Friendly reminder at the beginning that we will also have a Christmas Eve service this Saturday at 4pm. That service will be primarily singing Christmas carols together and celebrating the Lord's birth, and will be very different from our Sunday morning service. Whatever service(s) you're able to make it to, we would love to celebrate this time with you. With that, on to Sunday's service.

This Sunday's Music:
At Last, the King (special call to worship)
Who Is He In Yonder Stall
O Come All Ye Faithful
O Holy Night
O Day of Peace (special music - Sam Blakey)
Hark the Herald Angels Sing

Isaiah 61:1-2a
"The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me to bring good news to the afflicted; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; to proclaim the year of the LORD's favor."

This has been our core passage for the whole Advent season, and it comes to its completion this week as we look at the favorable year of the Lord. This is epitomized by Christ's birth, death, and resurrection, which has ushered in that year of the Lord for us. All the promises that Isaiah lays out in this passage were fulfilled in Christ Jesus. The afflicted have received the good news of the gospel, that good news which binds up the brokenhearted and frees those held captive by sin.

But this good news has yet to reach its full purpose. Though we have found that freedom and healing in the sacrifice of Christ, there are many around us who are still slaves of sin. The world has not yet been restored to its original form, before the Fall of man. That era will be ushered in when Christ returns to earth and begins His rule over all creation. (You can take a listen to Pastor Steve's entire End Times series of sermons here on our website.) After Christ's second coming, we will see the prophecy from Isaiah 11 come to pass:

The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat, and the calf and the lion and the fattened calf together; and a little child shall lead them. The cow and the bear shall graze; their young shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. The nursing child shall play over the hole of the cobra, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder's den. They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain; for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. (Isaiah 11:6-9)

During the Advent season, we spend a lot of time celebrating Christ's birth and the implications of His coming that we can join in today. But this season leading up to Christmas is about so much more than that. During this time, we look ahead with hope and expectation to when Christ will return, sin will be banished, and peace and righteousness shall rule all of creation. May that good news launch you joyfully into the New Year.