Hope is Here
Notes
Transcript
Hope is Here
Hope is Here
INTRODUCTION
Road signs “Hope is Here”-
Hope came 2000 years ago as Jesus. and he will return to receive his church soon.
Our hope for 2021 to be better than 2020 is in the hands of Jesus.
Yes it can be worse- there have been worse years than 2020
1348 Black death killed 200 million people world-wide.
Almost half of world population.
60% of those in Europe died.
Half billion world population/ Compare it to almost 8 billion people today.
1968 both Martin Luther King Jr and Robert F Kennedy were assassinated.
We were still in Vietnam War.
Violent demonstrations happened all across America.
Richard Nixon was elected as president. - that ended well.
2020 was a horrible year. The worst in most of our memory. I expect 2021 to be better.
What I want to see in 2021...
-No more masks.
-No more social distancing
-No more attendance restrictions
-No more quarantine
-I want to get to know the church I pastor.
-I want to meet those who have been worshiping from home.
-I want to have parties and fellowships.
-I want to get in the streets and minister in the name of Jesus.
-I want to go on a date with my wife- without children.
-I want my children to make friends.
But we must put 2021 in the hands of Jesus.
We need Jesus
“Rend the Heavens” - a picture of God taking away the separation between man and God. God reaching down to us and offering us something better than what our sin has caused in this earth.
Isaiah 55:1-5
1 “Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.
2 Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy? Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food.
3 Incline your ear, and come to me; hear, that your soul may live; and I will make with you an everlasting covenant, my steadfast, sure love for David.
4 Behold, I made him a witness to the peoples, a leader and commander for the peoples.
5 Behold, you shall call a nation that you do not know, and a nation that did not know you shall run to you, because of the Lord your God, and of the Holy One of Israel, for he has glorified you.
3 Provisions for a Better 2021
Opportunity (1)
Opportunity (1)
Isaiah 55:1
1 “Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.
Salvation for All
The problem is not thirst. The problem is in failure to come and have thirst satisfied.
All men have a thirst for God.
Invitation for all to come join the feast.
ILL- Our new perspective of water-
Some homes you have to haul water.
We have water with carbon-dioxide in it.
Nothing compared to Malawi.
What you think you are thirsting for could be wrong. Spiritual over physical.
Matthew 5:6
6 “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.
ILL- Woman at the Well
John 4:13-14
13 Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again,
14 but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”
“without money, without price”- Free Gift
Opportunity is for all now-
Section in Isaiah starting in chapter 40-54 is written to Israel. Chapter 55 is for everyone.
ILL- Covid vaccine isn’t available for all yet.
What truly matters has been available all along.
This is an opportunity for all- offered to all - all can afford it.
No one is too far gone.
All sin separates us from God and no sin is too big to keep us from forgiveness.
Meaning (2-3)
Meaning (2-3)
Isaiah 55:2-3
2 Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy? Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food.
3 Incline your ear, and come to me; hear, that your soul may live; and I will make with you an everlasting covenant, my steadfast, sure love for David.
Spiritual fulfillment
2b-3 - "everlasting covenant"- shows he is speaking of spiritual food here.
Don't look to wrong places for satisfaction. Don't look at working a job to get material things when you desire spiritual satisfaction.
2a- physical will not satisfy- Don’t look to more money as answer to your problems.
2020 has showed us that this world is not our home.
Our souls long for something greater than this.
Rev 21:4
4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”
Our Meaning Comes from the Word of God
“not bread”= cannot satisfy your hunger.
John 6:32-35
32 Jesus then said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven.
33 For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”
34 They said to him, “Sir, give us this bread always.”
35 Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.
“listen diligently to me”- our food comes from the Word of God.
-rich food= solid food that satisfies
ILL- Too many kids are happy with chicken nuggets and fries.
Why, when they can have steak, seafood, cajun etc.
We get satisfied with being weak spirituality =milk.
Hebrews 5:11-14
11 About this we have much to say, and it is hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing.
12 For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food,
13 for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child.
14 But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.
Milk= predigested food.
Listen/ hear= not just the sound- respond to what he is asking-
ILL- Dad whistling when it was time to come home.
Leadership (4-5)
Leadership (4-5)
Isaiah 55:4-5
4 Behold, I made him a witness to the peoples, a leader and commander for the peoples.
5 Behold, you shall call a nation that you do not know, and a nation that did not know you shall run to you, because of the Lord your God, and of the Holy One of Israel, for he has glorified you.
ILL- Our confidence in government
After 9/11- Trust in government got up to 60%- highest in 30 years.
Continually fail to as low as 10% during Obama administration.
Currently sits at around 17%
Love for David becomes a promise for everyone, not just Israel.- blessing to all people.
2 Samuel 7:13, 15-16
13 He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.
15 but my steadfast love will not depart from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away from before you.
16 And your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me. Your throne shall be established forever.’ ”
this covenant is fulfilled in the coming of the Messiah, Jesus.
Isaiah 9:6-7
6 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
7 Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.
All earthly leaders have faults.
Even David had major failures.
Bathsheba
“Nations… shall run to you.”
Because God glorified.
Blessed are nations who run toward Jesus.
Where are you looking for leadership?
Who are you allowing to lead you?
CONCLUSION
Find a better year in the one who holds this world in his hands.
Start 2021 off right, surrender your life to Jesus.