12/04/2023
Had to repost this beautifully written post from a friend, Yvonne Looney
❤️✝️🙏
December 3 Sunday Advent – Prophecy / Hope
“The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is upon me, for the LORD has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to comfort the brokenhearted and to proclaim that captives will be released, and prisoners will be freed. He has sent me to tell those who mourn that the time of the LORD’S favor has come,” Isaiah 61:1-2
Today is the first day of Advent. The tradition for the first Sunday of Advent is lighting the Prophecy or Hope candle! If you’ve never had an Advent wreath let me encourage you to start this tradition. The Advent wreath is a centuries-old Christian tradition. Not typically celebrated in Baptist churches but I started this tradition in several churches I served as a Children’s Minister, great visual and way for kids to get involved and remember what Christmas is about!! All it takes is a wreath and 5 candles, three purples one pink and one white pillar for the center! This week we will look at Scripture associated with prophecies of the coming of Jesus along with how this brings hope into our lives.
Isaiah wrote of the hope we have in what God will do for His people. Good news to the poor, comfort for the brokenhearted and captives set free. Jesus after his temptation went to Nazareth and on the Sabbath, He stood and read the Scriptures. He opened to this very passage, read it, and then said, “The Scripture you’ve just heard has been fulfilled this very day!” Luke 4:20. We can have hope because of the fulfilled prophecies. We can look at Scripture and then look to Jesus and see God at work.
Look at the three things in this passage, good news to the poor. You and I are poor in Spirit and without hope until we accept this gift. Brokenhearted? Yeah, me too – while our hearts hurt, we don’t grieve as those without hope – this is a great gift. Need to be set free from something? We all need to be set free from the chains of sin and we find our hope in Christ. He also gives us daily strength to break those chains and be set free – but we have to accept it!!
So, as we celebrate this Christmas Season – the Season of Advent – focus on the hope we have, find hope in the many passages that lead us to Christ. Our God has from the beginning of time been working to bring us back. Focus on that amazing gift!!!
I read this prayer in a devotional piece on hope, and it voices my prayer for today.
Father,
Let your hope arise in our hearts! Lift our eyes up to see that you alone are where our hope comes from. Help us to shake off the anxiety, discouragements, and distractions that have filled this year.
May we pause to remember that we have hope in you.
You know the end of our stories, and we give thanks because you have promised that it will be a victorious ending. Give us the grace we need to wrap up this year joyfully.
We invite your Spirit into this beautiful Advent season. Renew our sense of holy anticipation! More than anything we ask that you be glorified in this season of expectation. Amen
