What Is Real Hope? Series

Anyone here named “Hope?” Hope is one of the most awesome names in the United States. Here’s what we know about the name:

1. Hope is ranked as the 714th most popular name in the US.

2. Based on the Social Security Baby Data base there are 73,426 people in the US named “Hope.”

3. There are 18.9 people named “Hope” for every 100,000 Americans.

4. The name is used as the first name 70% of the time.

5. The SSA data also shows that there name “Hope” is used for a girl 100% of the time.

Yet, what if I told you today that the “hope” has a name. Hope’s name is Jesus.

Hope is a big word this Christmas. Black Friday took place two days ago and Cyber Monday is tomorrow and parents have started perking up their ears to discover what children are “hoping” for this Christmas.

Plans are being made and calendars are filling in hope of the kids and grandkids coming home.

Individually, Christmas is filled with expectation because people have hope and dreams about what kind of memories will be made this Christmas.

Yet, when Jesus arrived in Bethlehem, hope was difficult to find. The final chapters of the Old Testament had closed and the scrolls of Malachi were getting dusty. God’s people were in the waiting room. Silence was louder than hope; 400 years had come and gone and hope seemed to be almost gone; and suddenly, the Messiah was born and He had a name; His name was. Jesus.

Jesus is called the hope of all the world. Yet, what the world calls hope and what the Bible calls hope are two different things. To understand this we need to understand a few things about “hope.”

Transitional Sentence: What questions do we need answers to concerning hope?

I. What Is Real Hope?

vs. 34- “How can this be for I’m a virgin.”

Explanation:

Hope is a big word used in the Christmas season. Yet, what’s the difference between the hope Jesus brought, and still brings to us, versus what the world’s definition of hope is.

The word “hope” according to Webster means: “ A desire accompanies that a wish-- basically, wishful thinking.”

At the beginning of football season there’s a level of worldly hope. There’s a hope that our team will win a National Championship; and after a number of losses; we just hope that our team will get a bowl game.

In High School, it might be a hope that the girl that a guy has his eye on just might notice him, talk to him; perhaps go on a date with him. Sometimes that hope is met; if not, it wanders off into the wishful thinking category.

Worldly hope is one that makes someone think; I just might have a shot at this. Perhaps if the right things happen; something desired will happen. This type of hope is based on circumstances. The right things aligning; or a last-minute decision landing upright on its two feet.

Yet, with God, hope is different. The word “Hope” means a confident expectation. It is based on a promise that is backed up by such a worthy and able promise keeper; that all we have to do it wait for the moment for it to be fulfilled.

Hebrews 6:18-19 (NLT) sums it up saying: “Therefore, we who have fled to him for refuge can have great confidence as we hold to hope that lies before us. This hope is strong and a trustworthy anchor for our souls.”

This hope is strong, solid, trustworthy anchor that we trust to hold together and not fall or flake off.

As we meet Mary today we find the source of all hope. If you want assurance, the hope that you have must be based on the person and their power to fulfill your expectations that you have from what they have promised you.

The first time God promised to send a Messiah was in the Garden of Eden. After Adam and Eve sinned God promised that “the woman would have a child and that the snake would bite his heel, but the child would crush the tempters head.”

From there, God kept promising to send a Messiah. Hebrews 10:23 tells us that based on the fact that God made the promise, the “hope” and “expectation” was legitimate and could be taken to the bank.

Hebrews 10:23 says: “Let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm, for God can be trusted to keep His promise.”

Hope is based on God’s promises and are connected to the person that God is. This is why hope is theological not psychological.

Being an optimist is not a bad thing on its own; yet if your life is at stake; you need something that is sure, concrete, and fully established and certain.