Sermon Tone Analysis

Advent = Coming

The word Advent comes from the Latin word for coming

The early church would spend this time in fasting and prayer.. repenting of things that needed to be repented of and committing to the things that needed to be committed or recommitted to.

The Sundays of advent were a time where there was a break from the fasting and breaking of one’s self to celebrate the coming aspects of Christ.

Today for whatever reason the Church has long ago discarded the idea that we need to get close to the Lord through the things that Christians should do to get closer, and replaced it with the lighting of candles.

Now that is a reproof that we should stop lighting candles and start beating on our selves, but this year I want want to remind us that the hope, peace, joy, love, and unity is much greater than we often perceive.

How the Coming Christ is the Candle in the Darkness.

In order to demonstrate the light of Christ we are going to have to look at the darkness that the light dispels.

Worldly ways we see the darkness.

It’s much worse than we can possibly imagine.

What the source of darkness is (or sources.)

We will discuss the truth of what God says and what his light does.

We need to see the candle in the darkness.

We need to know what steps to take to head towards that light.

We will give an opportunity to repent and recommit to the light.

Today we talk about the first candle… hope.

The Darkness Surrounding Hope

The Way the World Sees It

The opposite of hope.

hopelessness - c’mon that’s cheating

despair, doubt, fear, distrust, discouragement, pessimism, abandon, disbelief, reality, fact, depression

Despair - the feeling that everything is wrong and their is nothing that can be done about it.

families, at work, in health, finances… you’ve tried and tried and tried and it has not gotten any better.

It is a culminations of some of the other words we used:

doubt

fear or discouragement

distrust or disbelief

pessimism

It can lead to a real physical or mental depression

It may even lead to a desire to abandon everything that you know is good.

The two saddest antonyms on this list:

reality, fact - I find it sad because the Hope that God provides to us is the fact that He is here to love us and guide us an bring us to a place where despite the fact we are surrounded by great darkness and bleak circumstances, there is a light that shines so bright that all that darkness flees away from it.

Somehow the world has substituted that fact, that reality with their own fact that tells us there is no hope.

When your mind tries tricking you into the thought that there is no hope scream back at your mind or the one trying to convince you that they are a liar and a thief.

It’s Worse Than We Thought.

Despair comes close - the feeling that everything is wrong and there is nothing you can do about it.

The problem with that is that the world tells you that’s just a feeling.

Let me be abundantly clear.

It’s not a feeling.... everything is wrong.

There is nothing you can do about it.

That word poor best translated is “utter mendicancy”

I

Ro 3:

The Source of Darkness

The Devil - no

He is a tempter

He is a liar and skilled deceiver.

He is a thief and an enemy.

Other people - no

They are also liars.

Hopefully in ignorance but sometimes out of selfishness they do things that make you lose hope.

The real culprit - you

We cannot blame the devil because our hope rests in Christ and whatever the devil does to shake us, Christ is still there.

We cannot blame others because our hope does not rest in them.

Our hope rests in Christ and no man or woman has no power to take our hope away unless we give it to them.

The Hope of God

If The LORD’s desire is to give you a hope, do you think He is to weak to do that?

It’s a promise of one who created the universe.

1 Peter 1:

Romans 5:3-6

Head Towards the Light

Your Chance to Stark Walking

Ro 10

So as we have said, we looked at the darkness that is surrounding us.

It’s there.

It’s real.

It’s inescapable.

But there is a hope, and it is only found in one place.

Through Christ Jesus.

Let me implore you, If you do not have 100% hope, I want to pray for you.

There is no shame in admitting you lack hope.

There is no shame in admitting fear.

What is a shame is not confessing and committing.

Today I want you to be bold.

If you’re hope is not where it should be for whatever reason, Let us pray together for God to do something about it.

amen… I’ll give you 5 seconds to raise your hands..

If you don’t I will assume you are perfect and I may want you to pray with me later… If you do, I will know that you are human and need Christ’s help.