Expectation

Luke 1:26–38 (ESV)

In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin’s name was Mary. And he came to her and said, “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!” But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be. And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”

And Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?”

And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God. And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. For nothing will be impossible with God.” And Mary said, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.

Introduction

The christmas season has arrived.

I hope you had a wonderful thanksgiving.

now december has arrived..

and in 25 days we will celebrate the birth of our savior on christmas morning…

Beautiful

Christmas is a beautiful time of year.

The sight of the beautiful lights

the sound of christmas carols.

the smell of christmas cookies..

The taste of all the declicous holiday foods..

The feel of the brisk cold air bringing in winter..

Its a beautiful season full of expectation..

Expectation

We expect to see the light arrive on november 1st...

We expect to hear the carols in the stores on the PA..

We know were going to bake those cookies

and eat those delicous foods

and then try to go on a diet in january..

Here in cleveland we expect the snow to come.. much earlier than christmas mind you..

Kids are expecting gifts..

parents are expecting christmas concerts and school plays..

Christmas is a time of great expectation..

First Christmas

but christmas has always been a time of expectation..

even the first christmas was a time of expectation..

and thats what i want us to talk about for a few minutes today..

How the expectation of christ, that we find in the first christmas and today alike, should shape the way we lives our lives..

Expectation

So What is expectation?

Expectation : is a strong belief that something will happen or be the case in the future

Product

Expectation is the product of receiving a processing information.. information

and this process results in the anticipation that what has been spoken will happen..

For instance...

This weekend the national weather service received information from its equipment about incoming weather

they then processed this information and determined that a weather event would take place..

they passed it on to the general public and so we expected it to snow..

This is Information leading to expectation..

The importance of Credibal sources

But information is not the lone factor in creating expectation..

The credability of the source and our faith or trust in that source is important as well..

Going back to the snow..

some of you heard it was going to snow and brushed it off..

why?

because Some of you have heard the weather service say it was gonna snow before and we got nothing..

and some of you have heard them say it would be hot and sunny and we got 2 feet of snow..

so you didnt know what to believe when you heard them say it would snow..

because the creidbility of the source has been marred.. so you dont trust the information..

if the source is untrustworthy then our expectations will be low that the information giving will come to pass..

EX

You live this everyday..

somone says they are going to do something.. but they have not yet fulfilled the promise..

so everytime they say it.. you just roll your eyes and say yea yea..

the source is important..

Result

so credible information, from a reliable source will produce expectations..

again, Fox 8 says its going to snow..

they’re almost always right..

so we trust thier word..

and we expect it to snow..

action

Finally, sincere expectation leads us to action..

If we truely expect something we act accordingly..

those of you who anticipaited the snow when out and prepared..

You got the snow blower going..

you stocked up the fridge..

you prepared your self..

why?

because you really expected the snow..

so you took action..

Credible information

leads to expectation

which leads to action..

Mary was expectating a baby..

When we enter the christmas story in luke..

we see this process playing out..

Mary has just received information from a creidble source..

An angle has visited her..

Thats a pretty credible source..

and told her something crazy…

that as a virgin she is going to concieve a baby..

and not just any baby.,.

but a baby who will be called

son of the most high..

the son of god..

believe.

and we know that mary believes this angel..

though, for a moment joseph does not..

until he has his own credible source tell him whats going on..

and they begin to take action to prepare for the birth of Jesus..

we know that she will in the next part of the story go and find elizabeth and confirm what the angle told her..

and then later deliver Jesus and do everything she can to protect him and obey god..

because she believed the source and acted on her expectations..

but mary was not the only one expecting Jesus.....

Israel was Expecting mesisah

in the time Jesus was born, israel was in a time of great expectation as well..

a times of waiting for their expectations ot be fulfilled..

Messiah

the jewish people had been expecting the messiah to arrive for hundrends of years..

a savior who would come and rule over them..

In fact the old testament records over 320 messianic prophecies pointing to his arrival..

This obviously was information from a credble source, the scriptures themselfs..

and people were eagerly awaiting messiahs arrive..

People

people all over israel are waiting for mesiaiah with great expectation..

simeon

luke 2 tells the story of a man named simeon..

simeon was a very old man..

but god promised he would not die until he saw the christ..

so he would wait everyday in the temple

knowing he would see him with his eyes because a credible source told him he would..

then one day.. we know when Jesus is brought to the temple for consecration and simeons expectations are fulfilled..

and he blesses the christ child...

wise men

the wise men who came to the manger had been expecting the christ as well..

when they saw the star.. they knew the prophecies of balaam that marked the birth of the christ..

and they acted

they traversed the far countrys..

and came with gifts..

and worshiped Jesus…

their expectations being fulfilled..

The angle Delcares

All of Isreal had been wiating for messiah though..

and now the angle tells mary this expectation is about to be fulfilled

look at the prhase he uses to discribe Jesus..

luke 1:32

Luke 1:32 (ESV)

He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David,

and in verse 35.. he calls him the “SON OF GOD”

The messiah was coming..

The expectations of israel are about to be fullfilled!

through this little willing girl named mary..

King

But israel wasnt just expecting a savior..

They were also expecting a king..

one who would come and deliver them from the rule and bondage of rome..

and again..

the angle tells mary this expectation will be fulfilled through this child..

look what the second half of verse 32 says..

luke 1:32-33

Luke 1:32–33 (ESV)

He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”

He will be the king israel has been waiting for..

and he will rule on davids throne..

Fulfilled

God, through the birht of jesus was fulfilling the expectations that he has laid through his scripture and prophets through the years..

because God never fails to fulfill the promises he gives..

and in bringing Jesus he fulfilled the promise to restore humanity..

Missed

Of course there were those in israel who still to this day dont believe that god yet fulfilled his expecations..

they refused to see Jesus as the christ.. as the mesiah..

why?

Because their expectations were not based on the credible source..

They were not based on scripture and gods word..

they were based on self and their own desires..

when we build our expectations on our own desires rather than gods unchanging word then we will always be dissappointed..

But we can trust and know that just like 2000 years ago when Jesus was born.. If we will build our trust and hope on JEsus he will never fail us..

Expectation Today

you might ask.. Pastor how does that apply to us though?

I want to tell you..

The christmas Story reminds us that christmas is a time of great expectations in our day as well..

just like it was in Jesus day..

Today

today, Were not looking for a new mesaiah..

Were not looking for a baby to be born.. (except the sparks baby anyday)

Return

But before Jesus left this earth he gave us a new promise.…

he promised us he would return again..

And over a dozen times through the gospels Jesus is recorded in making this promise..

Matthew 24:30 ESV

Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.

John 14:2–3 ESV

In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.

Jesus has promised us he is coming again..

The nativity story reminds us that god kept his word once in meeting the expectation of a mesisah..

and if he did it one he will do it again..

Christ is coming and coming soon..

this should cause us to live in expectation that he is coming!

We have been giving credible information through the word of god..

that christ will come..

and this should lead to our expectation of his return..

and the approriate actions that come with it..

Waiting in expectation

knowing jesus is coming again soon should lead us to live our lives differently..

it should lead us to action..

because again remember sincere expectation leads to action..

Jesus says something simalar in Matthew 24:43

Matthew 24:43 ESV

But know this, that if the master of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into.

Jesus says if the man knew that the theif was coming he would be ready

why?

because he was expecting it..

Jesus is coming again!

guess what!

Jesus is coming!

We know this..

and because of this we should live in the expectation of his soon return..

so what does that mean for us?

Acting on Expectations

1. Be ready

First.. we have to be ready.

Matthew 24:36 ESV

“But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only.

Matthew 24:42 ESV

Therefore, stay awake, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming.

we have to be ready..

with our lamps filled with oils and our wicks trimed as Jesus says of the 10 virgins..

Our hearts cleans and sprinkled with the word of god..

We have to be ready..

knowing we have been covered by the blood..

If not, when Jesus returns we will be caught off guard..

and if its the rapture..

we will be left behind..

2. be faithful

1 corinthians 4:1-2

1 Corinthians 4:1–2 ESV

This is how one should regard us, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. Moreover, it is required of stewards that they be found faithful.

stewards are the managers of the masters house and realm..

this means they choose each day how the masters business is conducted in their area of authority..

as believers..

expecting Jesus to come soon.

we should be making sure everything we have and do reflects christ..

living and giving the love of christ to others..

and being the reflection of christ in the earth..

We should be living for christ each day…

Life

God has given us a life..

we are alive today..

and our job with the life we have been given is to steward it well..

to live as god comanded us..

to love as god demonstrated for us..

to give, as god gave for us..

to care as god has cared for us..

out job is to be faithful with what we have been given and live this life as he has intened until the master returns..

3. Be busy..

finally we should be busy..

not busy body busy..

not fruitless busyness..

but the right business

Right

People dont prepare for easter in december,.

because they know christmas is coming..

we need to be busy with the right things..

we should be about the father business..

what is the fathers business?

Souls...

The fathers business is souls..

2 Peter 3:9 ESV

The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.

God wants a restored relationship with all who will receive him..

and its our job while we wait expectingly for Jesus to help others find the way..

The parable of the master and tallents..

in matthew 25 Jesus tells a parable, a kingdom story, about a master who left his servants in charge in his absence..

And as he is gone.. he gives each a certain amount of tallents.. or money.. and asked them to do well with it while he is gone..

when the master returns hes perplected..

some of the servants were good stewards and made the master more with what he gave them..

but one squandered it..

and the master was upset because the servant did nothing to advance the masters business..

Us

god has given each of us a task while we wait for his return..

its helping others find the kingdom..

each anc everyone we can..

knowing he is coming soon..

we should be busy about the fathers business..

misssed

if were not careful.. just like the jews in Jesus day..

We can miss what God is about to do..

1 thes 4 says that the rapture will take place in the twinking of an eye..

quicker than a snap…

Jesus said in matthew that it will be like 2 people in a field.. or in bed.

one left and one gone..

if we are not expecting..

If we are not ready..

If were not staying faithful.

then we very well could miss the next coming of Jesus..

Altar Call

Jesus is coming soon..

are you expecting him?

Are you ready?