O Come, Desire of Nations

Key Takeaways

• Be honest about your disappointments 

• Work hard in the midst of disappointment

• God is at work

Study Questions

• Question 1

  Read Haggai 2:1-9. What was the source of Israel's disappointment? Why was the temple so significant to them beyond just being a building?

• Question 2

  The sermon stated, "To live in reality is to be disappointed." Do you agree with this? Why or why not? How does this perspective challenge our cultural messages about happiness?

• Question 3

  What current disappointments are you carrying? (This could be related to relationships, career, health, spiritual life, etc.) Have you been honest with God and others about these, or have you been suppressing them?

• Question 4

  How does understanding Jesus as "the desire of nations" change the way you approach your disappointments? What would it look like to let your desires "pass through the cross"?

• Question 5

  The Whos in Whoville could sing even when everything was taken away because their joy wasn't rooted in the stuff. What "stuff" have you been attaching your joy to this Advent season? How can you redirect your heart toward Jesus?

5-Day Devotional

DAY 1 DAY 2 DAY 3 DAY 4 DAY 5

Day 1 : The Honesty of Disappointment

READING :

Psalm 42:1-11

DEVOTIONAL :

The psalmist models radical honesty before God: "Why are you cast down, O my soul?" To live in reality is to acknowledge disappointment. Like the Israelites staring at their inadequate temple, we often face the gap between our expectations and reality. God doesn't ask us to pretend everything is fine. He invites us to name our disappointments—the broken relationships, unfulfilled dreams, recurring sins, and unmet longings. The eternity God placed in our hearts collides daily with our Genesis 3 world. This Advent, begin by getting honest. What are you disappointed about? Bring it to God. He already knows, and he's not afraid of your honesty. Mourning our disappointments is the first step toward healing.

Day 2 : Yet—The Word of Hope

READING :

Lamentations 3:19-26

DEVOTIONAL :

"Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope." That small word "yet" changes everything. Jeremiah acknowledged devastating loss, then pivoted toward God's faithfulness. In Haggai, God speaks "yet" into Israel's discouragement—yet be strong, yet work, yet I am with you. Disappointment doesn't get the final word. God's "yet" doesn't erase the pain, but it provides a path forward. You cannot stay collapsed in your disappointment. God calls you to courage—not pretending everything is fine, but showing up despite the difficulty. The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases. His mercies are new every morning. Your disappointment is real, but God's faithfulness is greater. Let "yet" be your Advent word.

Day 3 : Working Out What God Works In

READING :

Philippians 2:12-18

DEVOTIONAL :

"Work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you." This paradox holds the key to moving through disappointment. We cannot heal ourselves, yet we must actively participate in God's work. Like mixing paint, we must work the gospel into every corner of our lives—every wound, every memory, every disappointment. This isn't self-help; it's Spirit-empowered cooperation with grace. You bring your justification (Christ's righteousness is yours), your sanctification (the Spirit is transforming you), and your glorification (you will be perfected) into your present struggles. Take the wonder that Jesus exchanged his life for yours and work it deep into your disappointments. You can't, but he can and he is, so you will.

Day 4 : The Desire of Nations Has Come

READING :

Haggai 2:1-9

DEVOTIONAL :

God promised to shake the nations so "the desire of all nations shall come." Every human heart longs for something more — C.S. Lewis called it "a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy." We're disappointed because we aim our desires at things that cannot bear their weight. The Whos in Whoville sang when everything was stripped away because their joy wasn't rooted in stuff. God shakes our lives not to punish us, but to reveal what truly satisfies. Jesus is the desire of nations—the One our hearts were made for. The temple's glory wasn't in its building but in God's presence. Your life's glory isn't in circumstances but in Christ dwelling within you. Disappointment is mercy, clearing space for Jesus.

Day 5 : Through the Cross to Glory

READING :

Luke 24:13-27

DEVOTIONAL :

The disciples on the Emmaus road experienced history's deepest disappointment—watching their Messiah crucified. Yet this became the doorway to greatest joy. Jesus explained how the Christ had to suffer to enter his glory. The answer to disappointment isn't denial or lowered expectations—it's letting our desires pass through the cross. Jesus was stripped of everything to give us everything. He became the ultimate disappointment (despised, rejected, forsaken) so we could receive ultimate fulfillment. Charles Wesley wrote, "Dear desire of every nation, joy of every longing heart." This Christmas, the sign remains simple: a baby in a manger who would become a man on a cross. Bring your disappointments to him and watch him fulfill your deepest desires to His glory.

“Creatures are not born with desires unless satisfaction for those desires exists. A baby feels hunger: well, there is such a thing as food. A duckling wants to swim: well, there is such a thing as water… If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world. If none of my earthly pleasures satisfy it, that does not prove that the universe is a fraud. Probably earthly pleasures were never meant to satisfy it, but only to arouse it, to suggest the real thing…”
- C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

This Week’s Liturgy

O Rex Gentium
by Malcolm Guite

O King of our desire whom we despise,
King of the nations never on the throne,
Unfound foundation, cast-off cornerstone,
Rejected joiner, making many one,
You have no form or beauty for our eyes,
A King who comes to give away his crown,
A King within our rags of flesh and bone.
We pierce the flesh that pierces our disguise,
For we ourselves are found in you alone.
Come to us now and find in us your throne,
O King within the child within the clay,
O hidden King who shapes us in the play
Of all creation. Shape us for the day
Your coming Kingdom comes into its own.

Call to worship

Leader: Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you.

All: 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.

Isaiah 60:1-2

Advent reading

Now there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon, and this man was righteous and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord's Christ. And he came in the Spirit into the temple, and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him according to the custom of the Law, he took him up in his arms and blessed God and said, “Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace, according to your word; for my eyes have seen your salvation that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to your people Israel.”

Luke 2:25-32

Confession of sin

Merciful Father, we confess that we often misread our disappointments and turn inward rather than toward you. Instead of walking in repentance, we nurse our wounds. We set our desires on what cannot satisfy and grow weary in the work you have given us. Forgive us, for you are gracious and kind. Shake what cannot last, and by your mercy teach us to desire you alone, through Jesus Christ our Lord, to the glory of your holy Name. Amen.

ASSURANCE OF PARDON

I have blotted out your transgressions like a cloud and your sins like mist; return to me, for I have redeemed you.

Isaiah 44:22

This Week’s Playlist

Looking Ahead

Join us next week as we continue our Advent sermon series.