Date: December 17, 2023
Bible Text: Isaiah 7:1-8:22 | Jordan Coros
Series: Three Babies; One Promise
You’ve probably heard this saying before: “Faith over fear.” It’s one of those classic Christian cliches that is undeniably true but can be categorically unhelpful, especially when it’s offered up carelessly in the throes of a challenging season. Our world isn’t helpful in this by the way. Peace and hope don’t get the same kind of attention that fear does. News outlets, social media pages, politicians and more breed fear by stoking the fires of our emotions through picking the worst possible stories to report on or depicting current events as one more rung on the ladder down to a dystopian nightmare or seeking to get our support by causing us to fear the “other team” and what they might do if they get elected. No wonder doom scrolling has become such a problem. All around us all we see is fear, fear, fear. The question this all comes down to, ultimately, is this: who will you trust?
That was the case for the nation of Judah and King Ahaz as they found themselves in the middle of a seemingly dire set of circumstances. But in the middle of it all, God’s Word came to them through the prophet Isaiah. God’s promises came to them, personified in a baby born then, to remind them of who God is and what he said he will do. That child was a picture of the greater promise God would fulfill in another baby born hundreds of years later, who would be the hope for the world. God fulfills his promises, and his word for us today is the same as it was to his people so many years ago: trust me.
Series: Three Babies; One Promise
Jordan Coros
Message: 2 – Isaiah & His Wife’s Baby: Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz (Hope)
Harvest Bible Chapel
Text: Isaiah 7-8
December 17, 2023
Will you believe God’s promise for an eternal hope?
…Recognize what’s wrong (7:1-9)
2 Kings 16:2–3
…See it in terms of the human condition (7:10-12)
Man’s nature, so to speak, is a perpetual factory of idols. Man’s mind, full as it is of pride and boldness, dares to imagine a god according to its own capacity.
John Calvin
…Understand the divine remedy (7:13-25; 8:1-10)
…Embrace the redemptive plan (8:11-22; Matthew 1:20-23)
