Preparing To Find Hope Series

Series- Rediscovering Christmas

#1 preparing to find Hope

John 9

Introduction-

Good morning everyone.

Prayer- As we begin Advent, we pray Father that you would spark in us a time of gratitude and a time of preparing for the Christ child. May the joys of Christmas live everyday in our hearts. In Jesus Name Amen!

We find ourselves entering the Advent season.

Advent is a time of reflection and a time to prepare for the coming of the messiah.

To have our life slow down a bit and reflect on the things Christ has done for us.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer

"The celebration of Advent is possible only to those who are troubled in soul, who know themselves to be poor and imperfect, and who look forward to something greater to come." ~

I am calling the series for the next 4 weeks “Rediscovering Christmas”-

Could there be a better time than this year to rediscover some of the things that have been lost or stolen in your life?

This year has brought many challenges and heartbreak, and it is not over yet.

On January 3rd, 2021, the first Sunday of the New Year, when most will talk about New Year resolutions, before we throw out an entire year, I would encourage you to make sure that you have learned all the lessons that were to be learned.

It would be easy to throw out the things we don’t like.

The word Advent means “coming’ and symbolizes the present situation of the church in these “last days”, as God’s people prepare and wait for the return of Christ.

The church today is in a similar situation to the Nation of Israel at the end of the Old Testament: in exile, waiting and hoping in prayerful expectation for the coming of the Messiah.

Israel looked back to God’s past actions on their behalf in leading them out of Egypt, and on this basis, they called for God once again to act for them.

In the same way, the church, during Advent, looks back upon Christ’s coming in celebration (His Birth) while at the same time looking forward in eager anticipation to the coming of Christ when he returns for his people.

In this light, the hymn “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel” perfectly represents the church’s cry during the Advent season:

The themes for the next four weeks of Advent are;

Finding hope-

Expecting peace

Living Joy

Sharing Love

Background/ you know it well

A virgin named Mary and her boyfriend Joseph are selected by God to Father God’s Son Jesus.

A young Mary having never had a sexual relationship with Joseph, a young Joseph knowing that he did not have relationship with Mary are both visited by angelic messengers to explain how his fiancé is going to have a baby.

Angel to Mary…”you have found favor with God and the Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. “

This is how it will happen and why it needs to happen.

He will be the savior of the world!

Hey Joseph, Mary, are you in?

We know that it took a God moment to get Mary to say “I am the Lord’s servant, May it be to me as you have said.”

It took a God moment for Joseph- “Joseph, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 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.”

You want a lesson on faith? Try that.

“Faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen.”

Faith and hope are defined in the dictionary as follows-

Faith is the confidence or trust in a person or a belief.

Hope is an optimistic attitude of mind based on an expectation or desire.

Faith says now and hope says it will happen in the future.

We need both- They are intertwined. They complement each other- faith says it can happen now and hope says that if it doesn’t happen now, it will happen later.

You don’t stop believing because you cannot see it.

For most people hope is a wish-list and it strength lays in the person’s desire.

Biblical hope is the confident expectation of what God has promised and their faith is in His faithfulness.

Most want to be able to search the scriptures to find out what we need to do?

Try reading the scriptures of the coming messiah and God says that you’re the ones that will fulfill that prophecy.

That is where Mary and Joseph were