Hope
Notes
Transcript
Advent Sunday 1
Advent means arrival and the start of the event or the arrival of a person
How fitting for advent to signify the arrival of a Person
That person is Jesus
to signify the arrival of an event
The probably the greatest or second greatest event of all time in the history of the world
This morning we celebrate that event and light this particular candle
The candle of Hope
During this time of year we will celebrate the advent season as we light the candles
The candles signify or mean something
This particular candle is the candle of HOPE
14 ‘Behold, days are coming,’ declares the Lord, ‘when I will fulfill the good word which I have spoken concerning the house of Israel and the house of Judah. 15 ‘In those days and at that time I will cause a righteous Branch of David to spring forth; and He shall execute justice and righteousness on the earth.
Written some 500 to 550 years before Jesus was born
The Lord declares the days are coming when God will fulfill what He promised
See there is a coming Hope
That is what is promised
That is what is celebrated during this advent season
This is only one of the many things that God has been faith full to fulfill
God promised Abraham a son
And he had a son
God promised to delivery the nation of Israel from Egypt
And they walked through the Red Sea on dry land
God promised to give the nation of Israel the Promise land
And to this day Israel is still in the promise land
Church those are just a few of the promises we have seen in scripture and seen fulfilled
So when we read this as believers we just believe or don’t give it extra thought
So this morning we will give it some extra thought
To fulfill the Good Word Concerning the House of Israel
14 “Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel.
concerning the house of Israel
He will give them a sign
He will bring about salvation to and for them
This is the hope for the world
This is the hope during this time of the year and frankly we should be talking about all times of the year
This is the reason we can have hope in a lost and dying world
Becuase the Lord will give to us a sign
Some 2000 yrs ago a virgin gave birth to a baby boy
Fully God and Fully Human
You can ask how that work but be prepared
You might not like the answer
Because He is, is the answer
Concerning the House of Israel was salvation to the Jew First and then to the Greek
Jesus came to the Jewish people first
To save them so that through them He could reach the entire World
Now it makes sense why there is so much evil towards Israel in this world
Because Satan thinks if I can stop them I can stop the spread of Jesus
The other promise is that it would be a
Righteous Branch of David to Spring Forth
2 “But as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, Too little to be among the clans of Judah, From you One will go forth for Me to be ruler in Israel. His goings forth are from long ago, From the days of eternity.”
Jesus is in the linage of David
David would have a descendent to sit on the throne for eternity
It is Jesus
Do we start to see and understand how the Hope we have in Jesus is justified because He has and will be faithful to His promises
That gets us excited and we start to get all giddy and all sort of excited
We compare it to oping a present
The best present in the world we get to open
But it is more about Jesus than a present
And I am here to tell you it is not all about a feeling of being happy or excitement
That is where the Hope we are talking about comes in
It is a hope for a lost world
Lost people feel hopeless
But God
Lost people don’t see a way out of the junk they are in
But God
Do you see how the HOPE that is Jesus is not just a feeling we have but it is truth
Our Hope is in the blood of Christ
The blood of Christ covers you and I and makes us presentable to God
Because Jesus died on the cross we can stand before God just as if you and I had never sinned
That is the hope for a lost world
See on your own you stand no chance of standing before God and being allowed into heaven on what you have done
But with Jesus by your side through a personal reealtionship that is only possible becasue he was born in a manger and died on a cross and walked out of the grave
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, 5 who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
our Hope Church is the resurrection of Christ and that when He comes back He will take us His Children with us
the inheritance that Peter is talking about is the salvation of our souls
That is the Hope we have in Christ
An eternity with God in heaven
I think we put hope in a lot of different things
Maybe some of us put hope in our bank account
Thinking having a lot of money will make things easier for you in life or a better life however you define better
Or maybe you put your hope in your own ability
I can do things myself or take of things myself and you tell God you don’t need to get involved unless I ask you
Or maybe you put your hope in your spouse
Maybe its your education
I hope this education gets me a better job so that I can get more money so that I don’t have to worry as much and I can hope that my bank account will take of things
Just like the nation of Israel we need to stop putting our hope in all this other stuff
We need to start to put our hope in the One True Hope
Emmanuel
God with us is our only Hope
That is the hope we take about during the Christmas time
That is the hope we light the candle for
And I get it
The world is not a good place right now
We see a lot of evil going on
We see a lot of evil happening
I was asked at prayer meeting how do we pray when we see all the evil things going on
I told them I am not the person to ask because I understand through Scripture that, that must take place before Jesus comes back
But what do we do
We remain faithful in Christ and His Word
16 Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day. 17 For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, 18 while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.
See my Hope is in the eternal
I know there is suffering going on but that is temporary
And church that is the hope to a lost world
That is the hope to a lost friend
That is the hope to a lost family member
That is the hope to a struggling person
This is temporary
Jesus is eternal
Our Hope is the return of Christ
Jesus is coming Back!!
We as believers in Jesus can have hope this morning right now even in the midst of a hopeless world
28 so Christ also, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time for salvation without reference to sin, to those who eagerly await Him.
Jesus will return
And those who are eagerly waiting on Him because they know Him will be saved
That is our hope church
I don’t know how else to say but that is the hope for a lost world
It is the hope this morning for the hurting, struggling, angery, hatful, fearful people
Our Hope church is Jesus Christ the risen savior of the World
Is the only Hope you have in a fallen world
CLOSING
So as we move to our time of invitation this morning
The altar is open for those who want to do business with Jesus this morning
Maybe you want to spend sometime in prayer
Maybe you are here this morning and you are that hurting, angry, hatful, fearful, struggling person and you do not have a relationship with Jesus
You are lost and your only Hope is Jesus
If that is you there are people down here who would love to introduce you to Hope this morning
The altar is open