https://www.bible.com/events/49176570
Church of the Nazarene – East Rock
God With Us – In the Waiting
The most faithful people of the first advent were the ones who didn’t let waiting cloud their hope.
Today we kick off our Advent series entitled “God with Us”.
Christmas, in a word, is about presence. You can’t talk about the significance of Christmas, the most life-changing story in human history, without talking about presence.
This week we begin by understanding why the presence of God with us is such a foundational part of Christmas, and how we can experience His presence in seasons of waiting.
Matthew 1:18-23
This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly. But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”).
-Matthew wants to make sure that we understand more about what type of Savior this would be, so he points back to the prophecy in the book of Isaiah some 700 years earlier. His name literally means, ‘God with us’.
-We live on the other side of Christmas, and the other side of the cross and resurrection. Perhaps it’s difficult to imagine the glory in the presence of God – God actually being with us – unless you know what it’s like to be away from His presence, which is the Israelites had experienced for far too long.
John 1:14
The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
John 1:14
The Word became flesh and blood, and moved into the neighborhood. We saw the glory with our own eyes, the one-of-a-kind glory, like Father, like Son, Generous inside and out, true from start to finish.
The presence of God with us changes everything.
Over the next few weeks, we are going to talk about what it means that God is with us no matter where we find ourselves:
-He is with us in the waiting…waiting for answers, for the fulfillment of His promise.
-He is with us in our uncertainty, in spite of our doubts and fears.
-He is with us in the midst of obscurity, when our present reality seems insignificant or undesirable.
-He is with us always, both now and for all eternity.
The arrival of Jesus didn’t happen until after there were 400 years of silence. Four centuries of waiting.
-If you think about it, the Christmas story is a story of waiting, so it’s only fitting that we would begin our series talking about “God with us in the waiting.”
-Some may have waited so long; they forgot about the promised Messiah and went on with their lives, or perhaps some believed it was a promise that wouldn’t come true.
-But the people we find in the story of the first Christmas hadn’t forgotten:
Mary, Joseph, and the shepherds. The people present for the young life of Jesus hadn’t let 400 years cloud their memory – the Magi, Simeon and Anna.
Romans 4:18-22
Even when there was no reason for hope, Abraham kept hoping—believing that he would become the father of many nations. For God had said to him, “That’s how many descendants you will have!” And Abraham’s faith did not weaken, even though, at about 100 years of age, he figured his body was as good as dead—and so was Sarah’s womb. Abraham never wavered in believing God’s promise. In fact, his faith grew stronger, and in this he brought glory to God. He was fully convinced that God is able to do whatever he promises. And because of Abraham’s faith, God counted him as righteous.
How we wait matters. What we do ‘in the waiting’ matters to God.
That’s why we see Abraham’s name attached to the Christmas story. At the start of Mathew’s Gospel, in the lineage of names, begins with Abraham.
Through Abraham’s obedience, even in the face of waiting, we receive the Presence of God, God with us, Jesus the Messiah.
Matthew 1:1
This is the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah the son of David, the son of Abraham:
Matthew 1:17
Thus there were fourteen generations in all from Abraham to David, fourteen from David to the exile to Babylon, and fourteen from the exile to the Messiah.
Two questions for us to consider:
1. What are you waiting for?
2. How are you waiting?
Bottom Line:
The most faithful people of the first advent were the ones who didn’t let waiting cloud their hope.
Verses for further study/reflection:
Exodus 33:15
Isaiah 40:31
Isaiah 53
Malachi 4:2-3
Luke 1:18-25
2 Peter 3:8-9
Updates on the new Waynesboro campus
God is inviting us to step out in faith to plant a Spanish-speaking campus in the Waynesboro community. Join us on the journey!
Check out the link below for more information and for frequent updates throughout the journey.
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