Part 3 - A Weary World Rejoices
A Thrill of Hope • Sermon • Submitted
0 ratings
· 5 viewsThis series will show the state of the world, that we needed a Savior. We will also talk about the hope He brought and how a new day has come. We will end this series with a Praise Party as we talk about how the wise men came to fall on their knees and worship Him.
Notes
Transcript
Opening
Opening
We are continuing our Thrill of Hope series that we started a few weeks ago. We are taking this from the lyrics of the Christmas hymn ‘Oh Holy Night’.
This is the time of year when you turn on the radio to only hear Christmas songs. Many of you have sat your TV’s to record hours and hours of Christmas movies on the Hallmark channel, which all have happy endings.
People love Christmas movies. We all have our favorites that we watch every year at least one time. For some it’s the Grinch, for others, the classics like It’s a Wonderful Life or The Christmas Story… or how about Home Alone! No matter which is your favorite each of them have a villain in the movie.
One person that just makes it hard to enjoy the season, hard to embrace peace, one person that just might be the grinch… the scrooge… to your Christmas season.
In A Christmas Story, the villain was Scut Farkas… he terrorized little Ralphie and his group of friends. He wore a coonskin cap, had a sadistic laugh and yellow eyes. But at the end we finally see Ralphie give the schoolyard bully a taste of his own medicine.
In Home Alone, the villains were Harry and Marv. The burglars who were trying to break into Kevin’s house while he was left all alone. But we see that they had their hands full with what Kevin could come up with. At the end the dimwitted burglars were outsmarted by an 8 year old.
In A Christmas Carol, the villain was Ebenezer Scrooge. He may be the perfect holiday villain, even his name has become known and his catch phrase “bah! Humbug!” has become notorious through history! Scrooge is eventually led to see the error of his ways and learns to celebrate Christmas and the families that rely on him.
In The Grinch, the fuzzy, green recluse who scowls down on the town of Whoville has joined the ranks amongst the greatest Christmas-hating cranks. He suffers from a chronic case of small heart and conspires to steal all the presents from the citizens of Whoville. He finally has a Christmas revelation and his shriveled heart miraculously grows three sizes.
And lastly, in It’s a Wonder Life, the villain was Mr. Potter. He is one of the greatest Christmas villains of all time… Mr. Potter is the rich, cantankerous old miser of Bedford Falls who is out to make George Bailey’s (and everyone else's) Christmas miserable. The reason that he is the greatest Christmas villain is that there was never any redemption for his character, living on in infamy as a Christmas scoundrel.
Every one in this room has a story. Christmas’ we remember, those we want to remember and those we don’t. We all have those good moments and bad moments. See that is your story. And your story probably has a villain mixed in there somewhere. Good moments, bad moments, ugly moments and that makes your story beautiful! Because your story is truth!
The story of Christ is no different. We know that it’s truth, but it has moments. Moments that are bad, moments that are good, moments that are ugly but that makes the entire story beautiful! And the story of Christ also has a villain. We see many villains in the story of Christ but ultimately all villains point to the same villain. The master villain, Satan.
Scripture
Scripture
Isaiah 9:1-7 “1 Nevertheless the gloom will not be upon her who is distressed, As when at first He lightly esteemed The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, And afterward more heavily oppressed her, By the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, In Galilee of the Gentiles. 2 The people who walked in darkness Have seen a great light; Those who dwelt in the land of the shadow of death, Upon them a light has shined. 3 You have multiplied the nation And increased its joy; They rejoice before You According to the joy of harvest, As men rejoice when they divide the spoil. 4 For You have broken the yoke of his burden And the staff of his shoulder, The rod of his oppressor, As in the day of Midian. 5 For every warrior’s sandal from the noisy battle, And garments rolled in blood, Will be used for burning and fuel of fire. 6 For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince…”
Isaiah 9:1-7
1 Nevertheless the gloom will not be upon her who is distressed,
As when at first He lightly esteemed
The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali,
And afterward more heavily oppressed her,
By the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan,
In Galilee of the Gentiles.
2 The people who walked in darkness
Have seen a great light;
Those who dwelt in the land of the shadow of death,
Upon them a light has shined.
3 You have multiplied the nation
And increased its joy;
They rejoice before You
According to the joy of harvest,
As men rejoice when they divide the spoil.
4 For You have broken the yoke of his burden
And the staff of his shoulder,
The rod of his oppressor,
As in the day of Midian.
5 For every warrior’s sandal from the noisy battle,
And garments rolled in blood,
Will be used for burning and fuel of fire.
6 For unto us a Child is born,
Unto us a Son is given;
And the government will be upon His shoulder.
And His name will be called
Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
7 Of the increase of His government and peace
There will be no end,
Upon the throne of David and over His kingdom,
To order it and establish it with judgment and justice
From that time forward, even forever.
The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.
Body
Body
Truth is a combination of many things. Truth can be good, bad & ugly all while being beautiful at the same time.
1. The Good
1. The Good
Truth prevails. Truth is always good. Now we may not always like the truth, but truth is good.
In the passage I just read to you from Isaiah, there is a section that we would all consider the “good” section. That’s the part of the promise. The part of the blessed hope.
The part where we say, Oh thank God, things aren’t going to always be this way...
It’s verses 6 where it says “for unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”
2. The Bad
2. The Bad
3. The Ugly
3. The Ugly
Utilize your ugly!
4. The Beautiful
4. The Beautiful
Many people say they have lost hope, but that’s not true… they have misplaced hope not lost hope.
When our hope is in our own circumstances then we have a failed hope that will not last.
King David wasn’t forgotten, he was choosen.
You have to remember that he never leaves you alone.
Listen in your loneliness you are not alone!
A hope has come… A hope that renews us, refreshes us...
Your Good is for His Glory,
Your Bad is
Your Ugly is
Closing
Closing