The Thrill of Hope | Week 1 | Pastor Dave Brown
MESSAGE NOTES
Episode Notes
The Thrill of Hope - Week 1
November 30, 2025
Teacher: Pastor Dave Brown
The season of advent is marked by hope filled waiting.
Christ has died.
Christ is risen.
Christ will come again.
For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the greatness of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this.
— Isaiah 9:6-7
Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,”for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!”
— Revelation 21:1-5a
Christ has died.
Christ is risen.
Christ will come again.
A waiting person is a patient person. The word “patience” means the willingness to stay where we are and live the situation out to the full in the belief that something hidden there will manifest itself to us. Impatient people are always expecting the real thing to happen somewhere else and therefore want to go elsewhere. The moment is empty. But patient people dare to stay where they are. Patient living means to live actively in the present and wait there. Waiting, then, is not passive. It involves nurturing the moment, as a mother nurtures the child that is growing in her womb.
— Henri Nouwen
What God does in us as we wait is just as important as what we’re waiting for.
Christ has died.
Christ is risen.
Christ will come again
Jesus's resurrection is the beginning of God's new project not to snatch people away from earth to heaven but to colonize earth with the life of heaven.
— N.T. Wright
In this season, we might not wait well. We might become impatient and disgruntled and lose hope. But, dear friend, the good news of Advent is not that we are faithful in our waiting; it’s that God is faithful in his coming.
— Rich Villodas
Christ has died.
Christ is risen.
Christ will come again