Sermon notes - 11/30/25

Romans 13: 11-14

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"Besides this you know the time, that the hour has come for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed. The night is far gone; the day is at hand. So then let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light. Let us walk properly as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in quarreling and jealousy. But put on the the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires." Romans 13: 11-14

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What is advent about? Advent signifies the arrival of someone or something significant. For the Christian, Advent is about the arrival of the person of Jesus Christ. And in that context, advent has a double meaning: we remember Jesus's first arrival, but we also look forward with anticipation and awe for His second coming.

So, what should we do since we live between two significant seasons like this? We wait. And we prepare. And that is what advent is about for us - waiting.

By nature, we are not good waiters. We get antsy if we have to wait in traffic for just a single red light. If we don’t receive something “now” we begin to lose our focus and our eyes start to drift toward something more easily attainable.

But waiting is incredibly important for the Church. In this passage from Romans, Paul gives us reminders to wait. He reminds us that when we stop waiting well, we revert back to our old ways. We forget why we left the darkness, and the enemies of our soul can lull us to sleep.

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So waiting simply means to stay awake. In our exhaustion from waiting, we can begin to lose our heart for the Lord because we’re tired, despite knowing the danger. The Enemy tells us “The way you’re living your life is not working.” We must plead for a supernatural ability to stay awake. When we first came to Christ, we came to Him because of His promises. We are now closer to their fulfillment than we have ever been! Christ is close. Christ is coming! And we must stay awake by walking in the love He has given to us. Waiting on advent should be a constant shedding of the garments of darkness. We have a savior who is coming back to right every wrong. With that knowledge, we should walk as in the daytime.

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Paul gives us examples of things to take off. At first the focus is on carnal sins like sexual immorality and drunkeness.Then Paul pivots to what seems more acceptable behavior in this world, but the passage reminds us this behavior is still walking in darkness! Discord and jealousy and strife are behaviors we should avoid. We are to cast that off too! We are to put on Jesus Christ and cast of flesh. That's what it is to live in the light.