Sermon Central
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Hope Has Come Part 2 Series
Contributed by Michael Mccartney on Dec 15, 2025 (message contributor)
Summary: Jesus was the promised hope of the world – He was anticipated by the Jewish people for 1,000’s of years and for most Gentiles – He was an unexpected blessing of Deliverance, Healing, Hope and Love. But yet today many people are still looking for Hope in this hopeless world!
Video Illustration and transition: Hope
Hope has Come! Part 2
Thesis: Jesus was the promised hope of the world – He was anticipated by the Jewish people for 1,000’s of years and for most Gentiles – He was an unexpected blessing of Deliverance, Healing, Hope and Love. But yet today many people are still looking for Hope in this hopeless world! We as finders of Hope need to help them discover the “Living Hope!” It will make a difference in their life and change the way we view our life and the afterlife! Christmas is all about this “Hope!”
Scripture Main Texts: Let’s lay the foundation from Scripture for today’s message and read our two main passages!
Isaiah promised thru the Holy Spirit 700 years earlier: “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. Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the LORD Almighty will accomplish this.” – Isaiah 9:6-7 (NIV)
I Peter 1:3-6: Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade—kept in heaven for you, 5 who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. 6 In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. The Holy Bible: New International Version (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1984), 1 Pe 1:3–6.
Our verse address two different time frames and 2 different comings of Jesus – His 1st coming is addressed in Isa and the His 2nd Coming addressed in 1 Peter 1.
We don’t have to look far to find hopeless situations in this world – We can look far too and see hopeless situation within our country and world - like what is happening in Kiev – Ukraine!
Illustration – Story: HOPE IN THE SEWER
In a cramped space around a Kiev sewer in Ukraine, 15 children ragged and stinky have spent the night crowded together for warmth. They rouse now only because they have a chance to eat. They are rejected and hungry, in danger but not without hope. Two American women, Jane Hyatt and Barbara Laiber, kindly called the “aunties” have come with milk and bread for the hiding children.
These ladies are joined in a mission to reach out to children who live in the streets because of poverty, war, alcoholism or violence in their families. There are almost 100,000 of them in Kiev alone. These Ukrainian orphans muddle along by begging or stealing. Sometimes they work as porters or prostitutes. But they are not without hope (truth is no one is without hope) — these children are not without a chance for a future, because Auntie Jane and Auntie Barbara have chosen to introduce these children to a “Living Hope” – These auntie’s choose to be doers of the Word of God and show how loving and compassionate Jesus is – The Lord:
“Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is to visit orphans and widows in their distress." (James 1:27).
SOURCE: SermonCentral Staff. Citation: Arie Farnnam, "Help for Ukraine’s street kids, from two US women, April 08, 2002.”
T.S. – We live in a world which needs to discover or re-discover the “Living Hope!” The world can look very hopeless if your lens is blurred or blocked. The same can be said for the USA because we have moved to become a post-Christian nation and in the process of this exit from Biblical teaching, we have lost sight of a Biblical World View and life has changed in the USA. Without a Biblical Worldview there is little hope able to be discovered in this world. Why? Hope – is not wishful thinking or living in a fantasy world but true Hope – A living Hope - is only found through the Lens of the Bible and in a relationship with Jesus.
Introduction:
I shared at the Christmas program last week how I first heard of a recent Survey which was done in the Usa asking the question who are the – “Top Ten Christmas Characters of all time?” I was surprised by what the radio announcers revealed from this survey!
Who are the top 10 most popular Christmas characters of all time:
