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As the year comes to a close there are many things in our lives left undone. We might feel that we haven’t accomplished everything we were hoping for. But the story of Simeon shows us that God has given us a final hope in a Son who will accomplish and resolve all things for us.

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The Story of Advent is a story of a Savior who comes for the outsider, the nobody and the few. Jesus is born outside a house, in a feeding dish to become a different kind of king. Jesus is a King who comes to serve, to love and ultimately bring new life.

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In the beginning of Luke, Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist, struggles to believe the promise of a child. But through those doubts, Zechariah learns to trust in the unfailing promise of God and rejoices in the birth of his son. Zechariah teaches us that doubts can be the pathway to genuine faith. Luke shows us that God’s promises and purposes can be found in the darkest wilderness.

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The Gospel of Luke shows us that a key theme of Advent is that God loves to lift up the broken and remember the forgotten. When Mary hears that she will be used to give birth to the coming King, she rejoices that a ‘nobody’ could become a great ‘somebody’ that God uses to renew the world. The coming King will come to reverse the order of power and bring hope to any one desperate enough to receive it freely.

Advent is a season of great hope breaking into a world of cynicism. In Luke’s Gospel Zechariah is given this miraculous message that his wife will give birth to a great messenger of God. Zechariah’s struggle to believe mirrors our own reluctance to believe in the powerful promise of Advent. Ultimately Zechariah’s cynicism gives way to the joyful acceptance that the Good News of God is always better than our wildest dreams.

A message from Guest Speaker Pastor Dan Anderson.

“Scripture Alone” is the truth that our conscience should only be held captive to God’s Word alone. God’s Word is the essential way God rescues us, corrects us and leads us to fullness of life. This sermon also answers key questions people have about the reliability and relevancy of God’s Word for our culture and time.

The Reformation was the rediscovery of the revolutionary truths of the gospel. The central theme that holds all the other themes together is the idea of “Christ Alone.” Jesus alone is our Creator, Savior, Redeemer and King.

500 years ago Martin Luther rediscovered the revolutionary truth that we are rescued by “faith alone.” What is faith? How does “faith alone” bring us into a new relationship with God? How do we live by faith and not by sight? Romans 4 shows us how faith leads us into this place of peace, joy and hope.

Jesus shows us that there are a variety of ways we can become spiritually lost. But he shows us that when we take a step back home, the Father runs to welcome us. God's heart is a heart of a loving father who delights to forgive, heal and restore.