Welcome to the defender podcast, a resource to help mobilize and equip the body of Christ to manifest the gospel to orphans and vulnerable children. This podcast is a ministry of Lifeline Children Services, and I'm your host, Herbie Newell.

Welcome to the Defender Podcast Advent Edition. This is our first of 4 advent specials that we want to release. Hopefully, you've been able to go on and receive our Advent guide, and this is meant to supplement that Advent guide so that we, together, can long for the coming Jesus. Today's theme is waiting. We wanna reflect on waiting for Jesus.

And we wait not as those who wait without hope, but we wait with hope, knowing that there will be a fulfillment that Jesus will come. And all throughout the Old Testament, we see the people of God waiting, waiting for the fulfillment of God's promise made to Abraham, and to Isaac, and to Jacob. We see the the waiting and know on this side of the cross that Jesus was the fulfillment of all of the Old Testament waiting. But throughout the Old Testament, we continually see the people waiting. We see the Israelites groaning in captivity in Egypt, wanting a deliverer to come and to rescue them from slavery.

The Lord appoints Moses and and he has 10 plagues that he brings before pharaoh, but the last plague was the most severe. It was the death of the firstborn son, and there was a passover, and the blood of the lamb was shed to go over the doorway so that the death angel would pass over the houses that were marked out by the sign of the covenant. But still, after the Passover, the people go into exile in the desert. They wait for 40 years waiting to come into the promised land. But even in the promised land, we see the day of judges and the cycle of judges as one judge comes to deliver the people, they forget god and they go back into captivity.

And then, of course, we see the Babylonian exile. But then last, but certainly not least, we see the the silence, the 400 years of silence before Jesus would make his way onto the scene in a lowly town of Bethlehem, to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph. Beloved, waiting is hard. I had some dear friends who were going through the domestic adoption process, and, certainly, that process was long and laborious. They were chosen by several birth mothers who, in the end, changed their mind before delivery.

But there came a time when a mom chose my dear friends to be the the parents of her son. And I remember on the 23rd December, I had the gift of calling my friends and letting them know that their son had been born and that he was waiting for them at our office. And so, on the 23rd December, their new son became a member of a family. And all of the waiting, all of the waiting through infertility, all of the waiting through the domestic adoption process, all of the waiting to be chosen culminated in a son that was placed in their arms. And beloved, just as God has kept his promises in the past and he has shown that our waiting is not futile, he will keep them again.

I love what Deuteronomy chapter 18 verse 15 says. It says, the Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers. It is to him that you should listen. You see, Moses was was giving one of his farewell addresses in Deuteronomy when he says, There will be a prophet just like me, except this will be a prophet who will be greater than Moses and God will raise him up. Jesus, the culmination of our waiting, would be the ultimate prophet speaking for and behalf of the father, but also embodying God's word and his promise fulfilled.

Oh, aren't we grateful for this promise of God fulfilled in Jesus to be our great prophet? But also the prophet Isaiah, in Isaiah chapter 9, foretold the coming of the Messiah when he says these words in verse 6 of Isaiah chapter 9, for unto us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government shall be on his shoulders, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and of peace, there will be no end. And on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore, the zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this. You see, Isaiah's prophecy of the coming Messiah brings us the rich titles that Jesus would be.

He would be a wonderful counselor. Beloved, if in your waiting, if in your striving today, you need counsel. You can't find true counsel in a life coach or in a therapist. Where do you find true counsel in Jesus? Because he is the wonderful counselor.

His word is a light into our path and a light to our soul. But not only is he a wonderful counselor, if you're going through hardships, if you're feeling weak, maybe this Advent season, you have a loved one who is sick. Have dear friends who are struggling with a year long illness of my friend and a wife that is watching her husband struggle. Know that we have a mighty God. He is mighty in our weakness, but not just a wonderful counselor and a mighty God, he's our everlasting Father.

Oh, our sonship to God and his fatherhood of us will not end. He is a father that that will not leave us or forsake us, but he will care for us. But he's also the Prince of Peace. Many times in our waiting, it's hard to find peace. As a matter of fact, we're apprehensive, we're nervous, we're anxious.

We want the fulfillment now. We don't want to have to wait. Just like a child waiting for that toy that they've asked for for Christmas or that gift that they've longed for to open on Christmas morning, they're anxious waiting for it in a positive way. But, beloved, for many of us, our anxious waiting brings us to fear. And, oh, aren't we glad that we have a wonderful counselor, a mighty god, an everlasting father, and a prince of peace.

Jesus' first coming demonstrates these promises. Oh, but these fullnesses, oh, the fullness of this will truly be realized when he returns. God's promise or promises are continual. The Old Testament points forward to Jesus. It shows us his faithfulness in keeping his promise.

And so, beloved, no matter what you're going through this Advent season, no, no matter what the waiting that you're waiting for, maybe it's the waiting of a diagnosis, maybe it's for the waiting of healing. Maybe it's for the waiting of a child to come into your home. Know that he brings fullness. He will keep his promise. Jesus kept the promises of God.

Again, he was the promised prophet. Jesus perfectly revealed God in every form. He was the exact imprint of his nature, But then also Jesus was the promised king. Jesus began his reign bringing peace and righteousness through his life, through his death, and through his resurrection. And so beloved, marvel at God's faithfulness in sending Jesus to fulfill his word.

Know that there's an already but not yet nature of god's kingdom. Much is fulfilled, but we still await full realization. And so, waiting is hard, it's challenging. And so, we wait and we celebrate the waiting as we celebrate Advent. Advent mirrors Israel's waiting for the Messiah, the tension of a broken world longing for restoration.

And waiting, beloved, is not passive, it's active. It involves us trusting and worshiping God with great obedience. And so as we wait for Jesus, three things that we can do. As we wait during this Advent season, but also as we wait for Christ to come again. 1st, we worship.

We adore Jesus as the fulfillment of his promises. We adore Jesus for what he's doing in our day and our age. At Lifeline, this year, we have celebrated over 25 children who were adopted from many years ago who have come to saving faith in Christ Jesus. We celebrate women who've given their lives to Christ and chosen life for their unborn child. We adore Christ Jesus for the way that he's put families back together this last year.

We worship God. We adore him because he is worthy of our worship. But the other way that we approach our waiting is through prayer. We ask for God's kingdom to come on earth as it is in heaven. We ask the Lord to make his glory known and his gospel known to all people.

We ask the Lord to come and to be real to us and that he would use us to spread this glorious gospel. We pray for the lord to act. We pray for the lord to move. We pray for the lord to fulfill our longings. But then, we can't just worship, we can't just pray, we also have to serve.

We live out kingdom values by loving others and sharing the gospel and even manifesting the gospel to the most vulnerable, the triad of the vulnerable, the stranger, the alien, the orphan, and the widow. We serve. And so this Advent season, as we're waiting for Jesus, let's serve. Let's be the people who are serving. Not serving out of duty, but out of hopeful expectation.

You see, the promise of Christ's return motivates our hope even in difficult times. So, beloved, God has been faithful before, and he will be faithful again. Isaiah 9:7 said, the zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this. This deal, the zeal of the Lord, his zeal, his action towards us, his eagerness to accomplish his purposes. You know, in 2012, there was a time at Lifeline, during the summer of 2012 where it was a very difficult summer.

Finances were tough, finances were hard, and there was a particular time at the end of July that quite honestly, I will admit, I didn't know how we were gonna make our payroll. And the number one reason that nonprofits and ministries fail is they cannot pay their people, and I literally didn't know how we would pay our people. I remember waiting that week. It just so happened that that payroll was supposed to be deducted on that Friday, and all week I prayed. My wife, Ashley, and I would get on our knees and pray that the Lord would do something.

I was being active. I was serving. I was going out and and asking people to give, but I kept praying that the Lord would provide. And I remember coming home on that Thursday night knowing that the payroll would be relieved, would be drawn out of her account the next day. And and I remember the number we've been praying for all week was $10,000.

I came into my neighborhood and cried out to the lord because we had not seen that $10,000 come in. And I said, lord, I trust you. The waiting has been hard. I have no idea what you will do, but help me to be faithful. Help me to be faithful even when my waiting is not fulfilled.

It was about that time that my phone did an alert, and so I pulled over and I looked at it before I got home. And it was a friend who said, by the way, I meant to tell you we wired $10,000 earlier this week, and I wanted to make sure you knew that it should be there today. Oh, beloved, tears started to fill my eyes as I knew that the Lord had answered this prayer. And so I want to encourage you, as you're waiting and as we're waiting for Jesus, know that God has been faithful before and he will be faithful again. And so we reflect on the promise of Jesus and we live in light of his return.

We meditate on his word. We spend time in prayer and we share the hope of Christ. Knowing that we live differently in light of his return. And so, as we wait, may all of our waitings be fulfilled in Christ Jesus. Let's pray.

Thank you, Lord, for your faithfulness in sending Jesus and for the hope of his return. We're thankful that we do not wait in vain, but we wait with great hope and we wait with great expectation. Lord, give us grace to wait faithfully and actively. Help us to be about worship and prayer and service. And Lord, help us to reflect this Advent season, not on the busyness of the season, not on the chores of the season, not on our to do list, but on the coming messiah.

May your word, may your praise, and may your goodness and glory and gospel ever be on our lips. It's in your great name that we pray in the name of Jesus. Amen. Well, thank you for joining the Defender Podcast Advent Series. Know that we still have 3 more episodes coming that will focus on other advent themes.

We pray that you would join us each and every week as we reflect on the promises of God this advent season. God bless and Merry Christmas.

Thanks for listening to the Defender Podcast. If you enjoy making this podcast a part of your weekly routine, we'd love for you to take a moment to subscribe, rate, and review the Defender Podcast to make it easier for more people to find. For more information on how you and your church can partner with Lifeline, visit us at lifelinechild.org. If you want to connect with me, please visit herbynewell.com. Follow us at Lifeline on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter by searching for Lifeline Child.

You can email us directly at info at lifelinechild.org. Beloved, will you allow god to use the gospel to you to impact the life of a child? Please contact us because we are here to defend the fatherless. We'll see you again next week for the Defender