Introduction

Over the past several weeks churches all around the world have been celebrating the season of Advent. Traditionally, this is a time of hopeful expectation as we remember the birth of Christ on Christmas morning. As you may already know, the word Advent means arrival. And today is the day we’ve been so eagerly waiting for. Today is the day we remember and rejoice that Jesus did in fact arrive, just as promised.

Chances are good here today that many of you have heard a sermon about the arrival of Christ at some point. In fact, you’ve probably heard a sermon from some of the same passages we’re going to look at together. However, I’d also bet that many of you have had a long year since last Christmas. You’re ready to put this one behind you and move on from the pain, suffering, and disappointment you’ve felt over the past twelve months.

Chances are good today that for one reason or another, all of us need to hear the Christmas story, again. We need to hear how God kept his promise and how all the prophecies about a coming savior are true. We need to know that God is a God who answers the prayers of His people and that the birth of Jesus wasn’t just some blip on the proverbial radar screen.

We need to remember, again, “God SO LOVED the world that He gave his one and only son so that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.” We need the Christmas story, don't we? We need it over and over again, year after year. Lucky for us, today is the day we’ve been so eagerly waiting for. Today is the day we remember and rejoice that Jesus did in fact arrive, just as promised.

Today is the day we remember and rejoice that Jesus did in fact arrive, just as promised.

Main Teaching

How many of you here have ever made a promise? And conversely, how many of you have ever broken a promise? Depending on who you’re talking to, promises are a big deal.

For as broken as our culture is in some areas, we still seem to understand the gravity of making and keeping promises. We know, on some level, that it’s important to keep your word, to do what you said you were going to do, and to come through. As much as we expect this from one another, we really expect God — The creator and sustainer of the universe — to be a trustworthy promise maker and keeper. Christmas is a time we collectively remember that God did in fact come through on one of the greatest promises ever when He gave His Son to us.

The promise of Jesus begins all the way back in the Old Testament where we learn that God is in fact faithful to His people and His word ... View this full sermon with PRO Premium