November 30, 2025

Isaiah 8:16-9:7

The Dawn of Redeeming Grace Brings Hope

Sunday Sermons

In a world marked by deep darkness and spiritual hunger, the Advent season speaks with unusual honesty. The prophet Isaiah describes a people stumbling through distress and gloom, grasping for answers anywhere but God. Yet into that darkness comes a light not awakened from within us but shining upon us. An illuminating and intrusive grace that reveals our need and draws us back to the God who saves. Advent begins in the dark, but refuses to leave us there.

As Isaiah looks ahead to the birth of Jesus, he announces a Savior would bring hope. Light for the blind, freedom for the burdened, peace for the anxious, and forgiveness for the rebel. Join us as Pastor Tommy walks us through Isaiah’s vision of a hope that does not fade and a light the darkness cannot overcome.

Speaker

Tommy Bailey

Series

Holy Week & Advent

Go to Series

Scripture

Isaiah 8:16-9:7

Topics
Advent Doubt Growth & Discipleship Suffering

Sermon Notes

Isaiah 8:16-9:7

The Dawn of Redeeming Grace Brings Hope

Pastor Tommy Bailey

“[Advent] is the most tough-minded of all the church seasons. It so clearly shows that our faith is not for sissies.”
Fleming Rutledge, Advent: The Once and Future Coming of Jesus Christ

The Honesty of Advent:

1.  The Illuminating Grace of God in Christ
2.  The Intrusive Grace of God in Christ

The Hope of Advent:

3.  The Saving Grace of God in Christ
4.  The Future Grace of God in Christ

1. The Illuminating Grace of God in Christ

“In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”
John 1:4–5

“God wants shalom and will pay any price to get it back. Human sin is stubborn, but not as stubborn as the grace of God.”
Cornelius Plantinga, Not The Way It’s Supposed to Be

2. The Intrusive Grace of God in Christ

“The human soul is not the seeker but the sought: it is God who seeks, who descends from the other world to find and heal Man.”
C.S. Lewis, Studies in Medieval and Renaissance Literature

The Initiative of God in Isaiah 9:
  • On them a light has shone (v. 2)
  • You have multiplied the nation (v. 3)
  • The rod of his oppressor you have broken (v. 4)
  • For to us a Son is given (v. 6)
  • The government shall be upon His shoulder (v. 6)
  • Of the increase of His government (v. 7)
  • The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this (v. 7)

“[The] high and holy Christ does not cringe at reaching out and touching dirty sinners and numbed sufferers. Such embrace is precisely what he loves to do. He cannot bear to hold back.”
Dane Ortlund, Gentle and Lowly

“He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.”
Colossians 1:13-14

3.  The Saving Grace of God in Christ

“Thank God my salvation does not depend upon my frail hold on Him, but of His Almighty grasp of me.”
Martyn Lloyd-Jones

4.  The Future Grace of God in Christ

“…Upon Him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with His wounds we are healed.”
Isaiah 53:5 (emphasis added)

“Those little arms in the manger will one day grapple with the monster ‘Death’, and destroy it.”
Charles Spurgeon

“We need to understand the difference between optimism and hope. Optimism often arises out of denial of the real facts; hope, however, persists in spite of the clearly recognized facts because it is anchored in something beyond.”
Fleming Rutledge, Advent: The Once and Future Coming of Jesus Christ

Discussion Questions

  • What are we looking forward to most in this Advent season? How can you not be overwhelmed by the Christmas season, but rather keep the saving grace of God foremost in your mind?
  • Where do we need grace in our lives? Do we need grace with people, circumstances, or situations?
  • Have you seen God pursue yourself or others with His love and His grace? Who are you praying to know God better?
  • Where do you need peace in your life? How can we be in right relationship with God?

Songs, Readings & Prayer

Songs

“Come Behold The Wondrous Mystery“ by Matt Boswell, Matt Papa, and Michael Bleecker
“Joy Has Dawned“ by Keith Getty and Stuart Townend
“O Come O Come Emmanuel“ by Henry Sloane Coffin, Thomas Helmore, and John Mason Neale
“Come Thou Long Expected Jesus“ by Charles Wesley
“Doxology” by Thomas Ken and Louis Bourgeois
All songs are used by Permission. CCLI License #2003690

Call To Worship: 1st Sunday of Advent; Hope

LEADER: Let us praise our Lord Jesus Christ.
ALL: Alleluia! Jesus is coming!

LEADER: He humbled Himself to dwell among us, born a helpless baby.
ALL: Alleluia! Jesus is coming!

LEADER: He is the Light of the World, the Bread of Heaven, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
ALL: Alleluia! Jesus is coming!

LEADER: He died, rose from the dead, and lives in heaven. He will come again because He loves us.
ALL: Alleluia! Jesus is coming!

LEADER: “Let us pray together.”
ALL: Father, all-powerful and ever-living God, we do well always and everywhere to give You thanks through Jesus Christ, our Lord. When He humbled Himself to come among us as a man, He fulfilled the plan You formed long ago and opened for us the way to salvation. We light this candle today to remind us of the hope found only in Christ Jesus. Now we watch for the day when He will come again in His glory. All praise and honor to Him who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen!

Classic Prayer: O Clavis David (O Key of David)

O Key of David and Scepter of the house of Israel, you open and no one shuts; you shut and no one opens: come and lead the prisoners from the prison house, those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death.

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