Rejoice in Hope

I really appreciated our pastor's sermon Sunday. He did not talk about all the happy tidings of Christmas. Instead, he talked about the struggle of living in a fallen world, and how the older he gets, the less he approaches Christmas with wide-eyed wonder and delight. He said Christmas celebrates Christ's first advent, but what he longs for more and more is Christ's second advent.

I do too.

When Jesus returns, all will be made right. For now, many of us struggle with mixed emotions. Sorrow and joy mingle. It is sometimes hard to find hope when the sorrows become overwhelming.
The key is trusting not God's provision, but His promises. His provisions may be temporary and not assured. But His promises are eternal, and will never be revoked.

It was a much more apt sermon for me to hear this year than one filled with ho-ho-ho's.

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Psalm 39:7 

“And now, O Lord, for what do I wait? My hope is in you.

Isaiah 41:10 

Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

Mark 9:23 

And Jesus said to him, “‘If you can’! All things are possible for one who believes.”

Romans 8:24 

For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees?

1 Corinthians 13:13 

So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

Proverbs 23:18 

Surely there is a future, and your hope will not be cut off.

Romans 8:25 

But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.

Jeremiah 17:7 

“Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord.