{"id":6179,"date":"2020-11-24T16:14:56","date_gmt":"2020-11-24T21:14:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ecityemc.org\/resources\/?p=6179"},"modified":"2025-10-29T11:37:20","modified_gmt":"2025-10-29T15:37:20","slug":"long-expected","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ecityemc.org\/resources\/sermon-series\/11\/24\/long-expected\/","title":{"rendered":"Long Expected"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Hope can be a powerful thing. It produces passion for the impossible. It realizes what has yet to be actualized. It binds to the future those who are captive to the present.<\/p>\n

But hope can be a dangerous thing. Placed in the wrong object, it can lead to the deepest of disappointment and regret\u2014exacerbating the sting of unfulfilled desires, relegating the longings of the heart to the category of fancy.<\/p>\n

In Advent, we remember what it means to hope rightly and find stability in the drama of long expectation. But we do so from the nearside of history\u2019s perspective, looking ahead while looking back\u2014back to the One who fulfills; back to the One who satisfies; back to the One who completes.<\/p>\n

He came in just the right way, at just the right time. For those who expect, he exceeds all expectation. Hope of the earth. Desire of nations. Joy of the heart.<\/p>\n

Come, thou long-expected!<\/p>\n

\n

Series Playlist<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n\t
\n\t\t
\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\"Elizabeth\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\tElizabeth City EMC Podcast\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t
But When the Right Time Came<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t