December 3, 2016 - Church at Worship

Sermon: "It’s Not Over When It’s Over" ('Tis Not Yet the Season Part 1 of 4) by Randy Roberts

Pastoral Welcome: Tyler Stewart

Baptism: Rashel Wityczak and Aiden Egger

Scripture Reading: Exodus 15:2; 2 Samuel 22:2-3; 1 Chronicles 16:23-24; Psalm 95:1-2; Luke 3:6, TNIV read by Daniela Chavez De Paz and Jo-Ann Lumintang

Sermon Notes:

  Advent season begins. It’s time for carols and heralds, sleigh bells and snow banks (at least in some parts of the country!), Christmas trees and tinsel, shopping malls and gifts, festivities and family. It’s time to send cards and photos to people whom we contact only once a year and to think what we might give that special someone as a symbol of our love. It’s time, in other words, to celebrate Christmas! “‘Tis the season to be jolly!”

And yet, our sermon series is titled “‘Tis Not Yet the Season.” Try proclaiming that throughout this season! It’s like picketing the Christmas tree on Christmas Eve where the kids are beginning to open their presents and doing so with a sign that says, “Not yet!” The question is obvious: “What do you mean, ‘not yet?’’”

This year’s Christmas series is based not in the New Testament but in the Old. We’re going to look at four different Old Testament passages that many scholars consider to be messianic promises. In other words, long before Jesus was ever born in Bethlehem, Old Testament writers were writing about it. And in writing about it, they were writing about the kind of God who would do such a thing as send His Son into the world. It was not yet the season for the angels to sing to the shepherds. But long before they sang, God was revealing the kind of God He is and giving human beings insight into what Christmas would ultimately mean.

In other words, before Christmas ever arrived, people were already celebrating the character of the kind of God who would send His Son into a sinful world. We can still experience the blessings of His character, and we can still celebrate His grace—even if it’s not yet the season!

Randy Roberts, senior pastor