The faith of Abel shows us that God's acceptance is based on faith in Jesus.
Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. Is today the day you get into the wheelbarrow?
When Christmas is over, it can feel like one big letdown. The Christmas dinner has been eaten, the presents have been unwrapped, and the family goes back home, or we go back home. And what took maybe a month to plan is over in a few short hours.
But maybe this letdown is because we were expecting something to happen that didn't fully happen. Maybe we were wanting Christmas to fill that longing in our heart that only Christ can fill.
In this sermon on the story of the wise men, we learn that God has created this longing in us for Jesus and that Jesus is the solution to our need.
The good news of great joy that we celebrate at Christmas is that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God.
It was the will of the Father to crush the Son, so that the death of the Son would bring us to the Father. That's the love of God for us.
On the third Sunday of Advent, we see that everlasting peace is not simply this ideal that mankind longs for, but it’s something that Christ started when He came into the world as a baby in a manger and it's something that He's bringing to completion when He returns.
The hope of salvation leads to the joy of the resurrection on the second Sunday of Advent.
On the first Sunday of Advent, we find a hope that is greater than our circumstances.
The baby in a manger would become the exalted Saviour who would become the triumphant warrior King.
The reason there is a Kingdom that stretches over this world, the reason we can be citizens of such a Kingdom, the reason we have hope in the renewed Kingdom to come, is because of the Kingdom purchased.