even really looking at them, she feverishly began addressing and signing the cards. Dashing to the post office, she shoved them onto the counter just as the clerk was reaching for his This window closed sign.

On Christmas day, when things had quieted down a bit and some semblance of order had been restored, she noticed that one of those last minute cards had been left over. She wondered, What was the message I sent to my friends? Opening the card, she stared unbelievingly at the words: 'This card is just a note to say...A little gift is on the way...I have a pretty good idea what she was going to be doing on the day after Christmas.

  1. It is time for Billboards and Bumper Stickers.
    1. Keep Christ in Christmas
    2. Jesus Is the Reason for the Season
    3. Of course, the hot item this year just might push Christmas into the background.
      1. The bumper sticker reads: "What would Jesus drive?"
      2. If you get tired of Christmas preparations, wrestle with this one.
      3. Actually is a serious environmental question.
    4. We are reminded of the purpose of the Season.
  2. There is something much more important to consider on this first Sunday of Advent.
    1. It is expressed well in an Advent Hymn.

COME THOU LONG EXPECTED JESUS

Words: Charles Wesley, 1744

Come, thou long-expected Jesus,
born to set thy people free;
from our fears and sins release us,
let us find our rest in thee.

Israel's strength and consolation,
hope of all the earth thou art:
dear desire of every nation,
joy of every longing heart.

Born thy people to deliver,
born a child, and yet a king,
born to reign in us for ever,
now thy gracious kingdom bring.

By thine own eternal Spirit
rule in all our hearts alone;
by thine all-sufficient merit
raise us to thy glorious throne.

    1. Christmas is not only an extraordinary event, it is a promise.

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MAIN BODY:

  1. It is a promise in two parts.
    1. Humanity is not only promised a Savior.
      1. We celebrate Christmas as the coming of the Messiah to save people from their sins.
      2. We rejoice in the realized accomplishments of the Savior.
    2. The coming of the Messiah paves the way for the coming of the Kind of kings and the Lord of Lords.
  2. When is the last time that you had a conversation with anyone about the "Second coming of Christ?"
    1. What? What are you talking about?
    2. You do believe in the doctrine of the "Second Coming of Christ?"
    3. The Second coming of Jesus is the foundation and goal of my hope.
  3. There is in the Christian's hymnology many songs which embrace the theme.

The King Is Coming (2)

O the king is coming, the king is coming!
I just heard the trumpets sounding,
And now his face I see;
O the king is coming, the king is coming!
Praise God, he's coming for me.

The market place is empty,
No more traffic in the streets,
All the builder's tools are silent,
No more time to harvest wheat;

Busy housewives cease their labors,
In the court rooms no debate,
Work on earth is all suspended
As the king comes through the gates.

O the king is coming, the king is coming!
I just heard the trumpets sounding,
And now his face I see;
O the king is coming, the king is coming!
Praise God, he's coming for me.

Happy faces line the hallways,
Those whose lives have been redeemed,
Broken homes he has mended,
Those from prison he has freed;
Little children and the aged

Hand in hand stand all aglow,
Who were crippled, broken, ruined,
Clad in garments white as snow.
O the king is coming, the king is coming!

I just heard the trumpets sounding,
And now his face I see;
O the king is coming, the king is coming!
Praise God, he's coming for me.

I can hear the chariots rumble,
I can see the marching throng,
The flurry of God's trumpets
Spells the end of sin and wrong;

Regal robes are now unfolding,
Heaven's grandstands all in place,
Heaven's choir is now assembled,
Start to sing "Amazing Grace!"

O the king is coming, the king is coming!
I just heard the trumpets sounding,
And now his face I see;
O the king is coming, the king is coming!
Praise God, he's coming for me.

    1. Face to Face

Face to face with Christ my Savior,
Face to face what will it be,
When with rapture I behold him,
Jesus Christ who died for me

    1. Lift Up the Trumpet, and Loud Let It Ring

Lift up the trumpet and loud let it ring;
Jesus is coming again
Cheer up ye pilgrims, be joyful and sing;
Jesus is coming again.

    1. The Coming King Is at the Door

The coming king is at the door,
Who once the cross for sinner bore,
Bt now righteous ones alone,
He comes to gather home.

    1. Jesus Is coming Again

Marvelous message we bring,
Glorious carol we sing,
Wonderful word of the king--
Jesus is coming again!

Coming again, Coming again;
May be morning, may be noon,
Maybe evening and may be soon!
Coming again, coming again;
O what a wonderful day it will be--
Jesus is coming again!

    1. Here is one more song with a very poignant question that we are called on to answer.
      1. The words are:

The theme of the Bible is Jesus,
And how he died to save men.
The plan of salvation assures us,
He's coming back again.

Are you ready for Jesus to come?
Are you faithful in all that you do?
Have you fought a good fight;
Have you stood for the right:
Have others seen Jesus in you.
Are you ready to stand in your place?
Are you ready to look in his face?
Can you look up and say, "This is my God!"
Are you ready for Jesus to come?

Don't cling to the world and it's treasure,
This earth will soon pass away.
O give him your love without measure,
He's calling you today.

Are you ready for Jesus to come?
Are you faithful in all that you do?
Have you fought a good fight;
have you stood for the right;
Have others seen Jesus in you.
Are you ready to stand in your place?
Are you ready to look in his face?
Can you look up and say, "This is my God!"
Are you ready for Jesus to come?

    1. What marvelous songs that so dramatically focus attention on one of the fundamental Christian doctrines.
      1. The theme of the Bible is Jesus and how he died to save men and women and children.
      2. The plan of salvation assures us that he's coming back again.

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  1. The Second Coming is a reality for the Christian because:
    1. Jesus promised.
    2. Mark 13:24-27, NRSV
      1. Mark records in chapter 13, verse 1 that as Jesus "came out of the temple, one of his disciples said to him, 'Look, Teacher, what large stones and what large buildings!'"
      2. In verses 2 through 4, Jesus asked him, "Do you see these great buildings? Not one stone will be left here upon another; all will be thrown down."
        1. When he was sitting on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter, James, John, and Andrew asked him privately, "Tell us, when will this be, and what will be the sign that all these things are about to be accomplished?"
      3. Part of what Jesus said in response is found in our lesson of today.
        1. "But in those days, after that suffering, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will be falling from heaven, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken.
        2. Then they will see 'the Son of Man (that's Jesus) coming in clouds' with great power and glory. Then he will send out the angels, and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of heaven.
  2. For us and for a lot of people the question is often "When?"
    1. We are not to be like the people of which Peter wrote with such longing.
    2. 2 Peter 3:3-13 (NRSVA)

3First of all you must understand this, that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and indulging their own lusts 4and saying, "Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since our ancestors died, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation!" 5They deliberately ignore this fact, that by the word of God heavens existed long ago and an earth was formed out of water and by means of water, 6through which the world of that time was deluged with water and perished. 7But by the same word the present heavens and earth have been reserved for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the godless.

8But do not ignore this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like one day. 9The Lord is not slow about his promise, as some think of slowness, but is patient with you, not wanting any to perish, but all to come to repentance. 10But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a loud noise, and the elements will be dissolved with fire, and the earth and everything that is done on it will be disclosed.

11Since all these things are to be dissolved in this way, what sort of persons ought you to be in leading lives of holiness and godliness, 12waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set ablaze and dissolved, and the elements will melt with fire? 13But, in accordance with his promise, we wait for new heavens and a new earth, where righteousness is at home.

  1. So, our cry ought to be like the ancient Prophet Isaiah in Isaiah 64. 1-9.
    1. O that you would tear open the heavens and come down, so that the mountains would quake at your presence--as when fire kindles brushwood and the fire causes water to boil--to make your name known to your adversaries, so that the nations might tremble at your presence!
    2. When you did awesome deeds that we did not expect, you came down, the mountains quaked at your presence.
      1. From ages past no one has heard, no ear has perceived, no eye has seen any God besides you, who works for those who wait for him.
      2. You meet those who gladly do right, those who remember you in your ways.
    3. But there was a change
      1. We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a filthy cloth.
      2. We all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.
      3. There is no one who calls on your name, or attempts to take hold of you; for you have hidden your face from us, and have delivered us into the hand of our iniquity.
    4. But there is a yet
      1. Yet, O LORD, you are our Father; we are the clay, and you are our potter; we are all the work of your hand.
      2. Do not be exceedingly angry, O LORD, and do not remember iniquity forever. Now consider, we are all your people.
  2. There are significant and very important reasons for the Second Coming of Jesus.
    1. The purpose of the Second Coming is for the gathering of all God's people into one nation.
    2. The purpose of the Second Coming is for cleansing.
    3. The purpose of the Second Coming is for restoration.

Barry Bailey of Fort Worth, Texas, tells of a man selling his farm. He hired an advertising company to write some copy describing the assets of the property. When the farmer heard the statement read, he said, I'd like to hear it again. So, the advertising executive read the statement once more. Whereupon the farmer said: Forget it. I'm not going to sell. When the man asked why, the farmer replied: I've always wanted to own a place like that.

CONCLUSION:

In the closing chapter of Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn, Huck and his friend Tom Sawyer are hatching a plot to liberate old Jim, a runaway slave whom Tom's uncle has imprisoned in a cabin.

Tom's imagination runs riot as he makes a long list of all the equipment that they will need for the elaborate rescue operation.

It will be comparable to some of the great escapes in history, he speculates. It could take years and years, perhaps even a lifetime to carry through.

Meanwhile, what about poor old Jim, chained to his bed in the dark lonely cabin, without food and drink? He seems to be forgotten.

He is only a prop in the drama. The rescue operation itself has become more important than the person to be rescued.

  1. Jesus HAS COME, He is coming again.
    1. Do not doubt
    2. Do not be delay in preparing.

1. As told by J. Walter Cross, Bradenton, Florida, 26 December 1993.

2. © Words: Gloria Gaither, stanzas 1, 2, 3; William J. Gaither, stanzas 1, 2, 3; Music: William J. Gaither. Copyright by William J. Gaither.

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