Chuck Anderson

Here we are. This is advent week three. We have one more week of advent after this one, then Christmas. Can you believe it's almost here? I feel like week three of any month can go one of two ways. If you're looking forward to something coming up, like Christmas, then week three can be so slow. When will it end? When will we get there? It's like you're a kid on a road trip. "Dad are we any closer?" I remember a few times when I was a child, my family drove to visit relatives in Jacksonville or on up to Atlanta. To an eight-year-old, eight hours in a car is excruciating. Who am I kidding? Eight hours in a car is excruciating no matter how old you are. On the other hand, if the thing you're waiting for is something you're not quite ready for (like a writing deadline) it seems like time rushes ahead at breakneck speed. I sit at my computer to type. I notice my desk needs cleaning, and before I know it the deadline is already here? What happened to the t...

I'd like to direct your attention to Isaiah 9. We're going to read verses 2 through 7. Verses 2 through 7. This is the second week in our Advent series. As we said last week, Advent is a time of preparation for Christmas. We prepare by our scripture readings and by the songs we sing, and the devotions we do, and so on. And we prepare for Christmas morning—for the birth of Jesus. We remember the people who, as Pastor Jay reminded us, had been waiting to hear from God for about four hundred years since Malachi's prophecy. We want to build in ourselves that kind of joyful anticipation for the coming of Christ. And now, even though for us, Christ has already come the first time, we can still identify with the longing they experienced before Jesus was born. Jesus promises us in his word that he's coming back soon. This very second, he's preparing a place for us. John 14 says "[2] My Father's house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you th...

My church happens to be observing Advent for the first time this year. And so on Sunday mornings and Wednesday nights between now and Christmas our worship services will be themed around the events of the birth of Jesus. We really want to prepare ourselves to celebrate Christmas well. We want to look forward to the birth of Jesus at Christmas. We want to slow down and meditate on Jesus this season. Otherwise the month of November can be a roller coaster of shopping and traveling before Christmas and New Year’s. We want to slow down and study Jesus so that we can learn to long for him just like Simeon did in Luke 2. Coinciding with that, I’ve had the privilege to teach a series in my small group. We have kind of the same goal—we want to prepare ourselves to look forward to the coming of Christ. Today, I’d like to look very briefly at the Servant in Isaiah 42. I want to observe the character of his mission and see how that has been fulfilled and how it will yet be brought to completi...