Throughout this Advent season we've been meditating upon the promise of Isaiah 9:1-7, which speaks of a coming day when the light of God's forgiving grace would dawn upon a sinful world. In this Christmas Eve sermon, Zach looks to the way Matthew records Jesus' fulfillment of this passage (or at least the first two verses) as he sets off to begin his ministry and what it shows us about God's great love for sinners.

In our fourth "hopeful meditation" on Isaiah 9:1-7, we'll trace the passage to the root of the hope extended in it. How will all the glorious promises of this prophecy be fulfilled? The answer lies in the coming of a specific Person to the world.

In our third "hopeful meditation" on Isaiah 9:1-7, we'll spend some time reflecting on what this prophecy reveals about God. Who is the God of light? We'll see four of our God's glorious excellencies in this passage.

In our second "hopeful meditation" on Isaiah 9:1-7, we'll explore how the promises of this passage function to sustain our faith while we wait for God to fulfill them completely. We'll look at the specific promises of the passage and consider how and why they should encourage us today.

This sermon kicks off our Advent sermon series in the prophecy of Isaiah 9:1-7, and will begin to explore how the light of Christ's coming breaks through the darkness of life in this fallen world.