Service for December 7 Second Sunday of Advent

Sermon for  December 7, 2025                                           Second Sunday of Advent

The Fellowship of Renewal                    Pastor Jim Odden

Advent settles over us like the quiet before dawn: a season when hope gathers in the heart and light slowly reaches across the shadows. It is a time of shared waiting, where fellowship itself becomes a sign of promise. One candle is lit, then another, until the glow of many small flames reminds us that God’s renewal begins in community.

Isaiah’s vision of a Spirit-filled ruler rising from a lifeless stump speaks to a people, and a world, that have known loss. From what seemed dead, God brings life. True leadership, Isaiah says, is marked not by power or pedigree but by wisdom, courage and care for the vulnerable. Transformation begins when God’s Spirit shapes ordinary people into communities of justice, humility and peace.

John the Baptizer continues that call, urging us to prepare the way; not through frantic effort, but by turning our lives toward the light together. Repentance, rightly understood, is not a private shame but a shared practice of renewal. When we face what is broken within and among us, space opens for mercy and reconciliation.

Isaiah’s peaceable kingdom imagines enemies at rest and creation restored. That vision becomes real whenever we act with compassion, confront injustice and build communities where all can flourish. Advent readiness is active: mentoring, serving, forgiving, advocating and encouraging hope where despair has taken root.

Advent teaches us to watch for God in the space between us. Christmas teaches us to greet the holy with open doors and generous hearts. Together they invite us into a shared life where grace is not an idea but a way of being: a fellowship that steadies us through this and every season.