Glynlea Grace United Methodist Chruch

SCRIPTURE

Isaiah 60:1-6

Arise, shine; for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD has risen upon you. ² For behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples; but the LORD will arise upon you, and his glory will be seen upon you. ³ And nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising. ⁴ Lift up your eyes round about, and see; they all gather together, they come to you; your sons shall come from far, and your daughters shall be carried in the arms. ⁵ Then you shall see and be radiant, your heart shall thrill and rejoice; because the abundance of the sea shall be turned to you, the wealth of the nations shall come to you. ⁶ A multitude of camels shall cover you, the young camels of Midian and Ephah; all those from Sheba shall come. They shall bring gold and frankincense, and shall proclaim the praise of the LORD.

SUMMARY and FUNCTION

Summary: We all go through periods of suffering and pain. We all have bad days, weeks,

months or even years. However, with God, we can always look forward to a

new beginning. God allows ‘do-overs’ or ‘u-turns’. When this happens, a new

day dawns and we are re-energized to do the Lord’s loving work. What great

news!!! Hallelujah!!!

Function: To encourage the members of the congregation to look forward to the new year

with hope and praise.

The Sermon

I. Introduction: The New Year’s Eve reminiscence about the previous year

A. Every New Year’s Eve, we look back on the previous year and reflect

B. Many people find themselves saying, “This was a hard year. I hope next year is better.”

· I remember my late wife making this comment on New Year’s Eve 1999. Over the previous three years, she lost her mother, daughter and had various health issues that nearly killed her. (The year 2000 did turn out to be a much better year for her.)

· We all have bad days, weeks or even years. Its part of living in this sinful, fallen world.

C. If you are one of those people who is saying, “This was a bad year. I hope next year is better”, there is good news:

· There’s a light at the end of the tunnel because…

· God has a way of redeeming bad experiences

· Today’s passage, Isaiah 60:1-6 illustrates this

II. Isaiah 60:1-6

A. To understand Isaiah 60:1-6 we must first understand how Isaiah, as a whole, is organized

· First half of Isaiah (Chapters 1-39) describes Israel’s sinful behavior and the consequential judgment.

- Despite numerous warnings, the Israelites continued to commit Idolatry and oppress the poor, widows and orphans. As a result….

- God allowed the Assyrians to conquer the northern kingdom of Israel and the Babylonians to conquer the southern kingdom of Judah. The Israelite people were deported to far off foreign cities. They were exiled for approximately 50 years. They had 50 bad years!!!!

· Second half of Isaiah (Chapters 40-66) describes how God redeems and restores Israel

- The return from exile

- The future redeemer of Israel (Jesus)

- The future kingdom: Isaiah 60:1-6 refers to the dawning of the future kingdom (This refers to the future restoration of Israel and to the Kingdom of God. This is the same Kingdom of God Jesus refers to in Mark 1:15. The Kingdom of God begins to become a reality with the birth of Christ.)

B. Isaiah 60:1-3: The dawning of the Kingdom of God is likened to a beautiful sunrise. As the light and warmth of the sun begins to permeate the earth, the love and glory of God permeates the earth. “Arise, shine; for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD has risen upon you. For behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples; but the LORD will arise upon you, and his glory will be seen upon you. And nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising.”

C. Isaiah 60:4-6: As people are drawn to a beautiful sunrises, people from all over the world will be drawn into the Kingdom of God, “Lift up your eyes round about, and see; they all gather together, they come to you; your sons shall come from far, and your daughters shall be carried in the arms. Then you shall see and be radiant, your heart shall thrill and rejoice; because the abundance of the sea shall be turned to you, the wealth of the nations shall come to you. A multitude of camels shall cover you, the young camels of Midian and Ephah; all those from Sheba shall come. They shall bring gold and frankincense, and shall proclaim the praise of the LORD.” (Note: Midian and Ephah are east of Israel. According to Matthew 2, wise men from the east came to Jesus when he was approximately 2 years old to present him with gold, frankincense and myrrh.)

D. Summation of Isaiah 60:1-6

· Isaiah 60:1-6 refers to the dawning of the Kingdom of God

· The dawning of the Kingdom of God started with the birth of Jesus (Mark 1:15)

· This dawning of the Kingdom of God marks a new beginning and this new beginning is available to all of us.

III. The trite but true phrase “God allows U turns”

A. We’ve all been down the treacherous path of sin. We were down this path before repenting and trusting in Christ as Savior. Even as Christians, we sometimes take our focus off of God and veer down this path.

B. God, however, is a God of new beginnings. The Kingdom of Heaven is about new beginnings. With the power of Gods grace, we can make that ‘U’ turn and get back on the path of holiness.

IV. God has a way of redeeming our bad situations

A. Sometimes our bad days, months or years are not caused by our sins or bad decisions. Sometimes, bad things just happen to us.

B. In these situations, God can redeem our bad situations.

C. God used the life and death of my daughter to bring my wife into a relationship with Him. God redeemed the untimely death of my daughter. To put it in other words: God can bring good out of bad.

D. Ultimate example of this: Christ dying on the cross

E. If your year has been bad, God can bring good out of that year

V. Conclusion: A time to make a ‘U’ turn or start over is communion. During

communion we receive God’s grace and this enables us to make that ‘U’ turn and start

over. Jesus invites us all to His table. So, if you need to make a ‘U’ turn or if your

situation needs a transformation, come to the table.