Advent Message Series – All I Want For Christmas – Part 1 – HOPE

Sermon Series:  All I Want for Christmas – Part 1

 Message Aim:  First Sunday of Advent

Sermon Title:    “Hope”

 Scripture:   Luke 1:26b-33

^6b God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, ²⁷ to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. ²⁸ The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”  ²⁹ Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. ³⁰ But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. ³¹ You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. ³² He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, ³³ and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.”

Message Synopsis:

 “What do you want for Christmas?” We all have things we desire or want for Christmas.

I asked my grandchildren that question …and they got so excited as they each began to list the many items that they desired which they were sure would bring them a lot of enjoyment. As children we often look expectantly for the games, the gadgets, the surprises, the boxes of wrapped gifts.

But as we grow and mature, what we look for changes from childish delights to something more. We want something more precious, we want time with people you love. We want some peace and quiet maybe: a bit of rest. And then without knowing exactly when it happens, we want things that no one other than God can really give us. Things of deep meaning and value: gifts like hope, peace, joy, love, Jesus.

So, “What do you want for Christmas?”…  How about… HOPE! Do you have Hope about your life this morning? We’ve all faced situations where there seems to be little objective reason for hope – in our jobs, in our marriages, in relationships with family members. How do we have hope during those times when our circumstances seem hopeless?  I have the answer!

Put your hope in God. That’s what Christmas is all about. Hope! Trust in Him for help. That may seem obvious, but too often we are willing to seek help from anyone and anything before we turn to God. He becomes the appeal of last resort. After we’ve exhausted every other option, we go to God. We should go to God first, not last. Listen to what the Psalmist wrote:  No king is saved by the size of his army; no warrior escapes by his great strength. A horse is a vain hope for deliverance; despite all its great strength it cannot save. But the eyes of the LORD are on those who fear him, on those whose hope is in his unfailing love, to deliver them from death and keep them alive in famine. We wait in hope for the LORD; he is our help and our shield. In him our hearts rejoice, for we trust in his holy name. May your unfailing love rest upon us, O LORD, even as we put our hope in you.  – Psalm 33:16-22 (NIV) Our hope should be in God.

Here’s what to do! When your situation starts to seem hopeless, just stop. Say, “Lord, I don’t know what to do. I’m not sure how to handle this. But my trust and my hope are in you. I’m relying on You to resolve this situation. Please show me what you would have me do. Amen.”

What will happen if you do that? We trust Him to do what is best, and that may not be what we expect or desire. But what I can guarantee is that God will prove Himself faithful to you, and that He will not disappoint you. You won’t regret putting your trust and hope in Him.

In other words, when Jesus was born God made it clear that this baby was the one for whom the world had been waiting, and watching and hoping. Where’s your hope today? Is it in yourself, in others, or is it in Jesus? Maybe we need to pray about that today?