Embracing Generosity: Preparing Hearts for Christ's Coming

Parents were literally overwhelmed by the kindness and the care they received. Many of them couldn't hold back their tears as they picked out gifts for their children, gifts that you made possible. One parent said, I never thought I'd feel this kind of love from strangers. But as we know, Hope City is no stranger. Hope City is no stranger to loving like Jesus. This wasn't just about presence under the tree. It was about giving the hope, the gift of hope, showing families that they are seen, valued, and deeply loved by God. [00:28:35] (32 seconds)


So Hope City, thank you for being the hands and the feet of Jesus. Thank you for your generosity, your heart, and your willingness to serve. This is literally what being the church is all about. Coming together to bless others and show them the love of Christ. From my heart to yours, thank you for making this Christmas so special for so many families. Let's keep the spirit alive as we step into the new year, ready to love, to serve, and to give hope to even more people. [00:29:35] (31 seconds)


I don't care what it looks like. I don't care what it feels like. If the Lord has given you a rhema word, the conditions can be contrary to what God says. It doesn't matter what the conditions are. If God has said something, that thing is going to come to pass. You may not know how, you may not know when, but it is going. It says, and all the people would see it together for the mouth of the Lord has spoken it. [00:53:56] (26 seconds)


This Christmas holiday season, I want you to hold on to hope tightly. There's a lot of things that's going to come to try to take away your hope. It's a lot of situations. It's going to be the memories of a loved one who passed away. I had my moment on Tuesday where I wept for almost two hours about my own grandmother who passed away a few months ago. There's going to be things that's going to come to happen. I want us to hold on to hope tightly. [01:00:00] (22 seconds)


Hold on to your hope tightly. Don't give it away easily. Don't cast it away easy. You're going to need to hold on to your hope tightly. Isaiah 44 says, Every valley shall be raised up and every mountain and hill will be made low. I love that because that tells me that every high thing in my life that's getting in my way, that when God is in the equation, he will bring those things down. [01:01:48] (26 seconds)


Here's a second thing as we hold on to hope tightly this Christmas holiday season, despite the loved ones that we lost this year, despite the things that we have lost in any other, tangible, or spiritual, or psychological way. The second thing is let peace, let peace inside. Let peace inside. Some of you are around people with peace, but you don't have peace. [01:04:57] (26 seconds)


Philippians 4 4 says rejoice. A perfect time to say that in the Lord always and I will say it again. Rejoice. Pause. I'm not giving you no other option. Rejoice. You don't have everything you want. Rejoice. I expect you to save up more by this time of the year. Rejoice. I thought I'd have been married by now. Rejoice. There's some people wishing they were divorced right now. Go ahead and rejoice. [01:17:08] (30 seconds)


Rejoice in the Lord always. I mean someone who had been beat, whipped, stripped of so much. Paul he's using ideas and concepts of joy and rejoice. I'm not minimizing what you're experiencing right now. I'm not minimizing the losses and the hurts and the pains and the disappointments you may be experiencing right now but I am saying to you there is a way that even in the storm, in the pain to find some joy. [01:19:28] (27 seconds)