Let the weary world rejoice

Service Notes:

Ask Josh Miller to come pray / Last service with us before leaving for Peru

Josh I am going to ask you to pray something here in a moment before I read.

Quick Reminder: About the Church Drama tonight at 5 pm. Also we need volunteers for Tuesday night.

Before Reading the Passage

Excited and very nervous about preaching my first Christmas message. Many Pastors can’t decide because they have preached every passage and theme. I have too many options.

Love teaching God’s Word, especially to the people that I know and love.

Today I want you live with your heart to be full of hope!

“A thrill of hope the weary soul rejoices. For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn!

Like the person hitting the bell at the Carnival. I want your heart overflowing with hope.

Josh after I read please pray that hearts will be filled with hope and that this weary world would rejoice starting with us today!

Luke 9:18–20 (KJV 1900)

18 And it came to pass, as he was alone praying, his disciples were with him: and he asked them, saying, Whom say the people that I am?

19 They answering said, John the Baptist; but some say, Elias; and others say, that one of the old prophets is risen again.

20 He said unto them, But whom say ye that I am? Peter answering said, The Christ of God.

Sermon Introduction

Maybe you do not think the passage we read today is much of a Christmas text. I believe we will see that it is.

We are going to looking at this story in 3 parts; like the Christmas Carol.

You pretend to be Scrooge and we will go on a journey from Christmas Past, Christmas Present (for the disciples) and Christmas Future.

Before we get to our current text in Luke 9 lets go back some 500 years.

Let’s visit a very weary world.

Isaiah 8:17–22 (KJV 1900)

17 And I will wait upon the Lord, That hideth his face from the house of Jacob, And I will look for him.

18 Behold, I and the children whom the Lord hath given me Are for signs and for wonders in Israel From the Lord of hosts, which dwelleth in mount Zion. - Isaiah names means “Yahweh is salvation,” was a reminder that God will ultimately deliver His people.

Here comes the weariness

19 And when they shall say unto you, Seek unto them that have familiar spirits, And unto wizards that peep, and that mutter: Should not a people seek unto their God? For the living to the dead?

20 To the law and to the testimony: If they speak not according to this word, It is because there is no light in them.

21 And they shall pass through it, hardly bestead and hungry: And it shall come to pass, that when they shall be hungry, they shall fret themselves, And curse their king and their God, and look upward.

22 And they shall look unto the earth; And behold trouble and darkness, dimness of anguish; And they shall be driven to darkness.

World strongly desires hope for the future

Isaiah 8:19 (KJV 1900)

19 And when they shall say unto you, Seek unto them that have familiar spirits, And unto wizards that peep, and that mutter: Should not a people seek unto their God? For the living to the dead?

Please, tell me something good about my future.

People ask my Zodiac sign. I tell them unicorn. They say that is not real. I tell them none of them are real.

Recognize there must be more to this world

Desire to be connected to the supernatural.

Want to communicate with those of another world.

Want to self medicate so they can forget as much as possible about the world they are in.

World knows it is empty but doesn’t know how to be filled

Isaiah 8:21 (KJV 1900)

21 And they shall pass through it, hardly bestead and hungry: And it shall come to pass, that when they shall be hungry, they shall fret themselves, And curse their king and their God, and look upward.

The place to look was to God and His Word

Isaiah 8:16 (KJV 1900)

16 Bind up the testimony, seal the law among my disciples.

A person’s failure to heed God’s Word means he has no spiritual light

Isaiah 8:20 (KJV 1900)

20 To the law and to the testimony: If they speak not according to this word, It is because there is no light in them.

We live in a dark and wear world because we live in a world with so few people who have light.

Minds are hostile to God

Isaiah 8:21 (KJV 1900)

21 And they shall pass through it, hardly bestead and hungry: And it shall come to pass, that when they shall be hungry, they shall fret themselves, And curse their king and their God, and look upward.

Romans 8:7 (KJV 1900)

7 Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.

These were fearful and weary people. They sought for hope in all the wrong places.

There’s nothing wrong with enjoying time with family but more than pleasant holidays we need profound hope.

We need to be reminded of the weary world so our hearts will be fully emptied and ready to be filled with hope.

Some are having first Christmas without someone.

Some of you wonder how your marriage might make it another years.

Some of you might simply be miserable because you know there is more to life but just don’t know what it is.

“We need hope. God loved us to much to provide anything or anyone in this world that would meet our need for hope outside of Him! We are meant to feel hopeless without God”

Nevertheless

Now we start to head back to the time of the disciples. There is space of 500 years between what is spoken about in 8:22 and 9:1

Isaiah 9:1–6 (KJV 1900)

1 Nevertheless the dimness shall not be such as was in her vexation, When at the first he lightly afflicted the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, And afterward did more grievously afflict her by the way of the sea, Beyond Jordan, in Galilee of the nations.

2 The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: They that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined.

3 Thou hast multiplied the nation, and not increased the joy: They joy before thee according to the joy in harvest, And as men rejoice when they divide the spoil.

4 For thou hast broken the yoke of his burden, and the staff of his shoulder, The rod of his oppressor, as in the day of Midian.

5 For every battle of the warrior is with confused noise, And garments rolled in blood; But this shall be with burning and fuel of fire.

6 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: And the government shall be upon his shoulder: And his name shall be called Wonderful, Counseller, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.

People had been to the world and getting only what the world can give.

Isaiah 8:22 (KJV 1900)

22 And they shall look unto the earth; And behold trouble and darkness, dimness of anguish; And they shall be driven to darkness.

The promise of hope. Is the promise that a child will be born.

They needed to be looking for the God with us. The Emmanuel.

Isaiah 8:10 (KJV 1900)

10 Take counsel together, and it shall come to nought; Speak the word, and it shall not stand: For God is with us.

Isaiah was looking for someone

Isaiah 8:17 (KJV 1900)

17 And I will wait upon the Lord, That hideth his face from the house of Jacob, And I will look for him.

The promise of hope will be found in a manager.

Isaiah 9:6 (KJV 1900)

6 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: And the government shall be upon his shoulder: And his name shall be called Wonderful, Counseller, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.

The life of the messiah will be a life of bringing hope.

Hope brought to the working man. Shepherds in the field.

Luke 2:7–11 (KJV 1900)

7 And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.

8 And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.

9 And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.

10 And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.

11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.

Hope to an old man with a persistent prayer.

Luke 2:25–32 (KJV 1900)

25 And, behold, there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon; and the same man was just and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel: and the Holy Ghost was upon him.

26 And it was revealed unto him by the Holy Ghost, that he should not see death, before he had seen the Lord’s Christ.

27 And he came by the Spirit into the temple: and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him after the custom of the law,

28 Then took he him up in his arms, and blessed God, and said,

29 Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart In peace, according to thy word:

30 For mine eyes have seen thy salvation,

31 Which thou hast prepared before the face of all people;

32 A light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel.

“The meter of hope must have been going off in their hearts as they say there is the Christ!”

Wherever Jesus is found the weary world rejoices.

Legend that during World War I there was a cease fire called after a Frenchman started singing Holy Night. The story goes that French, British, and Belgian troops lay down their weapons and mingled with their German counterparts. They may have even started a friendly soccer game.

Hope has a name. That name is Jesus. Look where hope is going now.

Isaiah 9:1–2 (KJV 1900)

1 Nevertheless the dimness shall not be such as was in her vexation, When at the first he lightly afflicted the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, And afterward did more grievously afflict her by the way of the sea, Beyond Jordan, in Galilee of the nations.

2 The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: They that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined.

Jesus fulfills this promise.

Matthew 4:15–16 (KJV 1900)

15 The land of Zabulon, and the land of Nephthalim, by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles;

16 The people which sat in darkness saw great light; and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death light is sprung up.

This is where the past promise and passage come together!

Matthew 4:17–18 (KJV 1900)

17 From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

18 And Jesus, walking by the sea of Galilee, saw two brethren, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea: for they were fishers.

The promise of hope made its way into darkness and found Peter.

Luke 9:20 (KJV 1900)

20 He said unto them, But whom say ye that I am? Peter answering said, The Christ of God. (there is no exclamation points but if there were I think this would be a good place for one.)

What did Peter know and mean when he called Jesus the Christ of God?

Knowing what Peter meant when he said “Jesus the Christ of God” might help us better understand what we should mean when we say Merry Christmas!

To the surprise of some, “Christ” is not Jesus’ last name (surname).

Christ means “the annointed one” or “the chosen one”

Peter was acknowledging this was the promised Messiah.

This the child that was promised in Isaiah 9 to bring peace into this world.

John 4:25(KJV 1900)

25 The woman saith unto him, I know that Messias cometh, which is called Christ: when he is come, he will tell us all things.

Jesus Christ” means “Jesus the Messiah”

What do we know about the Christ, the Messiah that should cause this weary world to rejoice?

Isaiah 9:6 (KJV 1900)

6 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: And the government shall be upon his shoulder: And his name shall be called Wonderful, Counseller, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.

For unto us a child was born.

1 Timothy 2:5 (KJV 1900)

5 For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;

Because Jesus was fully God and fully man we can now be reconciled unto the Father.

Our desire to be connected to another world and to to know the supernatural is now filled. We can know Him.

He is God with us!

Unto us a son was given.

John 3:16 (KJV 1900)

16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

He will fulfill everyone of His names

We all had people in our lives that did not live up to their names in our lives. Maybe it was friend or father.

Jesus is all these names and so much more.

Isaiah 9:6 (KJV 1900)

6 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: And the government shall be upon his shoulder: And his name shall be called Wonderful, Counseller, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.

This text is a bright lantern you can take into any place in this weary world.

Jesus is the answer of hope needed in every situation.

In Isaiah 9 when Judah was worried about the battle they were offered hope by hearing of the child that would come that would be the ruler of the nations.

When Peter said in darkness Jesus showed up He met the Jesus the Messiah who was on the way to cross to die for his sins and give him peace.

When there is an internal way going on in your heart and mind you can turn to the Prince of Peace.

When you know you are out of answers do not know where to turn you can turn to the Counsellor.

When you feel all alone you have the everlasting Father.

When you mind is filled with trivial and meaningless things you can look to Jesus who is Wonderful.

Even in the very first day of this world be wary there was promise of a child that would come. Genesis 3:15 “15 And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.”

On Christmas we should celebrate that we have found our eternal hope.

Probably few days go by without you using the word hope.

“I hope we’re on time.” “I hope it doesn’t rain.” “I hope it’s not cancer.” “I hope she’ll understand.” “I hope he’ll be okay.” “I hope he isn’t angry.” “I hope God hears this.” “I hope they loves me.”

From the smallest concerns to the ones, our lives are shaped, directed, motivated, and frustrated by hope. - Tripp

People don’t know to ask for it. But it is the Christmas gift most people need.

Michael Plowman goes to church camp with his grandmother. /Story is moving because we all know we have needed that before.

It is so much fun to offer people hope.

Matthew 11:28–30 (KJV 1900)

28 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.

30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

“Unique to anyone else in human history, Jesus simply offers himself as the universal solution to all that burdens us.”

Closing

Long lay the world in sin and error pining, Till He appear’d and the soul felt its worth. A thrill of hope, the weary world rejoices, For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn.

The soul felt its worth. Have you?

because He did not abandon us to the darkness.

He does not leave us nor forsake us.

Dawn breaks as the Victorious One puts on flesh to redeem us from sin

The weary world rejoices because we have found our answer to “where can we find hope.”

The promise was of a baby being born.

In Isaiah they were talking about wars and battles. How is the answer “a child will be born”

People who do not know the full story do not know how that baby does not only represent hope but is our Hope.

Jesus is the one answer to every question, concern, fear, and need we will ever have.

That is what Peter was saying when he declared that Jesus is the Christ of God. He is all our hearts have ever longed.

Let’s help this weary world rejoice this Christmas.