Bible Text: Matthew 2:1-6 | Preacher: Matt Dugan | Series: Advent, The Gospel according to Matthew

Second Sunday of Advent
“Season of Love”
Matthew 2:1-6
Advent is a season of waiting, expecting, and hoping. “Advent” is a Latin word and means “coming.” For hundreds of years, Christians have used an Advent wreath to remember and celebrate the first coming of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Advent should also inspire hope as we wait for the Second Coming of Christ.

We are calling the Second Candle “The Candle of Love” because it reminds us that God’s love is the reason He sent Jesus to this world. Christ is the way of salvation. The Bible tells us that because of the Love of Christ, He was willing to die for us even while we were still sinners. This unconditional love will never fade. It emboldens us to share Jesus and His grace with others.

We light this Candle of Love in a spirit of expectation, of anticipation, of preparation, of longing. There is a yearning in the hearts of everyone for deliverance from the sins of the world. We are thankful that the Love of God frees us from those sins.

Matthew 2:1-6
Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, saying, “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.” When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him; and assembling all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. They told him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for so it is written by the prophet:

“‘And you, O Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
for from you shall come a ruler
who will shepherd my people Israel.’”