Sermon - Christmas Hope - December 22, 2019

Scripture Reading:

Isaiah 7:14

“¹⁴ Therefore, the Lord himself will give you a sign: See, the virgin will conceive, have a son, and name him Immanuel.”

Isaiah 9:6-7

“⁶ For a child will be born for us, a son will be given to us, and the government will be on his shoulders. He will be named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. ⁷ The dominion will be vast, and its prosperity will never end. He will reign on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish and sustain it with justice and righteousness from now on and forever. The zeal of the Lord of Armies will accomplish this.”

100’s of years before the birth of the King of Kings, Isaiah prophesied about the coming of the little baby Jesus and how He was going to accomplish so much more than anyone could ever imagine.

The King of Kings, the Lord of Lords, the Prince of Peace, Our Messiah, the Savior of all human kind was going to be born as a simple child.

Hymn #76 – O Come, O Come Emmanuel

Hymn #86 – O Little Town of Bethlehem

Scripture Reading: Luke 2:1-7

“2 In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that the whole empire should be registered. ² This first registration took place while Quirinius was governing Syria. ³ So everyone went to be registered, each to his own town.

⁴ Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family line of David, ⁵ to be registered along with Mary, who was engaged to him and was pregnant. ⁶ While they were there, the time came for her to give birth. ⁷ Then she gave birth to her firstborn son, and she wrapped him tightly in cloth and laid him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.”

Christ the child was born in the humblest of places. The creator of all things could have easily orchestrated it so He would have been born in a palace surrounded by servants. Instead everything went according to His plan and He was born as the child of a poor man and his wife to show that He came to earth for not just the wealthy, but for everyone. Does not matter the color of your skin, the size of you bank account, who your ancestors are, or anything else… Jesus came for you.

Hymn #103 – Away in the Manger

Hymn #91 – Silent Night

Scripture Reading: Luke 2:8-20

“⁸ In the same region, shepherds were staying out in the fields and keeping watch at night over their flock. ⁹ Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. ¹⁰ But the angel said to them, “Don’t be afraid, for look, I proclaim to you good news of great joy that will be for all the people: ¹¹ Today in the city of David a Savior was born for you, who is the Messiah, the Lord. ¹² This will be the sign for you: You will find a baby wrapped tightly in cloth and lying in a manger.”

¹³ Suddenly there was a multitude of the heavenly host with the angel, praising God and saying:

¹⁴ Glory to God in the highest heaven,
and peace on earth to people he favors!

¹⁵ When the angels had left them and returned to heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go straight to Bethlehem and see what has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.”

¹⁶ They hurried off and found both Mary and Joseph, and the baby who was lying in the manger. ¹⁷ After seeing them, they reported the message they were told about this child, ¹⁸ and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. ¹⁹ But Mary was treasuring up all these things in her heart and meditating on them. ²⁰ The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had seen and heard, which were just as they had been told.”

The angel and heavenly hosts were so excited they burst from heaven, glorifying and praising God. The shepherds went and saw the little child and they to praised God as they returned to their sheep.

The angels and the shepherds were so excited about the birth of our Lord Jesus that they could not hold it in. The angels shared with the shepherds and the shepherds in turn shard with anyone who would listen.

We should be so excited about the birth of our King that we would want to shout it from the roof tops if necessary.

Hymn #95 – Go Tell it on the Mountain

Hymn #100 – Angels we have heard on high

Message: Christmas Hope

Ephesians 2:12

“At that time you were without Christ, excluded form the citizen ship of Israel, and foreigners to the covenants of promise, without hope and without God in the world.”

As sinners in this world, trying to do things on our own, we have no path to God. We have no hope.

Romans 15:13

“Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you believe so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”

With our faith in the God of Hope, we are filled with Joy and Peace through the power of the Holy Spirit. There is an overflowing of Hope available to us, if we believe.  

Through faith in the King of Kings, we have been given an abundance of hope. I know it may not feel like it at times. We all have those times that we feel like we have no joy, no peace, or no hope. It is easy to think we can take care of it on our own, to think God is too busy to care about our troubles, or to put our faith in what we can see, touch, or explain.

Psalm 33:16-22

“¹⁶ A king is not saved by a large army; a warrior will not be rescued by great strength. ¹⁷ The horse is a false hope for safety; it provides no escape by its great power. ¹⁸ But look, the Lord keeps his eye on those who fear him— those who depend on his faithful love ¹⁹ to rescue them from death and to keep them alive in famine. ²⁰ We wait for the Lord; he is our help and shield. ²¹ For our hearts rejoice in him because we trust in his holy name. ²² May your faithful love rest on us, Lord, for we put our hope in you.”

A king sees his large army, a warrior can feel his horse… but there is no hope in them. In time they will fail them. Hope does not come from things we can touch and feel, if is only found by putting your faith in one person. Our hope comes from faith in the little baby we are celebrating this morning. Our Hope comes from our Messiah, our Lord, our Savior Jesus.

1 Peter 1:3-4

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Because of his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead ⁴ and into an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you.”

Jesus is The Living Hope, the Lord of Hope, and it is through our faith in Him and His death and resurrection that we have an overflowing of Hope available to us.

Don’t put your faith in things you can touch and feel. Don’t put your hope in what you can accomplish on your own. Do not put your hope in anything found in this world. Put your hope in Jesus the Son of God. Put all of your Hope in the Lord of Hope who came to this earth as a poor little child out of Love for You!

Here is the thing that gets me, He would do it again!

As we celebrate the birth of our sweet Messiah, remember to place your Hope in Him, embrace the Peace that He is offering you, and take Joy in knowing that Jesus Loves You!

Hymn #87 – Joy to the World

Merry Christmas and God Bless!

Robert