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Hope is at the Heart of Christmas
13 Plays22 days ago
Series: The Heart of Christmas
Isa. 9:2-7, Matt. 1:22-23, Rom. 15:$
Recommended
Transcript
The Essence of Hope at Christmas
00:00:00
Speaker
We can learn a lot about having hope simply by watching how young children embrace this holiday season. ah Nothing says hope like a young child preparing their Christmas list for what they hope to be an abundant gifting under the tree. Everyone remembers putting together their list. I'm sure you do when you were a child. It's a multi-generational tradition in many families.
00:00:31
Speaker
I can remember almost like it was yesterday myself, a young boy sitting at the kitchen table. It was cold outside, and I had hot chocolate in my favorite mug. And I sat down and I thought about all the things that I wanted for that particular Christmas morning. It wasn't too long of a list, but I remember sitting there thinking to myself very fondly, saying, Siri,
00:01:00
Speaker
Please formulate a Christmas list and sort it by priority and filter it by cost and availability of all the things that are at Amazon. Please send that to my parents and to good old Saint Nick. I say you guys had the exact same experience as a kid. No, you sat at the kitchen table and you wrote it by hand.
00:01:26
Speaker
A list. And that list included ah probably at least one main item that you were so, so longing for that Christmas season. And for me, it was a bow and arrow set. I still to this day remember it. I asked my parents and I remember they kind of grimaced and they asked, is there certain something else that you maybe want? No, no, I really want the bow and arrow set. And sure enough, Christmas morning came and there was this oddly wrapped present.
00:01:53
Speaker
because you can't wrap a bow and arrow set very well, but I took it out and tore into it and I just thought this is the best Christmas ever. From that moment that I wrote that down on my Christmas list, I had this unwavering hope that that that would come true Christmas morning.
The True Source of Christmas Hope
00:02:11
Speaker
And I thought about that this week as I walked downtown among all the many things that are going on down there, all the shops that are open and bustling and hustling, and I thought we can put our hope in all sorts of things, can't we?
00:02:23
Speaker
Well, we can put them in toys, little kid, big kid toys, right? We can put them in cars and homes and trucks and property and even relationships. But the true reason that there is hope at the very heart of Christmas is not because of some one gift that you're so desiring to be under the Christmas tree, but it is that ultimate gift, the birth of Jesus Christ. And it's his arrival on earth in the manger that was the fulfillment of prophecy spoken so long ago. It's that prophecy that is one of the most well-known scriptures and probably the most often quoted during this time of the season. And friends, this is where we're gonna start this morning. It's in Isaiah chapter nine. Isaiah, if you will, in your Bibles is the Old Testament. I won't call out the 512-5512 and ask you to remember exactly where that falls in, but you should know where Isaiah is by this time.
00:03:23
Speaker
Isaiah chapter nine, the backdrop of what's happening in Isaiah, which is written in about 740 BC, ah what what's centering around this is poor leadership. And I know you're thinking to yourself this morning, pastor, this relates nothing to what we're going through in the good old United States in the last four or five years. Friends, this is what's happening in 740 BC. Israel has been suffering under four ungodly kings, Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah. Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah. Don't worry, there's not a test afterwards. It's these four ungodly leaders who are corrupt and leading the people of Israel far from God
00:04:16
Speaker
It is a very dark time in history, and Isaiah writes these words knowing God will have to intervene. He will have to show up in a big way to bring Israel back to himself.
Prophecy and Fulfillment: Isaiah to Matthew
00:04:29
Speaker
The stage is set, the kingdom is crumbling, and the people are in severe need of hope. Isaiah chapter nine, verses two and following,
00:04:41
Speaker
Says the people who walk in darkness will see a great light for those who live in the land of deep darkness. The light will shine. Says you will enlarge the nation of Israel and its people will rejoice. They will rejoice before you as the people rejoice at the harvest and like warriors dividing the plunder. For you will break the yoke of their slavery and lift the heavy burden from their shoulders. You will break the oppressor's rod just as you did when you destroyed the army of Midian.
00:05:10
Speaker
The boots of the warriors and uniforms, bloodstained by war, will all be burned. They will be fuel for the fire. For a child is born unto us, a son is given to us. The government will rest on his shoulders, and he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. His government and its peace will never end.
00:05:36
Speaker
He will rule with fairness and justice from the throne of his ancestor, David, for all eternity. The passionate commitment of the Lord of heaven' Heaven's armies will make this happen." This passage makes two major statements. The first is an acknowledgement of just how broken and just how dark a time of history was for Israel. And it says it's due because of Israel's sin and its corruption. The second is the hope of a dawning light through the birth of a child who will one day make all things right.
00:06:18
Speaker
The Jewish people in the Old Testament needed these words to remind them that God had not forgotten about them. And I think, friends, in times of darkness, we too just need this gentle reminder that God is with us.
00:06:34
Speaker
Jesus is indeed this fulfillment of the prophecy, one who was born ah as of light and the darkness and hope for all people. Matthew in his gospel, if you will, now we're gonna flip to the New Testament. Matthew, keep flipping, keep flipping. matthew Matthew chapter one. Matthew chapter one reminds us, he makes this connection here between what the prophet Isaiah had prophesied and written And now what is actually taking place in the manger in Bethlehem, and he's making this connection. Flip with me here. Matthew chapter 1 verses 22 and 23 should be on the screen for you as well. It says, all of this occurred
00:07:18
Speaker
All of this that's previously has occurred to fulfill the Lord's message through his prophet saying, look, verse 23, the virgin will conceive a child. She will give birth to a son and they will call him Emmanuel, which means God is with us. A young Jewish man named Joseph. And as I tell this story, you'll know it very well. He's facing a very difficult situation.
00:07:50
Speaker
He was engaged to be married to a young woman named Mary, but she had already become pregnant. Joseph planned to call off the wedding because it appeared that his bride-to-be had been unfaithful, but the angel of the Lord came to him at night in a dream and told him to move forward with the marriage because this child in Mary's womb was from the Holy Spirit.
Beyond Materialism: Jesus as Light
00:08:13
Speaker
All these events, it says here in 22, all of these events took place to fulfill the prophecy from the Old Testament, which claimed there would be a child who was born as of light in the darkness, and he would be a hope for all people. Child would be named Emmanuel. Matter of fact, it was fantastic that we sung two songs today with Emmanuel, which means God is with us. Even in the midst of darkness, God is with us.
00:08:43
Speaker
the center of the Christmas story is squarely focused on the birth of Jesus. And if it if it isn't, this is where we get off and in the weeds. If the story of Christmas is not rooted and centered in the birth of Jesus Christ and and the fulfillment of what He has done for Israel And in in pushing back the darkness and shining light into the world, if that is not at the very center of Christmas, then friends, something else will take that place. And it'll look like Christmas trees or Santa Claus or presents or fancy meals.
00:09:25
Speaker
One of the reasons I think Christmas resonates in our hearts is because we too live kind of like the Israelites did in a very fallen and broken world, a world that is dark and corrupt because sin is so easily entangling us. How do I know this? Well, here's, I just want to give you some little glimpses from the news that I watched just this week. I did that just for you, by the way, because I really don't like watching the news. War, disease, conflict, girls wanting to be boys, boys wanting to be girls,
00:10:03
Speaker
boys wanting to be girls but competing in girls sports,
00:10:08
Speaker
gender confusion, and the rewriting of what biblical marriage is really about. That's just the news this week. There's also oppression and corruption at every level in all places that surround us. Friends, we live in a fallen broken world, and we desperately need somebody to usher in a new light, a new season to push back the darkness. And friends, for us in this season, this is Jesus, and this is what we are remembering. Christmas is a reminder that whatever our hope is, whatever whatever it is, whether it's some type of healing that you're looking for, some type of restoration, some type of forgiveness, some type of fresh start. Oh, I had my folder here. Some type of fresh start.
00:11:01
Speaker
that you maybe got in your in your mailbox recently.
Hope and Patience: Lessons from Nature
00:11:06
Speaker
It is available through Immanuel, God with us. And we often think, I think during this season, hope or peace, you may even say, is this idea of absence of conflict. I'm at peace or I have hope when everything's going great. There's no difficulties or there's no struggles.
00:11:28
Speaker
But friends, if you've ever followed Christ for even a small season, you'll realize simply following Jesus does not negate all the trouble that happens in your life. But why do we have hope? Because the object of that hope is not in some materialistic thing. The object of our hope is in Jesus, in that there will be one day when he writes everything that he restores,
00:11:58
Speaker
everything. And I thought to myself this week, how great, how great is that? That's why we get so excited during Christmas is there's the reminder of Jesus coming in the manger in this hope that someday He will come back and He will restore everything.
00:12:17
Speaker
Then I thought to myself, when is that going to happen? Boy, I wish that would happen sooner than later. Sure wish it would happen before I buy all my Christmas gifts this year. It requires, and my wife's gonna laugh at this, patience, right? Hope in the future things requires patience.
00:12:46
Speaker
Will you change that next slide for me, brother? Let's go one more. I wanna show this picture of a, There we go. You ever seen this plant? If you've ever been in West Texas, very long, you'll know this. El Paso area, even going up to New Mexico, this plant is all over the place. It's called the agave americana, or the century plant. And this, you probably can't even really give a great scale. the The leaves on this thing can get a foot wide.
00:13:16
Speaker
And as it lays out, it can it can grow 12 feet in diameter. Isn't that crazy? I mean, it's a huge, huge plant. it draw It grows out in the dry, rocky desert areas. When I was stationed out in New Mexico, these things were all over the place. The the interesting thing about this is they don't grow very tall, only about four or five feet, and they'll stay at that height for 20 to 30 years.
00:13:41
Speaker
never flowering, never doing anything. So imagine 12 feet wide and only four feet tall for 20 or 30 years and then all of a sudden there's this magical thing that happens and and there's a growth that starts coming up and it and it grows anywhere between seven and eight inches every other day.
00:14:01
Speaker
seven or eight inches every other day and it just keeps growing to 12 to 15 feet tall. Just this one one little sprout and it looks like an asparagus if you've ever seen it's the best way I can describe it. It grows and keeps growing and keeps growing all in this really short amount of time and then all of a sudden boom it blossoms this really beautiful yellow flower.
00:14:25
Speaker
And it only survives like that for a couple months. Can you imagine that waiting 20 or 30 years for something like that, only for it to grow and and and then blossom like that? The sentry plant, some of the greatest answers to our hoping and our longing is a lot like this sentry plant. It just takes time and patience to see that the beauty will eventually unfold.
00:14:48
Speaker
hope requires patience. And Isaiah saw that one day in the future God would indeed bring a great light and salvation through the birth of a
Biblical Prophecies and Fulfillment
00:14:56
Speaker
child. It was not not until 100 years later that Matthew recorded the same thing happening in the manger in Bethlehem. Jesus is the very presence of God on earth and he offers forgiveness of sin, destruction of evil, and the promise of eternal life. So why do we often look to Isaiah in in the time of Christmas and and I think And I was going to say, ah Marilyn, I almost said Melanie. Sorry about that, Marilyn. Marilyn did a great job. She wasn't even queued up to say this, but she already she already just kind of stole my thunder a little bit today. No, why do we why do we go back and look at Isaiah and the prophecies and the fulfillment of those prophecies each and every year during Christmas? It's a reminder of what God has done in the past, what he's doing in the present. and And in that, we now have hope knowing what he's going to do in the future.
00:15:49
Speaker
It teaches us to have patience in a time when, quite frankly, we can be in a very dark and troubled times. It says, don't necessarily look at the situation at hand. Look at the Savior who has come to save and to eventually restore. And it gives us hope. Matthew, are ah yeah, look with me here real quick in Romans, Romans chapter 15. Just flip a couple more couple more into the New Testament here.
00:16:18
Speaker
Paul's writing in Romans 15 here. He makes an appeal for hope to those who trust in Christ. Look when they hear Romans chapter 15, verse 4.
00:16:34
Speaker
He says, such things were written in Scripture long ago to teach us, and the Scriptures give us hope and encouragement as we wait patiently for God's promises to be fulfilled.
00:16:49
Speaker
Paul said that everything had been written in the past, all the prophecy, all the fulfillment. And the core reason why he it's written and fulfilled that way is to teach us something. And it's to teach us to hold on to the faith in God that he will eventually answer prayers if we simply have patience.
00:17:11
Speaker
And it gives us encouragement. It gives us endurance to press on that we might eventually have hope that God will show up in a powerful way. And I just put a note today, maybe you're here in that dark place this season. Maybe you've just lost somebody. I just spoke to somebody yesterday downtown, and she had said that her mother, who's now living with them,
00:17:34
Speaker
The dad had just recently passed away in the last year and she said, this is a really tough time for my mom. She goes first time widow, doesn't really have her bearings, doesn't really understand, but she's clinging on to the hope that she knows that Jesus will one day restore all things. And I just thought, thank you for that little quip, that little example of somebody who's really going through it right now and how we hold on to hope that God will indeed answer prayers.
00:18:02
Speaker
I don't know where you're at in your faith journey today. I don't know if you're still seeking God. I don't know if your faith is super strong. But true hope to a lost and hurting world is offered to us in the arrival here in this manger with the birth of Jesus. So whatever you're hoping for this morning, whether it be healing or restoration or forgiveness or a fresh start, it's available through Emmanuel.
00:18:27
Speaker
who is God with us. Our God is always on time. He knows exactly what we need and he can be trusted to reveal the light of Christ so that in the darkest moments in your life and my life, his life will his light will shine through and the darkness will be pushed back.
A Story of Renewed Hope
00:18:44
Speaker
And I simply wanna close with a story that was told by Dr. James Dobson. Y'all know Dr. James Dobson, focus on the family. he He retells a story of Stella Thorman,
00:18:56
Speaker
who is an elderly woman who has recently been widowed from her husband, Barry, who had died from cancer. And so Dr. Dobson tells this story. He says, several days before Christmas, Stella felt terribly alone. So much so she was planning on taking out a single decoration to decorate her house for Christmas.
00:19:20
Speaker
He said, this woman has collected years upon years of decorations that are sitting in boxes waiting in the attic simply to be taken out and displayed in her house. But he says, Stella simply just couldn't do it this year. So the grief was just too strong. And she didn't know how she was going to press forward without her husband, Barry. So at this moment, she hears a knock at the door. And she goes and opens it.
00:19:50
Speaker
And there's a delivery boy waiting there with a box. And he says, well, good morning, Mrs. Thorman. Are you going to let me in? I have a present for you that requires your signature. And she said, well, sure thing, young man. Come on inside. And so he comes in and he sets his big box on the floor. And she says, who in the world would send me a gift? Nobody would send me a gift right now. And he said, well, ma'am, I think you should open the box and read the letter before I tell you who sent the gift.
00:20:19
Speaker
so Stella goes over and she sits on the chair next to the grand piano, and she begins to open this box, and as she gets about halfway through, out pops the head of a little golden retriever puppy, and it starts licking her on her hand. She says, oh my goodness, what a beautiful puppy. Who in the world would possibly send this gorgeous little fellow to me? And after a brief pause, the delivery boy said, well, ma'am, that was your husband Barry.
00:20:52
Speaker
He said, you see, he went over to the kennel down the street, taught the owners about the situation that he knew you would be facing upon his death, the grief that you would be stricken with, that it might just take more than hope to get you through the difficult time. He said, it was my gift to you, this puppy, that would fill that void until we meet again in heaven.
00:21:24
Speaker
So suddenly Stella felt this amazing sensation of hope just wash over her. The grief had left in a heart full of joy and a greater sense of meaning filled her life all within that few moments. The wagging of the tail, the licking of the hand, the joy that this young puppy would bring would get her through the difficult times.
00:21:55
Speaker
Dr. Dobson says, friends, some of you may very well be Stella here today. You may very well be in a dark place today, a season of grief, a season of loneliness. And while many of us think, yay, it's Christmas, you might be thinking, ah, it's Christmas.
00:22:19
Speaker
He says simply this, if there are things that are weighing heavy on your heart,
00:22:25
Speaker
Today might be that day that you give that over, that you give that over to Jesus, the one who restores, the one who heals. So I want to invite you here as we as we close, a little bit different than our normal invitation. I just want to invite you to express your hope in Jesus this morning by bringing to him those items in your life that are burdensome.
Expressing Hope through Prayer
00:22:51
Speaker
those things that are heavy on your heart. Now what this is going to look like is Judy's going to play here in just a few moments. She's going to keep playing and I just want us to remain in complete silence in prayer. And I want you to lay those things at the feet of Jesus, those things that you're desperately holding on to, those things that you're clinging to thinking somehow you are going to be able to manage this yourself. And I'm here to tell you this morning is your opportunity to lay those at the feet of Jesus. It's a time for you to respond to the working of the Holy Spirit in your life. As Judy plays and every head is bowed and every eye is closed, I'll open us in prayer. And then I would just simply ask that but you too pray.
00:23:45
Speaker
earnestly pray today. I've given you plenty of time. We're at least 15 minutes early right now. So it's going to be a little bit longer invitation than normally today, and I sure hope Judy's okay. just Just keep playing, Judy. If you're tired of trying to do life on your own, this is the time when you hand it over to Jesus. What a better season than right now.
00:24:15
Speaker
If you're looking for a fresh start, what a better time than right now. If you're looking for a do-over, a second chance, or perhaps you're far away from God, what a better time than now.
00:24:27
Speaker
As we pray in silence, I also want you to listen. So pray and listen, and follow what the Holy Spirit places on your heart.