WHEN HOPE SHOWS UP – ADVENT SERMON
ISAIAH 9:2–7
My brothers and my sisters, we are standing once again on the edge of Advent—
• A season where heaven leans toward earth
• where eternity breaks into time
• and where God whispers again, “I STILL KEEP MY PROMISES.”
Advent is not Christmas itself, as a matter of fact it is not mentioned or commanded in the Bible.
The Advent season is a tradition developed later by the Christian Church in the fourth century.
It was used as a 40 day period of preparation for baptism and penance. Later it was linked to the coming of Christ, first as His second coming and eventually connecting it to his first coming at Christmas during the middle ages.
But it’s themes of preparation and anticipation are deeply rooted in biblical texts such as our text this morning.
It’s the waiting room of Christmas.
• It’s where faith is stretched
• Where hope is rekindled
• And darkness is confronted with divine light.
It’s the season where the church declares with ancient saints and ancestors before us:
• “He came
• He’s coming
• and He will come again.”
If we're honest, some of us will walk into this season carrying our own midnights, and hoping our doors will open a new chapter.
• Some are waiting on healing.
• Some waiting on direction.
• Some waiting on breakthrough.
• Some waiting for a word, a sign, a door, a glimmer.
• Some of us are looking at this season hoping that tomorrow will be better than yesterday or today.
And Advent meets us right there—in the waiting room—and reminds us that God does His best work in the dark.
Isaiah said in our text, “THE PEOPLE WHO WALKED IN DARKNESS HAVE SEEN A GREAT LIGHT” (Isaiah 9:2).
He didn’t say the people who escaped the darkness, He said the people who walked in it.
Those who endured it, navigated it, survived it—those people saw the light.
And so today I want to preach from the thought: WHEN HOPE SHOWS UP.
I want to take us through 5 points that should get us ready for the most important event (day) of the year.
POINT 1 – HOPE SHOWS UP IN UNLIKELY PLACES
(Luke 1:26 as background)
AND IN THE SIXTH MONTH THE ANGEL GABRIEL WAS SENT FROM GOD UNTO A CITY OF GALILEE, NAMED NAZARETH
• Nazareth was not the city you bragged about.
• It was not prestigious, nor influential
• It was said that nothing good came from Nazareth
• Nazareth was the “OTHER” side of the tracks
• But God sent an angel there—deliberately targeting the overlooked place.
Don’t you see, God hides divine treasure in unimpressive places:
• Moses from the riverbank
• David from the shepherd field
• Gideon from the winepress
• Jesus born in a manger
Just like grandma hiding money in the lowest drawer, wrapped in a sock, under the potholders—where no thief would look.
• God hides glory in low places and births purpose in unexpected corners.
• God stores treasures where nobody is looking.
• God puts purpose in places people pass by
So, hear this today:
• The low places doesn’t limit the high purpose
• The forgotten corner doesn’t cancel the divine calling
• Your environment doesn’t determine your DESTINY
• The small place doesn’t stop a big God
• God doesn’t need the spotlight
HOPE SHOWS UP IN NAZARETH PLACES.
POINT 2 – HOPE SHOWS UP THROUGH UNEXPECTED PEOPLE
(Luke 1:28–30 as background)
AND THE ANGEL CAME IN UNTO HER, AND SAID, HAIL, THOU ART HIGHLY FAVOURED, THE LORD IS WITH THEE: BLESSED ART THOU AMONG WOMEN.
AND WHEN SHE SAW HIM, SHE WAS TROUBLED AT HIS SAYING, AND CAST IN HER MIND WHAT MANNER OF SALUTATION THIS SHOULD BE.
AND THE ANGEL SAID UNTO HER, FEAR NOT, MARY: FOR THOU HAST FOUND FAVOUR WITH GOD
Mary was not royalty, wealthy, or influential.
She was just a humble girl with a willing heart, but heaven called her highly favored, and graced for a divine assignment.
Not because of her RESUME, but because of her READINESS.
So next time you think you’re not enough for an AWESOME GOD remember GOD DOESN’T CALL THE QUALIFIED, HE QUALIFIES THE CALLED.
When Gabriel says the Holy Spirit will “overshadow” her he uses the same overshadowing word used when God’s glory filled the tabernacle in Exodus 40:35.
Mary becomes:
• a walking sanctuary.
• A moving tabernacle
• A living ark of the covenant,
• Because God uses ordinary people to accomplish extraordinary purpose.
Like coal miners emerging from the earth, covered in dust, clothes worn, and hands rough—yet carrying diamonds and treasures in their hands gathered from deep places.
They didn’t look like treasure carriers, but treasure was in them.
Mary didn’t look like the carrier of the King, but God placed glory inside her.
And God can do the same thing with you.
WHEN HOPE SHOWS UP.
POINT 3 – HOPE SHOWS UP RIGHT ON TIME
(Galatians 4:4)
BUT WHEN THE FULLNESS OF THE TIME WAS COME, GOD SENT FORTH HIS SON, MADE OF A WOMAN, MADE UNDER THE LAW
God moves in fullness, not fragments.
• Rome thought it ruled the world.
• Caesar thought he was the center of history.
• Herod thought he held destiny.
But heaven orchestrated every detail.
Heaven was arranging a divine timeline.
• Bethlehem wasn’t random—
it was arranged.
• The census wasn’t coincidence—
it was choreography.
• God’s hand was in every detail
• Every crossed “T” and every dotted “I”
• Just as He is today
“Fullness of time” means EVERYTHING was aligned:
• culture aligned,
• prophecy aligned,
• politics aligned,
• hearts aligned.
It’s like the old school choirs waiting silently on the director.
• The voices are ready.
• The musicians are tuned.
• The choir is standing tall.
• But nobody utters a note or plays a tune until the director lifts his hands.
When God lifts His hand over your life—your moment begins.
• Not a second sooner
• Not a second later
Hope is never late.
Hope ALWAYS arrives precisely on time.
HOPE ALWAYS SHOWS UP.
POINT 4 – HOPE SHOWS UP TO TRANSFORM WHAT IT TOUCHES
(Isaiah 9: 6)
FOR UNTO US A CHILD IS BORN, UNTO US A SON IS GIVEN: AND THE GOVERNMENT SHALL BE UPON HIS SHOULDER: AND HIS NAME SHALL BE CALLED WONDERFUL, COUNSELLOR, THE MIGHTY GOD, THE EVERLASTING FATHER, THE PRINCE OF PEACE
Isaiah sees not just a child—but a Kingdom in motion, A revolution wrapped in flesh.
• He sees a child small enough to be held
yet great enough to hold the government on His shoulders.
• He sees vulnerability and victory in the same frame.
• He sees humanity and divinity sharing the same heartbeat.
Isaiah is preaching transformation.
• Not surface change, but SOUL change
• Not a political shift, but a KINGDOM that turns the world right side up
Isaiah isn’t simply announcing a new administration — he’s declaring A NEW CREATION.
The Messiah comes not to remodel the old order but to make all things new.
Jesus comes not to improve the world --but to reorder it.
Not to patch things up —but to make all things new.
Israel is tired.
• tired of crooked leadership
• tired of broken systems
• tired of being misled and mistreated by those in power.
• But Isaiah says, “THE GOVERNMENT SHALL BE UPON HIS SHOULDERS.”
• Not on the shoulders of Rome
• Not on the shoulders of kings
• Not on the shoulders of systems or structures
But on His shoulders — the shoulders strong enough to carry a cross and loving enough to carry you.
• This Kingdom doesn’t rise on weapons or wealth — but on worship.
• It isn’t upheld by greed — but by grace.
• It doesn’t expand by domination — but by deliverance.
• Where earthly governments take — His Kingdom gives.
• Where earthly rulers lord over — He lifts up.
• Where earthly power corrupts — His power cleanses.
Every title Isaiah speaks is a new world breaking through, a TRANSFORMATION.
This Transformation means:
• New leadership: A King who is Wonderful Counselor — guiding us with divine wisdom.
• New laws: Not written on tablets of stone, but written on our hearts.
• New peace: A peace that doesn’t depend on circumstances but flows from His presence.
• New identity: Not slaves, not victims, not statistics — but sons and daughters.
And watch this:
Isaiah says, “THE ZEAL OF THE LORD ALMIGHTY WILL ACCOMPLISH THIS.”
Meaning — this change does not depend on us, but on Him.
• We don’t bring the Kingdom in — we receive it.
• We don’t crown the King — He already reigns.
Every tyrant will one day bow.
Every oppressor will one day be silenced.
Every injustice will one day be reversed.
Because His Kingdom is a Kingdom of Light — and darkness can’t vote that out, overthrow it, or legislate it away.
So even in a broken world…
Even when leaders fail…
Even when systems disappoint…
We have hope — because a better King has come.
His reign is righteous.
His rule is just and everlasting, and His Kingdom has no end.
• He transforms sorrow into joy,
• fear into courage,
• brokenness into wholeness,
• bondage into freedom,
• confusion into purpose.
Jesus didn’t come simply to decorate life, HE CAME TO TRANSFORM IT
WHEN HOPE SHOWS UP!
POINT 5 - HOPE SHOWS UP EVEN IN THE FACE OF RESISTANCE (LUKE 2:7)
AND SHE BROUGHT FORTH HER FIRSTBORN SON, AND WRAPPED HIM IN SWADDLING CLOTHES, AND LAID HIM IN A MANGER, BECAUSE THERE WAS NO ROOM FOR THEM IN THE INN.
Isaiah doesn’t say a warrior is coming…
He doesn’t declare a general or a politician…
He says a Child is born.
• Heaven’s invasion begins in a manger.
• A feeding trough — a King laying where animals eat — because He came to be Bread for the hungry and Water for the thirsty!
• A stable — because He came to bring glory into low places.
HE DOESN’T JUST BRING HOPE —
HE IS HOPE.
HE DOESN’T JUST GIVE PEACE —
HE IS PEACE.
HE DOESN’T JUST SHINE LIGHT —
HE IS LIGHT.
AND IF HE HAS COME —
EVERYTHING CAN CHANGE.
God answers global darkness with a baby’s cry.
God confronts tyranny with tender hands wrapped in cloth.
• HOPE didn’t arrive to open doors and warm welcomes.
• HOPE arrived to a closed door…
• a crowded inn…
• a cold night…
• and a world unprepared for the miracle it desperately needed.
And yet — HOPE showed up anyway.
The resistance was not a sign of failure —
it was evidence of divine purpose.
• Because when HOPE arrives, darkness pushes back.
• When destiny is born, opposition rises.
• When God moves, the enemy trembles.
• Herod tried to kill Him before He could walk.
• Religion tried to silence Him before He could preach
• Hell tried to bury Him before He could rise
• But Advent declares —
Nothing can stop what God starts, HOPE IS INEVITABLE!
Some of us don’t realize it, but the resistance you’re feeling is not the enemy winning.
It’s heaven birthing something inside you.
• Mary carried Jesus through gossip, misunderstanding, and rejection.
• Joseph stayed with her through whispers and stares
• The Messiah entered the world through poverty and pressure
• Because the purpose of God often arrives where it’s least welcomed.
But the welcome of people cannot stop the will of God.
The “no room” at the inn sign became the birthplace of the greatest story ever told.
Resistance cannot stop HOPE — but it often reveals where HOPE is about to break through.
When you face resistance remember HE IS
• When your mind is overwhelmed, HE IS THE WONDERFUL COUNSELOR
• When your strength is gone, He is THE MIGHTY GOD
• When you feel alone, He is THE EVERLASTING FATHER
• And when the war is inside YOU, HE IS THE PRINCE OF PEACE
WHEN HOPE SHOWS UP
CONCLUSION
So yes…
There is darkness.
There is struggle.
There are nights when tears won’t stop and prayers feel unanswered.
But Advent whispers:
The story isn’t over.
HOPE is already on the way.
LIGHT is already breaking in.
• HOPE showed up in Nazareth.
• HOPE showed up in Mary’s womb.
• HOPE showed up in Joseph’s dream and kept him committed to God’s plan.
• HOPE showed up on a Bethlehem night.
• And HOPE showed up in a manger—
A FEEDING TROUGH—
Because God wanted us to know
There is no place too low, too dirty, too common for God’s glory to enter.
• The Bread of Life laid Himself where animals ate so humanity could taste salvation.
• HOPE walked the dusty roads of Galilee.
• HOPE healed the sick, lifted the fallen, opened blind eyes, restored broken hearts.
• HOPE kept showing up—even when rejected, plotted against, and abandoned.
Then one Friday—
HOPE climbed Calvary.
HOPE stretched His hands.
HOPE took the nails.
HOPE shed His blood.
HOPE hung between heaven and earth—looking like defeat but accomplishing victory.
HOPE died.
HOPE was buried.
HOPE lay in a borrowed tomb.
But early Sunday morning—HOPE GOT UP.
HOPE rose with all power,
HOPE declared I AM THE RESURRECTION AND THE LIFE.
And Church, that same HOPE is coming back again.
One day HOPE will crack the sky.
One day the trumpet will sound
One day the dead in Christ will rise,
And One day every knee will bow, and every tongue confess
And HOPE shall reign forever.
Until then, we wait with expectation
We walk with confidence,
We worship with assurance knowing,
WHEN HOPE SHOWS UP—EVERYTHING CHANGES.
