| • Discussion on engaging with worship through reading the Bible and taking notes | |
| • Reading from Isaiah 9:2-7, focusing on coming to familiar verses with fresh eyes and a fresh heart | |
| • Personal anecdote about driving across Canada with family, experiencing challenges due to weather and distance | |
| • Reflection on holding onto hope during difficult times and looking forward to better days | |
| • Acknowledging the current struggles and difficulties in worship services | |
| • The speaker discusses the challenges of worshiping in large groups with hearing difficulties. | |
| • The importance of meaningful encounters with God in worship and the potential for passive consumption when engaging remotely. | |
| • Advent as a time of hope, expectation, and longing for something more during difficult times such as the current pandemic. | |
| • Struggling to cope with restrictions on social interactions and gatherings. | |
| • Understanding the importance of submission to authority during a pandemic. | |
| • Recognizing the need for hope in challenging situations. | |
| • Explaining that Advent is not just about polarities (darkness/light, chaos/hope), but about navigating difficult times knowing that a better future is possible. | |
| • The concept of being "irreducibly hope-based creatures" | |
| • Isaiah 9 as a source of sustaining hope in the face of trial | |
| • The context of Isaiah's prophecy during a time of corruption, destruction, and impending exile | |
| • Isaiah's questions about God's sovereignty in history and the role of God's people in the world | |
| • God's presence and power are sufficient even in darkness and death | |
| • Hope comes from knowing God in Jesus, not from external sources like vaccines or healthcare | |
| • The Christian hope is in the birth of Jesus as a son given for humanity's salvation | |
| • Jesus' role as substitute in bearing punishment for sin and giving righteousness to believers | |
| • The imputation of sin and righteousness | |
| • Christ's sacrifice on the cross as a means of salvation | |
| • The believer's identity in Christ, including being "invincible" and "more than conquerors" | |
| • The life and death of Jesus Christ securing victory over sin and death | |
| • Christian hope being a gift freely given through faith in God's grace | |
| • Hope is for broken people who need it | |
| • Christian hope comes from knowing we're not good enough and need a savior | |
| • The Son is a gift because we don't deserve him | |
| • The truth of God's promise of redemption must be incarnated, or made real to us | |
| • Jesus is the embodiment of hope, and those who follow Him are called to incarnate that hope in a hopeless world | |
| • The speaker discusses the nature of God's thinking and how humans can have hope in life and death. | |
| • The Bible affirms that dying is a gain to be with Christ, but this hope is not solely based on heaven after death. | |
| • There is a greater hope that involves a person who is a king with an increasing government and peace, reigning forever. | |
| • Jesus' preaching ministry began with the announcement of the kingdom of God being near. | |
| • The speaker draws parallels between Jesus' teachings and the concept of praying for God's kingdom to come. | |
| • The nature of hope and its relationship to the gospel | |
| • The kingdom of God: past, present, and future | |
| • Living in a time of spiritual struggle and uncertainty | |
| • The promise of new creation through Jesus Christ | |
| • The importance of holding onto hope during trials and hardships | |
| • Filling one's life with hope and living it out in daily actions | |
| • Allowing people to see and hear the speaker's face, voice, and words | |
| • Being open to the speaker's guidance and direction | |
| • Filling people with hope and love | |
| • Being a reflection of the speaker in daily life | |
| • Wondering and being awed by the presence of the speaker |