Hope Has a Name

Hope Has a Name

This year we are starting something that I really enjoyed at a church I was at in Holland.

We are going to incorporate Advent to our Christmas season.

Each week we are going to have a child come up and read a short verse that talks about the topic of the week and then we will light the candle and pray.

Advent in Latin means, “coming” or “arrival”.

Advent is the season of waiting for the coming of Jesus.

Today my daughter Sophia is going to read Psalm 130:5-7 as this week the candle we are lighting represents hope.

SOPHIA READ

Light Candle

Pray

The title of my message today is, “Hope Has a Name”.

My goal is to show you the power of Hope and why it is SO important that we hang on to it.

I also want to talk about why we can always have hope.

The definition of hope is, “a feeling of expectation and desire for a certain thing to happen.”

Around Christmas time our kids are full of HOPE for certain things they want to get.

I don’t think most people understand the power of hope.

There was a doctor who did a study on people who have experienced major setbacks in life.

Things like divorce, abuse, bankruptcy, etc.

He came up with a term called “learned helplessness.”

He took what people in India would do to train elephants.

When elephants are young they tie their leg to a big pole so when the elephant tries to walk away it gets pulled back and can only go so far.

They do this so often that as they get bigger and older they could tie these giant elephants to a stake and as soon as it feels a little pull from the rope it will stop.

Because it has what he called, “learned helplessness”.

The attitude of, “I’m just going to give up. There’s no point in trying. I know how this goes.”

Even though it could rip right through that stake.

In the same study they took rats and put them in water

After swimming and treading water for 10 minutes the rats drown.

So he got more rats and at 9 minutes and 30 seconds he took the rats out and dried them off and put them down.

After an hour or so he puts them back in the water and they swam for 18 minutes before he had to pull them back out.

And did it again and they swam for 30 minutes.

He literally keeps doing this until the rats were swimming for 37 hours.

This scientist said, “if you can learn helplessness, you can learn optimism and hope.”

Some of you want to quit in life because you’ve lost HOPE!

Hope is what tells you to keep on swimming.

Hope is what can literally save your life.

“What Oxygen is to the lungs, hope is to the soul”

We need oxygen to survive and we need hope to keep going!

Hebrews 11:1 “Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.”

Hope is the starting point of faith.

You don’t start out with faith that can move mountains.

You start with a little bit of hope.

To have faith for something you have to hope for it first.

You’re HOPING you find a new job

You’re HOPING you’re kid comes back to the Lord

You’re HOPING your marriage will be restored

Hope is what keeps you from giving up.

Why do you think those rats kept swimming

Because when they felt like they couldn’t keep going they didn’t give up and lay down to helplessness because they had hope that a hand was going to swoop down and pull them out of the water like before.

So the military took this study and invested around $145 million and came up with a program for military people who have had traumatic experiences.

It’s called PERMA.

It’s a program that tells you what HAS to happen to for you to turn your setback into a comeback.

We’ve all experienced some kind of setback in 2020.

So what do we need to do to have a comeback?

And when you look at these 5 things it’s very interesting as a believer.

It’s almost like they took these straight from the Bible.

The first letter P stands for POSITIVE EMOTIONS

They say that for someone who has had a traumatic experience, it’s key that even in the midst of their depression or trauma they experience positive emotions.

From the biblical perspective I would call that the Joy of the LORD!

Romans 15:13 “ May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”

Even in the midst of your struggle God can give you joy.

And as He gives you joy and you trust in Him, HOPE starts to overflow out of you.

In this program they talk about how you should find a hero character like in Greek mythology, who has been through trials like going through Hades and coming out on the other side.

I know someone who went through a traumatic experience and went to hell and took the keys of hell and was and is victorious over the enemy and He shows me how to live!

I’d say that’s a pretty good hero to focus on.

In connecting with this character it can help give you a new identity.

Doesn’t the Bible say something about being a new creation in Christ?

Some people are struggling with depression and anxiety and you need to connect with a certain hero in the Bible and start praying and calling on the joy of the Lord.

The second word is ENGAGEMENT

And when I read the description of what it is I realized it’s basically serving.

They call it, “getting in the FLOW”.

They talk about how it’s something you do, not for your own sake, but for the sake of the activity itself.

You see when you serve it takes the attention off yourself and onto others.

When you ENGAGE with people you can hear their stories and a lot of times that can give you HOPE.

To hear what other people have gone through and how they were able to get through it.

If you’re in a dark place and feeling hopeless, find where you can serve and dive right in.

Psychologists will tell you one of the best things you can do to fight depression is to serve others.

When I think of this when it comes to our relationship with the Lord I think of how we can engage with God and with His presence.

We can do this by spending time in worship to Him and in prayer.

God desires for us to engage with Him.

The third word is RELATIONSHIPS

One of the worst things you can do when going through a difficult time is isolate yourself.

The devil loves to work in isolation.

In this program PERMA it says, “Relationships are fundamental to well-being”.

The people in your life right now could be the people to help give you the strength to get up and keep going.

Ecclesiastes 4:9-10 “Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor: 10 If either of them falls down, one can help the other up. But pity anyone who falls and has no one to help them up.

The word of God tells us that it’s better for us to have relationships and not be alone.

That we should pity anyone who doesn’t have those people in their lives.

Because people who love you will push you to keep fighting!

And the devil right now is trying to destroy relationships.

He knows if he can divide people and destroy relationships, he can cause A LOT of damage.

But think about this from the perspective of God.

God’s ultimate goal is to have a relationship with you.

He’s the one that we can rely on.

That will reach down and help us up when we need it.

He’s going to help us FIGHT when we don’t feel like fighting anymore.

Relationships can help keep hope alive in you.

The next word in MEANING

The study says, “Having an answer as to “why are we on this earth?” is a key ingredient that can drive us towards fulfillment.”

This is huge!

It’s hard to have hope when you feel like you don’t have any meaning or purpose.

Ephesians 2:10 “For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”

Some versions say we are his “masterpiece”.

YOU are a masterpiece to God

And He created you to do GOOD WORKS that HE planned for your life.

Covid-19 did not change God’s plan for your life.

The tragedy that you have faced did not stop God’s plans for your life.

God’s got a plan for your life and no circumstance is going to stand in His way.

You just have to press into Him and realize that you’re here for a purpose.

Your life has GREAT meaning.

Don’t listen to the lies of the enemy but put your HOPE in the God who created you!

The last letter is A which stands for ACCOMPLISHMENTS

In the study they talk about the importance of setting realistic goals so that you can achieve them which in turn will help give you a sense of accomplishment.

This feeling will help spur you on to do more in your life.

I think that’s a great idea for believers who are struggling and feeling a loss of hope.

Some of you need to take baby steps.

Some of you need to start with just making it a goal to get back into church on a regular basis.

Then set a goal to start engaging in worship while you’re here.

Then maybe it grows into setting a goal to get plugged in and serving at the church.

It’s ok to set little goals in your walk with God.

Maybe it’s to read one verse a day?

But the more you do it the more you feel like you accomplished something and hopefully it continues to grow.

This program PERMA seems great and has helped a lot of people.

But when I read this I think I know someone who can help me with all these things.

I know someone that can give me the hope that I’m looking for.

Because HOPE HAS A NAME and it’s NOT PERMA!

It’s JESUS!

Jesus can give us and shows us how to do all these things that PERMA tells us to do.

You can have HOPE today because of what Jesus has done and WILL do for you!

Jesus stepped out of the portals of heaven and came to this earth as a baby.

He lived a perfect life and died on cross.

He was resurrected on the third day defeating death, hell, and the grave.

And the bible says that the same power that raised Christ from the dead lives IN US!

Because of that we can have HOPE that we can overcome ANYTHING that may be thrown our way.

Zechariah 9:11-12 “As for you, because of the blood of my covenant with you, I will free your prisoners from the waterless pit. 12 Return to your fortress, you prisoners of hope; even now I announce that I will restore twice as much to you.”

The people of Israel were in exile and going through some difficult times but it says they were, “prisoners of hope”.

They had confidence in God and in His promises and they never let go of that hope.

You see we are all prisoners to something.

Being a prisoner means your chained to something

It follows you wherever you go.

Some people are prisoners of fear.

Prisoners of worry

Prisoners of offense

Prisoners of bitterness

Prisoners of jealousy

And God is telling us I need a people who when times get tough and life isn’t going the way they expected, they become prisoners of HOPE!

You think your child is going to come back to God?

YES because I’m a prisoner of hope

You think you’re going to find as good of a job as you had before COVID?

YES because I’m a prisoner of hope

You think that your marriage can be saved after everything you’ve been through?

YES because I’m a prisoner of hope.

Church, I’ve seen believers react to this election like our lives and our purpose in life is determined by the outcome of this election.

That if a certain person is president we might as well just give up.

It’s over.

This country is doomed.

If we feel that way we are putting way too much hope in a man.

But I don’t need to live in fear over who our president is because my hope is in the King of Kings and Lord of Lords

And I’ve read the Bible all the way through and I know that in the end, HE WINS!

Don’t lose hope

Even if you don’t see anything happening yet, don’t lose hope.

Romans 8:24-25 “For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have? 25 But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.”

You can’t hope for something that’s already there.

Hope is when you continue to trust God and believe He is true to His Word when you DON’T see it happening yet.

I just want to encourage you this Christmas season, that even though 2020 has been a bust, you can have hope.

Because hope isn’t just a feeling

Hope isn’t just a program.

Hope has a name, and his name is JESUS!

And Jesus will never let you down!

Just keep swimming and wait for His hand to reach down and pull you out!

Altar Call