December 4, 2022
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Isaiah 9:1-7
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christmas
Do you feel a sense of anticipation as Christmas approaches? For many, Christmas has become just another secular holiday, albeit the biggest of all holidays. But rather than having a sense of happy anticipation, some have a sense of dread or complacency. But remember when we were children? Christmas was so mysterious and wonderful then. Wouldn’t you love to rediscover the anticipation of Christmas?
What’s your perspective on Christmas this year? Has inflation limited your Christmas giving? Maybe you lost your job and don’t know how to have Christmas for your family this year? Perhaps you recently lost a loved one and there’ll be an empty seat at your Christmas dinner this year? Or your family has gone through a divorce and Christmas has gotten too complicated? Or maybe all the focus on shopping and spending has sapped your joy? I have good news. There’s a better way. Let’s rediscover Christmas together this year!
In Isaiah 9, the prophet proclaimed a word from the Lord concerning the coming of the long anticipated Messiah. We can rediscover the anticipation of Christmas by looking back in faith at Christ’s partial fulfillment of that prophecy by His first coming and looking forward in hope for His soon return.
December 6, 2020
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Isaiah 9:1-2,6-7
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christmas
Understanding the true meaning of Christmas begins by understanding and admitting the darkness of our world. Not the darkness of winter’s short days, but the darkness of ignorance and evil, suffering and pain, fear and anxiety, dark despair and gloomy grief. These and more describe what the Bible means by “darkness.”
It’s not enough to recognize the darkness in our world, nor is it enough to think you can brighten it through your own good intentions and efforts. In fact, this is the very reality that the Light of Christmas reveals: That we not only live in a dark world, but we have a darkness in our souls that cannot be enlightened without a Light from outside ourselves, a Great Light that could overcome our soul’s darkness. In Isaiah 9, he encouraged the people of Israel with a Messianic prophecy of a Son who was to be born as a great light that would overcome the world’s darkness. We can believe that the great Light that overcomes the world’s darkness has come in the person of Jesus.
September 11, 2019
REMEMBER 9/11 BUT LOOK TO THE FUTURE WITH HOPE Isaiah is filled with words of judgment and destruction, yet it also overflows with future hope. Isaiah prophesied the overthrow of the Northern Kingdom, “the “land of Zebulun and Naphtali,” by the Assyrians. This prophesy concerning Israel came true during Isaiah’s lifetime. But the prophecy of
December 2, 2018
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Isaiah 9:1-7
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christmas
Some of us like to give hints to see if the recipient of our gift can guess what’s inside. It builds the anticipation. That’s what God did. Centuries before offering us the gift of His Son, Jesus, He gave “hints” to the prophets of Israel concerning the coming of the Messiah. One of those prophets was Isaiah. God gave Isaiah many of the over 300 Messianic prophecies found in the Old Testament.
In Isaiah 9, God gave him a Messianic prophecy of a promised Son that would be given. We can recognize that Jesus is the promised Son that would be given. He is the Son of God given unto us.
December 4, 2016
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Isaiah 9:1-7
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christmas, movies, popular culture
Elf is a classic because of the redemptive Christmas themes found in its story. Themes like: a baby boy that gets adopted, an otherworldly young man whose love and innocence cause him not to fit it anywhere, and a man named Walter who is on the “naughty list” and rejects his son. In the movie, Walter’s priorities are upside down, he puts his job and position ahead of his wife and kids, and he is angry and miserable. The story is really about Walter’s redemption by accepting his son.
The prophet Isaiah wrote of a Son that would be given to humanity that would be the Messiah bringing light to a sin-darkened world and establishing an eternal kingdom of peace in a world filled with chaos and brokenness. We can recognize and receive Jesus as this Son that was given to us to bring us out of darkness and into His kingdom of peace and light.
September 11, 2015
I can’t read this verse without singing it as Handel imagined in his oratorio, Messiah. He put Isaiah’s words to music in 1741 AD, 17 centuries after Christ’s coming. Isaiah wrote the words of this prophecy around 740 BC, nearly 8 centuries before Christ’s coming. Not many song-writing duos have lived so far apart, in time that is. Yet time has little meaning to the “Everlasting” one. Isaiah prophesied a Son to be born to the house of David whose names would be “Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, and Prince of Peace.” Which of these names means most to you today?
September 11, 2014
Isaiah is filled with many words of judgment and destruction, yet it also overflows with future hope. Isaiah prophesies the overthrow of the Northern Kingdom, “the “land of Zebulun and Naphtali,” by the Assyrians. This prophesy concerning Israel came true during Isaiah’s lifetime. But the prophecy of the future “glory” that would fill the land of Galilee wouldn’t be fulfilled until 700 years later when Jesus of Nazareth walked the earth (Matt. 4:16). More Messianic prophecies are found in Isaiah than any other Old Testament book.
December 19, 2010
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Isaiah 9:6-7
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christmas
Pastor Gary Combs continues the Unto Us series with the third Messianic title from Isaiah 9:6, “Everlasting Father.”
December 12, 2010
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Isaiah 9:6-7
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christmas
Pastor Gary Combs continues his 4-week series on the four titles given to Christ found in Isaiah 9:6. This message is entitled “Mighty God.”
December 5, 2010
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Isaiah 9:6-7
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christmas
Pastor Gary Combs begins a new series for the Christmas season entitled “Unto Us.” The messages are from the four titles ascribed to Christ found in Isaiah 9:6. This first message answers the question “Why Christ’s counsel is so wonderful.”