READ | SERMON NOTES
Summary l As Christians, let us look beyond the commercialisation of Christmas and centre our hearts on the meaning and purpose of Advent. Let us prepare our hearts for the coming of Jesus. We not only remember his first coming but look forward to the second coming on “The day of the Lord”! (v10). What should our discipleship posture during Advent be?
Three Sets of Tensions
1. Patient yet Expectant. 1st Century Christians were frustrated by the delay. However, Peter reminds us that Christ will return in God’s kairos time and not according to our expectations. God is beyond time and we must understand that God is waiting for more to come to repentance. (v8-9) But we must also be expectant since we will not have prior warning when Christ will return. Have we room in our hearts for Him? Or are our hearts full of worldly desires?
2. Humble yet Confident. There is a tension between the ‘already’ and the ‘not yet’. The ‘already’ means that the Kingdom of God partly came when Jesus was born. But there remains much evil in the world! That is why we are called to be humble. We need to depend on God because of the presence and prevalence of sin. But we are also confident in the “not yet” aspect of God’s Kingdom. One day God’s justice will prevail, and all pain and suffering will pass away! Nothing else can offer us this hope! We confidently look forward to the new heaven and the new earth as the home of righteousness. (v13)
3.Steadfast yet urgent. We are called to lead holy and godly lives, and walk steadfastly with God! We are to speed the coming of Christ (v12) by being committed to urgently and intentionally sharing the gospel. From Scripture, we know that God wants to renew and transform our world, not destroy it and recreate a new one! This is why Creation Care matters! There is an eternal reality which now we can only share in part but one day we will experience in totality!
Tragic and untimely events are hard for us to understand but perhaps God uses them to wake up hardened cold hearts and place in them a new urgency to fulfil the Great Commission! 1 Cor 15:58 tells us: “Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labour in the Lord is not in vain”.
What does it mean to be urgent in the Lord? We are to make our lives count for eternity! Start with getting right with God and repent, forgive others and seek restoration. Secondly, walk faithfully with God. The Church has many programmes to help us prepare ourselves for the 2nd Coming. And finally, reach out ‘with’ God! God yearns for us to return to Him, so partner Him. God may have given you a burden for someone, so pray for them, invite them to a church programme and then surrender them to God. Love those God has called us to love!
Who is Coming this Christmas? Remember the urgency, so adopt the correct discipleship postures, get right with God, walk faithfully and reach out with God!
PONDER | REFLECTION QUESTIONS
- Why should we be patient about the return of Christ?
- How can we be expectant about His return?
- What is the “already” aspect of God’s kingdom? What happened when God’s kingdom was inaugurated with the first coming of Christ?
- Why do we need to be humble in these times while waiting for Christ to return?
- What can we be confident about when He returns?
- Why should we be urgent in our discipleship now?
- How does the future hope of the earth and heaven being renewed spur us to urgent discipleship?
- What is God impressing upon you to do in response to the sermon?
- Is there someone you need to reach out to in prayer and action? Commit the person(s) to God in prayer.
