In need of hope
The Advent of Hope • Sermon • Submitted
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· 6 viewsA total grounding of one’s confidence and expectation in God’s goodness and providential care even in the face of trouble.
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Zion Pentecostal Church
Zion Pentecostal Church
Welcome, today is the first Sunday of Advent, with that we are going to work through a sermon series called The Advent of Hope.
Who remembers a space movie that was released in 1977 about an age old tale of good vs. evil. There was a princess, and a space cowboy, a young farm boy who learns that he is not just some farm boy but is destained for greatness?
I think that movie was called. Starwars… A New Hope
Well for years I always wondered why they called it a new hope? yes I know that they had destroyed the death-star and stopped evil in a climactic ending. But where did they come up with the title a new hope, what coined that phase.
well almost 40 years later another movie comes out called Rouge One a Starwars Story. The whole idea of the film builds up to the very end when a small ship needs to escape an imperial attack.
in a crazy Darth Vader scene (pull out light saber) DV starts going through the hall way of rebel fighters with his light saber and ends up missing the ship just as it leaves the docking station and flies away. the last scene is princess leiah saying “A New Hope”
hows that for a sermon introduction! Today we are going to be exploring Hope and how we are “In Need of Hope”
Opening Prayer
In Need of Hope
In Need of Hope
Have you ever faced a situation that seemed impossible or hopeless?
Job Loss?
Job Loss?
Failed Test?
Failed Test?
Broken Marriage?
Broken Marriage?
Job Loss?
Job Loss?
Divorce?
Divorce?
Job Loss?
Substance Abuse?
Substance Abuse?
Failed Test?
Broken Marriage?
Failed Test?
Failed Test?
Physical or Mental Abuse?
Physical or Mental Abuse?
Divorce?
Substance Abuse?
Being Bullied?
Being Bullied?
Physical or Mental Abuse?
Being Bullied?
What do you do when these things come up? What do you do when Things Seem Impossible?
What do you do when these things come up? What do you do when Things Seem Impossible?
What do you do when these things come up? What do you do when Things Seem Impossible?
Broken Marriage?
Broken Marriage?
Divorce?
Divorce?
Substance Abuse?
Substance Abuse?
Physical or Mental Abuse?
Physical or Mental Abuse?
Being Bullied?
Being Bullied?
What do you do when these things come up? What do you do when Things Seem Impossible?
What do you do when these things come up? What do you do when Things Seem Hopeless?
Today’s Passage
Today’s Passage
If you have your Bibles with you today, please turn to Isaiah 32:1-8 (Slide)
A horse is a false hope for victory;
Nor does it deliver anyone by its great strength.
Behold, the eye of the LORD is on those who fear Him,
On those who bhope for His lovingkindness,
(Slide)
To deliver their soul from death
And to keep them alive in famine.
Our soul waits for the LORD;
He is our help and our shield.
For our heart rejoices in Him,
Because we trust in His holy name.
Let Your lovingkindness, O LORD, be upon us,
According as we have hoped in You.
1 See, a king will reign in righteousness
and rulers will rule with justice.
2 Each one will be like a shelter from the wind
and a refuge from the storm,
like streams of water in the desert
and the shadow of a great rock in a thirsty land.
3 Then the eyes of those who see will no longer be closed,
and the ears of those who hear will listen.
4 The fearful heart will know and understand,
and the stammering tongue will be fluent and clear.
5 No longer will the fool be called noble
nor the scoundrel be highly respected.
6 For fools speak folly,
their hearts are bent on evil:
They practice ungodliness
and spread error concerning the Lord;
the hungry they leave empty
and from the thirsty they withhold water.
7 Scoundrels use wicked methods,
they make up evil schemes
to destroy the poor with lies,
even when the plea of the needy is just.
8 But the noble make noble plans,
and by noble deeds they stand.
Transition - Where does your hope come from?
#1 Hope in God is commanded
#1 Hope in God is commanded
Be strong and let your heart take courage,
All you who hope in the Lord.
Throughout the Scriptures there are many commands given by God
O Israel, hope in the Lord;
For with the Lord there is lovingkindness,
And with Him is abundant redemption.
You shall have no other gods before me.
You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below.
You shall not bow down to them or worship them
You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God
Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.
Honor your father and your mother
You shall not murder.
You shall not commit adultery.
You shall not steal.
You shall not give false testimony against your neighbour.
You shall not covet your neighbour’s house.
You shall not covet your neighbour’s wife
You shall not covet your neighbour’s belongings
and one of these commands is to put your Hope in God.
and one of these commmands is to put your Hope in God.
O Israel, hope in the Lord
From this time forth and forever.
(NLT) - And so, Lord, where do I put my hope? My only hope is in You.
rejoicing in hope, persevering in tribulation, devoted to prayer,
The world is a harsh place, everyday we are faced with a number of diffrent things that are going to put our hope to the test.
Instruct those who are rich in this present world not to be conceited or to fix their hope on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly supplies us with all things to enjoy.
- Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment.
Mass shootings such as Las Vagas
Natural disasters like we just witnessed this past year with the hurricanes
The threat of nuclear war with North Korea
Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful;
all of these things are causing people to start putting their hope in government, in money, in food preparation, in underground bunkers, in everything but God.
Whenever we experience pain, grief, or encounter enemies, the oppostions of life seem to distract us from the great purpose in Christ and that is to put our Hope in God.
- Be strong and let your heart take courage, all you who hope in the Lord.
let me give you an example of this:
Just last week Amanda called me in a panic. I could tell right away something was wrong. My mind first thought was it Reven? Was it her job? was she hurt? what happened!
Just last week Amanda called me in a panic. I could tell right away something was wrong. My mind first thought was it Reven? Was it her job? was she hurt? what happened!
She did everything she could to explain to me that she was hurt and it was on her ankle, the one she just had surgery on. She asked me to come get her and take her to the hospital.
i. She did everything she could to explain to me that she was hurt and it was on her ankle, the one she just had surgery on. She asked me to come get her and take her to the hospital.
I grabbed my keys and ran for the door. In that moment I knew that this was not going to end well, I remembered what the doctor said “If you break it again there is a very good chance that the damage will prevent further use of your ankle and that could mean you can never ride a horse again.
Thoughts of having surgery and may never ride her horses again flooded my mind. I knew in that moment the only thing I can do is put my hope in God.
So what do we do?
“Let us hold fast on the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.” - Heb. 10:23
We can trust God, HE is faithful, He is the King that will reign in righteousness, “will rule with justice.”
He will be “like a shelter from the wind and a refuge from the storm, like streams of water in the desert and the shadow of a great rock in a thirsty land.”
and a refuge from the storm,
like streams of water in the desert
The bottom line is this, we are commanded to put our Hope in God.
and the shadow of a great rock in a thirsty land
Then we are to “Teach those who are rich in this world not to be proud and not to trust in their money, which is so unreliable. Their trust should be in God, who richly gives us all we need for our enjoyment.” -
So the question becomes, if we are commanded to put our Hope in God, where does the teaching come from?
#2 Hope can be found in Scripture as the word of God
#2 Hope can be found in Scripture as the word of God
And do not take the word of truth utterly out of my mouth,
For I wait for Your ordinances.
Remember the word to Your servant,
In which You have made me hope.
May those who fear You see me and be glad,
Because I wait for Your word.
My soul languishes for Your salvation;
I wait for Your word.
You are my hiding place and my shield;
I wait for Your word.
I rise before dawn and cry for help;
I wait for Your words.
“For whatever was written in the past was written for our instruction, so that we may have hope through endurance and through the encouragement from the Scriptures.” -
I wait for the Lord, my soul does wait,
And in His word do I hope.
Paul teaches in the letter to the Romans that it is through the Scriptures that we gain hope, hope that we put in God. From the scriptures we gain endurance and encouragement
“He will not be disheartened or crushed
Until He has established justice in the earth;
And the coastlands will wait expectantly for His law.”
hows this for encouragement:
Then the eyes of those who see will no longer be closed, and the ears of those who hear will listen. 4 The fearful heart will know and understand, and the stammering tongue will be fluent and clear. 5 No longer will the fool be called noble nor the scoundrel be highly respected.
“Then the eyes of those who see will no longer be closed, and the ears of those who hear will listen. 4 The fearful heart will know and understand, and the stammering tongue will be fluent and clear.“
I dont know about you but I can hardly wait for a few things to take place. First that the blind will see and the deaf will hear in this church right here.
and I can hardly wait until the return of Christ when there will no longer be blind, deaf, death, or sin.
But we also must endure this world until then we know that “fools speak folly, their hearts are bent on evil: They practice ungodliness and spread error concerning the Lord; the hungry they leave empty and from the thirsty they withhold water. Scoundrels use wicked methods, they make up evil schemes to destroy the poor with lies, even when the plea of the needy is just.”
But in the face of hard times we learn from the Scriptures that “No longer will the fool be called noble nor the scoundrel be highly respected.”
The days of Evil being good and Good Evil will come to an end. That day is coming and truly is here even today.
5 No longer will the fool be called noble nor the scoundrel be highly respected.
When we put our Hope in Christ we enter into His kingdom and evil is no longer good, the blind have their eyes open, they deaf hear for the first time, the dead come to life, and the fool is no longer called noble. Evil is no longer placed in high regard.
So what do we do?
What do we do?
We do what we are commanded to do, put our Hope in God, that we learn from the Scriptures. if you are to look at you will see that it is full of amazing truths and here are a few of them that teach us that God’s Word is where hope is found.
is full of amazing words but here are a few that describe hope in the scriptures:
Never take the word of truth from my mouth, for I hope in your judgments.
Remember your word to your servant; you have given me hope through it.
Remember your word to your servant; you have given me hope through it.
Remember your word to your servant;
you have given me hope through it.
Remember your word to your servant; you have given me hope through it.
Those who fear you will see me and rejoice, for I put my hope in your word.
I long for your salvation; I put my hope in your word.
You are my shelter and my shield; I put my hope in your word.
I rise before dawn and cry out for help; I put my hope in your word.
The truth of the matter is this, our hope is in God, we learn about this from His word. we need to stop putting our hope in the hopeless things of this world and start to put our hope in God.
After I got the phone call that Amanda was hurt, and started driving toward Brandon, clearly I was upset with the situation I was very concerned and needed to know what is going to happen next.
At the time I didn’t know what to ask God so I asked him for help at first.
As I was praying the Holy Spirit gave me words to say.
I called out the promises of God, as the Holy Spirit had allowed me to recall the teachings of Jesus.
Not to worry because God cares for Sparrows and cloths the grass. He reminded me that when I lay my troubles at His feet I will find rest, He reminded me that God does not like to see His children to suffer.
I was reminded that through the Scriptures we have hope. Hope in Jesus, He took my worry away, he took the pain of the situation away, the sting of an unknown future.
I encourage you to stop looking to the world for the answers to hard times, stop putting your hope in things that are going to pass away. You need to put your Hope in God.
We Have Hope
We Have Hope
Open God’s Word and see that Hope can be placed in God in the face of difficulty or trial.
Read and know that though God’s Word there is encouragement and endurance in any time of difficulty or trial.
Our passage today gives us hope of a coming time of Hope:
1 See, a king will reign in righteousness
and rulers will rule with justice.
2 Each one will be like a shelter from the wind
and a refuge from the storm,
like streams of water in the desert
and the shadow of a great rock in a thirsty land.
3 Then the eyes of those who see will no longer be closed,
and the ears of those who hear will listen.
4 The fearful heart will know and understand,
and the stammering tongue will be fluent and clear.
5 No longer will the fool be called noble
nor the scoundrel be highly respected.
6 For fools speak folly,
their hearts are bent on evil:
They practice ungodliness
and spread error concerning the Lord;
the hungry they leave empty
and from the thirsty they withhold water.
7 Scoundrels use wicked methods,
they make up evil schemes
to destroy the poor with lies,
even when the plea of the needy is just.
8 But the noble make noble plans,
and by noble deeds they stand.
Trust me when I tell you that this time has already come and yet it will be coming in the future as well.
You have right now the opportunity to experience what has been promised in the words of Isiah. Jesus has already come and His kingdom is here and now.
We dont have to wait until He comes again to experience righteousness, Justice, or healing that is available to us right here and right now, Hope is available right now in Jesus Christ.
before we close in prayer, I want all of you to bow your heads, with no one looking around raise your hand if you need hope today and are ready to give up the hopeless things of this world.
Pray for the ones who held their hands up.
“And now I am standing trial for the hope of the promise made by God to our fathers;
For whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction, so that through perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.
because of the hope laid up for you in heaven, of which you previously heard in the word of truth, the gospel
#3 Hope can be placed in God in the face of difficulty or trial
#3 Hope can be placed in God in the face of difficulty or trial
Shecaniah the son of Jehiel, one of the sons of Elam, said to Ezra, “We have been unfaithful to our God and have married foreign women from the peoples of the land; yet now there is hope for Israel in spite of this.
“So the helpless has hope,
And unrighteousness must shut its mouth.
“Though He slay me,
I will hope in Him.
Nevertheless I will argue my ways before Him.
For the needy will not always be forgotten,
Nor the hope of the afflicted perish forever.
Look upon my enemies, for they are many,
And they hate me with violent hatred.
Guard my soul and deliver me;
Do not let me be ashamed, for I take refuge in You.
Let integrity and uprightness preserve me,
For I wait for You.
Why are you in despair, O my soul?
And why have you become disturbed within me?
Hope in God, for I shall again praise Him
For the help of His presence.
Sustain me according to Your word, that I may live;
And do not let me be ashamed of my hope.
Have You completely rejected Judah?
Or have You loathed Zion?
Why have You stricken us so that we are beyond healing?
We waited for peace, but nothing good came;
And for a time of healing, but behold, terror!
who delivered us from so great a peril of death, and will deliver us, He on whom we have set our hope. And He will yet deliver us,
Now she who is a widow indeed and who has been left alone, has fixed her hope on God and continues in entreaties and prayers night and day.
#4 The outcome of hoping in God
#4 The outcome of hoping in God
#5 It brings security and confidence
#5 It brings security and confidence
“Then you would trust, because there is hope;
And you would look around and rest securely.
Indeed, none of those who wait for You will be ashamed;
Those who deal treacherously without cause will be ashamed.
A horse is a false hope for victory;
Nor does it deliver anyone by its great strength.
Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear Him,
On those who hope for His lovingkindness,
Our soul waits for the Lord;
He is our help and our shield.
For our heart rejoices in Him,
Because we trust in His holy name.
Let Your lovingkindness, O Lord, be upon us,
According as we have hoped in You.
“And now, Lord, for what do I wait?
My hope is in You.
I will give You thanks forever, because You have done it,
And I will wait on Your name, for it is good, in the presence of Your godly ones.
For You are my hope;
O Lord God, You are my confidence from my youth.
How blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob,
Whose hope is in the Lord his God,
The Lord favors those who fear Him,
Those who wait for His lovingkindness.
Are there any among the idols of the nations who give rain?
Or can the heavens grant showers?
Is it not You, O Lord our God?
Therefore we hope in You,
For You are the one who has done all these things.
This I recall to my mind,
Therefore I have hope.
The Lord’s lovingkindnesses indeed never cease,
For His compassions never fail.
having a hope in God, which these men cherish themselves, that there shall certainly be a resurrection of both the righteous and the wicked.
Again Isaiah says,
“There shall come the root of Jesse,
And He who arises to rule over the Gentiles,
In Him shall the Gentiles hope.”
For it is for this we labor and strive, because we have fixed our hope on the living God, who is the Savior of all men, especially of believers.
#6 It leads to specific results
#6 It leads to specific results
Let Your lovingkindness, O Lord, be upon us,
According as we have hoped in You.
Communion
Communion
For evildoers will be cut off,
But those who wait for the Lord, they will inherit the land.
Everyone is welcome to partake who follows our Lord Jesus Christ
My soul, wait in silence for God only,
For my hope is from Him.
As I pray for the communion, I urge you to search your heart and repent of any sins or unforgiveness toward any of your brothers or sisters in Christ and pray for forgiveness of sin and if you need to reconcile with your brother or sister, release the burden of unforgiveness in your heart.
But as for me, I will hope continually,
And will praise You yet more and more.
Prayer
Know that wisdom is thus for your soul;
If you find it, then there will be a future,
And your hope will not be cut off.
Do not lie in wait, O wicked man, against the dwelling of the righteous;
Do not destroy his resting place;
For a righteous man falls seven times, and rises again,
But the wicked stumble in time of calamity.
Father, we come to this table as your guests. Resting only in the worthiness of your Son. As we look upon the emblems of our Saviour’s death may we remember why He died-to cleanse and to heal; to satisfy your righteousness and justice. We remember His eternal love and boundless grace. May we receive the assurance of forgiveness, eternal life, and the hope of glory. As the bread and the cup nourish our body, so may your indwelling Holy Spirit strengthen our soul, until the day of Christ’s appearing when we will hunger and thirst no more, and sit with Him at His heavenly table. Amen.
Yet those who wait for the Lord
Will gain new strength;
They will mount up with wings like eagles,
They will run and not get tired,
They will walk and not become weary.
“My righteousness is near, My salvation has gone forth,
And My arms will judge the peoples;
The coastlands will wait for Me,
And for My arm they will wait expectantly.
‘For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope.
The Lord is good to those who wait for Him,
To the person who seeks Him.
Benediction – The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.
But as for me, I will watch expectantly for the Lord;
I will wait for the God of my salvation.
My God will hear me.
Return to the stronghold, O prisoners who have the hope;
This very day I am declaring that I will restore double to you.
In hope against hope he believed, so that he might become a father of many nations according to that which had been spoken, “So shall your descendants be.”
through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we exult in hope of the glory of God.
and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.
Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you will abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
and our hope for you is firmly grounded, knowing that as you are sharers of our sufferings, so also you are sharers of our comfort.
not boasting beyond our measure, that is, in other men’s labors, but with the hope that as your faith grows, we will be, within our sphere, enlarged even more by you,
constantly bearing in mind your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ in the presence of our God and Father,
with gentleness correcting those who are in opposition, if perhaps God may grant them repentance leading to the knowledge of the truth,
in the hope of eternal life, which God, who cannot lie, promised long ages ago,
For in this way in former times the holy women also, who hoped in God, used to adorn themselves, being submissive to their own husbands;
And everyone who has this hope fixed on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.