Expectations

(L to R) Emily, Pastor Terry, Joe & Megan led worship today.

Pastor Terry White welcomed us, and began by talking to us about the meaning of Advent, this time of year when we think about the meaning of Christmas and the coming of Christ. Hope, love, joy and peace are the themes during the four weeks leading to Christmas.

Announcements
--Salvation Army shoes and clothing items barrel is still in the hall outside the sanctuary.
--Ladies Bible Stud, Tuesday 10:00 a.m.
--Wednesday night dinner and youth groups resume January 11
--It's not too early to think about the Father-Daughter Ball the two weekends before Valentine's Day

The Ringger family came forward and lit the Advent Candle for today, the candle of hope. The prophets spoke of the coming of the Messiah, our Hope, who would redeem the people from their sins.

Pastor Terry noted that though this is a message of hope for us, we can't help but be aware that much of the world remains in darkness and without hope. The Good News is that "The people walking in darkness have seen a great light."

What was it like in the time of Jesus when He was born? For 600-700 years the people of Israel had not had any freedom. It had been 400 years since God last spoke through a prophet to His people. Terry gave us a brief history lesson of this period, from Alexander the Great to the Seleucid Empire to the coming of the Roman Empire. The Roman Empire gave a lot of freedom to the lands they conquered but dealt with people in the most severe manner should they cross them, cause disruption to the Empire.

In the midst of despair we need to be reminded that we are not alone and that hope shines brightest in the midst of darkness. This has been a reality all through history, even from the first days of the church.

After sharing these thoughts we entered a time of worship followed by some very special, special music featuring McKenzie during the offering.

Cheryl Borndal led us in a time of prayer for the various needs in our church family.

Expectations

Death has died, God has won. Hallelujah!

Hope and peace do not rely on circumstances.

Herod learned early in his political career that the way to make someone happy is to give them money. So to please Rome he gave them money acquired through taxes. Hence, Jesus frequently talked about taxes. Herod also divvied out land to people he liked, and the political injustice was the norm.

Financially powerless, the poor had been afraid to dream. They lived in a period of oppression. Israel had been oppressed for generations.

It was in this context of tyranny that many of His peers had hope that Jesus would overthrow their oppressors. These were the Zealots. It was not the approach Jesus had in mind.

What is your expectation? What would bring you hope? When you listen to Jesus, what do you hear?

The kingdom of God is not like the kingdoms of this world.

Here are some verses about hope that were shared. You can look them up at BibleGateway.com.
Proverbs 13:12  "Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life."
Psalm 146:5
Psalm 147:11
Psalm 130:5
Where do you place your hope?
Jeremiah 14:22
Jeremiah 29:11
We then turned to the book of Lamentations, which begins with Israel's truly harsh sense of abandonment. Reading chapter three is heartbreaking, leading into... "He has broken my teeth with gravel... my splendor is gone, and all that I'd hoped for... I remember my affliction.... and yet, because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning...

But the Scriptures have much to say about hope, including Romans 15:13 and I Corinthians 13:13.

After reading each of the above passages, Pastor Terry ended by re-reading Lamentations 3:16-26
The Lord is good. 

Patience

After a warm welcome Pastor Brad introduced the service by noting what his theme would be today. "Advent is a time of waiting. What are you waiting for? How does God meet us in our waiting?" He added that even in our times of waiting God is at work.

Brad had the kids come forward to help pass out tamarack branches which we were encouraged to take home and place in a glass of water. We'll report on what we saw happen Christmas eve.

Announcements
~Kurt shared that there will be an abbreviated lock-in Dec 13, 6 p.m. till midnight.
~Dec 17, parents are encouraged to come meet with the youth group.
~There's a pizzas and brats fund raiser at Adolph Store to raise money to send kids to CHIC.

Darlene played a beautiful medley of Christmas music to usher us into worship. The women's chorus led us in a pair of Christmas hymns followed by the taking of the offering and collection of the Covenant World Relief soup cans.

John Vanderscheuren lit the first Advent candle as Christina read a passage from the scriptures. After special music by the women's chorus Brad took the pulpit to deliver the message.

Patience

Brad first read from Isaiah 64:1-9.

He then asked who our favorite superhero was. When Brad was a kid Superman was his hero, and he wanted to be like him.

In Old Testament Israel they were looking for a superhero. Their Messiah was the one they longed for. Their expectation was for an anointed one, who would be a king.

The two things they expected of this hero were that he would defeat their enemies in battle, and he would restore worship in the temple.

The most prominent Messianic title was "Son of David." This was the expectation, that this Son of David would defeat the enemies of Israel. He would be King of the Jews.

When Herod became king he took steps to be identified with this Messiah-expectation. He defeated some enemies in battle. And he managed to acquire the title King of the Jews from the Roman authorities.

When Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist, John said, "Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. (John 1:29) This was a very different anointing from the anticipated anointing of a king.

What happens to a lamb of God? In Israel, every year at Passover a lamb was selected for sacrifice, a tradition going back to the days of this people's exile in Egypt and the deliverance wrought by Moses. The expectations of a messiah were tied to deliverance.

But Brad wasn't simply interested in telling us anecdotes from history. His aim was to bring it home to us.

Our problem is not a political problem. Israel's problem was not a Roman problem. Politics or violence will not solve the problem. Love, sacrifice and the way of the Cross are at the center of God's solution.

We all tend to set ourselves up as little messiahs. "I want to rule my world."

Brad interjected a lighter moment with a story about three men with a Messiah complex story. Their psychiatrist puts them in a room to see how they'll get along. The first makes some extravagant statement which leads the second to say, "Who told you that?" He says, "God did." The third replies, "I never told you that."

Jesus was and is the Messiah. He's the one we've been waiting for. But He's more than that. He's the Lamb of God who came to take away the sins of the world.

Brad noted the passage in Exodus 12 where each household was to select a lamb as a sacrifice for Passover. It is on lamb selection day that Jesus rode into Jerusalem.

When they celebrated Passover they wanted God to do again what He had done when Moses led the historical exodus.

Brad then described Jesus' entrance into Jerusalem...  a near hysterical revelry by a crowd waving palm branches. These palm branches were symbolic of the Maccabean revolt that had occurred approximately 160 years earlier.

Waving of palm branches was a Messianic symbol gone wild.  People were dancing and cheering because they thought He was coming to give them what they want. They expected Jesus to lead a revolt and the Romans would get what was coming to them.

Jesus  "If you'd only known what would bring you peace." Jesus wept over Jerusalem's ignorance.

The cross is what happened to failed Messiahs. The people didn't understand that He came on a very different mission, to serve the world... not to lead armies to overthrow oppressive empires.

Brad noted how we all tend to filter our world through our own messiah-complex. Every human has suffered from a grandiosity-complex... except one. And He was the Messiah.

To the extent that I align myself with Him, I am on the right path.

Ultimately, Jesus puts the question to each of us as He did to His disciples in Matthew 16: "Who do you say that I am?"