Hope Is Here: The Promise of Rest

Part 1 of 4 in Hope Is Here

Parte 1 de 4 de la serie Hope Is Here

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Brian Hunter · December 7, 2025

Scripture Referenced

Recap

Opening a new Advent series titled “Hope Is Here,” Brian began week one with the theme of rest, reading Luke 1’s account of Zechariah, a priest serving in the temple who is visited by an angel announcing that he and his wife Elizabeth, both elderly and childless, will have a son named John, the one who would announce the arrival of the Messiah. Brian pressed the room on an easy-to-miss detail: of every ruler and empire on earth at the time, the angel appeared specifically to the high priest of Israel, not to Rome, Egypt, or any other nation’s seat of power. He framed this as a reminder of the unique, enduring bond Christians share with the Jewish people and the nation of Israel, comparing it to family ties that remain family regardless of circumstance.

Brian set the scene politically: at the moment Zechariah entered the temple, Israel was a small, oppressed nation living under Roman occupation, longing for rescue. Into that specific context, God’s promise of a coming Messiah carried a specific hope attached to it: rest for a weary, subjugated people. Brian connected that ancient longing to the same craving for rest present in anyone’s life today, whatever form the “oppression” takes now.

The message closed by tying the theme back to the fall feast of Sukkot, which Brian has taught elsewhere that Jesus fulfills, framing the whole Advent season as a season of active hope rather than passive waiting: hope that has, in Brian’s words, already arrived.

Touch Points

1. The angel appeared to Israel’s high priest before any other nation’s ruler. What does that detail add to how you understand God’s relationship with Israel?
2. Zechariah and Elizabeth had waited a lifetime for their prayer to be answered. Is there a long-held prayer you’re still waiting on?
3. Israel was longing for rest in the middle of real oppression. What does it look like for you to hope for rest even in a hard season rather than waiting for the hardship to end first?
4. Brian said “hope is here,” not “hope is coming.” How would treating hope as already present, rather than something you’re still waiting for, change your week?

Read the full transcript · Leer esto en espanol