1st December 2024 Advent Carol Service - Advent a time of expectation

Anybody ready for Christmas yet, anybody who follows an you're

on social media, you wrapped all your presents already, haven't you?

Any I think I think that's just showing off. But no,

good job, good job, good job, well organized. He's already

wrapped all her presents. If you change your if you

if you wrap presents for Christmas, it's just a blessing.

I don't know what you do when you wrap. I'm

a rubbish rapper. You can tell because my rapping looks

like rubbish by the time I've finished. So I'm going

to just share a short word as in an Advent

Carol service today the beginning of Christmas, the first of December.

What a great day to start Advent on the first

of December. Yeah, it's just everything aligns. The calendars aligned

this year. That's great. And so we're going to gather

around some scripture. I just want to share Advent is

a time of expectation. Do you know what some of

the scriptures we heard this morning we could almost echo

and say we've seen some of those things happen in

our church. Back in September, Colleen and Brett brought their

son Matthew to church for the first time, and Brett

stood up and he said, we were believing for a child,

but we were old. He said this, I'm not making

this up. I'm not calling him old. He said he

was old. And he said, we kind of given up.

And we got to a place where we were going

to go and adopt or foster. And on the day

they went, we're planned to go to see the social

work of the adoption people. They went for a scan

and Matthew was born this summer. And you know, he said,

in the natural he'd given up. But once the baby

was on the way, once there was a bump inside,

once Colleen had a bump, there was expectation.

Do you know what.

Brett's a bit of a nervous dad, but he's a

loving daddy. He loves with his baby son. And you know,

you could tell that every day he posts something on

social media. Look at my son, Look what he's doing.

There's an expectation in their hearts. Even when he's not

being well this week, another one who's not being well

this week. You know, they're still believing for the goodness

of God, the blessings of God, the purposes of God,

and so advents a time of expectation. There's no better

illustration than there's a baby coming. But if you haven't

got a baby coming in your family, okay, just think

about gardening, think about planting seed.

We read from Isaiah.

There was reading from Isaiah that talked about the desert blossoming.

If you live in a dry country, then in the

when you come to the end of the dry season,

it's meant to rain. You're heading towards the wet season.

You know, there are people saying, where's the rain, where's

the rain? Has it come? Is it coming? And Scripture

often says there's an expectation in the hearts. He says,

can you see the cloud and what's declared? I can

see the cloud the size of a man's hand. That's

a tiny cloud. That really is a tiny cloud. But

there's an expectation. There's a cloud. So there's rain coming,

and there's rain coming, so growth will come. Because there's

growth coming, then what that means there will be fruitfulness.

So let's get into our first scripture. Thank you, Michah.

I'm going to read it from the screen and it's

in James chapter five, verses seven and eight, and it's

in that moment of expectation, What should our what should

our state be, what should our sense be? Therefore, be patient,

brethren in the waiting until the coming of the Lord.

See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of

the earth, waiting patiently for it until it receives the

earth early and latter rains. You also be patient, establish

your hearts for the coming of the Lord is at hand.

Jesus is coming back for his church. We're heading towards Christmas,

and we're celebrating the fact that Jesus was born, born

in a stable, and we had scriptures there that talked

about Elizabeth, again being old in age, expecting a child unexpectedly,

and the baby inside her wound leapt when she heard

the good news.

So are we expectant? Is Christmas?

Now? The children have gone out to Sunday school, so

I can say this safely, But what's on their present list?

What are they expecting? Have you ever, maybe as a child,

maybe even as an adult, there was something you.

Really, really, really really.

Really wanted for Christmas and you kind of got a

bit of a hint from mum, dad, or aunts or

uncle or grandparents.

That there might be a possibility.

I had a friend of mine who has a son,

I guess was thirteen at the time, and he wanted

an iPad for Christmas. And he kind of given all

the subtle hints. He'd taken pictures, he'd saved things on

the home computer. He even saved a picture of the

iPad on the screensaver on the computer. So every time

the computer came on, Mum and Dad saw the picture

of this iPad. He wasn't subtle about it at all.

Do you know what?

Dad was a bit naughty, And so what Dad did

was Dad wrapped him up a present, and he wrapped

him up a present, and it was an apple, a

physical apple. But he cut the apple in half and

inside the apple was a key, and the key was

a key to a box. So the child opened the

apple and went, oh, He said, you wanted an apple,

so I'm giving you an apple.

I'm a good father. I've given you an apple. And

the son.

You could see the son's jaw on the floor. But

this is not what I expected. He had expectation in

his heart. And then he put the apple down and

the dad said to him, are you're not going to

eat it? He said, no, no, I'll eat it later.

He said, no, no, I think you ought to eat it.

Now.

He said, but be careful because there might be something inside.

And so the sun suddenly thinks, okay, there can't be

an iPad inside my apple. But he thinks, well, okay,

dad's telling me good things are here. So he bit

into the apple. He bet a few more times than

there was a key, and he took the key out,

and then the dad said, okay, that's a key for something.

And the son said, what's he a key for, thinking

maybe maybe his dad had got him a radio controlled

car or something. What's it a key for? And he said, oh,

that's another present. And so he opens another present. There's

just a piece of paper inside that says go to

the front door. And he goes to the front door,

and there's a box on the front doorsteps on the

front doorstep, and he opens, he says, and he's got

a lock on it. He says, how do I get

in here? He said, well, you've got the key, and

so he unlocks the box with the key and inside

another present, and inside that present was his iPad. Now,

just think about the roller coaster ride that that young

boy went through. Oh, my dad's got me something Oh

it's an apple. Oh it's got something inside. He's brought

me a box.

Please.

I'm not recommending this necessarily for parents, but maybe I've

sowed some ideas for you. Expectation scripture says, hope deferred

makes the heart sick. If you raise people's hopes and

you drop them. Now, things happen. Sometimes we do get

our hopes raised and things go.

Oh.

But you know, if we keep on doing that, if

we keep on doing that, we build a expectation of

a roller coaster ride that everything's going to be. Life

is full of disappointment.

Do you know what? I believe?

Life can be full of celebration, full of love, full

of hope. It doesn't mean we don't have valley experiences,

but we can climb out of the valley to the

next mountain, and God is with us on the mountains

as well as in the valleys. Let's come to our

second scripture, thanks Michaeh. And it's from Luke chapter one,

verses twenty six to thirty. Now, in the sixth month,

the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a city

of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a

man whose name was Joseph of the House of David.

The virgin's name was Mary, And having come in, the

Angel said to her, rejoice, highly favored one. The Lord

is with you. Blessed are you amongst women? And when

she saw him, she was troubled at his saying and

considered what manner of greeting this was. Then the Angel

said to her, do not be afraid, Mary, for you

have found favor with God. Expectation she was promised to

a man.

Betroth.

There's expectation as you go towards a wedding, isn't there.

There's some weddings that are going on in twenty twenty five.

There's expectation in the couple as they're heading towards their wedding.

But then she finds herself pregnant. And now, I don't

know how many people have met an angel in the room,

but do you know what, there's one sitting at the front. Yes,

And for anybody who doesn't know, her name is Angel.

So she's living out her name. She's living out her name.

I don't wear a halo because I don't wear a

halo because I don't deserve a halo. But we have

an angel in the room. We have an angel in

the room. And do you know what? When God brings angels,

there is purpose. Sometimes people need to see God manifest

in a room, in a situation, in a circumstance. Now,

God sends angels when there is expectations. So, Church, I'm

asking you this Christmas, have you got an expectant heart?

For those listening online, for those listening later, for those

who are joining us remotely, have you got an expectant

heart this Christmas? Not for presents, but for His presence.

His presence changes me. You know, there are days when

I'm sometimes a little rude, sometimes a bit little sharp,

because I'm a human like you. But you know what,

when I'm in God's presence, many of those rough edges

rub off or they're softened.

You know.

When I've got expectation, when I'm looking forward, when I'm hoping,

do you know what, there's excitement in my spirit. There's

a joy in my soul, and I can carry and

press into all that God has for me. It doesn't

matter what's coming down that path. If God is with me,

who can be against me? And so my final skill

is this, and it's from Matthew chapter eleven, and John

had heard in prison. So I listened to this. John

was in prison. He heard in prison about the works

of Christ. He sent two of his disciples. Where did

he send him? He said to him, He said to him,

are you the coming one? Or do we look for another?

This is a question about Christ. And Jesus answered and

said to them, go and tell John the things which

you hear and see. The blind sea and the lame walk,

the lepers are cleansed and the deaf. Here the dead

are raised up, and the poor have the Gospel preached

to them.

Jesus when he came.

We can see in that simple scripture, the blind sea,

the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf, here

the dead are raised, the poor have the Gospel preached them.

The Gospel changes things. Church, those listening online, those with

us today, those who are guests today.

What are you expecting? What are you expecting?

If you walk with a limp, are you believing that

God would give you strength back to your legs if

you can't hear? Are you believing that God is going

to open your ears? If maybe you have strength trouble seeing,

are you believing that God is going to open your

eyes again, because all of that speaks of expectation, speaks

of expectation. I have an expectation that God is with

Isabelle right now as we prayed for her. God is

with her, not distant, present, with her, close to her,

and as she walks her journey, God is with her.

And Church I want to say to each one of

us as we walk our journey, God is with us.

But where are we going and what are we believing for?

So this Christmas, this advent, as we start out our

Christmas then where are you heading? Where are you going?

What are you believing for? Some of you already know

your Christmas plans. You know exactly what you're doing. You

probably know exactly what time you're going to be sitting

down to your Christmas meal on Christmas Day. Others have

you less organized than planned. But you know, for some

people it runs on clockwork. You know, when I was

a child, Christmas dinner was finished in time to sit

down and listen to the Queen.

I guess it's the King now, you know.

And actually if we started late, we rushed through our

dinner because we were finishing on time for the Queen.

So some of you will already know what your plans

are for Christmas. You'll know where you're going. But even

if you know where you're going, you can still have

an expectant heart. Lord, I pray that we have great conversation.

Father. I pray there'll be opportunities to pray.

Lord, I pray that you give me and enlarge my

heart for those I'm going to spend time with time

with that Christmas. And so as we begin this season

of advents, I want to say and ask you those

at home, First of all, what are you expecting? Who

are you expecting? If an angel turned up in your

house today? Would you be surprised, would you be excited?

What would you say to them? Because I'm going to

pray now. I'm going to pray because I believe we

as church need to have expectant hearts. And so I'm

going to ask us to close our eyes and bow

our heads, and I'm going to pray firstly for all

of us, but then I'm going to pray specifically for

one or two things. Father, God, would you help us

all this Christmas to keep your son, our Savior, Christ,

at the center of all that we do? And say, Father,

I pray this Christmas, that this season would be full

of joy, full of hope. Father, I pray where people

are struggling with plans, that Lord you'd align things for

good times.

Father.

For those who are looking potentially for a Christmas Day alone, Father,

I pray that you connect family, you connect extended family.

It'd helped the church, the wider church, to be at

work loving those who might be alone. And Father, where

we have gaps, we don't have quite how we're going

to get there. We don't know whether we're going to

make it. Father, I pray that hope would arise, the

joy would arise, the Christmas time would not be a

time of sadness, but a time of joy and hope.

Amen.

Now, before we I said I was going to pray

for something specific, I really want to pray for something

very specific here, and that's you have expectation, unfulfilled expectation

in your heart. God's spoken to you, God's promised you.

There's a promise you're standing on. There's a prophetic word

that you are still turning over. If that's you and

you want to remind God again, not that he needs reminding,

but if you want to stand and say I'm standing again,

for this thing that I'm is expectant in my heart.

Would you stand right now. I'm not going to ask

you what they are. You know what they are. God

knows what they are. But we are standing for a purpose.

There is an unfulfilled expectation. It might be a loved

one coming to Christ. It might be a sick person

being made whole and healed. It might be a new job.

It might God has spoken many times in many different

people's circumstances and situations. But if there is an unfulfilled word,

would you stand, If you're ex expectant that God's going

to do something, you want this and that includes you

at home too, Please do stand, make a step, because God,

you are all. In all, Lord, there are many of

us standing. I'm standing too, there are many You have

us standing, Lord, God. Firstly, for healings. Lord, you are

a God who heals. You're able to heal. You have

healed in the past, you've healed today, and you will

heal again in the future. And so God, we come

and ask of a miracle working God, that you would

do miracles again in these circumstances and situations where people

need health and wholeness. Lord, release your healing power, send

send a healing touch. Lord, God Father, we pray in

Jesus name for those who are battling with mindstorms, with mindsets. Father,

I pray for freedom today in Jesus' name. Father, I

pray for a peace that is supernatural to be upon you,

if that's you today, And Father, for those who are

praying for doors to open for new opportunities. Father, I

pray to Lord that you give us keys when we

need keys, when the doors seem locked. Lord, or Lord

you direct us down a different corridor. But Lord, you

bring us to a place where we are more fruitful

and more blessed and more joyous.

And Father, we.

Pray for those who we've been holding up in prayer

who don't yet know you as their savior. Lord, as

we come to Christmas and the arrival of your son,

we know the full story. We know the complete story.

We have the privilege of the fact that you sent

your one and only son, who ultimately ended up on

the cross and paid the price for my sin and

for our sin, and set us free that we might

know freedom and forgiveness and healing and wholeness. As we

put our trust in our Savior, Jesus Christ, and so Father,

if that's our dear friend's family, Lord, we lift them

up to you and say again, Lord, would you call

them closer to yourself? Would this Christmas be a time

when they hear a gospel message in Jesus' name?

Amen? Angel is going to come and give us another reading.