In Psalm 33, the psalmist calls us to praise God with joy and to put our

trust in the Lord because God is faithful to his people and God's word is right and true.

In 2 Samuel 7:8–16, David is confronted with a truth every believer must

learn: life with God is not ultimately about what we do for Him, but what He graciously does for

us. David, Israel’s king, is reminded that God alone directs the story, and that His purposes far

exceed human plans. In this pivotal moment, God promises to raise up a greater King, one

whose throne will endure forever.

This passage not only points us to Christ, the true Son of David, but also invites us to examine

the rival kings: our idols, that often rule our hearts. As we consider God’s promise of a forever

King, we are called to yield our lives to His reign. While we rest in the hope that he shall reign

forever, we must long to see him reign today - in our hearts and lives, shaping our desires, ruling

our priorities, and leading us into the life only His kingdom can give.

Isaiah describes the mission of Jesus as a mission of bringing good

tidings to the afflicted, binding up the broken-hearted, proclaiming liberty to the captives,

and comforting those who mourn.

This need for good tidings has not changed today in our city. We are living in an age of

rapid pace of life, high productivity and reward seeking culture. But in the midst of this hunger and greed to achieve, there are many who fall in between the cracks. The

pressure to keep up with work along with commitments such as EMI, school fees, home

loans, has made our city groan for a break. This stress has led to joyless

personal life leading to mindless scrolling, joyless marriages where adultery is becoming

common, joyless parenting where parents have no patience with their children. Just as

Isaiah prophesied that one day the Messiah will come to renew all that is broken, the

church today stands at a place proclaiming the same message that Jesus is coming

again to bring a new order in this world. Jesus brought about the forgiveness of sin in

Jerusalem in Luke 4. Today, the motion that Jesus brought in Jerusalem is continued in

the church to walk in sanctification before God by forgiving our debtors, therefore

bringing joyful salvation to our world. Advent assures us that the Messiah who once

healed and restored is still at work: He has come to bind up our wounds and will one

day make all things new.

In this second Sunday of Advent, we see how God brings everlasting peace to this broken world.

On the first Sunday of Advent we pray with Isaiah for God to rend the

heavens so that nations might tremble before his presence and all flesh might recognize the

authoritative presence of our Maker. Surely Christmas is a break in the clouds that conceal the

majesty of God from us. But it is only a break. The heavens still await the time of God's final

rending, God's final disclosure. If we look only to Christmas as the answer to Isaiah's cry, we will

fail to hear God's full response to the ancient prophet. There's more to come! Jesus reminds us

of the "more to come" in the Mark 13 passage when he encourages us to keep watching and

waiting for the return of the Master who has gone away only for a time.

Paul’s final words to the Ephesian elders offers us a compelling vision of

the kind of pastoral leadership needed for our growth and maturity in grace.

There are many ways to forgive someone. But the Bible offers us the one solution that truly works which is found in the body of Christ. Paul often talks about the “unity” of the

body of Christ as crucial for God’s redemptive work to restore humanity rightly with God.

Here in Philemon, Paul is able to practically show us what true unity means by calling Christians to live in “partnerships” with one another. Paul appeals to Philemon to receive Onesemus as an equal partner, and in the same condition that Christ received us as unfaithful and useless persons living under the slavery to sin.

This is at the heart of Paul’s plea while writing this letter to Philemon. The sign of true Christian faith is found when we are able to receive a sinner in partnership, firstly

because that is the evidence of the Holy Spirit's presence in a believer's life.

This is the pattern of how God will restore the fallen world. The fallen Man cannot forgive someone unless a debt is paid. While a Christian can enjoy the gospel whose final debt is already forgiven, the Holy Spirit enables a Christian to enjoy forgiveness in the present day church by calling all Christians to become partners in service of God’s Kingdom.

This is Paul’s basis that Onesimus has now become useful to Paul.

In this passage, Paul continues his appeal to Philemon — not with the weight of apostolic authority, but with the warmth of brotherly love. The love of God at work in Paul compels him to lay aside his rights and reason from the heart, inviting Philemon to do the same. Love reshapes the dynamics of power and position. It dismantles the hierarchies of Rome and builds the household of God. Onesimus is no longer to be seen as a slave, but as a beloved brother: redeemed, restored, and received as family.

This Sunday, we begin a new sermon series from the book of Philemon titled 'Be Reconciled: Gospel According to Philemon.' In this short yet powerful letter, Paul reminds us that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is not only the message that saves us, but it is the power that unites us. In the opening verses (v1–7), we see how the God of grace and peace works through the Gospel to knit believers together in deep fellowship. This fellowship transforms how we relate to one another, producing joy and refreshment that flow from a shared faith. It is on this very foundation that Paul will later appeal to Philemon to receive Onesimus — not as a slave, but as a brother.

God's nature is perfect. But man is complex, subject to change, and has a divided nature. It is not possible for man to live in perfect harmony with fellow image bearers. Hence, God gives a gift to humanity, which is the church. In the church, the offices of elders and deacons are instituted so that the church will not follow the chaos of the world but bring the perfect ordering of God.