HOPE

Today we celebrate the First, day of Advent.

The word Advent means "coming" or "arrival." The focus of the entire season is preparation to celebrate the birth of Jesus the Christ in his First Advent, and the anticipation of the return of Christ the King in his Second Advent. Thus, Advent is far more than simply marking a 2,000 year old event in history.

Advent is the season we remember the birth of Jesus and anticipate the return of the King of Kings.

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Now Christmas is just around the corner! Malls will be busy with frantic shoppers; sappy Christmas shows from the Hallmark channel will cover the airways. Parents will pretend to send Christmas wish lists to Santa and kids will impatiently wait for that fabulous day.

Mistletoe will be hung in anticipation of love being sealed with a kiss, and presents will be hid out of sight from the curious kids.

Christmas! It is perfect isn’t it?

Well for some it is not perfect.

Many people dread this season. Single parents are worried if they will be able to afford the simplest gifts much less keep up with the neighbors.

till others will be spending their first Christmas without a loved one. Financial troubles, lost loved ones, divorce, and the list could go on and on.

The dream of the perfect family celebrating Christmas around the beautiful Christmas tree collapses with mental disease, drug addiction and loss. Christmas can often make us feel hopeless.

Today, I want to share with you how the season of Advent has the potential to raise your view from your daily sufferings into the realm of HOPE.

Because In Christ We Have Hope!

-------------------------------------------------- Turn with me to

Micah 5:2 NLT

But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, are only a small village among all the people of Judah. Yet a ruler of Israel whose origins are in the distant past, will come from you on my behalf.

Isaiah 7:14 NLT

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’).

Isaiah 11:1–4 NLT

Out of the stump of David’s family will grow a shoot— yes, a new Branch bearing fruit from the old root. And the Spirit of the Lord will rest on him— the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord. He will delight in obeying the Lord. He will not judge by appearance nor make a decision based on hearsay. He will give justice to the poor and make fair decisions for the exploited. The earth will shake at the force of his word, and one breath from his mouth will destroy the wicked.

In the first Advent God revealed himself in Jesus whereby all humanity might be reconciled to God.

In the First, Advent Jesus revealed the true nature of God

God

God is the God of the impossible

(Out of the stump new life.)

What may seem like an impossible situation to you, to God it is possible.

In Christ We have hope!

God is the God of the forgotten and exploited.

When you feel forgotten, or when it feels like you are being exploited remember God is with you and for you.

In Christ we have hope.

God identifies with the weak and the outcasts.

(Born on the other side of the tracks. Born in poverty and in the helplessness of a child.)

In Christ we have hope.

God loves us.

(Jesus was God with us and He came on behalf of God for us.)

God is for you and he loves you, even when it feels like the world is against you.

In Christ We have hope!

In the First, Advent Jesus made it possible for all creation to be Reconciled to God.

Matthew 1:21 NLT

And she will have a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”

(2 cor 5)

Ephesians 1:9–11 NLT

God has now revealed to us his mysterious will regarding Christ—which is to fulfill his own good plan. And this is the plan: At the right time he will bring everything together under the authority of Christ—everything in heaven and on earth. Furthermore, because we are united with Christ, we have received an inheritance from God, for he chose us in advance, and he makes everything work out according to his plan.

---------------------------------------------------------- But Advent takes on a different nature than just remembering. Advent calls us to look forward.

---------------------------------------------------------- But Advent takes on a different nature than just remembering.

Mary was full of hope that the true nature of God to the weak and the least would be manifested in the babe she was carrying.

Isaiah 11:4–10 NLT

He will give justice to the poor and make fair decisions for the exploited. The earth will shake at the force of his word, and one breath from his mouth will destroy the wicked. He will wear righteousness like a belt and truth like an undergarment. In that day the wolf and the lamb will live together; the leopard will lie down with the baby goat. The calf and the yearling will be safe with the lion, and a little child will lead them all. The cow will graze near the bear. The cub and the calf will lie down together. The lion will eat hay like a cow. The baby will play safely near the hole of a cobra. Yes, a little child will put its hand in a nest of deadly snakes without harm. Nothing will hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain, for as the waters fill the sea, so the earth will be filled with people who know the Lord. In that day the heir to David’s throne will be a banner of salvation to all the world. The nations will rally to him, and the land where he lives will be a glorious place.

Her hope was in a new kind of relationship between the people of God and their God. A relationship of love and true justice, of care and hope.

---------------------------------------------------------- But Advent takes on a different nature than just remembering.

Advent is also about Hopeful Anticipation.

Isa 11:4-

Just as Isa saw into the first Advent, he also saw into the second Advent.

He saw a day, when the world would be set to right.

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I know this next Scripture may seem odd for an Advent reading but I want you to hear why we should be hopeful.

Romans 8:18–30 NLT

Yet what we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory he will reveal to us later. For all creation is waiting eagerly for that future day when God will reveal who his children really are. Against its will, all creation was subjected to God’s curse. But with eager hope, the creation looks forward to the day when it will join God’s children in glorious freedom from death and decay. For we know that all creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. And we believers also groan, even though we have the Holy Spirit within us as a foretaste of future glory, for we long for our bodies to be released from sin and suffering. We, too, wait with eager hope for the day when God will give us our full rights as his adopted children, including the new bodies he has promised us. We were given this hope when we were saved. (If we already have something, we don’t need to hope for it. But if we look forward to something we don’t yet have, we must wait patiently and confidently.) And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don’t know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words. And the Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying, for the Spirit pleads for us believers in harmony with God’s own will. And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them. For God knew his people in advance, and he chose them to become like his Son, so that his Son would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. And having chosen them, he called them to come to him. And having called them, he gave them right standing with himself. And having given them right standing, he gave them his glory.

Let me share with you why even in the worst of times we, the children of God should be Hopeful!

Today's sufferings do not compare to the Glory God will reveal to us and in us.

Our bodies will be released from sin and suffering.

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Paul says that today's sufferings do not compare to what God has in store for His children.

Do, you have hope like that? Are you zeroed in on that great day and full of hope?

Or, are you so focused on your troubles today that, you cannot even lift your head and see what God has for you?

Paul says, that the hope in which we were saved is the full and total redemption of our bodies.

No more mental illness

No more cancer

No more death

No more uncontrolled sin

Total and full redemption.

YOU SEE HOPE IS PROPHETIC –

Hope reaches into the future and lays hold of God’s plan.

Hope is the joyful expectation, that God will complete His work, in you, in our loved ones, in our world.

Hope is not wishing, hope is the Joyful expectation.

Paul was so, hopeful that he refused to speak of this hope in the future tense and instead spoke of it as if it already was.

Romans 8:30 ESV

And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.

Do you see that?

Do you see that? Those he predestined he called, those he called, he justified, and those he justified he also Glorified.

Those he predestined he called, those he called, he justified, and those he justified he also Glorified.

Hope is prophetic –

Hope is living in the joy of God’s future for us during our current sufferings.

Hope is living in the joy of God’s future for us during our current sufferings.

Hope is seeing the future as clearly as we see the present.

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Advent is not just about remembering the birth of Jesus

Advent is also about the Hopeful anticipation of the return of Jesus, the second, advent.

Titus 2:11–14 NLT

For the grace of God has been revealed, bringing salvation to all people. And we are instructed to turn from godless living and sinful pleasures. We should live in this evil world with wisdom, righteousness, and devotion to God, while we look forward with hope to that wonderful day when the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, will be revealed. He gave his life to free us from every kind of sin, to cleanse us, and to make us his very own people, totally committed to doing good deeds.

(Our Great Hope Scripture.)

Advent is about remembering Jesus came to bring salvation to all people.

Advent is about remembering Jesus has instructed us to turn from godless living and sinful pleasures.

Advent is about remembering how we are to live with wisdom, righteousness and devotion to God.

But Advent is also about looking forward with Hope to that great day when Jesus returns.

And it is when we take our eyes off our suffering and in hopeful anticipation look forward, that we can agree with Paul.

That the sufferings of today do not compare to the glory that will be revealed in us.

In Jesus we have HOPE!

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-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- You may be going through hell right now.

You may be going through hell right now.

Financial troubles.

The loss of a loved one.

You may be living in a time where your children are not what you had hoped for.

Maybe life right now is just messed up and you are not where you thought you would be.

Allow me to share with you our great HOPE!

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You see my dad died recently. I know I will cry on Christmas day. I will have a moment where his presence will be missed and sorrow will fill my heart.

But then, I will smile. I will wipe the tear away and I will sing in my heart.

For I know what lies ahead….

Revelation 21:1–7 NLT

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the old heaven and the old earth had disappeared. And the sea was also gone. And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven like a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. I heard a loud shout from the throne, saying, “Look, God’s home is now among his people! He will live with them, and they will be his people. God himself will be with them. He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever.” And the one sitting on the throne said, “Look, I am making everything new!” And then he said to me, “Write this down, for what I tell you is trustworthy and true.” And he also said, “It is finished! I am the Alpha and the Omega—the Beginning and the End. To all who are thirsty I will give freely from the springs of the water of life. All who are victorious will inherit all these blessings, and I will be their God, and they will be my children.

This is the season of hopeful anticipation.

We do not yet see the full outcome of our salvation

We do not yet see the full reconciliation of creation.

But just as Mary was pregnant with hope

Just as creation is pregnant with hope.

You and I need take our eyes off the troubles and sufferings around us just for a moment and allow our souls to glance the future and, then we too will become pregnant with hope.

As we celebrate the birth of our Savior

Let us also with hopeful anticipation celebrate the return of the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords.

As we celebrate the first Advent

Let us also with hopeful anticipation celebrate the Second Advent.

Let us celebrate in Hopeful Anticipation the day “He makes everything new!”

In Jesus we have HOPE!