Second Sunday in Advent
“There will be signs…” says the Lord. The signs are already all around us. Perversity and sin are not only allowed, they are the law of the land. Secularists and pagans attack the only true faith at every turn. Riots across the globe mark what Jesus calls “distress of nations.” When these signs appear, Christ has promised “look up, and lift up your heads…” His final Advent is one of judgment. And Malachi prophesied of the horrors of that Day. But for the Christian, it is a blessed Day to which we look in hope, for the same Christ has promised of that Day “… your redemption draws near.” That Day is the answer to our prayer “Thy Kingdom come.” But the coming Lord does not impoverish His Church until that Day. He blesses you richly as He comes to you in His Mysteries. This He does to prepare you for that Day, that the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Download: Luke 21:25-33
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Third Sunday in Advent
Each day was good. But the sixth day was very good. The pinnacle of God’s creation was man. When they were created, male and female, the creation was complete. It was very good because the man bore the image and likeness of the God who created him. But it is not so any longer. The corruption of the creation is pervasive. Men die, even those we love. And the death they die is a death common to all men, for all sin. But note the Words of our Lord. Note the signs of His Advent that He demonstrates to John: the blind see, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the Gospel preached to them. It is the beginning of the new creation. And that new creation has begun in you also, by the same Christ, with the restoration of God’s image. Soon the Coming One comes, and the heavens and the earth will pass away, and the new creation will be finished for all eternity.
Download: 12-11-2011 Matthew 11:2-10
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4th Sunday in Advent
God promised a Prophet like Moses, that His voice again be heard. But as John stood in the Jordan waters, he said “I am not the Christ.” He baptized by God’s command, but the One who was coming after Him was preferred before him. John was a voice, but not the Promised Voice. Moses led Israel to cross the Jordan and enter the Promised Land, John called Israel out of the Promised Land and back to the Jordan to confess their sinfulness. But John could not cure their sinfulness. He could only preach the One who would, the One Whose baptism would work forgiveness and give the Holy Spirit, the Prophet raised up from among their brethren nailed to the tree. The One born in Bethlehem would be the Wisdom of God, the Lord, the Root of Jesse, the Key of David, the Rising Sun, the King of the Nations, Emmanuel.
Download: December 18th, 2001 John 1:19-28
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Christmass (10am service)
The Word became Flesh. The Eternal bound Himself to time, the Uncreated humbled Himself to be born. The brightness of God’s Glory and the express image of His Person lay cradled in the Virgin’s arms. Heavenly Holiness Incarnate, the Light of men, pierced the darkness of this fallen world. But darkness cannot accommodate light. So His own received Him not. The Flesh that the Word took on would be torn. But as many as receive Him are declared children of God. In Bethlehem has the Arm of the Lord been revealed, in Him all the ends of the earth shall see the Salvation of our God.
Download: December 25th, 2011 John 1:1-17
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