I am not speaking this coming Sunday (Dec 3, 2023, 2023) but our Guest Speaker Toyosi A. is speaking on Isaiah 9:1-7. Here are some of my own observations and applications. You can post your own thoughts about the passage in the ‘Comment’ section below. You can find the sermon videos posted here.
- No more gloom for those who are in distress (9:1). Isaiah’s words are spoken to a people who are experiencing deep sorrow or crisis. These words do not capture the full emotional and existential misery they were experiencing. When was a time when I experienced this kind of gloom or distress? How has Jesus helped me through this?
- In the future he will honour Galilee of the nations (9:1). Interesting that Isaiah mentions Galilee, the region to the north of the Sea of Galilee, where Jesus ministered. Nazareth was in Naphtali, and was humbled in Jesus’s day too: “‘Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?’ Nathanael asked. ‘Come and see,’ said Philip.” (John 1:46) Jesus spends a lot of time in Galilee… he honours it!
- The people walking in darkness have seen a great light (9:2).