Until the King Returns (Christmas)

Appleton Gospel Church

Until the King Returns (Christmas): The message of Christmas is that Jesus Christ was born, and with him came the birth of hope, life, and peace. But why is the world still so broken? Did Christmas fail? No. Today, we live in the tension of the Age of Redemption. Jesus has come; he has established his church and given us the Holy Spirit and the gospel — but there will still be darkness until the return of our King. Recorded on Dec 29, 2024, on Acts 1:1-11 by Pastor David Parks. Sermon Transcript We’ve been taking a little break from our Exodus series for Christmas. But fear not! We’ll jump back into Exodus next Sunday. During this Advent season, we’ve said that advent comes from the Latin for “arrival.” The ancient people of Israel had waited for generations for the coming of the promised Messianic King — a promise we believe was fulfilled in the incarnation and birth of Jesus Christ. But just as God’s people waited for the first advent of Christ, so today, we await the second advent in the return of Christ. In our little Christmas mini-series, Waiting for the King, we started last Sunday by focusing on the light of the promise of the first advent during a time of deep darkness. On Christmas Eve, we told the Christmas story of the birth of Jesus, a different kind of king. If you missed those sermons, you can always go back and watch or listen online if you’d like. Today, we’ll wrap up our Christmas series focusing on the hope of the promise of the second advent and the return of Christ our King. As we’ve seen, the light of the world has come. On those living in the land of deep darkness, a light has dawned. Unto us a child was born, a son was given. Jesus Christ was born, and with him came the birth of hope, life, and peace. But there’s a tension with Christmas: there’s still so much darkness. There’s still so much corruption, violence, and injustice in the world. There’s still cancer and car accidents and tragedies of all kinds. If Jesus was the great hope of the world, the Son of God who would save people from their sins, why is the world still so broken? Did Christmas fail? And for followers of Jesus, how can we keep our hope as we live in this tension? If you have your Bible/app, please open it to Acts 1:1. Acts 1:1–3 (NIV), “1 In my former book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach 2 until the day he was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles he had chosen. 3 After his suffering, he presented himself to them and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God.” On Tuesday, we said that the book of Luke was the first of a two-part work in the Bible. Luke refers to that here when he mentions his “former book.” Acts is part two of this work. The book of Luke focuses on the life and ministry of Jesus — everything “until the day he was taken up to heaven,” as he says. Luke did a careful investigation into Christianity by interviewing eyewitnesses who were alive to hear and see what Jesus said and did. The book of Acts is all about what happened next. Luke dedicates both works to a man named Theophilus. We don’t know much about Theophilus, but he’s generally believed to be a patron or benefactor, funding Luke’s investigation. Now, money is never the point of ministry, but money enables ministry (like almost everything else in life). The Bible presents God as the one who ultimately provides for our needs in life and ministry. And sometimes God rains down bread from heaven (as he did during the Exodus). But usually, God provides through the hard work and generosity of his people, people like Theophilus. Anyways, Luke reports back on what he discovered in his investigation. He says that after his suffering — meaning, after the death of Jesus Christ on the cross for the sins of the world — Jesus appeared to eyewitnesses and gave many convincing proofs that ...