Advent: Hope

Intro:

Good morning Redeemer alliance church it is Good to be here this morning starting off our advent series. starting this week we are jumping into the season of advent that prepares us and our hearts as we lead up to Christmas where we celebrate the Birth of Jesus our Savior. it is such a great time of year to be in but for many of us it is time of sadness and struggle but as we begin the journey into the advent season God ask us to try and refocus our minds onto something greater than our feeling that weigh us down.

This morning we will be looking at the idea of Hope and how it is something that seeps into our past, our present, and our future.

When we see God’s past faithfulness, we can have hope for what’s to come.

When we Hope despite our present circumstances we draw closer to God.

When we hope in what is to come we become expectant of Gods Goodness.

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Question: What does it mean for me to have hope?

Hope is a powerful tool and should be used as such. I want us to think on a question as I am talking in this next minute. the question is:

What does it mean for me to have hope? what does that look like in my life. and more specifically, if you call yourself a christian, what does it mean to have Hope in Jesus?

I often think of hope in context of Star Wars. because come on the first Star wars movie was ‘A New Hope’ but you think about it, that movie is a story of a young Farm boy who discovers he has magic powers and goes to face the big bad evil empire because some space wizard said he was special. And its true, if you know Star Wars at all you know that the old space wizard has been waiting for this kid to grow up and realizes his potential because the world they live in is full of evil and darkness. the wizard had hope that the kid would fix the problem of evil for every one.

So to me Hope is often a the expectation of something to come, and what makes Hope different than a wish is that there is trust and promise that comes with hope.

Scripture - Lean on the promise already made

because of this we often misuse Hope and put in please of wishing for something. “I hope there will be ---- at the party” “I hope there will be snow for christmas”

Hope has more power when there is evidence of its claim. We see this in the context of scripture all the time. one of the key events that happen in scripture to back that claim up is the passage that was read for us in Isaiah

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Isaiah 7:14 NLT

14 All right then, the Lord himself will give you the sign. Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son and will call him Immanuel (which means ‘God is with us’).

The Lexham Bible Dictionary Kings and Chronicles (2 Kgs 15:38–16:20; 17:1; 2 Chr 27:9–28:27; 29:19)

Isaiah had advised Ahaz to trust in the Lord’s promise to deliver Judah (Isa 7:1–12) rather than joining the coalition or becoming an Assyrian vassal state. Ahaz did not realize that Assyria would have to deal with these nations on its own, and relief could come without the immediate necessity of a tribute payment (Sweeney, 1 and 2 Kings, 380). Isaiah offered Ahaz the choice of any sign he desired to verify the divine promise, but Ahaz refused and appealed to Assyria for help.

This is a passage that God is speaking through Isaiah, and declaring a promise of hope. Many scholars will see this as it is providing hope for two situations. The first situation is directly in Isaiah’s time. Where God is, for lack of better term, begging for Ahaz to trust him and see that there is hope in this circumstance. Ahaz ultimately does not trust in God but moves to make an alliance with Judea’s enemy. God provided an opportunity for us to trust him and hope in his right power but we turned away from it ans ended up suffering. when Time and time again in the old testament leading up to this point God has shown himself to be faithful.

The second way this verse is giving hope to us as it talks about the coming of Jesus that we can read about in the new testament. This offers us hope that God works to set things right. and more specifically, this was to offer the Jewish people of the day Hope in the coming Messiah.

but ultimately this is all rooted in the reality that hope is nothing with out the promise that God is capable. to the Jewish people of the day they would have been surrounded with story after story where God had been faithful to them. and today we have all of the 66 books of the bible as proof that God is faithfull regardless of the place we are in. we can be grounded in our hope with the understanding that God will provide time and time again.

Hope is Trusting that God will do it again. We can look at this part of hope similar to Christmas presents. Especially as a kid if you grew up in a home that did gift exchanges. you could hope that next year you would do the same thing, because there was evidence that this has been done before, you know what to expect.

If there is any doubt that weather or not there will be gifts next year is soothed by the hope, rooted in Gods truth and promise of provision.

Unlike Ahaz, we are to trust that God has got this and when we are faced with fear, doubt or anxiety over our future or present situation we can lean into the hope that God has got us. and to those of us that feel like any of those fears, doubts or anxiety are getting to big, our answer to it should be leaning into the hope that is Christ.

Hope in God even when we can’t see the outcome

With anxiety we know this is quite difficult. In fact it is easier said than done

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But it such a rewarding place to be in if you are able to get to that point in your walk with God. You see the reason we should lean on the hope that is rooted in what has already been promised and made know to us, is because when we are surrounded with life that just seems to be making it impossible to look at anything other than just the pain we should be able to lean on the hope we have in Christ, we see this in the midst of trial in the book of Jeremiah where Judea was taken into slavery. Jeremiah is writing as he is watching the fulfillment of Gods warnings through him, but despite the circumstance he still is prophesying Gods goodness and faithfulness promising restoration. Quite simply if you look at the book of Jeremiah you can almost see the split between when the Prophet Jeremiah switches from warning Gods people, and recounting all the bad things happening, to when he starts reminding Gods people of Gods promises and Goodness. it starts to happen in and around this verse.

Jeremiah 29:11 NLT

11 For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.

Now this scripture is talking specifically to the exiled Jewish people, but it is also a reminder for us even today, God is not just saying you will be left in your misery. That there is hope for better. that he promises to make thing right. The promise that was made to Gods people is one that can be applied to us today we see this in how Jesus spoke in this passage

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God’s promises are good, here and now, and later together

Matthew 6:25–34 NLT

25 “That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life—whether you have enough food and drink, or enough clothes to wear. Isn’t life more than food, and your body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them. And aren’t you far more valuable to him than they are? 27 Can all your worries add a single moment to your life? 28 “And why worry about your clothing? Look at the lilies of the field and how they grow. They don’t work or make their clothing, 29 yet Solomon in all his glory was not dressed as beautifully as they are. 30 And if God cares so wonderfully for wildflowers that are here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow, he will certainly care for you. Why do you have so little faith? 31 “So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’ 32 These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. 33 Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need. 34 “So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today.

Jesus speaks about his provision here and now, but also about the hope of heaven and all things being made new.

The truth in scripture is that we are to lean into Gods understanding, that there has been established proof that God has provided for us. that there is a trust that we can hope in.

The God that can do all things and the one who does not need to prove themselves in anything, decided to show us that he is worthy of our Hope and trust. time and time again you can see how God asked for us to have faith and hope in him, so that he could show us that he is capable of providing for us. we see this from the very beginning of scripture all they way until the very end and beyond.

Challenge for the advent.

when you read scripture read it and see where God has provided an opportunity to hope in him, and see where he has backed that up with his words or actions. and remember that there are different ways in which God can prove this. we see it in Isaiah 7 as a hope that comes 700 years later, we see it in Jeremiah 23 as a promise that wasn't fulfilled until 70 years later.

Gods faithfulness is not dependent on our life time, Jesus says as much in Matthew 6. saying that Tomorrow is promised but instead we can see that God will still look after us. and in many cases God looking after us is drawing us closer to him away from this life.

As we sit with that Challenge for a moment: Remind ourselves that we have a God who has Proven to us that we have reason to hope in him. I want to leave us with a practice for our everyday life that helps us lean into the hope God gives us. and it is a simple reminder How to Hope again:

C - Celebrate Gods Goodness (Philippians 4:4) A - Ask God For Help (Philippians 4:6) L - Leave your concerns with God (Philippians 4:7) M - Meditate on Good things (Philippians 4:8)

Philippians 4:4–8 NLT

4 Always be full of joy in the Lord. I say it again—rejoice! 5 Let everyone see that you are considerate in all you do. Remember, the Lord is coming soon. 6 Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. 7 Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus. 8 And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.

Pray

Heavenly Father, Thank You for being the God of hope, who keeps His promises, walks with us in the present, and gives us a future worth anticipating. Teach us to anchor our hearts in Your Word, to trust You amidst our fears, and to wait patiently for Your plans to unfold.

Lord, as we journey through this Advent season, let hope guide our thoughts, our words, and our actions. May we be a light to those around us, pointing them to the source of all hope: Jesus Christ, our Immanuel.

In Jesus’ name, Amen.