As we enter the Advent season at First Baptist Arlington, hosts Katy Reed Hodges, Luke Stehr, and Dr. Dennis Wiles gather around the mic to unpack the hope-filled beginning of our 2025 Advent theme: The King!

In this episode, the team reflects on the first Sunday of Advent and Dr. Wiles’ sermon, “Come, Thou Long Expected Jesus!”—a message rooted in Isaiah 11 and anchored in the promise, fulfillment, and future hope found in Jesus Christ.

Together, they explore:

• The 2025 church-wide theme Flourishing Together: Rooted in Christ
• How Advent centers us on the arrival of The King
• Isaiah’s prophecy of a shoot from the stump of Jesse and what it meant in a time of judgment and uncertainty
• The significance of the Branch—the “netzer”—and how Jesus fulfills this hope as both Root and Offspring of David
• The sweeping biblical story that ties together Isaiah, Jeremiah, Matthew, Romans, and Revelation
• What it means for believers today to live with overflowing hope through the Holy Spirit
• How the promised future reign of Christ brings peace, justice, and restoration to a broken world

This conversation invites you to slow down amid the season, reflect deeply on the hope foretold, fulfilled, and yet to come, and join us in praying, “Come, Thou Long Expected Jesus!”

Listen in as we begin this Advent journey together—rooted in Christ, flourishing in hope, and living in anticipation of our King.