Sermon - 2014-12-14

We continue our journey in the season of Advent.  We continue the joyous celebration and we remember the promise, the gift that is Jesus, our Christ, our Messiah, The Chosen One of God. As we talked about last week, Advent is a time in which we gather together to be reminded of Jesus Christ’s first coming as a baby, but it is also a time in which we gather to be reminded of that day when Jesus Christ will come again.  So how do we help each other?  How do we remember that promise and that great gift?

One of the ways that we do that is through songs.  Today as we gather together to join our voices, we sing songs that speak to us.  Through music, we hear sermons that others have written so that we can be reminded of the important stories and the important truths that happened for us.  Those songs have a way of staying with us.  I have never heard anyone humming or speaking the last few lines of any of my sermons, but I have heard people humming the chorus of one of the songs that we sang.

As we gather here every week, we sing different songs with rather similar messages, bearing within them a truth that we should be mindful of.  This week as we sing, I want you to enjoy not only singing the song, but  stopping and thinking of the meaning that it is presenting us.  The truth that this song brings to us is so very important to remember. It leads us. guides us, and gives the message that we can share with others.   For it is these messages and songs of Jesus Christ that have echoed throughout the ages to help us and to bind us together, we should be mindful of what the songs mean and what truth they are sharing with us.

Throughout this Advent season, we have started and will start every service with Prepare the Royal Highway.  This was a hymn that was written to include texts of Isaiah and the sections of the Gospels that speak about John the Baptist.  The hymn continually dwells upon the fact that Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of the Prophets. It tells us the story which foretells of the characteristics and promise that God gives to God’s People.  As we continue to sing this song, I hope you are surrounded by the words.  I hope you hear echoes of the Old Testament, and the hope that the people placed in Jesus Christ.  However, I hope that you are surrounded by this great cloud of witnesses, as you journey together through life and faith down this Royal Highway that has been given to you.  

As we gather together for this service of Worship, let us always be focused on the calling of God in our lives.  Let us walk together in the path that has been laid before us so that we do not go astray.  Along with that, may the music warm our hearts, fill our souls, and echo in our lives as those songs continue to speak to us.  For days and time of waiting can seem so long, so we gather together to be reminded of who our Savior and Lord truly is in our life. We gather together to be reminded that we are not alone in this journey.