ADVENT - God With Us Brings Hope

Paragon Church

The Classic Christmas Hymn "O Holy Night" has that amazing phrase... "A Thrill of Hope" found right in the middle of it... Long lay the world in sin and error pining, till he appeard and the soul felt its worth. A thrill of hope, the weary world rejoices, for yonder breaks a new and glorious morn. The text tells us that the world was waiting, longing, pining for something, as it sat entangled in "sin and error." My guess is you can relate to that feeling when you know that your life is off track, when you know youre going the wrong direction, when you know that you arent living either as you or as God wants you to live, when you know that life seems unfulfilling - that you have built your life on that shaky foundation you dont find joy staying where you are. You are longing, hoping, pining for some way to get out of the pit. This is the state of the whole world, waiting on God-in-the-flesh in Jesus Christ. And then a thrill of hope. Were weary, but rejoicing: morning is breaking, and the Light has come to erase the darkness. Advent is a season of hope, but not that passive, wishful hope that is nothing more than a emotional feeling... it is more. It is God with Us.