Sermon Tone Analysis

OPEN WITH VIDEO, “Christmas Really Happened”

I think that it is important that we not look at a day or a season to celebrate Jesus!

Many people are already out of the Christmas frame of mind and looking towards the New Year’s celebration.

That is, they did the “Christmas” thing and paid homage to the Messiah and now it’s time for the next holiday celebration!

Then, these same people, when Easter roles around, will adorn themselves with their “new” clothes and show up at the church again, to show their gratitude.

The thing is this; let’s stop looking at a time of the year to celebrate and remember something about Jesus and start thanking Him everyday for who He is in our lives!

Lord, Messiah, Savior, King, EMMANUEL!

Yes, the day that men set aside to recognize the birth of Jesus, “Christmas”, is done and over for the year of 2017 and we are officially at the threshold of the New Year, 2018.

Don’t run past Christmas at full speed ahead and into the New Year with your life!

Rather, stop and remember each and every day of this New Year and every year thereafter,that Jesus did come, He was born of a virgin and He did die on that cross so that you and I could live eternally with He and His Father in Heaven!

Keep that on the forefront of your minds each and every day; JESUS HAS COME......................... AND HE IS COMING AGAIN SOON!

OK, so here we are again, at the close of one year and looking into the face of a new one!

And with it, what will it bring?

What will be different about this year for you, versus that of last year?

What will change in your life?

What new things will you embrace and what old things will you walk away from?

What differences will you make in the lives of those who exist in your world?

Will you be an influence to the lives of others that are in and of this world, or will you allow those others to influence you?

What will other people see in your life this year?

And what will you hide so that others can’t see it?

How much of you, if any, are you TRULY willing to let God have control over in your life for this New Year?

And bearing that thought in mind, what is it that you TRULY want to see happen through your life this year?

You know, it is no secret that we are at that time of the year, where many people will formulate and devise RESOLUTIONS for this New Year and for their lives.

I have in fact, over the past couple of years, opened up my sermon for this time of year, talking about resolutions and why people make them.

I have even asked in the past, how many of you were making resolutions for the coming year, right?

I would list off the top ten resolutions from the previous year and then jokingly ask, “Which of you have made of any of these”, or something to that nature.

The point being, is that people tend to look to the New Year, as a chance for a “new” and better life for themselves, right?

I mean, people, for some reason, seem to have the mindset that the New Year has the power to offer a new life and a better life for them.

They forget about the fact that, each and every day, is a new day and holds the same potential for change in their lives!

If you blow it this year, then just go on with your life until next year and try again!

That is the way that many people look at it.

Why is it that we can’t say, “Well, I messed up today, but tomorrow I will start over and get it right”?

Anyway, many people all over this nation, have already planned out their resolutions for the coming year.

Many in fact, are WRITING down their resolutions for accountability sake.

As I have mentioned before, writings things down has power to it.

In fact, psychology and medical science have proven that writing down our goals and plans can increase the rate of succeeding in those goals, by as much as 42%, over those who do not write them down.

They say that when you just plan out your resolutions, but don't write them down, then you are only using the right side (the imaginative/creative side) of your brain.

However, if you write these goals down, then you recruit the left side (the logic-based side) of the brain in conjunction with the right hemisphere; thus you are now recruiting the entire brain into the process and this creates more investment into the goal setting!

SKIT WITH JON ON NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTIONS AND WANTING HOPE!

You know, I shared some with you last week, about the world and all of the stress and turmoil that comes with it in every day life and how, because of this turmoil, many people are weighed down and heavy with grief and stress.

It was Jesus, Himself, who said to the world, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

This is what a lost world needs and this is the message they must hear!

The world wants HOPE, yet the way that most people use and understand the word HOPE is drastically different than that of the way that God gives HOPE!

The very definition of the word HOPE is: the feeling that what is wanted can be had or that events will turn out for the best; to feel that something desired may happen.

The natural/secular meaning of the word HOPE, has no assurance and is, at best, a chance or simply put, a possibility!

When people use the word HOPE, they will say things like: “I HOPE that it doesn’t rain this weekend”, “I Hope that I get a pay raise this year”, “I HOPE that it warms up this week”, or “I hope that the Lakers win the NBA championship this year!”

These statements are not based upon confidence.

When people speak of medical issues, they will say something like, “I sure HOPE that the doctors can help them!”

This is all linked to chance and odds; not assurance!

Most of the time when we use the word, HOPE, it expresses uncertainty, not assurance!

Even with the scenario of resolutions, you could take the top 10 of these and phrase them this way:

I hope that lose weight this year and look better in the eyes of others

I hope that I can spend more time with my loved ones this year.

I hope that I can get out of debt and start saving some money.

I hope that I can become more organized.

I hope that I can stop smoking/drinking, etc.

The main problem with these statements and with most things in our lives, is that the answer, the solution, is always based upon SELF, or reliance of others.

Anytime that you depend upon self or others, (no matter how good of a person they may be) for fulfillment in your life, you are automatically set up for failure!

One fallen person cannot truly fulfill and bring lasting HOPE to another.

Now, if you look in the Bible and read of how the word HOPE is used, or the portrayal of the word, you will find something completely different.

Now, if you look in the Bible and read of how the word HOPE is used, or the portrayal of the word, you will find something completely different.

All the way back in the Old Testament, throughout the Psalms, we can see HOPE being expressed like this:

Even in a period of punishment for rebellion Israel could hear God saying this to them and to us today, ,

These uses of the word HOPE do not present with uncertainty or doubt, and most especially, they do not portray the source of the HOPE, coming from self or from others!

In fact, one of my favorite Psalms that deals with the assurance that we have with God and the confidence of HOPE in Him is ,

1 I look up to the mountains—

does my help come from there?

2 My help comes from the Lord,

who made heaven and earth!

3 He will not let you stumble;

the one who watches over you will not slumber.

4 Indeed, he who watches over Israel

never slumbers or sleeps.

5 The Lord himself watches over you!

The Lord stands beside you as your protective shade.

6 The sun will not harm you by day,

nor the moon at night.

7 The Lord keeps you from all harm

and watches over your life.

8 The Lord keeps watch over you as you come and go,

both now and forever.

“Both now and forever”......this passage closes with an eternal assurance, an eternal HOPE!

And throughout these verses that I just read, the ancient Hebrew words that are used, all dealt with a similar understanding; CONFIDENCE, CERTAINTY!

It is the eternal perspective that we find fulfilled in the New Testament and the source from which we find our HOPE today and that which I am speaking about this morning!

Until the New Testament (the new covenant) came into being, HOPE was linked to the then and now and through God (as in, He will not let me stumble, He will watch over me, He will protect me, He is my shield, He is my provider), the then and now, unless of course, it was a prophetic mentioning of that which was to come.

And what was to come?

The MESSIAH, the Christ, Jesus the Son of God!

He is the fulfillment of the Old Testament and the reason that all of creation has HOPE!

In the New testament the Greek word for HOPE, is predominantly the word, elpis, and it used to represent a CONFIDENT EXPECTATION!

(everyone say, confident expectation!)

This confident expectation is not based upon logic, or scientific calculation or mathematical probability, or anything like this.

This assurance, this confident expectation is based solely upon our faith and trust in God, through Jesus as Lord of our lives!

The reason that I said earlier that when we look to ourselves or to someone else as a source of HOPE or fulfillment, it is set up for failure, is because we are, by nature, sinful.

We are born that way, and even as Christians, we are still subject to commit sin, because our flesh, our natural fleshly desires, are constantly waging war against us, thus keeping us from fulfilling, completely, someone’s expectation of HOPE!

In and of ourselves we are not capable of producing confident expectations for a future and a HOPE.

The only way that we can produce something that instills confidence and assurance is if we bring God and His moral character into the situation.

Even in an imperfect, broken and sometimes corrupt judicial system, they still cling to the use of God as part of the oath that is taken from a witness, because there is no other name or no other source and standard from which morality can come!

Let me give you an example of how the world uses HOPE, versus how the Christian understands it to be.