The Best PROMISE Ever

The Best Christmas Ever  •  Sermon  •  Submitted   •  Presented   •  22:58
0 ratings
· 37 views
Files
Notes
Transcript
Handout
Sermon Tone Analysis
A
D
F
J
S
Emotion
A
C
T
Language
O
C
E
A
E
Social
View more →
(S1) — Big gift
What is the one thing you want that would make this the best Christmas ever?
Top Christmas gifts of 2021Bombas, Massage Guns, Rechargeable Electric Hand Warmer, Slimline wallet, Crocs, Apple air-tag, everything electronic...
(S2) As I get older, having TBCE has little to do with things, and more to do with health and the people I spend it with.
What one gift would make this TBCE ever for you?
Marguerite Higgins was a correspondent during the Korean conflict. One bitter winter’s day, she began interviewing a muddy Marine who had just returned from a grueling battle. As he opened a tin can of C-rations and began eating, Higgins said to the young man, “If I could give you anything in the world you wanted, what would you ask for?”
The Marine thought for a moment and then said, “Give me tomorrow.”
=The words of God given by the prophet Jeremiah, were the best gift the people of Isreal and Judah, could have received. The best promise ever
‘The days are coming,’ declares the LORD, ‘when I will fulfill the good promise I made to the people of Israel and Judah. Jeremiah 33:14
They found HOPE in the what would become...The Best Christmas Ever.
SERIES — Love — Joy — Peace — Hope
What do you HOPE for this Christmas?
Prayers — Bible — Notes
(S3) The rush to Christmas — Trees lite, gifts wrapped, Hallmark
Advent — Time of anticipation and preparation as we get ready to celebrate and receive the Christ child...
Jesus as come...and is still to come and so we wait
Acts 1:11 “someday he will return from heaven in the same way you saw him go!””
Tension of the Advent of Christ — living in an imperfect world — sickness, disease, the needy, the hurting and the helpless, injustice, and oppression and our own sinfulness.
All while knowing Jesus is the answer to it all — We find ourselves in need of the best promise ever — HOPE
1 Thessalonians 4:13 Dear brothers and sisters, we want you to know what will happen to the believers who have died so you will not grieve like people who have no hope.”
It’s like anticipating a distant child’s return home for the holidays, while there not here yet here — Hope keeps us going
(S4) For the Christian, Christmas is about living in this tension...while looking to Hope in Jesus.
What do we do with the Best Promise ever — The HOPE we have?
The people of Israel/Judah find themselves under a similar tension. Their cities destruction — What they know in ruins — Goods plundered, no crops to harvest or sheep to shepherd. Captivity, oppression, and desperation.
Jeremiah 33:10 ‘This is a desolate land where people and animals have all disappeared.’
(S5) They knew the blessing of God. Yet, they were under God’s judgement — Going from faithful to faithless, lost in their sinful ways....
Jeremiah 32:“33 My people have turned their backs on me and have refused to return. Even though I diligently taught them, they would not receive instruction or obey.”
The joy, peace and blessings of God a distant memory…no signs of the life they knew — Advent for some
(S6/7) Until Hope comes in God’s best promise ever
I. The Hope of a FUTURE
14The day will come, says the Lord. Jeremiah 33
Difference between a wish and having hope
WISH — “The imagining of a very unlikely future event as if it were possible and might one day happen. Cambridge Dictionary
“HOPE is an expectation that things will go well in the future.” Collins Dictionary
Wish — Lions will win one game
When you HOPE for something, you believe that it is possible or likely.
The people of Judah had every reason to believe in the promise of a future because God always kept his word. What he said came true.
Jeremiah 32:28 This is what the Lord says: I will hand this city over to the Babylonians and to Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, and he will capture it.”
(S8) Before you feel sorry for them, God had given many warnings because of their sin, and yet they continued to turn from God’s ways
With Jesus there is grace, but grace doesn't mean we stay in our sin — Repentance is turning away from...and to...
Romans 6:1-2 “Should we keep on sinning so that God can show us more and more of his wonderful grace? 2 Of course not! Since we have died to sin, how can we continue to live in it?”
God’s words — The day will come, meant that they could have a future, if they would turn back to their life of faith
Biblical HOPE rests on the trustworthiness of God who keeps His promises. The Lexham Bible Dictionary (Hope)
(S9/10) The hope of a future —
II. The Hope of BETTER days ahead.
14 “The day will come, says the Lord, when I will do for Israel and Judah all the good things I have promised them. Jeremiah 33 (NLT)
The resettlement of the people, meant a return to what they knew. The familiar.
COMING HOME — Soldier, Family, Traditions
God’s word of hope was to remind them of the blessings of the past — Their worship of God. Being set apart for God’s good purposes, all gave them hope for better days ahead.
Not knowing what you really have until you don’t
(S11) Advent in waiting is about looking to the promise of better days ahead — Luke’s gospel
5 He took with him Mary, to whom he was engaged, who was now expecting a child.
Luke 2 (NLT)
Few knew what Mary’s pregnancy meant. Who the child in her was — Joseph, Elizabeth, Zachariah, Inn Keeper, saw hope in the promise of better days ahead...
(S12,13)
III. The Hope of a SECURE Present
15 “In those days and at that time, I will raise up a righteous descendant from King David’s line. Jeremiah 33 (NLT)
Permanency of leadership meant security — David was seen as the greatest king to ever live, not because he was perfect, but because he was part of God’s promise.
2 Samuel 7:12–13 “When you die and are buried with your ancestors, I will raise up one of your descendants, your own offspring, and I will make his kingdom strong. 13 He is the one who will build a house—a temple—for my name. And I will secure his royal throne forever.”
They felt secure when their leadership was of God — Times of blessing. This hope was also God’s assurance that the one who would reign forever would come through David’s lineage.
(NIV) 15 I will make a righteous Branch sprout from David’s line;he will do what is just and right in the land.
(S14) Secure in the present knowing that one would come to make all things right
Luke 2:4 “4 Because Joseph was a descendant of King David, he had to go to Bethlehem in Judea, David’s ancient home. He traveled there from the village of Nazareth in Galilee.”
Hope is trusting that God’s in control even when it doesn't seem like it. Those who remain faithful in troubled times have this hope.
Romans 15:12And in another place Isaiah said, “The heir to David’s throne will come, and he will rule over the Gentiles. They will place their hope on him.””
Waiting is hard — Hope is trusting that with Jesus your present is secure.
Better days — Secure Secure —
(S15/16)
III. The Hope of SALVATION
16 In that day Judah will be saved, and Jerusalem will live in safety. And this will be its name: ‘The Lord Is Our Righteousness.’
Hope in the promise of God that salvation would come. God in Jesus would right the wrongs of this world — Free the oppressed — Restore the people to a right relationship with God.
The day is coming, says the Lord, salvation is near..
Galatians 4:4 “When the right time came, God sent his Son, born of a woman.”
(S17) Hope came to a little town called Bethlehem
5 Joseph went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. Luke 2
Expecting is HOPE in disguise, when we believe that it will happen...as it did.
Hope in BETTER days ahead — Hope in a SECURE present — Hope in SALVATION
(S18) Good news of Christmas comes in the best promise ever — HOPE fulfilled in Jesus
O little town of Bethlehem, how still we see thee lie! Above thy deep and dreamless sleep the silent stars go by; yet in thy dark streets shineth the everlasting light. The hopes and fears of all the years are met in thee tonight.
Do you feel the tension? It’s still there even for the faithful. But our hope is in Jesus’ coming again.
(S19)
What do you do with the HOPE you have?
Where do you see hope for the future? In a little child!
How are you living in the better days? God’s blessing
Do you trust in God by faith and rest secure in hope?
Do you know salvation in Jesus?
It’s not Christmas yet — Advent is about Waiting in hope — Found in the promise of God — Christ will return.
Do the gifts matter? Yes! Do we long for not just one day but the season of Christmas? Yet the greatest gift is the promise of God in jesus — Hope is how we can have the best Christmas ever.
Related Media
See more
Related Sermons
See more