Hope is Here [Heaven Come Down] — Pastor Jason Burns

Devotional

Day 1: Light that invades and scatters the darkness

You don’t have to live stuck under the weight of a dark season. Light doesn’t stand far off and point; it comes close and pushes darkness out. That is what Jesus does—He steps into the deepest night with a hope that actually holds. Where fear, depression, or confusion have made a home, His presence brings a new day. Ask Him to turn on the light in the very place that feels most shadowed, and watch how darkness has to run. Hope really has come near to you today [13:37].

Isaiah 9:2 — People trudging through darkness suddenly see a blazing light; for those living under a heavy night, dawn breaks wide open over them.

Reflection: What is one specific “dark room” in your week where you will invite Jesus’ light—through a short prayer, a Scripture at lunch, or an honest conversation tonight?

Day 2: He put on flesh and gets it

Jesus didn’t love you from a distance—He took on our skin and stepped into our streets. Because He walked where we walk, He understands restless nights, racing thoughts, and the ache of grief. He isn’t just sympathetic; He is able to help, to steady, and to heal. You can tell Him the truth without pretending, because He already knows and He already cares. Bring the thing that feels too heavy to carry, and let Him shoulder it with you [08:20].

John 1:14 — The eternal Word became human and made His home among us; we saw real, divine glory up close—filled with faithful love and solid truth.

Reflection: What worry keeps waking you at 2:30 a.m., and how will you tell Jesus exactly what it feels like—and ask for His help—before you go to sleep tonight?

Day 3: When the ground cracks, hope holds fast

Life can feel like thin ice—jobs shift, relationships strain, plans collapse—and your heart cries, “Help!” Jesus is the kind of hope you can put your full weight on without fear of falling through. He is not an idea or a quick fix; He is a person who anchors you when storms hit. When everything else shakes, He holds steady and holds you steady. Step with both feet onto Him today, and let Him be your sure ground [25:32].

Hebrews 6:19 — We have this hope as an anchor for our souls—firm, unbudging, and reaching into God’s own presence to keep us from drifting.

Reflection: Where have you placed too much weight—on a career, an investment, or a relationship—and what is one concrete step you will take this week to shift your trust back onto Jesus?

Day 4: Turning from independence, indignance, indifference to hope

When hope feels thin, many turn inward: “I’ll handle it.” Then comes bitterness, and finally a numb “so what.” That path suffocates the soul and shrinks your future. Jesus invites a different way—admitting need, receiving grace, and walking with others in light. Name where you are on that slope, turn toward Him, and let hope breathe in you again [12:17].

Isaiah 53:6 — We’ve all wandered off like stubborn sheep, choosing our own paths; yet the Lord gathered up all our wrongs and placed them on Him.

Reflection: If independence, indignance, or indifference describes you today, which one is it—and what simple act of humility (an apology, a phone call, serving someone) will you practice in the next 24 hours to move toward hope?

Day 5: The upside-down arrival that proves God can

God didn’t need a palace to change the world; He chose a peasant girl, a small town, and a manger. He came low so no one would doubt His love or mistake His power for money, politics, or influence. In the coldest, darkest places, His light still pierces and spreads—bringing hope, love, joy, and peace. If you’ve expected God to work only in big, flashy ways, watch for Him in the humble and ordinary. Let His quiet, unstoppable light fill your heart and your home today [25:07].

Isaiah 53:2–5 — He grew up like a tender shoot from dry ground—no royal looks to draw us in. He was despised and familiar with sorrow; people turned away. Yet He was pierced because of our rebellion and crushed under the weight of our sins. His wounding brought our wholeness, and by the stripes laid on Him, we are made well.

Reflection: Where does the humble way of Jesus challenge your expectations of how God should work, and how will you welcome His “upside-down” way in one decision you’re making this week?

Sermon Summary

We’re walking through Heaven Come Down, and today I focused on one of heaven’s greatest gifts: hope. I told the story of taking my boys to Banff in late May—snow everywhere—and the moment the ice cracked under my son’s feet. I yanked him close and said, “When you’re with me, you’re always safe.” That feeling of the ground giving way is exactly how life can feel when marriages fail, jobs disappear, kids run, investments crumble, or anxiety steals our breath at 2:30 a.m. Christmas declares that hope is not gone. John says the Word became flesh and “moved into the neighborhood,” which means Jesus didn’t just observe our pain; He entered it. He gets sleepless nights, rejection, grief, and the ache that won’t go away.

To make it plain, I shared the “Age-Man Suit” used in Germany to help young doctors feel aging. You can’t truly understand until you inhabit someone else’s limits. That’s Christmas: Jesus put on our limitations, not to spectate but to save. The human soul was designed for hope; without it, something in us suffocates. When hope thins, many of us slide from independence (“I’ll do it myself”), to indignance (bitterness), to indifference (numbness). Isaiah spoke into a world like that: “The people walking in darkness have seen a great light.” Light doesn’t wag a finger at darkness; it invades and drives it out.

We’d have scripted the Savior differently—palace, power, influence—but God chose a manger and a peasant girl so that no one could say, “Look what money, politics, or fame can do.” The point is not what we can leverage; it’s what God can do. Isaiah 53 shows the shape of that hope: despised and rejected, pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins—His wounds making us whole. We’re sheep that keep leaping back into the ditch, yet He keeps rescuing. Advent candles help us remember: hope, love, joy, peace—and the Christ candle that lights the darkest night. If you’re standing on cracking ice, there is an anchor stronger than the storm. Hope has a name. Jesus.

Key Takeaways

1. Jesus moved into our neighborhood The incarnation means God didn’t send sympathy from a distance; He came close enough to bleed. Because He shares our skin and story, His empathy isn’t theoretical—it’s personal and precise. He understands our limits and offers more than understanding; He offers help. Proximity is the promise: you’re not alone in the dark. [05:58]
2. Light doesn’t point; it invades Darkness isn’t argued out of a room; it’s displaced by presence. Hope in Jesus isn’t positive thinking—it’s the intrusion of a new reality where despair loses jurisdiction. When His light arrives, the darkness doesn’t negotiate; it flees. Invite the Light, and watch what leaves. [13:37]
3. Beware the slide to indifference Hopelessness often moves from self-reliance to bitterness to numbness. Indifference feels safe because it promises not to hurt, but it also won’t hope—and without hope, the soul starves. Name your pain, refuse isolation, and let trusted people hold you when you can’t hold yourself. That’s the doorway where hope re-enters. [12:17]
4. God chose weakness to show power Bethlehem, a manger, a peasant girl, and shepherds reveal a different kind of strength. If hope had ridden in on wealth or influence, we’d credit the package instead of the Presence. God loves to begin where we feel small, so the outcome points unmistakably to Him. Your “not-enough” is not a barrier; it’s an invitation. [16:17]
5. Hope anchors when ground gives way Faith isn’t denial of the crack; it’s a tether to Someone stronger than the ice. Secure hope doesn’t spare us from wind and waves, but it does keep us from drifting into despair. When everything shifts, cling to the Anchor who holds when you can’t. That’s how souls survive storms. [25:07]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[00:24] - Hope: Heaven’s gift
[01:01] - Mancation to Canada
[03:09] - Cracking ice rescue
[04:21] - When the ground gives way
[05:58] - Word moved into our neighborhood
[07:06] - The Age-Man Suit and empathy
[08:35] - Why the soul needs hope
[10:50] - The slide: independence to indifference
[12:43] - Isaiah’s great light appears
[15:20] - Why God chose a manger
[16:17] - Because He can
[18:44] - Pierced for our rebellion
[21:22] - Advent candles: hope, love, joy, peace
[25:07] - Hope that anchors the soul

Bible Study Guide

Bible reading
- John 1:14
- Isaiah 9:2

Observation questions (read the passages first)

What concrete pictures does John 1:14 give about God’s coming near, and what does the phrase “moved into the neighborhood” suggest about God’s willingness to share human limits? [05:58]
In Isaiah 9:2 what contrasts are used between the people “walking in darkness” and the coming “great light”? Where does the light appear and what does that tell the reader about how hope arrives? [13:15]
The image of a child standing on cracking ice and being pulled to safety captures human helplessness. How does that picture clarify why people need a rescuer rather than only advice or encouragement? [04:21]
The Age‑Man Suit example showed deliberate steps to inhabit another person’s limits. What detail from that illustration helps explain why the Incarnation matters for empathy and pastoral care? [07:06]

Interpretation questions (think through the meaning)

If the Word truly became flesh, what specific human limitations did God accept in the Incarnation, and how does that shape the claim that God not only understands but can help? [05:58]
If “light invades darkness” rather than merely pointing at it, what does this imply about the primary strategy for confronting despair—argument, presence, ritual, or something else? [13:37]
If people commonly slide from independence to indignance to indifference, what internal shifts mark each stage, and which early signs should trusted friends watch for to intervene? [12:17]
If God chose weakness (a manger, a peasant girl) to reveal his power, how should that conviction shape the way believers value small, ordinary, or unexpected places of ministry and calling? [16:17]

Application questions (personal and practical)

Where in your life this week does the ground feel like it’s cracking (marriage, job, health, loneliness)? Who are two specific people you can invite to hold you while you can’t hold yourself? Commit to the names and the day you will contact them. [04:21]
Identify one ongoing fear or sleepless worry you carry. What is one concrete way you will bring that to Jesus this week (pray the worry aloud, journal it, bring it to a trusted friend, read John 1:14)? When will you do that? [05:58]
Notice if you are protecting yourself by independence, or nursing bitterness, or slipping into “so what?” indifference. Which of those three best describes you now, and what is one small, specific step toward vulnerability you will take in the next 72 hours (call someone, admit the hurt, ask for prayer)? [12:17]
Think of a place in your neighborhood or community that seems dark or overlooked. What is one practical way this week you can “invite the Light” there (bring a meal, listen to a neighbor, pray with a co‑worker, volunteer)? Set a day and time to do it. [13:37]
Remember that hope is described as an anchor for the soul. What practices currently serve as your anchor (Scripture, worship, confession, community)? If you have no steady anchor, choose one practice you will try consistently for the next two weeks and name when you will start. [25:07]
If there is grief, rejection, or a wound you carry that feels like Isaiah’s “man of sorrows,” what is one concrete way you will bring that toward healing this week (speak it to God, share it with a safe person, seek pastoral care)? [17:40]

Use these questions to guide honest sharing, listen more than speak, and leave the meeting with at least one concrete action each person will take before the next gathering.

Sermon Clips

Because for a moment, my son thought he was gonna die. For a moment, he was convinced that he would be a block of ice buried somewhere under the sea in Canada. It was this amazing moment as a dad where he felt like I rescued him. And in that moment, he felt hopeless, helpless, unable to fix his circumstances by himself. He needed someone to rescue him. I want you to think about this for a moment. You ever had a moment where figuratively it felt like the ground underneath you was caving in? [00:03:56] (37 seconds) #SavedFromHelplessness

So here's the hope we have in that this Christmas season. Anything you feel, anything you've experienced, anything you've walked through, anything that feels insurmountable, those things that lead you towards depressive episodes, those things that wake you up at 2.30 in the morning with the heart that's racing out of control, all of those things Jesus understands because of Christmas. Like he came into this earth, he put on flesh and blood and he moved into the neighborhood, he moved around us. He gets it. [00:06:07] (27 seconds) #HopeInJesusThisChristmas

You trusted that marriage and they walked out on you. You gave all of your work energy. You gave the best that you had to the job and they fired you or they downsized or they moved on from you. You invested that money and you trusted that person and they walked out on you and took the money with them. You believed in your family. You believed in your kids. You believed in your sports team. You believed in my sports team, which is not that good. Like you believed in things. And those things tend to let us down. The ground can crack underneath us. [00:09:57] (36 seconds) #WhenTrustBreaks

Is there a hope that can hold you up? Is there a hope that can withstand the weight and the pressure and the disappointment of this world? Is there something that you can go both feet in and it's not going to fall out underneath you? Well, after many years of doing what I do and working with people, I've noticed that when people walk through difficult, hopeless kinds of situations, there's this pathway. It's a really dangerous pathway. It's really a slippery slope for them. And maybe you'll find yourself resonating with one of these places. [00:10:35] (31 seconds) #HopeThatHoldsFirm

The people of Israel, the ones that Isaiah was going to prophesy to, were walking through difficulties and struggles and hopelessness and helplessness. And Isaiah prophesies that someday there is coming a person, a savior, a Messiah, who's going to rescue the people from their sins. Here's what he's saying. No matter how dark and desolate your life seems, there is coming someone who will appear like a great light. And here's the thing you need to understand about light and darkness. Light doesn't point at darkness. Light invades darkness. [00:12:54] (43 seconds) #IsaiahPromisedLight

Where there is darkness, when you turn a light on, all the darkness has to flee because light has come. Friends, that's the Christmas story. That no matter how dark you feel, no matter how desperate you feel for some sort of help, no matter how depressed you feel or how anxious your soul feels, there is a light available. His name is Jesus. And when he invades your soul, all the darkness has no choice. It has to run. It has to flee. That's what it does. So the Christmas story is interesting. [00:13:37] (30 seconds) #LightInvadesDarkness

He would probably be born to someone of nobility like a princess, not to a peasant, a poor girl. He would be announced to royalty, not to shepherds. They were seen as nobodies. They didn't even get to vote because of how low they were on the social totem pole. If I were God, I would send Jesus to the home of a man who's an influencer, not a carpenter. Like I would want someone who can get the message out about him, not a lowly person who just is a carpenter. So the question is, why would God do it the way he did it? [00:15:38] (36 seconds) #BornForTheHumble

Then there's this random pink candle. This is what I'm talking about next week. This candle represents joy. And because Jesus came, there is this reminder that the light of the world brought with him hope and love, but he also brought joy. That no matter what your circumstances are, here's a spoiler alert for next week, no matter what your circumstances, it doesn't even matter because joy doesn't have to do with circumstances. Joy is internal. Joy isn't found based on what's been done around you. Joy has been done based on what's been done for you. [00:22:24] (35 seconds) #JoyIsInternal

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