Great Expectations Part 3

Intro

Ugly Christmas sweater

Great expectations series

pray

We’ve been talking about how with Christmas always come great expectations

Last week Richard shared about how we can find peace

Peace doesn't mean that all of our circumstances are perfect

Peace is something that we pursue through faith, prayer, and a grateful heart and ultimately can only be truly found in Jesus the Prince of Peace

Transition

If there’s anything attached to expectations it is hope

We set an expectation and then hope that it comes to pass

Sometimes those expectations are pretty realistic so it doesn’t require much hoping but then there are other expectations we have that require much hoping

Things to go well

Something we’ve asked for

No family fights

Everyone to be happy and together

Throwing up Christmas morning in the mountains

Is your hope dependent on your expectations being met?

Where does your hope come from

Is it from expectations we’ve set?

Is it from your thinking?

Is it from your emotions?

Or is it from something greater than yourself?

Many people would probably say that hope comes from our hearts or our minds but the truth is that genuine hope comes only from God

His promises instill in us a hope that can’t be shaken by the world or our circumstances

This hope lasts even when everything else fades away

This hope endures and carries us through even when all else around us fades and fails

It was a hope that carried the nation of Israel through years of silence from God

A promised Savior - Jesus

As followers of Jesus we carry hope too.

We have been saved from sins

Set free to live for Him

How we live is extremely important

In a world that often struggles to find hope we should be a people who are full of hope not matter what is going on around us

The world needs to see in us that why we may struggle we aren’t hopeless

Our lives must be a living testimony of the hope that we have in Christ

The problem may lie in how we define hope

When we talk about hope I think most often we are talking about wishful thinking

We must understand that gospel centered hope is a hope that not only desires something good for the future but a hope that expects it to happen

When we think about hope it’s usually an expression of uncertainty

I hope i get this

I hope we get there safely

I hope he/she will like it

Biblical Hope is an expectation of something we can be certain of.

Biblical hope gives us a confident expectation and desire that we can be certain of

let’s look at Romans 15 this morning

Romans 15:13 NIV

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.

This is how we are to live

AS YOU BELIEVE

This starts with a relationship with God through Jesus

THE GOD OF HOPE

He will fill you with all joy and peace

The joy of being set free

Peace with God because our sins are forgiven

OVERFLOW WITH HOPE

Our lives should be a testimony to others

EMPOWERED BY THE HOLY SPIRIT

It may seem extremely hard to have hope in the face of the world and its troubles and heartaches

But the Holy Spirit, the third part of the trinity, promises to empower you to overflow with hope if you trust Him…if you believe

Peace gets us through today. Hope gets us to tomorrow

We’ve spent this series talking about all of the wrong expectations right and how we need to align our expectations with the Word of God

I want to end this series talking about what some of those expectations are. This list isn’t exhaustive but these are some “Great Expectations.”

His Word doesn’t come back void

Meaning when we gather and speak about His word, it works

When we gather on Sunday

When you gather in your groups

When you read it over your children

Its alive, active, and working

So we can use God’s word. Plant it in our heart and share it with others with the expectation that it is fruitful

God uses all things for our good and His glory

It doesn’t mean that bad things won’t happen

It means that God will use those “bad” things for your good

We can go through life’s ups and downs with an expectation that no matter what happens that God is using my circumstances for my good and His glory

We will never be alone

He will never leave us or forsake us

We can hope in the fact that God is here and He is near

And He understands. He put on flesh. Felt hurt, pain, joy, sorrow.

In those moments that we feel our world crumbling around us. That everything is falling apart. We feel alone and that no one understands. Our expectation can be that there is always one who does and there is always one with you. Jesus

He finishes what He starts

God doesn’t break His promises

When He says something through His word it will come to pass

when He begins a good work in us He will see it through to the finish

When we can’t seem to find God. When He seems absent and distant. When we can’t make sense of a situation. Our expectation can be that He has a plan for your life and He will see that plan come to complete fruition.

Perhaps the greatest expectation of all is found in Matthew 1:21

Matthew 1:21 NIV

21 She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”

Jesus saves!

The gospel is the good news that there is hope for sinners, the worst of sinners.

The hope, expectation of forgiveness

We are shown mercy and grace and are forgiven of our sins

The worst of the worst. The most wicked evil things we could do

Because of Jesus and what He did on the cross we are forgiven

And He wants that for you

The hope or expectation of reconciliation

We are made right with God

When are sins are forgiven then we are given the hope of a relationship with our heavenly Father

The hope or expectation of holiness

When we fully surrender and call Jesus Lord He begins to make us Holy

We begin to become more like Jesus

whether you are 9 or 90 we are all on this journey to become more like Jesus

More and more holy

Until He returns and calls us home

The hope of an eternity spent with the king of kings and the lord of lords the Holy of holies the creator of all things. Yahweh, messiah, Emmanuel

This we can be certain of. Our great expectation