Comfort and Joy IV // The Time Has Come
A Christmas Eve Message by Rev. Dr. Mark Jordan, Pastor
Advent helps us focus on peace, hope, love, and joy of God as we prepare for Christmas.
Tonight we light the Christ Candle
- John 8:12 (NIV) | Jesus said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”
Time in the Bible
- Chronos: the sequence of passing moments
- Et: the arrival of an occasion or event
- Kairos: the moment of choosing
The Time has Come
A Time for Waiting: I’m not a big fan of waiting, so I tend to try and occupy my time and mind, usually with my phone.
- Jeremiah 23:5 (NLT) | “For the time is coming,” says the Lord, “when I will raise up a righteous descendant from King David’s line. He will be a King who rules with wisdom. He will do what is just and right throughout the land.”
- Our clocks and calendars have brought us to this time.
A Time for Knowing: There seems to be something that wells up within us when the time is right.
- Luke 2:1-7 (ESV) | In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. 2 This was the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria. 3 And all went to be registered, each to his own town. 4 And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, 5 to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. 6 And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. 7 And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.
- Jesus is here and promises to come again.
A Time for Choosing: Once we know the time, we must choose what we will do with it.
- Galatians 4:4-7 (GNT) | 4 But when the right time finally came, God sent his own Son. He came as the son of a human mother and lived under the Jewish Law, 5 to redeem those who were under the Law, so that we might become God’s children. 6 To show that you are his children, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who cries out, “Father, my Father.” 7 So then, you are no longer a slave but a child. And since you are his child, God will give you all that he has for his children.
- The time has come: will you decide to live as one of God’s children?