Sermons on A Advent 1:

The Lily: Sprawling Weed Or Medicinal Herb Series

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Aug 2, 2003

God comes in Christ to heal our disloyalty, to judge and yet cure our sin, to help us flourish. Illustrated with Chrismons.

When I was twelve years old, our family moved to a house larger than the one we had been in. With a larger house came more yard, and with more yard came more plants to care for and more lawn to mow. If anybody was going to do any gardening at our home, it would have to be my father. My mother, ...read more

Scripture: Song of Songs 2:1, Hosea 14:4-7

Denomination: Baptist

Christingle: Jesus Is The Light Of The World

Contributed by Warner Pidgeon on Dec 23, 2007

A short but challenging all-age talk using a giant home-made ’Christingle’ (an orange with a red ribbon wrapped around, four sticks with fruit & sweets on & a white candle - all symbolism). God loves the world and sent Jesus as the Light of the World.

In November I spent two weeks in Rwanda; a small country in Africa. It is a most beautiful country. There are countless rolling green hills, many of them filled with banana trees. Fields are teeming with rice plantations and there are rows and rows of tea plants. Lake Kivu in the North is stunning. ...read more

Scripture: John 8:12

Denomination: Anglican

Come On Down Series

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Nov 30, 2008

The times, like those of post-Exilic Jerusalem, require us to wait. Will it be passive, impassive, or active waiting? Active waiting means seeing that what God has done He will do again. God will enlist us and shape us to work for His purposes.

“We wait. We are bored. No, don’t protest, we are bored to death, there’s no denying it. … A diversion comes along and what do we do? We let it go to waste . . . .In an instant all will vanish and we’ll be alone once more, in the midst of nothingness!” So speaks one of the characters in Samuel ...read more

Scripture: Isaiah 64:1-8

Denomination: Baptist

The Peace Of Christmas Series

Contributed by Jim Drake on Dec 6, 2008

Are you looking for peace? Look to the One who when He was born, the angels proclaimed a promise to the whole world—Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

Several decades ago, a diplomat got off a plane and spoke to the crowd that was gathered there. He waved a piece of paper to the crowd and they broke out in a series of loud cheers. Why were they so excited over a piece of paper? Because that paper was going to end the possibility of war. That ...read more

Scripture: 2 Peter 3:12-15

Denomination: Baptist

Healed Hearts His Home Series

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Dec 7, 2008

Two obstacles must be removed before we may receive the peace God wants to give us, so long delayed and frustrated: our false pride and our negative spirit of self-accusation. Then His victory will be ours.

The neighborhood, if you could call it that, was one of the most rundown and poverty-stricken in the city. For fifty years the housing had decayed, and, as the original residents left, absentee landlords jammed far too many people into the old dwellings. Diseases became epidemic, and fires not ...read more

Scripture: Isaiah 57:14-21

Denomination: Baptist

The Carpenter And His Timber Series

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Dec 14, 2008

Just as this amateur carpenter used rejected timber to repair a door and inserted misfit timber into a cabinet gap, so God uses rejected people and misfit churches to build the Kingdom.

I love to watch buildings take shape. I guess it’s the frustrated engineer in me, because that is what I would be involved with if the Lord had not, some fifty years ago, told me to build churches and souls instead of structures. But I love to see buildings take shape. There is a special joy in ...read more

Scripture: Isaiah 61:1-11

Denomination: Baptist

The Story Of The Candy Cane: A Children's Sermon

Contributed by Ken Pell on Dec 23, 2008

This is children’s sermon was delivered during Advent 2008.

Children’s Sermon: “The Story of the Candy Cane” Good morning everyone! I am glad you were able to join us today. This is the fourth week of Advent and the Sunday before Christmas. Are you ready for Christmas!? Me too. This year we are using our five senses as the theme for our Advent services, ...read more

Scripture: Psalm 34:8

Denomination: Nazarene

Luke Gives Us A Unigue Perspective On The Gospel Series

Contributed by Ronald Harbaugh on Dec 5, 2006

A sermon for the 2nd Sunday in Advent, series C

2nd Sunday in Advent - December 10, 2006 “Series C” Grace be unto you and peace, from God our Father and from our Lord, Jesus Christ. Amen. Let us pray: Dear Heavenly Father, through the power of your Holy Spirit, open our hearts and minds to your word, that we might hear it with relevance in ...read more

Scripture: Luke 3:1-6

Denomination: Lutheran

Grace Your Home With More Than Decorations Series

Contributed by Charles Wilkerson on Nov 10, 2009

First Sunday of Advent in this series: Anticipation and expectation for a wonderful & worshipful Christmas sets the stage for a different type of season.

John Calvin, the Reformer most responsible for what we know as Presbyterianism, disliked statues, artwork, icons and the like which were used in Catholic worship in the 1500’s. He had good reason; for the depictions, relics and the like worship they themselves had become objects of worship. Yet, in ...read more

Scripture: Hebrews 9:1-10

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

The Christ In A Manger

Contributed by Stephen Aram on Mar 24, 2020

We have heard the story so often that it seems obvious that Christ was born in a manger. But that would have been shocking to the world of that day.

I always enjoy the chance to meet people from different cultures and learn how 2 people from 2 different cultures can look at the same event and see it differently. Years ago, we lived in New Delhi India. Kathy and I had to take a bus to a shop in the old city, so I brought my Bible along to ...read more

Scripture: Luke 2:11-12

Peace On Earth

Contributed by Stephen Aram on Mar 24, 2020

We might read a Christmas card that says "Peace on Earth" and not think anything of it. But the hope of God's peace is revolutionary.

In years past at Christmas time you would see the phrase, “Peace on Earth,” quite a bit. It might be on a banner in a store window or on Christmas cards or decorations in someone’s front yard. We did get one Christmas card with the phrase, but not as many as in years past. As the years go by we ...read more

Scripture: Luke 2:14

A Family Like Ours

Contributed by Stephen Aram on Apr 22, 2020

We may be tempted to skip over the account of Jesus' ancestry, but it is an important part of the good news of Jesus.

If you had the job of writing up the story of the life of Jesus, one of the decisions you would make would be what to do with the opening paragraph. You know how important the opening is. You want something to grab people’s attention and pull them into reading the whole thing. What would you ...read more

Scripture: Luke 3:23-37

Unexpected!

Contributed by Lynn Malone on Dec 7, 2015

John the Baptist was an unexpected person bringing an unexpected message at an unexpected time. A communion sermon for Advent.

Every one of us has certain expectations at Christmas. We expect to buy gifts and we expect to receive gifts. We expect the lights and the colors and the sights and the sounds of the season. We expect to eat a lot! We expect long lines in the department stores, and apparently this year more than ...read more

Scripture: Luke 3:1-6

Denomination: Methodist

Praying That Politicians Relish What Is Right Series

Contributed by W Pat Cunningham on Dec 12, 2015

The coming of Our Lord Jesus Christ encourages us to work to restructure society around the Law of God, especially as that pertains to our stewardship of earth.

Thursday of 3rd week in Advent 2015 December 17 Joy of the Gospel Today is one of those pivots that our liturgical year turns around. In the first part of Advent, we look forward to the return of Our Lord, Jesus Christ, and the general judgement and resurrection that He promised. In other words, ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 1:1-17

Denomination: Catholic

Fruit For Christmas

Contributed by Lynn Malone on Dec 14, 2015

John the Baptist (and John Wesley, too) said that repentance would bear fruit in a changed life. Preparing for the coming of Christ means living and life of repentance and bearing the fruit that reflects that repentance.

Merry Christmas. Here’s your orange. No joke. An orange was a pretty common Christmas gift in years gone by, especially during the Great Depression. A child would awaken on Christmas morning to find a stocking stuffed with an orange, and apple, perhaps a banana, a few nuts, and if ...read more

Scripture: Luke 3:7-18

Denomination: Methodist