True Hope: The Journey to Christ This Advent
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A thrill of hope. The weary world rejoices, for yonder breaks a new and glorious morn. And today, we're going to look at how the birth of Christ births hope in the believer's life and in the world today. Now, hope is something that all of humanity participates in. I thought the Bible Project video did a great job of describing what biblical hope is, but here's the reality. Everybody hopes in something. Everybody hopes for something. The question is whether the hope that we're placing our hope in is a justified hope or hopeless, if it actually delivers the hope that we hope for and long for, or it delivers a false bill of goods in our lives, namely idolatry, and leads us down into a false hope. [00:01:00] (43 seconds)
Well, Jesus, we thank you that your hope has been born in the hearts of all those who have been born again. And for the believers in this room, Lord, we pray that you would fan that flame of hope and keep our eyes fixed on that hope, namely on you. Jesus, through this holiday season and always and to eternity. And Lord, if there are any here this morning who have a misplaced hope, would you expose that this morning, not so that you could be squelching our joy, but so that you could be fulfilling it in the right places and in the right person, namely yourself. Forgive us, God, for finding hope in all the wrong places. Ignite hope and cause hope to be born this morning. We ask this and pray it in Jesus' name. Amen. [00:04:43] (48 seconds)
Hope is worth it. And hope is the thing that will drive you forward, rightly in this world or wrongly. Hope is something that drives all of us. Hope is what caused Abraham to leave his home and go into a land that he didn't know about. Because he promised him, just like the stars, that one day so shall your offspring be. Hope drove him forward, even when he was childless, to believe that God's promises are true. And hope is what causes us. The seller homes pack up and move to the 1040 window in the hardest to reach places in the world where we might die to spread the gospel as a missionary for Jesus Christ. Why? Because the hope of glory and the hope of the name of Jesus Christ going to the ends of the earth is these hopes and the promises of God that have always driven the people of God forward and have always driven people far from God to God is the true hope and the true and living. God, amen? [00:16:54] (62 seconds)
Herod had placed all of his hope. He was building a dynasty that would never last. He was building a house. Namely, a house in the name for himself and not building up the house of God. And Jesus comes into this world and he challenges those power dynamics and all of those false hopes. And if you don't line up your hopes to Jesus, you're going to find yourself greatly troubled with the message of Jesus Christ. You know, we just came through a wild election season, didn't we, church? It was crazy. And you know, one of the craziest things, and I've been beating this drum and I don't want to beat a dead horse here. But after everything did simmer down, hallelujah, praise the Lord. And half the country just went bonkers because they didn't get what they wanted. But here's the other troubling thing for me as a pastor. Half the country just feels awesome, like a golden age is coming. Maybe it is, maybe it isn't. I don't know. Four years is not a lot of time. It's not a lot of time to get much done. But where is your ultimate hope? Jesus. Jesus, right? [00:23:16] (78 seconds)
Hope is the thing in everything. Everybody's life that causes us to wake up and put our foot in front of the next foot and take a step forward. And the moment that hope dies, our sense of motivation dies. Like Charlie Brown, we are incapacitated. We are stuck and wallowing in a sense of depression and hopelessness. Hope is the light that guides us forward in the light, in this life. You know, I love Disney World. I love going to Disney. We always have a little star that goes over the castle or whatever. And the song, when you wish upon a star, right? Every time you make a wish upon a star, you get your dream to come true. Not true. That's not true. Stars do not fulfill our wishes, nor, and we just celebrated my son's birthday, which is on Monday. He's turning 14, and we did the candle thing and make a wish. That's a fun tradition. Candles don't fulfill our wishes. Stars don't fulfill our wishes. But I think it's powerful that the reality that though we don't wish upon a star, that God himself charged the stars itself, namely a star, to shine hope in the right place. [00:15:24] (76 seconds)
Hope has a name, and his name is Jesus. And when you place your hope in Jesus Christ, it can't be taken away from you. You know, some of the oldest believers over the last 2,000 years are the Chaldeans, are those from Persia. And they've been a very persecuted group, some of them still living in that Middle East area, against all sorts of oppression. But I've got to believe that it forms a certain type of Christian who's been persecuted for hundreds and thousands of years to say, Jesus is my hope. My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness. You know, Charlie Brown discovered at the end of the movie why he was so hopeless. You remember, he told Linus at the outset, I don't get it, Linus. I don't understand why I'm so depressed. And Linus proves to be the hero at the end of the play. When the whole play is unraveling, he says, can anybody tell me what Christmas is all about? And finally, Linus comes up and says, I can tell you what Christmas is all about. And he quotes the gospel according to Luke. [00:33:17] (82 seconds)
Hope actually believes and trusts not in a particular outcome, but in a particular person despite the outcome. Let me say that again. Hope is not based upon our circumstances. Hope is based upon the person that we trust in and his character. Say it this way. Hope in our Bibles has a name, and his name is Jesus. Amen? Hope has a name, and his name is Jesus. Jesus. And when you place your hope in Jesus Christ, it can't be taken away from you. You know, some of the oldest believers over the last 2,000 years are the Chaldeans, are those from Persia. And they've been a very persecuted group, some of them still living in that Middle East area, against all sorts of oppression. But I've got to believe that it forms a certain type of Christian who's been persecuted for hundreds and thousands of years to say, Jesus is my hope. My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness. [00:32:47] (73 seconds)
May Jesus Christ be the hope and strength of your heart. May he be your consolation this Christmas season. May he be the hope of all the earth. Christian, we look forward not only to Christmas Day. We look forward to the return of Jesus Christ. We look forward to him making all things new. We look forward to our own bodily resurrection. We look forward to us being reunited to all those who are in Christ. Indestructible on that final day. We look forward and we hope for that final day. when every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. We hope for and look forward to that new city, that new heavenly Jerusalem. We look forward to that day when death and suffering will be done away with. Your hope rests in heaven, and your hope has a name. His name is Jesus Christ. Amen? [00:37:27] (59 seconds)
Noel, the birth of Christ, shines a light on the treasure of Christ's hope. Now, I love this story and where it lands with these individuals, because here we discover, for the first time, now we know from the songs and all the artwork now, we three kings and gold and frankincense and myrrh, but we discover they weren't traveling just to bow down and worship Jesus, but they brought some serious treasure along with them. Gold, frankincense, and myrrh. This would probably be priced into the tens of thousands, maybe 50 to 100,000 dollars. Now, the skeptic asked, well, where did Jesus and his mom and dad use that if they're born into poverty? I think they burned all through in Egypt, right, when they had to flee for their lives. And that was the means by which they were able to survive and then eventually get back to Bethlehem and into the region of Judah again, where Jesus grew up in Nazareth. But either way, what spectacular display of love and adoration for this child. [00:29:18] (69 seconds)
Hope is what caused Abraham to leave his home and go into a land that he didn't know about. Because he promised him, just like the stars, that one day so shall your offspring be. Hope drove him forward, even when he was childless, to believe that God's promises are true. And hope is what causes us. The seller homes pack up and move to the 1040 window in the hardest to reach places in the world where we might die to spread the gospel as a missionary for Jesus Christ. Why? Because the hope of glory and the hope of the name of Jesus Christ going to the ends of the earth is these hopes and the promises of God that have always driven the people of God forward and have always driven people far from God to God is the true hope and the true and living. God, amen? [00:17:05] (51 seconds)
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Well, Jesus, we thank you that your hope has been born in the hearts of all those who have been born again. And for the believers in this room, Lord, we pray that you would fan that flame of hope and keep our eyes fixed on that hope, namely on you. Jesus, through this holiday season and always and to eternity. And Lord, if there are any here this morning who have a misplaced hope, would you expose that this morning, not so that you could be squelching our joy, but so that you could be fulfilling it in the right places and in the right person, namely yourself. Forgive us, God, for finding hope in all the wrong places. Ignite hope and cause hope to be born this morning. We ask this and pray it in Jesus' name. Amen. [00:04:43] (48 seconds)
Hope is worth it. And hope is the thing that will drive you forward, rightly in this world or wrongly. Hope is something that drives all of us. Hope is what caused Abraham to leave his home and go into a land that he didn't know about. Because he promised him, just like the stars, that one day so shall your offspring be. Hope drove him forward, even when he was childless, to believe that God's promises are true. And hope is what causes us. The seller homes pack up and move to the 1040 window in the hardest to reach places in the world where we might die to spread the gospel as a missionary for Jesus Christ. Why? Because the hope of glory and the hope of the name of Jesus Christ going to the ends of the earth is these hopes and the promises of God that have always driven the people of God forward and have always driven people far from God to God is the true hope and the true and living. God, amen? [00:16:54] (62 seconds)
Herod had placed all of his hope. He was building a dynasty that would never last. He was building a house. Namely, a house in the name for himself and not building up the house of God. And Jesus comes into this world and he challenges those power dynamics and all of those false hopes. And if you don't line up your hopes to Jesus, you're going to find yourself greatly troubled with the message of Jesus Christ. You know, we just came through a wild election season, didn't we, church? It was crazy. And you know, one of the craziest things, and I've been beating this drum and I don't want to beat a dead horse here. But after everything did simmer down, hallelujah, praise the Lord. And half the country just went bonkers because they didn't get what they wanted. But here's the other troubling thing for me as a pastor. Half the country just feels awesome, like a golden age is coming. Maybe it is, maybe it isn't. I don't know. Four years is not a lot of time. It's not a lot of time to get much done. But where is your ultimate hope? Jesus. Jesus, right? [00:23:16] (78 seconds)
Hope is the thing in everything. Everybody's life that causes us to wake up and put our foot in front of the next foot and take a step forward. And the moment that hope dies, our sense of motivation dies. Like Charlie Brown, we are incapacitated. We are stuck and wallowing in a sense of depression and hopelessness. Hope is the light that guides us forward in the light, in this life. You know, I love Disney World. I love going to Disney. We always have a little star that goes over the castle or whatever. And the song, when you wish upon a star, right? Every time you make a wish upon a star, you get your dream to come true. Not true. That's not true. Stars do not fulfill our wishes, nor, and we just celebrated my son's birthday, which is on Monday. He's turning 14, and we did the candle thing and make a wish. That's a fun tradition. Candles don't fulfill our wishes. Stars don't fulfill our wishes. But I think it's powerful that the reality that though we don't wish upon a star, that God himself charged the stars itself, namely a star, to shine hope in the right place. [00:15:24] (76 seconds)
Hope has a name, and his name is Jesus. And when you place your hope in Jesus Christ, it can't be taken away from you. You know, some of the oldest believers over the last 2,000 years are the Chaldeans, are those from Persia. And they've been a very persecuted group, some of them still living in that Middle East area, against all sorts of oppression. But I've got to believe that it forms a certain type of Christian who's been persecuted for hundreds and thousands of years to say, Jesus is my hope. My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness. You know, Charlie Brown discovered at the end of the movie why he was so hopeless. You remember, he told Linus at the outset, I don't get it, Linus. I don't understand why I'm so depressed. And Linus proves to be the hero at the end of the play. When the whole play is unraveling, he says, can anybody tell me what Christmas is all about? And finally, Linus comes up and says, I can tell you what Christmas is all about. And he quotes the gospel according to Luke. [00:33:17] (82 seconds)
Hope actually believes and trusts not in a particular outcome, but in a particular person despite the outcome. Let me say that again. Hope is not based upon our circumstances. Hope is based upon the person that we trust in and his character. Say it this way. Hope in our Bibles has a name, and his name is Jesus. Amen? Hope has a name, and his name is Jesus. Jesus. And when you place your hope in Jesus Christ, it can't be taken away from you. You know, some of the oldest believers over the last 2,000 years are the Chaldeans, are those from Persia. And they've been a very persecuted group, some of them still living in that Middle East area, against all sorts of oppression. But I've got to believe that it forms a certain type of Christian who's been persecuted for hundreds and thousands of years to say, Jesus is my hope. My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness. [00:32:47] (73 seconds)
May Jesus Christ be the hope and strength of your heart. May he be your consolation this Christmas season. May he be the hope of all the earth. Christian, we look forward not only to Christmas Day. We look forward to the return of Jesus Christ. We look forward to him making all things new. We look forward to our own bodily resurrection. We look forward to us being reunited to all those who are in Christ. Indestructible on that final day. We look forward and we hope for that final day. when every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. We hope for and look forward to that new city, that new heavenly Jerusalem. We look forward to that day when death and suffering will be done away with. Your hope rests in heaven, and your hope has a name. His name is Jesus Christ. Amen? [00:37:27] (59 seconds)
Noel, the birth of Christ, shines a light on the treasure of Christ's hope. Now, I love this story and where it lands with these individuals, because here we discover, for the first time, now we know from the songs and all the artwork now, we three kings and gold and frankincense and myrrh, but we discover they weren't traveling just to bow down and worship Jesus, but they brought some serious treasure along with them. Gold, frankincense, and myrrh. This would probably be priced into the tens of thousands, maybe 50 to 100,000 dollars. Now, the skeptic asked, well, where did Jesus and his mom and dad use that if they're born into poverty? I think they burned all through in Egypt, right, when they had to flee for their lives. And that was the means by which they were able to survive and then eventually get back to Bethlehem and into the region of Judah again, where Jesus grew up in Nazareth. But either way, what spectacular display of love and adoration for this child. [00:29:18] (69 seconds)
Hope is what caused Abraham to leave his home and go into a land that he didn't know about. Because he promised him, just like the stars, that one day so shall your offspring be. Hope drove him forward, even when he was childless, to believe that God's promises are true. And hope is what causes us. The seller homes pack up and move to the 1040 window in the hardest to reach places in the world where we might die to spread the gospel as a missionary for Jesus Christ. Why? Because the hope of glory and the hope of the name of Jesus Christ going to the ends of the earth is these hopes and the promises of God that have always driven the people of God forward and have always driven people far from God to God is the true hope and the true and living. God, amen? [00:17:05] (51 seconds)
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