Wonderful Counselor

Introduction - Arrival song

Q1 What did you look forward to around Christmas?

as a gradeschooler? as a High Schooler? As an adult? Remember what it felt like to ...to look forward to CHRISTMAS! Perhaps the feeling of tension and expectation at the top of the stairs? MANY call this feeling anticipation. We are about to sing a song that is about more than anticipation.

I am going to give you a hint about what is coming. It is in our worship of Jesus…the infant birth we are about to celebrate, that something rises in us that is greater than nostalgia, anticipation or the Christmas spirit.. something that transcends circumstances.

HE WILL BE CALLED: Wonderful Counselor, MIGHTY GOD, EVERLASTING FATHER, Prince of PEACE

Isaiah 9:6 NIV

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Isaiah 6:13 NIV

And though a tenth remains in the land, it will again be laid waste. But as the terebinth and oak leave stumps when they are cut down, so the holy seed will be the stump in the land.”

Isaiah 11:1 NIV

A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit.

Remember what it felt like to anticipate...to look forward to!

Many call that feeling HOPE.

What do I want for us today?: For HOPE to rise in our hearts.

Tension: Without Hope, the people suffer

Lewis Smedes “Hope is to our spirits what oxygen is to our lungs. Lose hope and you die. They may not bury you for awhile, but without hope you are dead inside. The only way to face the future is to fly straight into it on the wings of hope....hope is the energy of the soul. Hope is the power of tomorrow.

I will get to a definition of Hope in a second...

Optimism is the attitude that chooses to see circumstances working out for the best.

the odds are things will get better.

Glass half empty or half full or engineers who say that the glass is twice as large as it needs to be.

You are either an optimist or a pessimist or a closet pessimist calling themselves a realist.

We have put a lot of energy into figuring out the odds

That is optimism or human HOPE

Often we have confused our call to HOPE in the Lord as a call to be optimistic about our circumstances.

So when we can’t see our circumstances getting any better, we lose our optimism…you see, we never really had hope in the first place.

The difference between Hope and Optimism. https://bibleproject.com/explore/the-advent-series/

Isaiah announces that God’s judgment will purify Israel and prepare his people for the coming messianic King and new Jerusalem

PICK UP AXE: Israel is going to be chopped down like a stump in a field.

Have you ever chopped down a tree?

Israel was about to be chopped down. Destroyed and decimated.

Maybe your life has been destroyed.

Hit the stump with the axe: Lost your job you worked your whole life to gain, lost your parents, lost your sense of Christmas wonder, lost your spouse, your loved one

Like the world came crashing down.

Q2 When in your life did things appear the worst?

For Israel it got worse. LIGHT UP THE TORCH.

God wasn’t done…Burning away all the rebellion, idolatry, and injustice. Their entire way of life will fall...sound familiar?

STUMP? burn the stump with a torch!!!!!

When I heard the vaccine was coming my first thought was…God don’t rescue us from the refinement you are doing.

Burn away our pride, our arrogance, our refusal to rely, our understanding of church, of government or family.

FLAME THE STUMP…maybe this is what your life feels like.

odds are not in Israels favor. All seems lost

Smoldering stump is a Holy Seed.

Isaiah 6:13 NIV

And though a tenth remains in the land, it will again be laid waste. But as the terebinth and oak leave stumps when they are cut down, so the holy seed will be the stump in the land.”

Isaiah 11:1 NIV

A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit.

The only hope that Isaiah had was in God’s promise that this husk of a country will give way to a tiny shoot of hope.

PUT TINY POTTED PLANT IN THE MIDDLE OF THE STUMP. SQUAT DOWN…this is the hope.

Not much of a HOPE huh!

Optimism is the attitude that chooses to see circumstances working out for the best. BUT Biblical Hope is based on person. Not on Circumstances, but on a Messiah. A Christ.

A wreck of a life can become a holy seed of hope with Christ.

As Israel was called to look back at God’s faithfulness, and his promises to King David they can look forward to a messiah...so that they can see this little stem as a HOPE.

Biblical Hope is not optimism based on the odds, it is a choice to wait for God to bring about a future that is surprisingly wonderful

Christian hope looks back to the birth of Christ as the seed of hope SO THAT we can look forward to what He will do next even when you life looks like a burnt husk.

Hope is confidence that God will do what he says he will do.

We boast in the HOPE of the glory of God

Those who HOPE in the LORD will renew their strength. Isaiah 40:30-31

Isaiah 40:30–31 NIV

Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.

Q3 Are you ready to renew your strength?

Are your ready to remind and restore and renew your HOPE?

Christmas is about reminding ourselves of our HOPE! Christmas is about boasting of What God has done and it gives us the strength to carry on to see what he will do!

In Isaiah 6 we heard the horror about to happen. NEVERTHELESS in 9:1 we hear this promise

Isaiah 9:1a Nevertheless, there will be no more gloom for those who were in distress.

Isaiah 9:1 NIV

Nevertheless, there will be no more gloom for those who were in distress. In the past he humbled the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the future he will honor Galilee of the nations, by the Way of the Sea, beyond the Jordan—

Isaiah 9:6

Isaiah 9:6 NIV

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

I want you to connect to the Wonderful Counselor: Jesus

Wonderful Pel le Miraculous or causing wonder. Extraordinary.

Making it difficult to comprehend.

The Wonder of Christmas, with the first snow fall.

The miracle of birth

Counselor Yoh EhtS Someone who gives advice about problems

To Give Counsel...or decree or advise

LifeCoaches, disciplers, mentors, mental health professionals this role is huge in our life.

Q4: What is the best advice you have ever received? Who do you look to to give you advice?

We need good advice more than ever

The Uncertain future has made so many expert voices. Shouting at us to pay attention

finances - sell buy, retire early

family - dynamics, who should come to family celebrations

school - Back in school or not. Which school to attend.

Health, Work

Mental Health Issues

Mental Health issues normally are a huge problems

More than 2 in 5 US residents report struggling with mental or behavioral health issues associated with the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, including anxiety, depression, increased substance use, and suicidal thoughts

I WANT TO STOP FOR A MOMENT:

Some of us had a panic attack for the first time, or anxiety for the first time.

Do not be ashamed. Do not be afraid. Talk to someone you trust. Reach out to those on Staff. Reach out to a trusted adult.

We are committed to training our staff and key leaders to recognize and help.

HERE is the best advice I can give you.

Fix your eyes on Jesus the Wonderful Counselor and Hope will rise.

I wonder, do you know him as your counselor?

It is the nearest word Hebrew has to the idea of ‘supernatural’, here bringing a wisdom far above the human: THEIR IS DIVINENESS TO THIS COUNSEL.

God gives perfect Hope and Jesus gives perfect advice

My greatest goal in life is to connect you to the most wonderful advice giver. Not just good advice...PERFECT ADVICE

The only one who knows the future is Jesus. Do you know that you have access to the one who know what 2021 holds?

He has given us the ability to know him. To trust him.

Action Step

Fix your eyes on Hope:

Christian hope looks back to the birth of Christ as the seed of hope SO THAT we can look forward to what He will do next even when you life looks like a burnt husk.

Fix your eyes on Hope: Celebrate Jesus’ birth like crazy.

Be intentional. Do something you might not.

1. Watch our online Christmas Experience

2. Share it with family and friends.

3. Bible Project’s Advent Series

4. The Gospel Coalition - Advent Concert tonight.

Fix your eyes on Hope: Meet the Wonderful Counselor in the text

Read the gospel of John this month. Look to the Word of God before making decisions. The world doesn’t have the answers about the future. Jesus only spoke in parables because he wants to guide you to the answer.

The journey often gives the peace that the outward decision might not.

Fix your eyes on Hope: Seek Mental Help

- there is no shame in this. There is healing in the body of Christ.

Illustration: Dog following.

Where are the German Shepherd’s eyes? On the soldier

Fix our eyes on Jesus. Tells what we need in that moment.

Not worried about the threats

Not worried about what other people are telling you to do.

Calm and Focused and Relaxed. Trust and Hope

We are more like a big german shepherd on a leash...pulling ahead.

We look around us at everything else to help us feel OPTiMISTIC about the future when all we need to do is look back to the shoot of jesse. To the King of the universe in a Cradle to the resurrection of the dead, to the saints of years past, to the miracles in our own lives.

GET DOWN AGAIN....this small shoot will become a TOWERING TREE. The tree of life, TO have faith, confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see!

Fix your eyes on Jesus and Hope will rise.