The other day I was having a conversation with some young boys about superheroes. They were telling me about their favorites crime fighters and what made each one special. There was Batman, Superman, the Flash, and many others. It brought back a lot of memories for me. I used to watch Super Friends cartoons faithfully as a youngster. Just as these young boys were fascinated by the powers of these superheroes, I too was amazed at the strength of Superman, the speed of the Flash, and crime fighting ability of Batman.

Now if you think about Superheroes, the thing is most of the time they are just normal guys. If you saw them on the street, you wouldn't even suspect them of having the ability to leap buildings in a single bound or turn away comets before they destroyed the earth. But with most of these superheroes, something would change them from ordinary guys into extraordinary super humans. Take Superman for example. Normally he was Clark Kent, the unassuming newspaper reporter. But when he walked into that phone booth and changed clothes, he was near invincible against evil. When he was wearing the blue, yellow and red costume, he was no longer the meek and mild manner reporter, but he was the confident and bold Superman. With this power, he could foil any plots of his evil foes. With this power Superman became fearless.

As Christians we too have a power. However it is not a power from any clothes we wear or special gadgets that we use. But this power does give us an extraordinary boldness and confidence. God's Word this evening tells us how we get this power. It also tells us what affect this power has on our lives. So this evening, let us pray Lord Jesus Come to Me - With your Power.

God's love is that power. For with God's love nothing can defeat us, not sin, not death, not the powers of the devil. John wrote, "In this way, love is made complete among us. . ." Remember the theme for the first midweek advent service, Lord Jesus Come to Me with your love. Remember that God's love came to us even though we do not deserve this love. In fact we deserved to be removed from all love. Yet God sent his one and only Son to this earth as a tiny baby, born in a small town in Judah. That love was brought to us in the form of a sinless baby. That baby would grow up and offer his life for ours. He would experience the reality of having God's love taken away from him. Recall the words of Jesus on the cross, "My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?" That was true love that God would die for our sins.

That perfect love was made complete when the Holy Spirit worked faith in our hearts. Without faith, God's love is still there. Jesus death was for the sin of the whole world, but if you do not believe, it is worthless. It is like having a check for a million dollars in your wallet, but you never cash it. What good will it do you? God provides for all people, believers and unbelievers, but through faith in Jesus Christ, God's love is made complete.

And God's love is complete in you because God the Father sent his Son, because that Son took away our sins, and because Holy Spirit produced faith in your heart. If you think about it, we had nothing to do with it. God did everything. We can't say, "Well I worked hard for this all my life and now I deserve to go to heaven." God made his love complete in us and that is real power.

And thus He comes to us in power and changes our hearts. If left to fend for ourselves, we would just be geeky Clark Kent's in this world. But because we have been granted this power we are spiritual superheroes, empowered to do God's will. Not everybody has this power. Only believers in Jesus Christ do. And with this power we can do anything. Let me give you an example. Advent is a time of reflection and repentance. As we all reflect on our lives, there is one thing that is really difficult for me to do, admit that I am wrong. It is so hard to do sometimes. It is selfish pride that gets in the way. Do any of you what I am talking about? Well God gives us the power to defeat this pride. He gives us the power to repent of our wrongs. It may seem like such a little thing, but the consequences of not owning up to sin can linger for a long time and can be devastating.

Listen to God's Word and be strengthened by the power of God. Repent of your sins this Advent and rejoice in the absolution that God grants to us. Feel the pure joy of forgiveness and the relief of a life changed by the power of God.

We know that the power which Jesus brings our lives makes us powerful to defeat the enemy. When we walk in God's pure love, our life changes. We change from weak and lifeless Clark Kent's into Supermen and Women, armed with the confidence of forgiveness.

Do not underestimate the effect of this power of God. It may seem a little silly that I compare believers to superheroes. But in reality we are no different than Abraham, Moses, Gideon, Samson, King David, and others who are listed in Hebrews chapter 11 as heroes of faith. They are not credited with the great deeds listed there, but it is their faith, which God gives them, that is given the credit. And our faith is the same faith, the faith in the Messiah, the promised Savior, Jesus Christ.

And so, in faith, have the confidence of superheroes. Be confident that on Judgment Day, Jesus will come again and take you to be with him in heaven. Remember that Advent means coming, and we are looking to Christ's coming on the last day. Look ahead with confidence because you know that Jesus is the Savior. We are sure of eternal life in heaven and we pray that Jesus would come with his power.

The confidence that faith gives us shakes away all fear in our lives. Let us wrap ourselves in that confidence and when we do, we will feel Christ's perfect power. Every good superhero does his job because he has been given a gift. He does not do it for payment or praise. There is no other motivation. God has given you a gift of love with the precious baby born in a manger. There is no fear in this love, but only the command to love one another. So love one another without fear and without selfish motives. Children, love your parents. Parents love your children. Husbands love your wives. Wives love your husbands. Friends love one another. There is no fear in this, only God's power.

The unbeliever lives in this fear but the believer does not. The unbeliever lives with fear, fear of the unknown and fear of punishment. That is the difference God's power can make in a person's life. It removes all our fears. It gives us everlasting comfort. It strengthens us to carry our God's will in our lives.

Live with confidence and not fear because of the power of God. And as the last words of the lesson for this evening tell us, live with love because God loved us first. There is nothing more to really say. God loved us so much he died for us. He made that love complete in us and gave us the power through faith. Through faith we have an incredible confidence to face the world and the Last Day as superheroes of faith.

Superheroes always win. That is why little kids always want to be them. You don't see young boys playing Clark Kent sitting behind a desk writing newspaper articles. No they want to be Superman defeating the enemy. They want to run faster than a speeding bullet and leap buildings in a single bound. They want that power. Let us have that yearning desire to receive Jesus' power, the power that saves, the power that shows us how to love, the power that makes us complete in God's eyes. Let us pray this Advent season, "Lord Jesus Come to Me - With Your Power." AMEN.