Cornerstone Christian Center

Hope of the World | Advent 2025

• Jason Brown

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Hope doesn’t always arrive with trumpets. Sometimes it shows up in a small town, in a hard conversation, or in the moment you decide to trust when you’d rather run. We explore how celebration, anticipation, and tradition can be beautiful on-ramps—but not the center—of a season meant to restore weary hearts through Jesus.

We trace the promise of the Messiah from Isaiah’s prophecy to a manger in Bethlehem, showing how specific, unlikely predictions converge in the life of Jesus. From there, the story turns personal: Mary practices courageous obedience with honest questions, and Joseph responds to deep disappointment with quiet integrity. Their choices do more than carry a plot forward; they show us how faith grows inside tension. Along the way we talk about the upside-down kingdom, why Emmanuel—God with us—changes how we plan, and how provision often follows obedience in surprising ways.

You’ll hear practical takeaways for a holiday season that can feel loud but lonely: God is at work even when we can’t see it, trusting God steadies us through uncertainty, and we live differently when we remember Christ is with us. We also celebrate the global, multilingual beauty of worship and the everyday ways communities embody hope—from decorating sidewalks to serving neighbors. If you’re craving peace that outlasts the season, this conversation helps you center on the One who restores.

If this resonated, subscribe, share it with a friend who needs hope, and leave a review to help more people find the message of Emmanuel.

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Jason Brown:

Merry Christmas. I get to be the first to tell you. I know it's November, but let's go with it. You know what I mean? It's a Merry Christmas season. We're thankful for that. And when the question I have for you today is have you embraced hope? Have you embraced hope? As we look at this nativity scene, it's a famous one, obviously. It's the center of what we look at. And there's a piece of that that during this Christmas season, it is their focus. But there's so many different other pieces of Christmas that they they just resonate with us. And a piece of that is something of focus on celebration. And we're thankful for that. We're thankful for celebration. It's one of our seven C's here, a cornerstone, and something we want to do is have a culture of celebration and celebrating with others as they have high points in their lock with God or their life and what that means. And during the Christmas season, celebration can look like a lot of things. I know when we lived in Europe, we would go to the Christmas markets and get to celebrate there. It's a festive idea. It feels good. There's something about that idea of the countdown towards Christmas. How many people have been running a countdown to Christmas since June? Anybody? They've been doing that. I see some people, it's like a clock that's running in the corner of their work computer. I'm like, what is that? And I'm like, oh, Christmas countdown. I'm with you. I'm tracking with you. And some of you guys are just motivated by tamales. That's the whole reason you're doing that countdown. I understand it resonates with me as well. And a piece of that celebration is also the anticipation of the day or the anticipation of the season. And I think that's some of the piece that we look forward to. And some of that is gift giving, some of it's gift receiving. How many people are on the receiving end? That's your that's your love language, the receiving gifts. Others are not being honest. I appreciate those that are. That's very good. You can be like this, you know, this lady here who's she is pumped up about whatever's inside this box. And it's something about the anticipation of this season and in that way our celebration of the day of Christ's arrival and looking towards him and what that means. And so the Christmas season has a piece of that anticipation tied to it. It also has a piece of tradition that's tied to it. So the celebration, anticipation, and then tradition that's there. And so for our family, we like going out and seeing some of the festive pieces. That's something that we do, especially for those of us who live in the desert. So most of the pine trees are fake. You guys know what I'm talking about. Or if you're in the southern hemisphere, maybe you're doing during Christmas during the middle of summer. So they're like us, they're dressing up their palm trees for Christmas. You guys know what I'm talking about. And so there's a piece of that. And we'll go out maybe to a place and get to see, you know, a life size uh nativity set, something like this, a depiction of what it means. Something really powerful. I think tradition for us, it kicks off at the very end of the Thanksgiving meal when you start divvying up who's gonna get what leftovers to take home. You guys know what I'm talking about? And that's where you do the very passive, aggressive, very nice. No, no, you you take it. You go ahead and take it. No, go ahead. And meanwhile, you're taking the thing you really want and you're sliding it backwards towards you to put into your little bucket. No, nobody just over here. So you guys know what I'm talking about, where you you guys are with me. You guys know what I'm talking about. Or maybe a highlight is just getting to chop it up and hang out with your neighbors outside of the house. We got to do that a little bit with some of our neighbors and just have that moment of everybody talking about how little they had for their Thanksgiving meal and how they definitely didn't cheat on their diet or anything like that. You know, we were all very much small plates. You guys know what I'm talking about. We were all lying. No, it was very bad. So, anyway, no, it's this idea of togetherness, and there's something powerful about that. Uh, you know, we want to say thanks for everybody who came out and made decoration for the church. Honey people appreciated the church and all its beauty of dressed up for Christmas. And that just didn't happen. Lots of people put effort to it and all the lights and things that are there. You can see some of the decorating parties. This is Celeste telling me what to do. So this is good. She's uh, you know, give us direction. We had obviously, you know, you have all your different nativity sets. All of ours are glass. So this is where people like Barb tell me, you know, don't touch it because I want to like extreme baby Jesus down the thing, like, you know, and she's like, no. So you be nice, leave them alone, be nice to them. Uh, you know, our young adults, some of our students got involved, and it was amazing to jump in with us, and we're thankful for that. And then you have a very, this is a very Phoenix picture. It's Tyler and these guys, Jonathan, are wrapping trees and lights in short sleeve shirts. That's Arizona, if I've ever seen it. You know, we were outside decorating and we were in shorts the other day. So we're very Phoenician in that way. But some of that's the treats that you could have during the holidays and some of that celebration piece that's there as well, and the decorating of the treats like we're doing today with the cookies outside. It's some nice moments. Uh, my neighbors and I, we've kind of taken our tradition and Zad is we we like to dress up the neighborhood and lights on our corner. So shout out to Mike and Ernie and to Diane and Colin and everybody. This is their current setup. I mean, it's pretty good. You guys know what I'm talking about? And so that's uh people living on the roof and throwing lights for a couple days. But uh pretty amazing to have that piece of the decoration and tradition piece. But I'll say all that, it is dwarfed by the real focus of the Christmas season, which is the restoration of our lives with Jesus and how he restores us and how he brought it brings us back into this understanding and in a thought process of what it means to really follow him. It's a restoration of our hope. It's a restoration of our peace. It's more than enough for us. And so, even in this season where many people they feel alone in a crowd or they feel dark amongst the Christmas lights, friends, that that doesn't have to be your ex your experience because he is our restoration. He is the one who restores us back. And so we come to him as our source, that during this Christmas season, we would focus in on that manger scene and more specifically on the hope that's found in Jesus Christ. So as he comes to us in a way that we can understand, that we would embrace the very hope of God that he comes to represent, that he comes in his fullness in a way that wasn't for those who were in throne rooms, but for the very outcast, for the very low, for those who come from every walk of life, we can come to the Savior and we can worship together. That's why we ask that question. Have you embraced hope? That's what the story of Christmas is about. We have a video for you from the Bridge International Church. That's who Jesus is to us. I love all those different, uh, those different ethnicities, those different languages, those different cultures and countries that are represented here in that video that was put together for the Bridge International Church in the years that we were there serving. Our friend Kelly, who's a she's a speaking pastor up in a church in Canada, and and led the bridge for a season as well, put that together. And it's powerful because I put names and faces to each one of those voices speaking those languages. And it represents what heaven's going to be like for all of us. That every tribe, every tongue will be glorifying the Lord in heaven before his throne. And that's a depiction of what our church should be now. And that's why we're made up of different cultures from different places. So it makes us a rich tapestry of the glory of God being made known as people. It's that rich culture that diversifies us and makes us more robust as we reach the world around us with the light of God. Today we continue in this narrative of looking about the hope for the world and seeing what that means to us. For a visitor here at Cornerstone Today, we want to welcome you. We're so thankful that you're with us and you're part of us. You're tuning in today. We're thankful for that. And, you know, we very much see ourselves as people who are imperfect. My name's Jay. Celeste and I, we have an opportunity to lead the team here and we're blessed to do so, understanding that each one of us is on that journey to follow Jesus. None of us have arrived. All of us are walking after him. And so that's why we use this imagery of Jesus walking with his disciples, because that's how we see ourselves, is that we're walking after Jesus, where he's leading us to go. Our ambition, both personally and then corporately, is to be more like Jesus, to be more like his attributes and his character, to live the ways of Christ. That's what it means to be a Christ follower, a little Christ, a Christian, is to be someone who's following after Jesus in that way. And we do that throughout the week, throughout the city. We just we just ended a semester of life groups, and that's an opportunity to connect and to grow and to serve. So those are starting again in spring. So let me encourage you to pre-decide to be a part of what God wants to do. Very much where people who love God make disciples and reach the world. And so that's what we're about, and that's our ambition is to walk in those ways following Jesus and the things that he's about. Today we continue to look back to that manger scene, to that idea of the focus of Jesus' arrival to us and the different elements of those people that make up that story, their narratives, their stories, their journey that they've lived on, and what that means to us, and how we can glean from the story of Christmas today. And so let's do that together and looking to those things and answering that question of have you embraced hope? Today we pick up first with this idea of prophecy. And prophecy to us is the foretelling of who Jesus would be. And so the Messiah has all of these prophetic statements from the prophets in scripture, and you can look through them one after another and compile them together, and each one of them reveal an attribute of who he would be and what that would look like. And so it very quickly narrows down this idea of who Jesus would be. In fact, um, Lee Strobel, the famous author, he he came to faith, and our men's group even took a look at that, this uh movie this last year in the case for Christ. And in doing so, the case for Christ is powerful because it's talking about from a perspective where he was diving into it as someone who would research and someone who's trying to figure out the story. He went from a place of not believing, of agnostic or atheist, to a place of believing in Christ. And it was something profound for him because he did so in looking at the evidence himself. Each one of those, the mathematics on it, it's it's crazy. Like the amount of things that he would have to do to fulfill all of those in one person. But that's who Jesus is, is that he's fulfilled every single one of those prophecies. And so it depicts him not just as the one who came to be a good teacher or just a good, good person, but instead he becomes the Messiah, the very living God who emptied himself of all glory and came down as the holy sacrifice for all people for all time. And so it's amazing when we look at that, and you could see that even in the case for Christmas as as uh Dr. Strobel looks at those different avenues and talking about and unpacking that for us. Today, we'll take a look at this narrative of what it means to be the hope of God and how we follow after him and all that he guides us to do. And looking to the scripture, I'd encourage you to open your Bibles, your tablets, your phone today. Looking back to some of those that our friends just read for us in Isaiah, it's the foretelling of who Jesus would be. And it picks up here, it says, The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light. Those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shone. How many people would identify with that that you're someone who has seen the light of God in your life and embraced what he's wanted to do for you? Praise the Lord. Continues here in verse six. It says, For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called wonderful counselor, mighty God, everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Whenever Jesus came in this way, we're seeing the fulfillment of the lineage of David and the promises that God made to David and through Solomon and therefore on. And the promise was that he would have someone sit on his throne forever. And so, whenever the children of Israel were taken into captivity, both by the Assyrians and later the Babylonians, this felt like a break in God's word to them. But see, God was using that as a catalyst for change so they would have their hearts return back to him. His promises were not broken. And so, as this lineage came down, it comes down to the personhood of Jesus, and he fulfills all of these different criteria. He fulfills the very names that we see here, that he would be this person who is the wonderful counselor. He is our mighty God who's creator, he is the everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. It's the one that from the very beginning, as we read in Genesis 1, in the beginning, God created. It says in John 1:1 that he was there in the beginning and made everything through him. So God the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit, our triune God, he there breathed life into us and set us in motion in his way. And in doing so, it puts us on that same path of following after Christ. So it only makes sense that we as broken people, we we can't do anything to earn our way back into his presence. It's only through his sacrifice for us that we're made in right standing. He becomes the holy sacrifice that is needed. And so each one of these pieces is fulfilled here in Scripture. Whenever it starts talking about the government will be upon his shoulder, that's why in his day they looked to see someone who would overthrow the Romans and cast off all these people who were a power over them. They thought that he would stand up and be a mighty king like Solomon or a warrior like David, that he would take the fight to the Romans and usurp them and overthrow them and establish the kingdom the way they thought. And instead, Jesus comes in a humble way, not into the palace, but he comes into the stable. He doesn't come as a conquering king on a horse or a stallion or a chariot. He comes instead in his mother's womb, being carried on a donkey, and later into the city towards his crucifixion in the same way upon a donkey. See, it's this humbleness, it's this upside-down kingdom that Jesus, he turns everything on its head. He's the one that comes as the good shepherd. He's the one that comes in a humble way, and instead of a conquering king and going and destroying his enemies, he instead turns their hearts to himself. With even those who are the very Roman soldiers around him, that they declare that surely this is the Son of God. And he does that by being the one that goes down and models what it means to live the way of God, the characteristics of God. He's the very one that he, though he was perfect, he humbles himself to wipe the dirt and the mud and the ick off of the disciples' feet to show them what it means to be a servant. The very empowerment of the Holy Spirit of God that he walks in is that's what's the the disciples learn to walk in as well. And so the very titles that he has, he lives up to everything and beyond, and that they, in walking in the same way, get to experience the peace of God, they get to experience his wonderful character, they get to experience how mighty he is and what it means to walk in the boldness and the fullness of the power of God. And so each one of these elements becomes true in his lifetime and through his disciples and in our lives today. It continues in scripture here in verse 7. It says of the increase of his government and the peace there will be no end on the throne of David and over his kingdom to establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness from this time forth forevermore. As Ethan read for us today, it's the very zeal of the Lord of hosts. What does that mean? The passion of God that makes these things happen. And why is that? Because he has a passion for you. He loves you that very much, that he would abandon all of heaven in glory and wonder and come down to take our place, to be the sacrifice for each person, for all people, for all time. So as we look to scripture, we start to see this foretelling of what Jesus would be like. We understand that the Messiah would fulfill all of these avenues. So as Jesus comes into the scene, he checks every single box. And so he becomes the one that we're anticipating. And that's where the story starts to unfold. Now we pick up here with the messenger of God, and that's one of the angels of the Lord, in this case, Gabriel. It's someone who is there in the presence of the Lord, someone who's a mighty figure in their own way. And we talked about that in the past. But looking here to the scripture, it's Gabriel who goes and speaks there to Zachariah and then to Mary and others in this narrative. But here he starts to talk to her and to say, listen, God wants you to do something special here. You are highly favored. Picks up in Luke 1, verse 26 and 27. Encourage you to highlight it in your tablet, your phone, your Bible today, and take a look at it this week. Let it wash over your heart. It says this In the sixth month, the angle, the angel Gabriel, was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David, and the virgin's name was Mary. And so it picks up in this story with Mary, and she's having this encounter of the holy messenger of God that's coming down and sharing this story with her. And you can only imagine that she would be shocked. You know, she's a young woman, she's excited, she's betrothed, and that day it's it's being engaged, and it's more than in our culture, it's beyond that. There's like a very, it's it's it's almost as if they were married already. It's a precursor to that. So that's very strong vows that are there. There probably been some kind of interchange of dowry, there's some other things that are happening behind the scenes. So she's anticipating being this bride and being married off and all these things. And then suddenly the messenger of God comes out of nowhere. And you know, she understands this concept. She's heard the word, she's been there and and heard the idea of unpacking from the rabbis teaching them about when God would interact with people like Abraham and have the messenger of God come and connect. And so she's having this moment herself, and it's beyond her wildest comprehension of what could be happening. She had to be thinking, What is it about me that makes me special? Why am I getting chosen here? And what does this mean for my life? It picks up here in the scripture, it continues, it says, And he came to her and said, Greetings, O favored One, the Lord is with you. But she was greatly troubled at this saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be. But she was greatly troubled at this saying, and the angel said to her, Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. Here's a question for us. What if you doubt God's plan? You know, the idea for her was that she was highly favored of the Lord. What does it mean? She had a heart already worshiping after God. It wasn't that she was chosen and the character fell up. No, she had a character already after the heart of God. So he chose her because she was willing and available to say yes. But she had to mold us over in her heart and she was doubting what does this even mean? What could this possibly have to do with me and why would I be the one? Have you ever been someone that God has asked you to do something and you weren't so sure about that plan? Ever happened to you? And I think that's the part, that's the hesitation. He might be calling us to something greater than ourselves or greater than our circumstances. And so we have to take that into account and say, Lord, I trust you and I want to step out and say, Yes, but I'm still dealing with this. It's a tension of trying to walk in obedience and uncertainty together. And so she starts to hear this thing how she's going to be highly favored and she's selected. Have you ever been the one that's like, maybe I didn't want to take that plan? That ever happened to you? Where God starts to talk to you, He's like, you know what? I have chosen you to love the unlovely person at your workplace. You're like, me, Lord, really? Thank you. Thanks. I appreciate it. Is there a different plan? Can we have plan B, please? I want a different one. I don't want to have to love the unlovely person. I want to love the lovely person. Can you send another person to do that job? He's like, remember like three weeks ago, whenever Pastor Celeste was preaching, and you were like, Lord, choose me. Use me, however you want to use me. I'm thankful for you. You remember? And he's like, and I want you to be lovely and love this person. And you're like, cool, cool, cool. Uh, can we back up and can we do you ever been there? And so you can imagine what the idea of what Mary was going through, how she was struggling through this, about what happens if you doubt God's plan. But in Luke 1, 31, it says, And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. And this is something powerful because she's saying, Listen, you're gonna carry the light of the world, you're gonna carry the Messiah. It's you who's been chosen to be this vessel of what God wants to do. And she can imagine, man, what an amazing honor and this concept of what will happen out of her obedience to God. But the other side of that very moment is the stress of all that she's having to deal with. And so she's this tension of saying yes to God and being obedient to him, and the stress of going through the obedience that it would take to say yes. It picks up here in scripture, it says, He will be great, he will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end. Wow, what an amazing statement. That there will be no end to his kingdom, that he will reign forever. And see, this is exactly what we mean is that he didn't overthrow the Romans as a power and become the power on earth. No, he became the power in all of our hearts, that we for eternity will be in step and in community with him, that we will be those that live that path with him. And the obedience of Mary was key in this story coming to its reality. She was chosen to live this path. And here's the thing: so many of us are chosen for that very same kind of thing that God wants to use you as a mouthpiece of his glory and the light of the gospel to those around you. And he's chosen you. He didn't choose me to do your part, he chose you to do your part. And so he's chosen you in that you have to say yes to what he wants to use you for and using your story, your testimony, and using your time, and using the different things he gives you as showing glory back to him. So you can imagine as she's interacting with this, the with this angel, and then now she's she's trying to wrestle with what does this mean? Because, you know, you can only keep a pregnancy quiet for so long. And then she's found to be with child, dum dum-dum, and it's not Joseph's who she's engaged to. And so you can imagine that this is a problem, but there's a whole other narrative about Zechariah being in the Holy of Holies and seeing the messenger angel, and he says, Listen, you will have a son. You've not had a son this whole time. You and your wife are in old age, but you're gonna have a son, you're gonna be blessed by that. He didn't believe it. He's in the holy of holies. There's an angel talking to him. He's still like, nah. So God is like, I don't like what you're saying. And he shut his mouth. And so Zechariah has this whole other narrative happening, and and his wife as well. And so as Elizabeth, his wife, is now in her older age, but it has a son that she has. She's praying with her son, John the Baptist, the one who will make a way for Jesus. It's Jesus' cousin. As Mary goes and she's kind of sent away to her family, she goes to visit Elizabeth. She's there, it says that whenever Mary came and approached Elizabeth, that the Holy Spirit of God sparked inside of her in John the Baptist. And it says that from the womb he was filled with the Spirit. And Elizabeth began to proclaim how blessed that Mary is, and that she is carrying the answer to the world. And she was enveloped by the power of the Spirit of the Most High God. And that Mary, too, she feels enraptured by the Spirit of God. And it starts to bring together this thing that listen, you're not on your own, girl. I am with you, I am for you, I am gonna make a way in your story. And it's a powerful thing because it starts to spark something in her heart, and she begins to declare the wonders of who God is. And Mary said, My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God, my Savior. For he has looked on the humble estate of his servant. For behold, from now on, all generations will call me blessed. For he who is mighty has done great things for me, and the holy is his name. His mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation. And you can imagine what that would be like to say, Lord, thank you for giving me this example that I am walking in your path, that I am walking in step with you, and that now I'm not even alone, because now my family also understands. Because you can imagine the shame in her day. When she became known to be pregnant, they thought all the worst of Mary. Because in her day, if you stepped outside of marriage, especially for someone who had not been married, man, this was the end of for you. You would be drugged out there, you could be stoned to death. That's what the law said. And so she knew the fear of what could happen to her, and she was walking kind of in that tension in being obedient to God. Meanwhile, you have her fiance, Joseph, who is now finding out that his betrothed is with child. Can we say that he probably doubted what was going on? Can we be honest about that? You're like, what did you say? Oh, you're you're pregnant with the holy child of God. Sure you are, sure you are. And you can only imagine what that would be like, but it says that he wasn't vindictive, he wasn't he wasn't someone who was trying to get even or or save face in the community. Because now everybody knows. You know, Nazareth's not that big a spot, Galilee is not that big an area. And so they start to know it's and now his betrothed is the one who wasn't faithful to him. His betrothed was the one that slandered his reputation. And so he's dealing with it. And that tension of what that means. So often we just see him kind of as, you know, Jesus in the in the in the nativity set, he's the one just kind of holding the lantern, kind of off to the side, right? But he actually had a really important role in being the one who's the provider, the protector, the very one who looked out for Mary and Jesus all this way. And so as you see him picks up in the story here, it kind of catches up with his side of what was happening. It picks up here in Matthew 1 18, it says now the birth of Jesus. Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, I mean sexually, he was found to be with a child from the Holy Spirit. That's where that idea of like what's going on here starts to happen in Joseph's heart. And it picks up here in verse 19. It says, Her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. You know, it sparked this question for all of us. How do you handle disappointment? How do you handle disappointment? I can imagine that he probably went through the whole roller coaster of emotions, right? He started to understand and was like, how could this be? And he starts to doubt and he starts to grapple with that and doesn't believe it. And then maybe he went the other way and he starts to get mad about the situation. How could she do this to me? And blah, blah, blah, blah. The rock and roll, the roller coaster of what he's going through, trying to handle disappointment. You know, I've talked to you guys about it before, but you know, something in my life that I dealt with and deal with still is something the Lord helped me, is that I don't want to be someone who's an angry person. When I was young, I was full of anger because I dealt with unresolved uh bitterness in my life. I there was anger and I didn't deal with it, it became bitterness in my life, and it motivated me in a way where I'd lash out at people. And you know, if you're not careful, that stuff will come right back into your life. And it'll be right underneath the surface. When everybody bumps into you, that's what they get. They get the venom, they get the, they get the comments, they get the actions. And you don't see that in Joseph. You see the opposite where it says that he was a just man. He wanted to put her away quietly. But whenever you handle disappointment, how do you do? This week I was uh I was adventuring to put lights up, and uh, and I had a fight with my ladder, and my ladder was fighting me at all turns, and so I Jackie Chan jump kicked that bad boy. I was like, ska ska and it went clambering to the ground, and I'm over there like Joe Peshying my way, you know what I mean, through the whole thing. And meanwhile, my son and my wife were like, doo-doo, doo-doo doo. And I'm like, and I realized how embarrassed I was in that one moment. I got mad at Inanita Audrick, it was getting the better of me. And I rushed out at a stupid thing like a ladder. You can only imagine what it would be like in this situation, and how Joseph handled it so much better than I handled my ladder. He handled her with grace, and he said it said that he wanted to put her away quietly, meaning that not that she would be be someone who suffered death and shame, but instead that she could go off and do something else with her family. So he was willing to take the hit himself for what happened with her. And meanwhile, God intervenes in the story and says it picks up here in Matthew 1.20, but as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. And you could think two things, and it brings about the same question: how much do you trust God? How much do you trust God? See, because from his perspective, he's relieved because his betrothed, his fiance, she was telling the truth. And so he's excited that she has been faithful, and he's excited because this is a miracle from God, and the messenger of God is giving him this news, but at the same time, now he's the one that needs to look after the Christ child. He has to be the protector, he has to be the provider. Could you imagine if he does the wrong thing to God's kid? You hear people use Jesus' name as a curse word nowadays. Imagine back then. If he was like, Come on, Jesus, and he's like, I'm sorry, Lord. I mean, I'm sorry, Jesus. I mean, what would that be like? And in our situation, in your situation, how much do you trust God? Do you trust him that he'll walk with you through everything and he won't leave you alone? You trust in that he's in step with you and knows exactly what's going on in your situation. He knows what's going on in your story. Do you trust him? Because he's worthy of trust. He's trustworthy. He's someone who will not forsake us. He won't leave us alone. So as the story continues forward, we can see more of his attributes here. It says, All of this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said by the prophet. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which is God with us. Friends, that's what it means to trust the Lord, is to be those who walk according to what he's guiding us to do. And what does that mean? It means that we're not fighting him and saying, Lord Jesus, why don't you come along and do what I'm doing on my plan over here? But instead we say, Lord, how about I go where you're leading me to go? They didn't like it. How about this? We don't try to get Jesus to do what we want, but instead we do what he's asking us to do. And we walk in step with him. It's that trust on the journey. And see, as we walk this journey, it's a step-by-step. It's not about just the destination, it's walking with Jesus. We're walking with him into eternity where we live with him. That's about the process of being with Jesus. And so it's not about necessarily an end goal. It's about walking with him through the whole process. And as they started out on their journey, you could only imagine what that would look be like. They had to go to a census to tax for his family. So they had to change and go back to Bethlehem. And in doing so, now he's taking his pregnant fiance, his wife now, and he's taking her on this journey to go to this place. He doesn't know that there's not going to be any room for them there. He doesn't know that what's going to happen. He doesn't know that whenever whenever the child comes, that the skies will be lit up and angels will be proclaiming God's glory to shepherds out in the field, these outsiders in culture who are nasty and smell like sheep that are going to come in and worship the Christ child. He doesn't know that their star in the sky that led the shepherds there is also something that wise men from afar off have been tracking. And they've been looking through scriptures to find it and to look after it. And when the star appears, they take all that they have, their entourage and all they go, set out to go to the star so they too can worship the Christ. They don't know, Joseph and Mary, they don't know that these guys will arrive with gifts and they will give them all they need to escape Herod's hand and go to Egypt. They don't know that the provision of God is already on the way for the very things that they will walk through. They don't know it. They don't know any about that process, but guess what? We do, and we know that God keeps his promises. That they are not alone, and neither are we. That friends, that we walk in the same way with the hope for the world. We have the very presence of the Most High God with us. Today we have a few takeaways from what the Lord is speaking to us about. The first one is this as we embrace hope, we know that God is at work. God is at work. What does that mean? As we say yes to him, he's gonna work in and through us. It means that we're gonna have to embrace some change. We're gonna have to shift our character to him and trust him through the process. And that's the second takeaway is that we're called to be those that as we embrace hope, we trust God. Because as we embrace what he's saying for us, we have to trust him that he won't leave us, he won't forsake us, he'll stay right with us along the path. The third takeaway today is that God is with us. That as we're talking about his arrival, friends, he's already here. He's already with you. You don't have to do anything alone. Different than them on the journey, but much like that, where Jesus in utero is there inside of her body, so Jesus is with us on the journey as well. So Jesus is with us in process and what he's wanting to do in and through our lives. The prophet Isaiah says this, therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Emmanuel, which means God with us. We see again in Scripture here in Luke 1, verse 16, it says, He will turn many children of Israel to the Lord their God. He will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared. Friends, that we would be like these, that it's written of, that we will be those that turn our hearts to God, that we will embrace the relationship that God has for us. There would be those of coming together, fathers and children, that there would be those who have made bad decisions, would make wise decisions in the way of God, that we would prepare our hearts for what God wants to do in and through us in this Christmas season. See, for many, this is the very season in which they're searching for answers. In the midst of all the celebration, they feel alone. And friends, we have the hope for all people, which is found in Jesus Christ. That he is the hope of the world, he is the hope of the nations, he is more than enough. And so the question that each of us has to answer is have you embraced hope? Have you allowed Jesus into every part of your life and who you are and allowed him to work through you for his plan, for his purpose? Today our answer is found in the hope for the world, Jesus Christ. That we would be those that embrace him. That we would tell the story of Christmas and the real meaning from what comes behind it. Today we have this opportunity to answer the question of have you embraced Jesus? And maybe you're here and you've never made a decision to follow Christ. Today is your opportunity to do so. That you invite him into your heart and life. That you say, Lord, I believe you are who you say you are. And I place my faith and trust in you. That you are the hope of the world that I've been looking for. Lord, I ask you to forgive me of my sins and my mistakes, and I invite you into my life. That you be the Lord of my life, that you help guide me and direct me, that I live this new life with you. And friends, that's what it means. That's why for us the symbol of the cross is so profound, so important. Because upon the cross is where Jesus took all of my sin and all of my brokenness, all of my mistakes. He took all of yours there too. And as he came to the cross, he did so, emptied of all of the the Father's hand upon him, and he took the full weight of sin for all people. And as he did, he died with that sin upon himself, and it paid for that sin once and for all. He became the sacrifice of God. But the thing about Jesus is that he didn't stay dead, and he overcame death and hell and the grave and rose again and is alive today. And so we have a living relationship with the living God. And so that's what's different about us and our relationship with God and everyone else that believes in some other deity, is that all those are dead and gone, but our Christ is alive. And so we live in relationship with Him. And that's why when the Apostle Paul he starts to write about these things, he's saying, Listen, we cast our cares on him. He is the one who has made a way for us. We can't earn our way into his grace, we can't buy our way in or do enough good things. It's not possible. What do we have to offer a holy God as broken people? Nothing. It's like filthy rags, it says in Romans. But instead, that we would be those who say, Lord, I give you my heart. I want to be dead to sin. I want to be alive in you. And in doing so, I want to start a new relationship with you and live for you for my whole life. It says this, Apostle Paul writing to the church at Rome, because if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. With the heart one believes and is justified, with the mouth one confesses and is saved. Friends, today is your day. It's your opportunity to say yes to Jesus. I'm asking everyone if you're in the room, if you just stand to your feet right where you're at, bow your heads. Christians are praying for you. If you're online, take a moment, take a pause for what God wants to do in and through your life today. Maybe you're here and you say, Pastor, I want to be included in this prayer. I want to invite Jesus into my heart and life. And if that's you, I'm gonna ask you that you would make that commitment today. Or maybe you made a commitment to Jesus in the past, but then you haven't been living for him. But today you would recommit your heart to him to live for Jesus, to live for God and to do so with a heart that's after him. As you're bowed here in the room, if that's you, you just want to make a commitment to Jesus, you want to make invite him into your heart and life today, invite him to forgive you of your sin. If you just raise your hand right where you're at, say, Pastor, that's me. I want to be included in that prayer today. Thank you, Jesus. As people are making decisions, thank you, Lord. Thank you, God. We see the hand and the hand and the hand that's there. Thank you, Lord, for those making decisions. Friends online, wherever you are, making a decision to follow Jesus today. Thank you, God. I'm gonna ask each person if they would, if you just all pray this prayer out loud after me. Lord, thank you for loving me. Thank you for sending Jesus. I believe Jesus died on the cross for my sins. I believe he rose again. Forgive me of my sins. I surrender my life to you. In Christ's name I pray. Amen. Amen. Friends, we rejoice with those that made a decision to follow Jesus today. Praise the Lord. Join with others that have already made that decision today. Let me encourage you in this. Take a moment, take a snapshot of the QR code that's here or on your screen if you're at home. And we want to be able to put into your hands materials and get you connected so you can be successful in living this life after Christ. For us today, we have this opportunity to respond to this altar. And it's just to come for more of his presence. And let me encourage that every single person would come and make an altar with God to ask him for more of his presence in this year as we head into this Christmas season, that the light of the gospel, the hope for the world would resonate in our lives and through our lives to those around us. We thank you, Lord, for your word today. Lord, we thank you for the example and the bravery of someone like Mary, Lord, the heart of someone like Joseph and saying yes to you and following after you. And Lord, we ask for an impartation of your Holy Spirit. Lord, as people come down today to this altar, make a place with you, you pour out your grace, your love, your peace upon us. Lord, give us your wisdom, Lord, where we lack it. And we, Lord, we ask for the blessing of the Most High God to reach rest upon each person that comes. Pray all this in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. How many people know they need to invite someone to church or else your cat's gonna attack you? This is the rule that we're learning from today.

Celeste Brown:

Today we are starting Advent off. And so as you head out, you're gonna see that there's an opportunity to decorate sugar cookies. So we thought we'd start off with sugar. Amen. So grab your kids, go out there, it's gonna be great. And we just pray that this season that you just get everything you can as you finish this year strong and bring someone with you as we celebrate the arrival of Christ. Amen.

Jason Brown:

Before we go, I want to pray this blessing over us. The Lord bless you and keep you. Lord, make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you. Or lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. Lord, I pray a blessing upon your church, your people. Lord, you empower us by your spirit to live your love out to those around us. Pray all this in the powerful name of Jesus Christ. Amen. Amen. Know this. We love you very much here at Cornerstone. God bless you. Merry Christmas.