Latest / Eurasia Region Podcast / S1-E38 | Everyday Eurasia | Tanja Baum

Transcript

S1-E38 | Everyday Eurasia | Tanja Baum · Eurasia Region Podcast

• 0:06
  Welcome to the special advance series of the Everyday Eurasia
• 0:09
  podcast, Inspiring Fate, or every day.
• 0:13
  In the coming weeks, they'll be journeying together toward
• 0:16
  Christmas, A season of anticipation, reflection and
• 0:20
  light. In the darker days.
• 0:23
  During this special season of Advent, we will journey through
• 0:26
  the Advent themes of hope, peace, joy and love.
• 0:30
  In these last days of the Advent season, we will join Tanya Baum.
• 0:34
  She's living in Germany near Frankfurt, together with her
• 0:37
  husband Martin and family. For the last two years, she
• 0:40
  served as a pastor in the Church of the Nazarene in North
• 0:43
  Frankfurt. He's also helping the Germany
• 0:46
  district, the European Nasrin College, and the Eurasia region
• 0:50
  with finances and data protection.
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  She will share with us about Team Advent Love.
• 0:57
  Today we add another facet of God's love.
• 1:01
  Let me read to you from Isaiah 9, the verses 26 and seven.
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  The people walking in darkness have seen a great light on those
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  living in the land of deep darkness.
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  A light has dawned, for to us a child is born, to us a son is
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  given, and the government will be upon his shoulders, and he
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  will be called wonderful Counsellor, mighty God,
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  everlasting Father, Prince of Peace, Of the greatness of his
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  government and peace there will be no end.
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  He will reign on David's throne and over his Kingdom,
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  establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness.
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  From that time on and forever the zeal of the Lord Almighty
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  will accomplish this. In Christian tradition, this
• 1:58
  text from Isaiah refers to the coming of the Messiah and thus
• 2:03
  to the birth of Jesus in the New Testament.
• 2:07
  In Galatians 4, in the first part of verse 4, we read.
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  But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son.
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  Almost 700 years passed between Isaiah's promise and the birth
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  of Jesus. Only after 700 years, as Paul
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  writes to the Galatians, the time had fully come.
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  Then the time was fulfilled. That was a very long time.
• 2:42
  The people of God had to wait so long for the promise to be
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  fulfilled. They had expectations and they
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  were waiting. The word Advent means arrival.
• 2:55
  During Advent time, we Christians prepare for the feast
• 3:00
  of Jesus arrival, which we celebrate at Christmas.
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  It's a time of expectation and waiting.
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  Fortunately for us and our children, Advent lasts only four
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  weeks. Then Christmas is here and we
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  can celebrate. But we also wait for other
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  things, don't we? We wait for an answer from God,
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  for a prayer to be answered. We wait for peace and for God to
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  intervene in the injustice and political chaos of this world.
• 3:34
  We pray, we wait, and we expect God to act.
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  Sometimes I have the impression that we humans understand
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  prayers like text messages like SMS or WhatsApp.
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  The recipient has to respond within the next 10 minutes.
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  This is what we expect. If the recipient responds later
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  but within the same day, yeah, that's OK.
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  And if they don't respond at all, it's completely
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  unacceptable. Wouldn't we also like God to
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  always respond or act within 10 minutes?
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  But with God it's different. He responds when the time is
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  fulfilled. God acts according to his own
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  timetable. But the most important thing is
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  this. When the time is fulfilled, God
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  will act, perhaps not on the date that we had in mind,
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  perhaps not the way we had wished, but God will act,
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  especially when He has announced his actions in advance, as he
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  did through Isaiah. This facet of God's love is
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  called persistence. God's persistent love is
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  unceasing, enduring, and reliable.
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  It does not give up even when things become difficult and
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  exhausting. It is an expression of God's
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  faithfulness to us and to His promises.
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  And God's persistent love is completely unaffected by our
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  human hustle and bustle. God fulfills His promises when
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  the time is fulfilled according to His own good schedule.
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  During Advent, we wait to celebrate the birth of Jesus
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  into this world. But Advent also reminds us that
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  we are actually waiting for something else, namely for Jesus
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  to finally return and restore this world.
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  I know we have been waiting for this quite some time, a lot more
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  than 700 years, but God's persistent love assures us that
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  God keeps His promises. It is God's persistent love that
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  keeps us hoping. His persistent love allows Him
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  to keep everything He has promised us.
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  God is never late, but comes, responds and acts when the time
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  is fulfilled. The fact that Jesus was born at
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  Christmas is proof that God keeps His promises.
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  Trust in His persistent love. Let us pray.
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  Father, we thank You for Your persistent love, which never
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  ceases, even though we sometimes do not make it easy for you.
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  Your persistent love assures us that you will fulfill all Your
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  promises, just as you have done in the past.
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  Thank you for this. Fill us and you today with your
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  love and trust in your faithfulness and your promises.
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  Amen. Thank you for listening to the
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  Everyday Eurasia podcast Inspiring Faith for Everyday.
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  For more Everyday Stories, subscribe on this podcast
• 7:17
  channel, follow our social Facebook and Instagram or our
• 7:21
  newsletter snapshots. For our newsletter and further
• 7:24
  information about the Eurasia region, visit our website,
• 7:28
  eurasiaregion.org.