Hope

Christmas can be a difficult time of year for some people.

Good morning and Merry Christmas. My name is Nic Cook and I'm the worship arts minister here at Lakeside.

I'm really thankful to Jon for allowing me the opportunity to kick things off in this sermon series. He told me that the whole series was dependent on how well I set things up today, so no pressure.

Seriously though, I know that Jon isn't the kind of guy who enjoys or seeks out public encouragement, but I do want to take a moment and point out how blessed we are to have someone like Jon who takes God's word seriously, preaches from it, and then wants to do everything in his power to help this church live it out. Can we thank him together this morning?

We're starting our new Christmas series titled "Comfort and Joy" that's based on Isaiah 61. In prepping for an upcoming sermon series, I will usually talk with my wife Susan about it. She has the spiritual gift of honesty and is a pretty good barometer of whether the ideas I have are helpful. More than once she has said, "That's dumb, Nic." I had just asked her what she thought of when she heard the phrase comfort and joy when she asked, "Nic, can you please make this series not depressing?"

Wow, how do you respond to that? "No, honey, if I do my job right I can have everyone leave on Sunday feeling horrible about Christmas and ready to call the whole thing off."

Now to be fair, what she was bringing up so honestly is that over the years I've mentioned that this is a difficult time of year for a lot of people. In addition, I think she was right in saying that this is a time for celebration. So, I think it's only appropriate that this series is about comfort and joy. It's our heart's desire to be honest about the things in life that are difficult. We do not need to put some pretty wrapping and a bow on pain and pretend no one is hurting. But, we also want to declare the truth of a powerful God who cares, understands, and steps in to save us.

God spoke through the prophet Isaiah.

If you'll pull out your Bibles or open your Bible apps on your digital device, I'd like us to read God's words through Isaiah the prophet together this morning. It's in Isaiah 61 (NIV).

"The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion-- to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair.

They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor. They will rebuild the ancient ruins and restore the places long devastated; they will renew the ruined cities that have been devastated for generations. Aliens will shepherd your flocks; foreigners will work your fields and vineyards. And you will be called priests of the Lord, you will be named ministers of our God. You will feed on the wealth of nations, and in their riches you will boast.

Instead of their shame my people will receive a double portion, and instead of disgrace they will rejoice in their inheritance. And so they will inherit a double portion in their land, and everlasting joy will be theirs. For I, the Lord, love justice; I hate robbery and iniquity. In my faithfulness I will reward them and make an everlasting covenant with them. Their descendants will be known among the nations and their offspring among the peoples. All who see them will acknowledge that they are a people the Lord has blessed.

I delight greatly in the Lord; my soul rejoices in my God. For he has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels. For as the soil makes the sprout come up and a garden causes seeds to grow, so the Sovereign Lord will make righteousness and praise spring up before all nations."

Well, I feel like I've got a big task today, and that's to explain the Holy Spirit and God's sovereignty. No biggie. Actually, will you pray with me and for me as I ask for God to help us hear him speak to us this morning?

A prayer for the Christmas season.

God, we thank you during this season as we remember the miraculous birth of your Son Jesus Christ and the plan you had from the beginning to rescue us and bring us back to you. Father, I ask that the same Spirit who spoke through the prophets so long ago, would speak through me this morning and that he would move powerfully in the hearts and minds of this church. Help us to hear, understand, and respond appropriately to your leading. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

In our Bibles, the passage we just read was written by Isaiah, one of the prophets of God. He was one of a number of people who God specifically chose to speak through to his people. Typically a prophet would hear from God in the form of dreams and visions. Visions are basically dreams while you're awake. One of the incredible aspects of prophecy is that their message usually has a now and not yet component to it. That means God wanted people to know his will and respond immediately, but he would often reveal things that would happen in the future as well. For example, the visions Isaiah had were meant to get the people of Israel to repent from worshiping fake gods, immorality, and treating each other and the poor with injustice. The consequences of failing to listen and change their hearts and actions would be destruction by the rising power of the Assyrian empire.

In addition to having immediate warnings, it also is the most quoted book of prophecies in the New Testament because it has the most promises of the coming of Jesus. This is why it's perfect for our Christmas series.

This particular passage has been heard for thousands of years by many different people, in many different situations, in many different countries. It offers us the same Good news as it did to those who heard it for the first time. God is for us.

Good news: God is for us!

Let that sink in for a moment. Good news: God is for you! The poor among us may be thinking, "I'm really struggling financially right now. I can barely pay my bills. I'm afraid I might get laid off. Why hasn't God done something?" You need to know the good news that God is for you!

All of you brokenhearted, maybe your heart has been torn in two. You just found out that your spouse has been cheating on you, or you've been married for over 20 years and she's told you she's just not in love with you any more. You need to know the good news that God is for you.

To those who are captive, it might be that demon of addiction you've been fighting is rearing its ugly head and you have found yourself losing your sobriety, or sitting in front of the laptop with that website up again late at night. Hear the good news that God is for you!

For those who are wanting vengeance, it's that horrible secret that you can't tell anyone about that happened to you when you were younger. You may have been hurt by someone you trusted. You need to hear the good news that God is for you!

To those in need of comfort, maybe this Christmas is the first one you'll have to celebrate without that parent, child, spouse, or friend. You need to know that God is for you!

Psalm 46:1-3 (NIV) says "God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging."

This psalm is powerful because it says God is our help within our trouble. Please know that I am not diminishing poverty, brokenheartedness, addiction, or mourning. What I'm saying is that whether we can see it or not, there is more good news. God has a plan that deals with all of the hurt and pain.

Good news: God has a plan.

Have you ever noticed that nothing ever works out the way you planned? No matter how thoroughly or well thought out, life happens and plans go out the window. The first Christmas is the perfect example of people's plans not working out. Let's go at this from Mary's perspective.

• Engaged to be married
• Unexpected pregnancy
• Almost divorced
• Outcast by her community
• Government mandated road trip on the back of an animal while pregnant
• No hotels, friends, or family to stay with in Bethlehem
• Gave birth in a cave surrounded by animals
• Forced to flee mass murder and live as a refugee in Egypt

You get the point. That's just the Christmas story from Mary's perspective, not to mention Joseph or the Jewish people.

When Isaiah refers to God as being sovereign, it's just a fancy theological way of saying that God is able to accomplish his plan through broken people and circumstances, no matter what.

If you look at the family tree that Jesus came from, you'll see an extraordinary example of how God executed his plan of Jesus coming to earth by using a whole list of imperfect people. In that list you have prostitutes, adulterers, murderers, liars, and cheaters. There are some names that as you look at their history, they were so wicked that God killed them.

There is no mistake, sin, or brokenness in your life that can keep God from using you. God loves to take flawed individuals and make them a intricate part of his plan. It's one of the many things that make him so amazing.

Romans 8:28 (NIV) says "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose."

God makes all things work out for the good of those who love him. There is no wasted pain in God's plan. Usually we don't see it while we're in the middle of it. That's why the psalm we read earlier said that God is an ever present help and refuge at the time we're in the middle of it. However, when we look back on the things we've gone through, we can usually see how God has helped us through, made us stronger, as well as more dependent on him as a result. I know I've found that some of the really difficult things I've gone through have made it easier to help others who are going through what I did.

I could stop here with just the the fact that God is for us and that he has a plan that can't be frustrated. This would be enough to qualify as good news. However, I think that we would miss out on maybe the most subtle, yet critical parts of this passage: the good news about God's Spirit.

Good news: God is within us.

In the iconic Christmas movie The Christmas Carol which was written by Charles Dickens, the main character Mr. Scrooge is visited by three spirits including the spirit of Christmas past, the spirit of Christmas present, and the spirit of Christmas future. These spirits were instrumental in helping Scrooge seeing how his life could serve a bigger purpose. Charles Dickens knew what he was doing by referring to the illumination of the Spirit to open our eyes to something bigger than ourselves. He stole it from the Bible.

From the very beginning, the Holy Spirit has been the way God has fulfilled his plans and purposes.

I just want to clarify something. The Holy Spirit is not an impersonal force or an "it". The Spirit is a part of the trinity and has emotions, a will, and intelligence. In the Bible we see him bringing God's plan to fulfillment from the beginning. We see him hovering over the waters of creation, speaking through prophets like Isaiah, and foretelling the coming of Jesus. Specifically, in the Christmas story the Spirit spoke through Mary's cousin Elizabeth, who was the first to encourage Mary that she was carrying Jesus, the messiah. The Holy Spirit miraculously empowered the virgin conception.

In the life of Jesus, the Holy Spirit was present and empowered Jesus in his ministry. And Romans 8:11 says that he raised Jesus from the dead. The Spirit of Christmas is the Holy Spirit, and we need to know that he is alive and active as much today as he has ever been.

Romans 8:9-11 (NIV) says, "You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ. But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness. And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you.

That is good news. The same Spirit who resurrected Jesus is alive and at work within us! They don't sell that good news at Best Buy. You can't get a deal like that on Black Friday. This is the very same Spirit who prophesied through Isaiah, brought about the virgin birth, and raised Jesus from the dead. That same Spirit is alive and living in us.

That is how we know God is for us. That has been part of God's plan from the beginning. And that is how we have become part of his plan now. We have the comforter with us always, during hard times. If we listen to him and cooperate, he will guide us and make us partners in God's plan.

What is on your wish list?

This Christmas, a lot of people have wish lists. It's a list of things they feel will bring them comfort and joy in this life. If you were to make a wish list, what would be on it?

• Financial security
• The perfect spouse and kids
• Healing from sickness

The problem with wish lists is that you may never receive the things on them. Wish lists inevitably lead to disappointment. It's true that God may grant some of the things we wish for here on earth, but rarely does he grant all of them. Does that mean that God is a bad gift giver? We've already talked about the gift of the Holy Spirit, and that's definitely better than anything we could have asked for.

What if this Christmas, what we really want and need is never going to be on a wish list but on a hope list?

What is a hope list?

Hope is something that is based on a promise. We know without a shadow of a doubt, regardless how we feel, that there is a list in the Bible of all the things God will one day do for us. We don't have to wish for them. He has promised them to anyone who chooses him, accepts his Son Jesus
Christ as Lord and Savior, and has received the Holy Spirit. This morning I want to tell you about the gifts that God has promised on our hope list, based on just a few things listed Romans 8.

• We know we will not be condemned
• That we will be resurrected
• That God is our Father, and we will spend eternity with him
• That the glory there will far outweigh the suffering here
• Our bodies will be made perfect
• God is working all things for good
• The Spirit helps us in our weakness
• God knows what we're going through
• God is making us like Jesus
• Hard times will not defeat us
• Nothing will ever separate us from God's love

We know God is for us, has a plan, and that plan was to fix this broken world through his Son Jesus Christ. This is the same Jesus who came as a baby, lived a sinless life through the power of the Holy Spirit, died our death on the cross, rose through the power of the Holy Spirit, ascended to heaven where he sits on the throne, and poured out the same Spirit on his followers to continue his plan. One day he's coming again to complete his plan and restore everything to perfection. This is our hope this Christmas.

Let's stand and sing!