Waiting in Defeat | Advent 2024: Waiting with Hope | Pastor Joe Coffey

·27 min·2 clips

Why would a pastor choose 2 Chronicles 36, a story of Israel's defeat, for an Advent series about waiting?

This episode is a sermon by Pastor Joe Coffey at Christ Community Chapel in Hudson, Ohio, part of the Advent 2024 series 'Waiting with Hope.' The sermon focuses on 2 Chronicles 36:17-23, an unusual passage for a Christmas series. Pastor Joe begins by discussing the difficulty of waiting, comparing it to a waiting room setup on stage. He explains that God loves patterns, using examples from Jesus' teachings like the grain of wheat and the lost sheep. The passage summarizes Israel's defeat by Babylon and exile for 70 years. Pastor Joe details how Israel disobeyed God by not observing Sabbath years for the land, skipping 70 over 490 years, leading to the exile as a forced rest. He outlines three points: when waiting is your fault, what God does while you wait, and why God acts. He contrasts suffering from external causes versus personal sin, noting it's harder to approach God in the latter. Pastor Joe describes how God moved historical figures like Nebuchadnezzar, Darius, and Cyrus like chess pieces to eventually have Cyrus proclaim the rebuilding of the temple in Jerusalem. He emphasizes that God always has a card to play, even when people have none. The sermon concludes by linking the temple rebuilding to God's invitation home, paralleling it with Jesus' stories in Luke 15 about God's relentless love. Pastor Joe ties this to Advent, stating Jesus is God's way for reconciliation and forgiveness, ending with a prayer.

As heard by us

A sermon on Advent waiting, neglected Sabbath, repeated disobedience, and God's way back through Jesus.

This review frames Advent waiting as a practiced trust, moving from a waiting-room image into 2 Chronicles 36:17-23. It traces the land's desolation to neglected Sabbath rest, then follows the turn toward Cyrus, whose proclamation opens a path for God's people to go up to…

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Why you'd press play

When waiting feels like defeat, press play for a sermon about obedience, Advent hope, and God's way back home.

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