Sermon Date: 11/30/2025

Bible Verses:

• Haggai 2:7
• Isaiah 8:10
• Isaiah 7:14

Speaker: Rev. Timothy "Tim" Shapley

Theme: https://uppbeat.io/t/northwestern/a-new-

Theme: “Come, Thou Long Expected Jesus”

Introduction: A Season of Waiting, A Candle of Hope

Advent isn’t just about looking back to the birth of Christ—it’s also about looking forward to His return. We're stuck living in the tension between what God has already done and what He has yet to do. So every year, we light this first candle—the Candle of Hope—not because everything is fine, but because everything isn’t. Hope is fire in the darkness.

Charles Wesley felt that tension in 1744. As he walked the streets of England, he saw orphans freezing in the cold and massive gaps between rich and poor. He was moved by Haggai 2:7—"And I will shake all nations, and the desired of all nations will come." That verse birthed the Advent hymn: “Come, Thou Long Expected Jesus.” In it, Wesley reminds us: Jesus is not just the answer for ancient Israel—He is the answer for every fearful, longing heart.

1. Hope Declared: “Come, Thou Long Expected Jesus”

“Israel’s strength and consolation, hope of all the earth Thou art…”

Advent begins with longing. Like ancient Israel, we are waiting for deliverance—not from Rome, not from Babylon, but from fear, sin, and death.

• “Not only that,but we also who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body.” (Rom. 8:23)

The world is full of broken strategies and failing plans. But God cuts through that noise:

• Take counsel together, but it will come to nothing; Speak the word, but it will not stand, For God iswith us.” (Isaiah 8:10)

Advent reminds us—God is with us. Not distant. Not absent. Emmanuel.

2. Hope Delivered: Born a Child, and Yet a King

It still shocks us, doesn’t it? God didn’t send an army. He sent a baby. The King of Ages wrapped in fragile flesh.

Isaiah prophesied it:

“Behold, a virgin will conceive and bear a son, and shall call His name Immanuel.” (Isaiah 7:14)

And Matthew confirms it:

“...they shall call His name Emmanuel, which means ‘God with us’.” (Matt. 1:23)

The gospel is not “try harder”—it’s “behold your King.” He came once in humility; He’s coming again in glory. He broke into history at Bethlehem; He’ll break the skies at His return.

Advent says: He came. He is coming. He is with us now.

3. Hope Alive: A Living Hope

Peter gives us the heartbeat of Advent hope:

“Blessed be the God and Father… who has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.” (1 Peter 1:3)

“Living hope” means this: our past is forgiven, our present is empowered, and our future is secure. Hope is not optimism. It’s not positive vibes. It’s resurrection power. And it is alive because He is alive.

4. Hope Ahead: The Blessed Hope of His Return

Advent invites us to lift our eyes and hearts to this:

“Looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus.” (Titus 2:13)

The same Jesus who came in a manger will come with majesty. The King who wore thorns will wear a crown. And the One who died for us will raise us to glory with Him.

Wesley prayed it this way:

“By Thine all-sufficient merit, raise us to Thy glorious throne.”

Don’t miss that: not by our merit—but His.

Conclusion: Light the Candle, Lift Your Hope

As we light the Candle of Hope, we aren’t pretending the world is bright. We’re declaring that Jesus is the Light—and He is coming.
We remember Bethlehem—and we await the clouds of glory.
We acknowledge the ache—and we cling to the promise.

So this Advent, join Wesley in his prayer, and let it become your own:
Come, Thou long expected Jesus… reign in us forever. Bring Thy gracious kingdom. Raise us to Thy glorious throne.