Advent Big Idea of the Series: This four-week series will focus on how the arrival of Jesus answers our deepest longings in life: our longing for Jesus to come anew into our lives (hope); his arrival in Bethlehem answering our longing for God to move in our lives (joy); our longing for a Savior (peace); and finally, the return of Jesus to make all things new (love). We will see how the longings themselves are God’s gifts to us. The four-week series will call us to celebrate Jesus’s arrival and eventual return by considering the many ways he has fulfilled our deepest needs of peace, joy, hope, and love. Week 1 – Hope Text: Luke 21:25–36 Topic(s): Hope, Advent, Promise, Jesus’s Return Big Idea of the Message: At Advent and Christmastime, we tend to focus on the birth of Jesus, but we miss the point if we don’t also speak about his return. Application Point: God is a God of hope who calls us to look beyond the circumstance and trust again in his promises. Sermon Ideas and Talking Points:

1. Jesus’s words in Luke 21:25–36 were words meant to encourage, even if at first they don’t appear to do so. They speak to the common experience of fear or hopelessness that everyone is prone to feel. Everyone can understand the power of fear. But the heart of this teaching here is hope (Luke 21:28). “The great sign of the end is the return of Jesus, the Son of Man. You will see the full power and glory of Jesus. Yes, in Jesus God’s full glory will be revealed to the earth. All the earth will see. This will bring greater fear and consternation to those who are unprepared, but not for you” (Max Anders and Trent C. Butler, Luke, Holman New Testament Commentary [Nashville: B&H Publishing, 2000], 353, Logos).

2. Luke 21:34–36 speaks to the importance of guarding our hearts while waiting for Jesus to arrive. Morris explains the key words: “Dissipation (kraipalē) is properly the hangover after a carousal, ‘the vulgar word for that very vulgar experience.’ Dissipation and drunkenness are sins which are quite out of character for the

Christian, but, as Ryle remarks, ‘There is no sin so great but a great saint may fall into it: there is no saint so great but he may fall into a great sin.’ The cares of this life are much more insidious, but either kind of failing can cause people to be unprepared. Verse 35 makes it clear that Jesus is talking about the end of all things and 36 that his followers have a special responsibility. The prayer he urges involves an attitude of life, an attitude that seeks to flee worldly sins as the believer concentrates on the service of God. To stand before the Son of man is to possess the ultimate salvation” (Leon Morris, Luke: An Introduction and Commentary, Tyndale New Testament Commentaries [Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 1988], 318, Logos).

3. When speaking of what to do while we wait, Anders and Butler explain it well: “Jesus’ emphasis is not on knowledge but on action. Pray! Stay alert! Ask God for strength to escape the persecutions and wars and destructions. Pray that you may be one of those fortunate ones who sees the Son of Man when he returns. Then you will stand before him as he judges the world, and you will receive the reward coming to his faithful ones” (Anders and Butler, Luke, 356).

4. Sometimes our greatest struggle during the Advent season is to slow down and savor what it means that Jesus came centuries ago to provide salvation and that he will one day return to provide complete restoration. In the in-between, we must learn to rest in his promises. Adam Ramsey says, “Advent is a way of reminding us that we are pilgrims passing through; that the brokenness of this world isn’t how it’s always going to be; that the true King is indeed coming soon.” He gives some great suggestions on how to take time this season to engage with the hope we have in Christ (Adam Ramsey, “Tired Just Thinking about Advent? Slow Down and Savor Christ,” The Gospel Coalition, November 26, 2018, https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/advent-slow-down-savor-christ/).

5. In her blog post, Nicole Rule writes, “Irony of ironies, I feel like my life is least integrated—my values and my finances are least connected—during Christmas.” Given this introspection, she then suggests ways to move toward more intentionality rather than runaway consumerism at Christmas (Nicole Rule, “Having an Intentional Christmas,” Mommy on Purpose [blog], November 12, 2017, https://mommyonpurpose.com/intentional-christmas/).

6. Hope will break through in moments we least expect it. Here is an example of how a group of people in a food court were awakened to this kind of hope: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXh7JR9oKVE.

7. Hope can be a tricky concept because so much around us seems to say that we have to settle, because life just is what it is—or even worse, life is altogether hopeless. However, the message at Advent is that God is a God of hope who calls us to look beyond the circumstance and trust again in his promises. Jesus’s arrival centuries ago was significant, but his return will be even more powerful.

Week 2 – Joy Text: John 1:19–34; Philippians 4:4–9 Topic(s): Joy, Advent, Jesus’s Birth, Promises Big Idea of the Message: Everyone longs for joy that lasts. Jesus brings the joy we need, but we must be willing to come to him to receive it. Application Point: To experience enduring joy, we will need to let Jesus’s arrival be a holy invasion of every part of our lives. Sermon Ideas and Talking Points:

1. John the Baptizer is a great example of how to learn to celebrate joy in the Advent season. The son of an elderly couple in the line of Aaron (Luke 1:5–25), John grows up to be the promised forerunner of the Lord. In this passage, John is found calling people out to the wilderness to hear the message of God’s Anointed One arriving (John 1:23–24). John’s call is for people to come and prepare for the Messiah’s arrival by preparing themselves. The Pharisees want an answer for why John is doing what he’s doing, and it’s simple: “The Lord has sent me.” This is a great reminder to us that after the resurrection of Jesus, the church has become the voice crying out in the wilderness. Like John, we must do what we are called to with a spirit of awe and joy. Just like John’s experience, it will come with risk, but it’s worth the risk. William Barclay writes, “A great Preacher once said ‘Jesus Christ came not to make life easy but to make men great’” (William Barclay, The Gospel of Luke, The New Daily Study Bible [Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2001], 18, Logos).

2. One of the great lessons from John’s life is that he was obedient to God’s calling, no matter the outcome. As he is questioned by the Pharisees, he remains firm in his convictions. It’s clear that when God called him to go, he did so with great confidence and assurance that God’s plan was still in effect. Eugene Peterson says, “The assumption of spirituality is that always God is doing something before I know it. So the task is not to get God to do something I think needs to be done, but to become aware of what God is doing so that I can respond to it and participate and take delight in it” (Eugene Peterson, foreword to The Contemplative Pastor: Returning to the Art of Spiritual Direction, interview by Rodney Clapp [1989; repr., Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1993], 4).

3. Timothy Paul Jones reminds us that Advent is really a season of waiting, and the waiting is critical to appreciating the arrival of Jesus—in any context. “In a religious milieu that has fixated itself on using Jesus to provide seekers with their most convenient lives here and now, Advent is a particularly awkward intrusion. Advent links our hearts with those of ancient prophets who pined for a long-promised Messiah but passed long before his arrival” (Timothy Paul Jones, “Why Celebrate Advent,” The Gospel Coalition, December 1, 2015, https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/why-celebrate-advent/).

4. Though it might not seem appropriate, it may be good for some people to take a more solemn approach during Advent, while others may try to be more festive due to the excitement surrounding both arrivals of Jesus—birth and return. Here’s a great article giving suggestions on some other practices that would be

helpful for people to participate in as they prepare for Christmas (http://www.veritasacademy.com/headmasters-blog/7-ideas-for-celebrating-advent-with-your-family).

5. Reflecting on the way advertisers try to sell us happiness during the holiday season, this blogger writes, “Stripy socks are nice, but will they make me happy? Will they grant me fulfilment, sparkling wit, an attractive personality, status, money, the admiration of the people I myself admire? Do I, in fact, really want any of these things? … I went so far as writing my first maxim, like so: ‘1. Admire, without the need to acquire.’ … Living a passive life in which we can simply purchase all we desire is not, I think, the route to a fulfilling life” (“I Already Have Everything I Need,” The Life Experiment [blog], December 29, 2017, https://thelifeexperimentsite.wordpress.com/2017/12/29/i-already-have-everything-i-need/).

6. Many people sing Christmas carols at this time of the year to celebrate the joy of Jesus’s arrival centuries ago. One the favorite carols, however, is actually based on Jesus’s return, not his birth. See the story here: https://www.umcdiscipleship.org/resources/history-of-hymns-joy-to-the-world.

7. When we speak of joy at Advent, we tend to focus on what we will experience at our celebration of the birth of Christ. But we would do well to remember that the only reason we can look forward to joy is because of Jesus’s suffering for us following his first advent. During this season, it might be fruitful to take some time to reflect on why joy is possible and what it might look like to live it out in our lives today as we await his final advent.

Week 3 – Peace Text: Luke 3:1–17, Isaiah 9:6 Topic(s): Peace, Advent, Jesus, Salvation Big Idea of the Message: John’s message prepared people for Jesus’s arrival, which would bring peace. Application Point: The world longs for salvation—for the coming of peace, when all is made right in our lives and in the world. During Advent, we are called again to bring the foretaste of the Prince of Peace’s salvation into our areas of influence. Sermon Ideas and Talking Points:

1. The story of John the Baptizer is a great way to assess our longing for salvation. John came with a message that challenged every member of the community. His message demanded repentance and preparation for all people (Luke 3:3–6). No one was exempt from the call. John’s message created a personal crisis for people that could be resolved only through repentance and baptism. Stephen Farris says, “John the Baptist comes to provoke personal and collective crisis (Mal 3:1-4) at the coming near of God. He is not an ‘I'm ok, you're ok’ prophet. This last of the Old Testament prophets straddles the BCE/CE divide. He signals upheaval just around the corner in the midst of settled political and religious arrangements. In the days of emperors, rulers, and high priestly appointments, the word of the Lord came to John in the wilderness” (Stephen Farris, Abingdon

Theological Companion to the Lectionary: Preaching Year C [Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2012], Second Sunday of Advent, Kindle).

2. Advent calls us to embrace the freedom God offers. John called people to repent so they would be prepared for the arrival of the Lord (Luke 3:5–6). This season is a good time to remind believers that they are both to proclaim the return of the Lord and to be participants in preparing the way. It’s time to accept our personal responsibility in the matter of salvation, redemption, and proclaiming the message. John challenges the religious leaders to ask hard questions of themselves—the same kinds of questions that followers must ask themselves today (Luke 3:7–9). We must remember that until Jesus returns, we (the church) are our generation’s John the Baptist.

3. The message of salvation at the time of Advent is planted firmly in the garden of grace. There cannot be a message of God’s salvation through Jesus without the willingness to see that grace fuels the message from the beginning. Kärkkäinen quotes John Calvin, speaking of the message of John the Baptist, “[He] does not say, ‘Repent ye, and in this way the kingdom of heaven will afterwards be at hand;’ but first brings forward the grace of God, and then exhorts men to repent. Hence it is evident, that the foundation of repentance is the mercy of God by which he restores the lost” (John Calvin, quoted in Veli-Matti Kärkkäinen, Feasting on the Word: Year C, vol. 1, Advent through Transfiguration, ed. David L. Bartlett and Barbara Brown Taylor [Louisville, KY: John Knox Press, 2009], Luke 3:1–6, Kindle).

4. Peace is not an easy topic. But stories of how people found peace through the Lord are key in passing along its promise to others. A great example of this can be found in the story behind the nineteenth-century hymn “It is Well with My Soul,” by Horatio Spafford (https://www.umcdiscipleship.org/resources/history-of-hymns-it-is-well-with-my-soul).

5. When we speak about taking responsibility for the various ways salvation can be experienced in people’s day-to-day lives, we must acknowledge the needs of the world as they are. Here are some links to pages that deal with matters of poverty, human trafficking, and basic human rights. These are things Jesus came to save us from, and at Advent we should be reminded of the global needs of the world: https://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/poverty/overview, https://www.globalslaveryindex.org/2018/findings/global-findings/.

6. When we contemplate peace at Advent, it must include the story of salvation. Jesus’s death is the only way peace comes to anyone. Without his death and resurrection, salvation is a moot point—we have nothing to talk about. Because of Jesus’s death and resurrection, however, we have a profound message of peace to proclaim.

Week 4 – Love Text: Luke 1:39–55 Topic(s): Love, Advent, Jesus, Promises Big Idea of the Message: Mary celebrates God’s great gift to her after visiting her cousin Elizabeth. Application Point: During Advent, we are called to stop and consider the many ways God has shown and continues to show us his love. Sermon Ideas and Talking Points:

1. It is exciting to consider what Elizabeth must have been feeling when Mary came to see her. Luke 1:41 tells us, “When Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the baby leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.” “Elizabeth is filled with the Holy Spirit as she speaks to Mary. Such filling is common in the infancy account as various people address the key figures of the account and explain God’s plan (Zechariah in 1:67; Simeon in 2:27 is led by the Spirit). Thus, her response is not only an enthusiastic welcome of Mary, but it is a revelation of God’s mind. The Spirit for Luke is a Spirit who reveals, speaks, and guides (Luke 4:1; 12:12; Acts 15:28)” (Darrell L. Bock, Luke 1:1–9:50, Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament [Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 1994], 135, Logos). Some have argued that the movement in Elizabeth’s womb bears some similarity to the Genesis account of Jacob and Esau. If so, Luke is here offering a historical reminiscence and making a theological point. Craddock explains “The historical allusion is to Rebekah in whose womb Esau and Jacob struggled, the message being in both cases, ‘The elder shall serve the younger’ (Gen. 25:21–23). The theological point is that prenatal activity, because it precedes all merit or works, witnesses to the sovereign will of God” (Fred B. Craddock, Luke, Interpretation [Louisville, KY: John Knox Press, 1990], 29, Logos).

2. As Mary celebrates God’s ongoing provision, Luke records her song of appreciation (Luke 1:46–55). This song points to God’s ongoing presence in the lives of his people, his faithfulness throughout time. Mary celebrates God because he keeps his promises. Her humility is evident in the way she describes God and his relationship to her (1:50–55). As she had stated earlier to the angel (1:38), so now she affirms in celebration that she is the Lord’s servant and is grateful to serve him as he calls her (1:46–49). Michael Card explains her song this way: “With wisdom far beyond her years, she sings with gratitude that the Lord has looked with favor upon her, his slave. She sings of the hesed, or mercy, that he shows from generation to generation” (Michael Card, Luke: The Gospel of Amazement [Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2010], 41, Kindle).

3. Salvation doesn’t point only to the forgiveness of sins. The biblical picture of salvation can involve a variety ways God comes to deliver people. Though our understanding must always come back to salvation as the means by which God has restored and is restoring people to himself through Jesus, the celebration of salvation can refer to the way in which God is mindful of those in need and meets them where they are in the midst of their struggle. The song of Mary points to

God’s attentiveness to the needs of people, hearing their cries against injustice. Michael Wilcock explains that the Magnificat has sometimes been used by Christian brothers and sisters in different parts of the world as they wait for God to move among them and deliver them from their oppressors. He says, “But that is unfair to those of our brothers … who feel there is no answer to their problems without the overthrow of the political system. The renewal promised in the Magnificat really will involve the downfall of the rulers of this world. The question is when, and in what sense, and by what means, this will happen” (Michael Wilcock, The Message of Luke, The Bible Speaks Today [Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1979], 37, Logos).

4. The Magnificat of Mary is an amazing celebration of God’s love for people and for others. It speaks of her deep love for the Lord and his love for her as well as for the world at large. On U2’s album No Line on the Horizon, Bono and the Edge penned a song called “Magnificent.” “‘Magnificent’ was inspired by the Magnificat, a passage from the Gospel of Luke (in the voice of the Virgin Mary) that was previously set to music by Bach. ‘There’s this theme running through the album of surrender and devotion and all the things I find really difficult,’ Bono says. ‘All music for me is worship of one kind or another’” (Brian Hiatt, “U2: Hymns for the Future,” Rolling Stone, March 19, 2009, https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/u2-hymns-for-the-future-252732.

5. In the movie Elf, Buddy the elf (Will Ferrell) says that the best way to spread Christmas cheer is to sing loud for all to hear. Here is a great clip of a young man attempting to stir up Christmas cheer through playing the piano (https://youtu.be/i_NRCFXtn4U). Another illustration option is this video of a great group of people who went around at Christmastime singing carols and enjoying the opportunity to spread God’s gift of love (https://youtu.be/j5JvZXxzIOM).

6. We learn through Mary’s obedience that a song of appreciation is always appropriate when it comes to the worship of God. Advent beckons us to come forward with a song of praise for God’s deep, unending love for us.

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