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30 "The hopes and fears of all the years are met in thee tonight." Can you hear the melody that carries these words? Of course, you can. You've undoubtedly sung Philip Brooks' carol "O Little Town of Bethlehem" during this Advent season. We all live with hopes and fears. We yearn for our unmet needs to be satisfied and our fears to be calmed. Our yearnings are a window into our souls. They reveal what we truly value, what we hunger and thirst for. The birth of Jesus satisfied the hopes and calmed the fears of those who had longed for God to send Messiah and make the world right. When Simeon took Mary and Joseph's child into his arms, he held the fulfillment of his deepest hopes, the coming of the Messiah (Luke 2:28-32). And the birth of this child calmed all of those unvoiced fears that perhaps God had forgotten them. The prophet, Anna, when she saw the child, testified that He was the One who fulfilled their longing for God to rescue and restore His people (Luke 2:36-38). Our joy this Christmas day is to celebrate that the longing for God to intervene and rescue His people has been satisfied in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. But what about our longings, our hopes, and our fears? They reveal a "not-yet-ness" to our faith. Yes, Christ has come! Yes, He has defeated sin, death, and evil on the cross! Yes, He is risen from the grave and now reigns as Lord over all! But we know there's more to come. So we wait, longing for that day when Jesus comes again, when the "not-yet- ness" of our faith turns into "even-more-ness," when all of our hopes are satisfied and our fears calmed. This Christmas day let's celebrate two comings, the incarnation of Jesus Christ and His return. Let's rejoice in His birth and rest in the certainty of His second coming. When that happens, all of our deepest longings will be fully satisfied, for we will see "the blessed hope—the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ" (Titus 2:13). Alleluia! Mark Young, PhD president "…while we wait for the blessed hope—the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ." – Titus 2:13 A holy yeArning And A blessed hope December 25