Remembering Hope

KiDZ Message

Prop: Highlighters (give one to each kid)

SLIDE - KiDZ Message

Lesson

Happy first Sunday of Advent!

How many of you have heard that word “Advent” before?

Advent is the season where we get ready to celebrate that Jesus was born. It’s getting ready for what holiday? Christmas!

One of the most important things we do during Advent, to get ready for Christmas, is we Remember.

We remember all the amazing things that we have because of Jesus.

If you have a good memory, raise your hand.

You know, in some ways I have a good memory, and on other ways I don’t

I’m really good at remembering random facts about my hobbies

I’m really good at remembering the hard things in my life

I’m not really good at remembering the good things and the ways God has helped me.

Give highlighter and instruct not to open it.

Now who knows what this is? Highlighter

What do you use this for? Making things stand out & remembering that they are important.

Highlighters are remembering tools. They help is remember really important things.

We can even highlight important things in our brains. We do that by memorizing them.

When we memorize important things, it helps us to remember them when it matters most.

In the bible God did a lot of amazing things. There were all sorts of situations where people we scared, in pain, and they didn't think anything could ever get better again.

In other words, they didn’t have HOPE. Can you say that word with me? HOPE

Hope is what we feel when are sure things will get better, even if they are bad now.

Hope is something we need to practice Remembering.

Candle Lighting

Here is where these candles come in.

Move to advent wreath

Each of these candles help us remember an amazing thing we have because of Jesus.

And each week I want to share a verse from the bible that you can practice remembering.

SLIDE - Lamentations 3:25

Today the verse is Lamentations 3:25 “The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him”

Today as we light the Hope candle, we remember that God has helped his people over and over again throughout the years. We remember that he came into this world by sending his son Jesus to save us.

Let’s all say this out loud to highlight it in our minds. “The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him”

Now, you will be heading back to prepare for your pageant, but also ask your grown ups to help your memorize Lamentations 3:25, so that you can keep it highlighted in your mind.

PRAY

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Main Sermon

SLIDE - Title

Onramp

Who here likes to wait for things? No? nobody? Buehler?

If course we don’t like to wait for things. Why would we enjoy waiting

I certainly have a really hard time waiting. The vast majority of the mistakes I have made as a Pastor have come because I acted BEFORE I took the time to wait for the direction of the Lord.

I have ALSO learned that “waiting” is an action word. Doing nothing is not the same as waiting.

The end of this morning’s scripture reading said...

SCRIPTURE - Lam 3:26-27

Lamentations 3:26–27 NIV

26 it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord. 27 It is good for a man to bear the yoke while he is young.

Waiting is an active choice to submit to someone else’s timeline. It is a choice to release control.

Waiting is the work of Advent. It’s a spiritual discipline, and the sooner we learn it, the better off we will be.

So that leaves the question of “what do we do while we wait?”

SLIDE - Title

Exposition

I see the scriptures telling us to focus our energy on remembering.

Psalm 42:6 “6 My soul is downcast within me; therefore I will remember you”

Today’s scripture passage has some great wisdom for us in this...

Open to Lamentations 3:19

Scripture - follow along

(19-20) It’s easy to remember the pain

(21) Yet this I call to mind

The writer is recognizing that some remembering takes intentional effort.

We need to make it a point to remember how God has shown up for us.

So, this year during advent we will be sharing stories of how God has shown up in the real lives of people who are a part of our church community.

Today’s testimony is about how Jesus offered Hope in an otherwise hopeless situation

SLIDE - “We Remember Hope While We Wait”

Testimony: _TO BE DETERMINED_ Jaquie & Gordon? Justin B?

Conclusion

Pray for the person and everyone who heard.

My prayer is that this story has offerred you a bit of hope today.

If you have a story of hope that you would like to share, then mark it on your connect card

If you would like to become a Christian and commit your life to Jesus today, then mark it on your connect card