CHRISTMAS HOPE
Isaiah 9:6-7
The message of Christmas is about the Son of God becoming the son of man so that the children of men could become children of God.
- How we worship the babe determines everything we believe about Jesus.
1. CHRISTMAS HOPE HELPS US SEE BEYOND OUR OWN EYES.
When Jesus came, He was born into an oppressive society. There was little hope, and people were taxed at 50-60%; that is why Joseph took Mary to Bethlehem, his hometown.
- God wants every person in the Body of Christ to have faith, hope, and love.
- There is a difference between what hope and faith will do.
BUT FAITH WILL NOT WORK OUTSIDE OF HOPE.
- Faith deals with details; hope deals with deity.
- Faith may produce what you are looking for, but HOPE believes it is there.
- Faith activates the miracles of Christ. Hope motivates us to come to Christ. Romans 15:4
God wants us to be a people of HOPE because we are a people that refuse to give up the hope of God that works within us. I Peter 1:3
2. CHRISTMAS HOPE ALLOWS US TO BELIEVE WHEN EVERYTHING TELLS US NOT TO.
- God’s unchanging purpose was to redeem mankind.
- God always desired to redeem man. The method was as predetermined as the result.
Colossians 3:1; Ephesians 2:4; Romans 5:8
- The story of Hagar. Gen. 21.
When you read the story about a woman named Hagar who had bore Abraham’s firstborn child, Ismael, the Bible says in vs. 14, Sarah was tired of having a competitive woman having a son to the throne.
- When you are Operating in Hopelessness, it is almost impossible to hear God. Heb. 11:6
- Hagar Stopped Looking for An Answer.
To achieve the great miracles of God in your life, you must be willing to believe what God says, not what you see, but what you can HOPE FOR.
- Despair always produces darkness in our spirits and disillusionment in our souls.
3. PEOPLE STRUGGLE WITH CHRISTMAS HOPE WHEN THEY ARE AFRAID TO HOPE.
The birth of Christ at that moment was the point in history where everything stopped, and where everything looked back, and everything looked forward. It was the CRUX of history.
There are three reasons why people are afraid to hope:
A. FEAR ONE: HOPE SEEMS FANCIFUL.
- We have logically determined that the crisis is more significant than we are.
- You have made up your mind.
B. FEAR TWO: OUR HOPES DIDN’T COME TRUE IN THE PAST; WHY SHOULD THEY NOW?
- Some have chosen to quit and give up; others have chosen to hope again.
- Some say the only thing that came true in the past was our fears.
C. FEAR THREE: WE FEEL DISQUALIFIED FROM HIS PRESENCE.
- We fear He is withdrawn from us because of our sin.