Point of Grace Worship        12.11.22     Sermon Notes – “Advent 3 – What’s the Story?”

What’s the Story?       What story is my story in?      How do I live like I am in the story I am in … His Story?

Where in your life do you need some Hope?      

Isaiah 40
Comfort, comfort my people, says your God.2 Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her
that her hard service has been completed, that her sin has been paid for,
that she has received from the Lord’s hand double for all her sins.

3 A voice of one calling:
“In the wilderness prepare the way for the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
4 Every valley shall be raised up, every mountain and hill made low; the rough ground shall become level,
    the rugged places a plain.
5 And the glory of the Lord will be revealed, and all people will see it together. For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”

6 A voice says, “Cry out.” And I said, “What shall I cry?” “All people are like grass,
    and all their faithfulness is like the flowers of the field. 7 The grass withers and the flowers fall,
    because the breath of the Lord blows on them.  Surely the people are grass.8 The grass withers and the flowers fall,
    but the word of our God endures forever.”

9 You who bring good news to Zion, go up on a high mountain.
You who bring good news to Jerusalem, lift up your voice with a shout, lift it up, do not be afraid;
    say to the towns of Judah,    “Here is your God!”
10 See, the Sovereign Lord comes with power, and he rules with a mighty arm. See, his reward is with him,
    and his recompense accompanies him.11 He tends his flock like a shepherd:
    He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart; he gently leads those that have young.

His Story …
 … is a story of “rescue”

         … is a story of a rescuer that pays the price and “comes” …

         … He comes to save those who cannot save themselves!

Hopeless circumstances are fertile ground for poor decisions of the soul!  Our souls need truth!

Where do I place my hope?

Which god(s) will I go with?     Who/What are my Marduks? 

25 “To whom will you compare me?   Or who is my equal?” says the Holy One.
26 Lift up your eyes and look to the heavens:
    Who created all these? He who brings out the starry host one by one and calls forth each of them by name.
Because of his great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing.

27 Why do you complain, Jacob?    Why do you say, Israel, “My way is hidden from the Lord;  
my cause is disregarded by my God”?  (the justice due me escapes the notice of my God”?)
28 Do you not know?    Have you not heard?
The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom.
29 He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.
30 Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall;
31 but those who hope in (wait on) the Lord  will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.

His Story …
       … will take us where no other story can because He comes,

         … sets us free …… and doesn’t enslave because He actually cares about us,

         … includes a HOPE which actually gives “strength” because we are actively “waiting” on Him.