Sermon Big Idea:

As we journey forward, our lives must be centered around the presence and glory of Jesus.

Sermon Summary

Advent draws us into the breathtaking claim that the eternal Word became flesh and “tabernacled” among us (John 1:14). John’s language isn’t accidental; it deliberately hyperlinks the Exodus story. The God whose presence once localized in a movable tent—cloud by day, fire by night—has stepped into our neighborhood in the person of Jesus. Pastor Jason walked us through the Old Testament backdrop: Sinai’s consuming glory, the tabernacle’s ordered zones, and the sober reality that nearness to holiness was both comfort and danger. That same vocabulary—“pitching a tent”—reappears in John 1 to tell us that God’s portable sanctuary now has skin and bone. Jesus is the living, walking temple, full of grace and truth, revealing the Father’s heart without veil or distance.

This matters because every one of us is wired for glory. We chase awe in sunsets and stories, or we chase approval and applause. That wiring gets distorted: glory-seekers become glory-thieves. The solution isn’t to kill desire for glory, but to re-center it and desire to give glory to what is ultimately worth.  “We have seen his glory” means the deepest human hunger is answered, not by created splendor or human praise, but by the Son who makes the Father known. From his fullness we receive grace upon grace—an inexhaustible provision that doesn’t just forgive us; it reorders us. The law was a real gift, but Jesus, the embodiment of grace and truth, is the superior gift—God’s presence not only near us but available to us, not only available but indwelling by faith.

As we journey forward in our discipleship,  the call is to keep the presence and glory of Jesus at the center. Not at the margins or periphery of our lives. Not when we feel worthy. Especially not only on the rare “good” days. He tabernacles in the ordinary and the fractured parts of life: conflict, fatigue, shame, apathy, failure, and waywardness.  Through it all, the glory and presence of Christ is available.   The rituals and protocols that the Old Testament required for worshippers to strictly have been done away with because the glory and presence of God has come through the gift of Advent: the Word become flesh. Receive him again—today—with empty hands. There is more grace, and then more grace to be given (John 1:16).

Key Takeaways

• 1. God’s Condescension Reframes True Glory: Condescension offends us in people, but in God, it is the wonder of Advent: the High and Holy One comes down without ceasing to be high and holy. [34:08]

• 2. Jesus Tabernacles Among Us Now: “Dwelt among us” literally means “pitched his tent,” invoking the tabernacle where heaven and earth overlapped. In Christ, God localizes his presence not behind curtains but in a person, accessible yet still holy. The old layers of fabric become flesh, so that grace and truth can be seen, touched, and followed. He is God’s mobile sanctuary moving toward sinners. [40:11]

• 3. Holiness Makes Nearness Dangerous: Israel discovered that nearness to God is not casual; access had gradations for a reason. To live with God-in-our-camp required reverence, honesty, and atonement. Jesus doesn’t lessen God’s holiness; he bears it for us and brings us in. [54:35]

• 4. Our Glory-Seeking Hearts Reordered: We are wired for glory, but the wiring frays when we seek it in human applause or created things. That hunger becomes theft—we demand from people what only God can give. Christ’s revealed glory realigns our desires, training us to enjoy created wonder rightly while resting our weight on the Creator. [65:07]

• 5. Grace Upon Grace Sustains Us:  Don’t keep Jesus central by white-knuckled resolve but by receiving from his fullness again and again. Grace is not just the starter kit for the Christian life; it is the oxygen of the Christian life—poured out in failure and followed by more. Christ’s inexhaustible supply restores, recenters, and readies us to reflect his glory in the ordinary. Keep receiving what he never runs out of. [68:06]