City Harbor Church – Hampden, Baltimore, MD

Old Testament examples: Ezekiel 3:17-19 Esther 4:1-3 Esther 4:12-14 New Testament examples: Isaiah 61:1-3 (NLT) (cf Luke 4) Matthew 28:18-20 Romans 10:13-15 Application: Posture – Ask God for His heart for the lost, and feel a sense of righteous urgency for salvations. Holman Commentary: “God’s charge to Ezekiel and Hosea is also a charge to every Christian. Christ warned His followers to “watch” for His return and to keep their lamps burning and trimmed. Servants of the Lord, who are found watching, will be given special favor for being ready. Jesus, the faithful watchmen of His sheep, has instructed us to follow Him. In so doing, believers keep themselves focused on the Lord, constantly growing in their relationship with Him.” Prayer – Keep a prayer calendar and intercede like Mordecai for your city. Isaiah 62:6-7a Purpose – Reach out to those in your sphere of influence. Invite them to church, and serve them as Jesus would. “Do the unbelievers in my life know that I am a Christian? Do they know how Jesus has affected my life?”

Luke 2:8-18 Advent Week 4: Love We’re going to explore the final theme of Advent: love. Because the coming of Jesus brings a turning toward love. There are 2 ways we can talk about love in today’s message. Luke 2:8-18 Our main theme for today is. He came. They went. Later in this story we see in Matthew 2 the Magi visit Jesus and his parents at their house. He (Jesus) came. The Magi go. Jesus’ “coming” inspired “going “ in the Gospels. As seen in the At the start of the story of Jesus, a pattern is set for God’s people and embraced by God’s people. This pattern and response is repeated in the middle and end of the gospels and all throughout the story of the Early Church. Shouldn’t we also embrace this same pattern? He came. We go. Is the U.S. Church going? Barna (2019) Is our church going? Jesus says Acts 1:8 – ‘You (all y’all) will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” ‘ He came. We go to the ones nearest us.

Luke 2:8-15 Third week of Advent is based around Joy Luke 2:8–15 recounts the angelic announcement to shepherds: “I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people.” This joy is tied to the birth of the Savior in Bethlehem. Understanding Joy Joy is described as “an often cheerful contentedness,” rooted in hope and peace rather than circumstances. It’s marked by calm within a person and sustained by faith. Often means that maybe sometimes it may not be the same as just laughing and smiles. There is however peace. Peace that passeth understanding Sometimes you maybe grumpy but still have joy like Statler and Waldorf from the Muppets. Supporting Scriptures References to Philippians 4:6–7, 2 Corinthians 12:7–10, Romans 8:28, and 1 Corinthians 12 emphasize peace, grace in weakness, God’s purpose, and unity in suffering. For the world around us The world often feels joyless—seen in news, entertainment, politics, and mental health struggles—highlighting the need for authentic joy. That is where we as believers can step in and be the joy, be the peace, be the example of Jesus on Earth. Call to Action “Joy to the World!”—a reminder that hope has come through Christ. Highly suggest listenting to the words fo Hope has Come

Luke 1:26-37 – Matthew 1:18-25 Holy Night – Part One Again and again in the Old Testament, God promises a broken and pained world that he will send a Messiah — that is, a Deliverer — to start to renew and restore all things. Genesis 3:15 Isaiah 9:1-7 Micah 5:1-4 Because the coming of the Messiah was a long time coming, it was easy for God’s people to start to think of it as an impossibility. Most scholars agree that by the time we enter the period of the New Testament, nearly 400 years had passed since the last messianic promise had been given by God — and the Messiah still hadn’t come. Two messages that broke the 400-year silence — the angels’ messages to Mary (Luke 1:26-37) and Joseph (Matthew 1:18-25) Luke 1:26-37 – Matthew 1:18-25 I. The coming of the Messiah, Jesus, was never to be thought of as an impossibility, because all things had already been proven possible for God. Today marks the beginning of Advent: (1) the word “advent” means “coming,” (2) the season of Advent, which leads up to Christmas Day and includes four Sundays, is a time to reflect on the coming of Jesus to begin to renew and restore a broken and pained world, (3) it’s also a time to look ahead to when Jesus will come again to finish the renewing and restorative work he started at Christmas. God has indeed promised the Messiah, Jesus, will come again: Matthew 24 & 25 John 1 & 2 1 Thessalonians & 2 Thessalonians Revelation Because the second coming of Jesus has been a long time coming, it’s easy for us to start to think of it as an impossibility. As we consider what Joseph & Mary may have been thinking, we may also be experiencing doubt, distraction, or discouragement such as: “Maybe the powers of the world hold too much power for Jesus to topple them. Maybe the powers beyond this world hold too much power. Maybe we’ve sinned too much, and we’re undeserving. Maybe too much is needed by way of miracles to pull this off.” II. The second coming of Jesus is never to be thought of as an impossibility, because all things have already been proven possible for God. This is a time leading up to Christmas Day to remember the coming of Jesus. It’s a time to remember how his coming brought about a great turning point for the world. The world had been hounded by hopelessness, shame, great sadness, and the coldness of self-concern and self-preservation, and his coming caused a great turning toward hope, peace, joy, and love. Each of the four Sundays in Advent speak to these four themes, respectively: hope, peace, joy, and love. We’re going to speak to each in the four Sundays of Advent, and we’re going to do so by exploring the angelic messages that were passed along either in the days leading to the holy night of Jesus’s birth or on the holy night itself. We’ve already covered the first angelic message this morning, haven’t we? “Nothing is impossible with God.” Which, of course, gives us hope — a confident expectation that nothing is impossible for God, because nothing ever has been. Hope November 30 Peace December 7 Joy December 14 Love December 21 You’re probably familiar with the practice of the lighting of the Advent candles — four candles arranged in a circle (for Hope, Peace, Joy, and Love), with another larger candle in the middle (often referred to as “the Christ candle”). The lighting of the Hope candle takes place on the first Sunday of Advent, the lighting of the Peace candle on the second Sunday — and so on. The lighting of the Christ candle often takes place on Christmas Eve, but traditions vary. (Some wait until Epiphany in January.) Your church might already take part in this practice, but if your church has yet to do so, this series might be the perfect time to introduce it into the life of the congregation. If you decide to take part in the practice, you could explain the tradition and then during the conclusion of the sermon, you could light the first candle — the candle for Hope.

Matthew 6:9-13

Matthew 6:9-13

1 John 5:14

Acts 1:14

Colossians 4:2 Romans 15:13

“But you are A CHOSEN RACE, A royal PRIESTHOOD, A HOLY NATION, A PEOPLE FOR God’s OWN POSSESSION, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; for you once were NOT A PEOPLE, but now you are THE PEOPLE OF GOD; you had […]

“no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, of God’s household,” – Ephesians 2:19

As ambassadors for Jesus, we invite people to receive and respond to this Good News covenant.

Philippians 3:20-21

Matthew 14:22-32

Hebrews 11:1 Faith shows the reality of what we hope for; it is the evidence of things we cannot see. (NLT) Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. (NIV) Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen (ESV) […]

Matthew 25:14-30

Perfect Love: How Imperfect People Can Love One Another With God's

Romans 14:17 - " For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit"

Matthew 13:47-50

Matthew 13:44-46