This Sunday's Worship Materials can be found in the "Featured Sermon" below. We meet in person at Harper Park Middle School, and the service is also livestreamed on our YouTube channel.

The Promise of His Life (Isaiah 61:1-11)

December 11, 2016 Speaker: Dr. David Silvernail Series: Christmas in Isaiah - Advent 2016

Topic: Sermons Passage: Isaiah 61:1–11

We are now well into the Advent season and I’m still not ready. For that matter, I’m not sure I’m ever ready for anything that happens in my life. Over the years, a lot of people have placed a really high value on being “ready.” I’ve been told, “I’ll get married … when I’m ready.” “I’ll change careers… when I’m ready.” “I’ll enter the ministry… when I’m ready.” And yet, being “ready” is phenomenally rare. And I’m not sure there’s any Biblical justification for waiting until we’re “ready” … for almost anything (I’m sure there’s an exception somewhere, but at the moment, I can’t think of what it is).

The world Jesus came into surely wasn’t ready. It was a world filled with trauma, poverty, oppression, and inequality. People were tired, hungry, poor, living in bondage to unjust rulers and unkind addictions, they had broken hearts and broken relationships. Grief and mourning were the common experience. They desperately needed a savior. And they knew it. But they were not “ready.” And then Jesus arrived. And our text for this week says that He came to bring Good News, to bind, fix, and heal people, to proclaim liberty and preach grace. And as I read that list, I’m thinking that we pretty much need all the same things today.

My friend Duke Kwon (Pastor of Grace Meridan Hill PCA in Washington, DC) recently posted on Facebook, “The holidays can be a tough time: many of us struggle with loneliness, depression, financial worries, family dysfunction, heartache, and more. So, people are struggling this holiday season with things that are making us anxious, fearful. It is good to be reminded we’re not alone, that someone else in the room suffers with us ­ more so, that Jesus does.” And into this season of fear and anxiety, God makes another promise. We’re currently in an Advent sermon series on “Christmas in Isaiah.” From now through January 1st, we’ll be looking at six promises from the Prophet Isaiah that directly relate to the person and work of Jesus Christ. This Sunday we’ll be looking at “The Promise of His Life” from Isaiah 61:1-11.

What does that promise mean to us today? Does looking at Jesus’ life calm our racing minds and anxious hearts? I sure hope so! We’re going to learn together how the messianic promises in Isaiah can comfort our hearts this Advent season. You need this. And you know it. But you’re probably not “ready.” Neither am I. See you Sunday, Dr. Dave.

More in Christmas in Isaiah - Advent 2016

January 1, 2017

The Promise of His Reign (Isaiah 40:1-11; 9:7)

December 25, 2016

The Promise of His Resurrection (Isaiah 25:1-9)

December 18, 2016

The Promise of His Death (Isaiah 52:13-53:12)