December 18, 2016

But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord." Luke 2:10-11

The angel came bringing good news!

And not just good news - good news of great joy!

That announcement presupposes that there was some bad news going on. Uh, yeah! This proclamation came to a people whose politics were bad news. They lived under Roman oppression. And their economy was bad news. They earned very little and much of what they did earn went to the Romans. There was an ultra-wealthy ruling class and a lot of really poor folks and no welfare program. Even worse, their religion was a disaster! It was oppressive, demanding, impersonal and corrupt. This was the world the average Jew lived in! And there was no hope on the horizon!

But then in a remote pasture to some lonely shepherds, hope came! Good news was announced!

As a pastor, I live in a world of bad news. Hardly a day goes by that I don't hear some bad news about someone. I have my own bad news to deal with, too. How do I cope with all the bad news? What am I to do in an ever worsening economy, an ever expanding increasingly oppressive government, and a religion that is daily attacked and minimized?

What are you to do?

Well, I am a minister of "the Gospel". What is the "Gospel"? The "Gospel" means "good news"! In a world of bad news I believe the good news! The very same good news that the angel brought to the shepherds! The good news that Christ has come! A Savior is born! The Savior died for my sins to conquer sin and rose again to conquer death! For me! For you! For everyone who believes and receives the good news!

Am I to deny the bad news? Am I to ignore it? No! I speak good news to it! I deal with bad news in the power of the good news. I live in the knowledge the the good news is more powerful and longer lasting than the bad news! The good news is more real than the bad news! The good news means more and brings more joy in light of the bad news! My hope is in the good news!

As we move into this week before Christmas and as you celebrate Christmas at your church and with your family and in your quiet time with the Lord, rejoice at the reality of the "Gospel" the good news of salvation! God has conquered sin and death and through the power of the good news living in and through you and me He is conquering evil. Rejoice that the bad news will end but the good news is eternal - and only gets better!

That is your good news report for today!

Now Faith is Confidence...

"Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see." Hebrews 11:1

I've heard it said that a person can live longer without oxygen than he can without hope. Here's hoping you never have to face that dilemma.

But hope, one of the powerful benefits of the Christmas Story is essential not only for your physical existence but also for your spiritual life. Hope is vital because it is foundational to faith.

That truth becomes evident as you study the account of faith heroes in Hebrews 11. Let's examine a few of these accounts by adding the phrase "in hope" and see what it does to the Scripture:

"By faith ("in hope") Abel brought God a better offering than Cain did. By faith he was commended as righteous, when God spoke well of his offerings. And by faith Abel still speaks, even though he is dead." Hebrews 11:4

Why did Abel offer his sacrifice in obedience to God's command? Was it because He hoped to please and honor God? Did that hope inspire his faith?

I think so!

When God wants to increase your faith He speaks hope into your spirit.

"By faith ("in hope") Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family. By his faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that is in keeping with faith." Hebrews 11:7

What drives a farmer to become a ship-builder who has never seen a ship, has never seen rain and doesn't really know what a flood is? It was the hope that he could save his family from destruction! He feared God's judgment and hoped in God's promise of mercy for his family. Could hope be the anti-dote for fear?

I think so!

When God wants to strengthen your faith and help you overcome your fear He speaks hope into your heart!

"By faith ("in hope) Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. By faith ("in hope") he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents,as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. For he was looking forward to the city with foundations,whose architect and builder is God." Hebrews 11:8-10

What would possess someone who is living quite comfortably in his home town surrounded securely by family members suddenly pick up everything and head off into the wilderness for an unknown destination? Could have been the hope of a bigger and better life? Was it possibly the hope from a promise God spoke into Abram's spirit?

I think so!

When God wants to increase your faith He speaks hope into your spirit!

You can apply this paradigm to each faith hero throughout this moving chapter and I believe you will find it works!

Hope precedes faith!

Hope came down at Christmas!

Hope has a name and it's Jesus!

December 15, 2016

"Now faith is being sure we will get what we hope for. It is being sure of what we cannot see." Hebrews 11:1

If it seems to you there is a strong connection between hope and faith it means you are paying attention! The writer of Hebrews says as much from the very first verse of Chapter 11.

Getting your mind around this truth will give you helpful insights not only into faith but into hope as well!

The verse above begins the great "hall of faith" chapter of Hebrews 11. It offers a profoundly significant insight and then supports it with examples from the lives of our Biblical heroes.

What this verse tells us is this, "When God wants to inspire faith He plants hope in the human heart."

Let me illustrate this truth from the Christmas story. Look what happened when Gabriel appeared to Zechariah as he was on duty at the temple:

"Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing at the right side of the altar of incense. When Zechariah saw him, he was startled and was gripped with fear. But the angel said to him: “Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to call him John. He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice because of his birth, for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He is never to take wine or other fermented drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even before he is born. He will bring back many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God. And he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the parents to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous—to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.” Zechariah asked the angel, “How can I be sure of this? I am an old man and my wife is well along in years.” The angel said to him, “I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to tell you this good news. And now you will be silent and not able to speak until the day this happens, because you did not believe my words, which will come true at their appointed time.” Luke 1:11-20

What just happened here?

Zechariah was going to need a big dose of faith to believe what Gabriel was telling him and then to see it through to completion. So, to inspire that required faith God spoke hope into Zechariah's heart.

What had Zechariah and Elizabeth longed for in their married life? A son!

What had Zechariah and Elizabeth given up hope of having in their later years? A son!

Now Gabriel sought to restore that hope by delivering God's promise of not just a son, but one of the greatest sons to ever be born! Their son would prepare the way for the coming of the Messiah!

Wow! Their hopes were renewed beyond anything they had ever hoped for! All they would have to do is believe it! 

When God wants to strengthen your faith He renews your hope!

If you need another example look no farther than Gabriel's next appearance, which happened to be to Elizabeth's cousin, Mary.

"In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.” Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. 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, and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.” “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?” The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month. For no word from God will ever fail.” “I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Then the angel left her." Luke 1:26-38

What is the only thing you can think of that might require more faith to believe than old people having a baby? How about a virgin having a baby? That is exactly what Mary was asked to believe! 

That would take a lot of faith! How do you find faith like that? 

Mary found it through the hope spoken into her spirit by Gabriel, who stands in the presence of God!

But how would her fiancee Joseph ever be able to believe her story?

"This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly. But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus,because he will save his people from their sins.”All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”). When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife." Matthew 1:18-24

Joseph's hopes had been crushed with the initial news of Mary's pregnancy. Suddenly his concern was not about her being his wife but about how to save her life! If she was found to be a adulteress she would be stoned! He hadn't even had time to worry about the hit his own reputation would take when this news got out!

In the midst of that concern and confusion Gabriel appeared and gave Joseph new hope! With renewed hope Joseph found the faith to do what God had asked him to do!

When God wants to strengthen your faith He renews your hope!

If you want more evidence to support this truth read the rest of Hebrews 11!

Have you been struggling in your faith recently?

If so, here's some new hope! Stop praying for faith and ask God to renew your hope!

Time is what separates hoping from hope.

"But at the right time, God sent His Son. A woman gave birth to Him under the Law. This all happened so He could buy with His blood and make free all those who were held by the Law. Then we might become the sons of God. Because you are the sons of God, He has sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts. The Spirit cries, “Father!” So now you are no longer a servant who is owned by someone. You are a son. If you are a son, then you will receive what God has promised through Christ." Galatians 4:4-7

How long should you hope before you give up hope?

Timing is a tricky thing when it comes to hope. It is possibly the number reason why people give up hope.

I admit sometimes it is hard to keep hoping when you have held onto hope for a long, long time and you haven't seen what you hoped to see.

Time is what separates hoping from hope.

Hoping is wishing that I get what I want. It's not something I'm sure of but it is something I hope to get. It may involve a good luck charm such as a rabbit's foot or a four leaf clover. 

I hoped to get many things for Christmas during my childhood years. Some of the things I hoped to get I did and some of the things I hoped for I never received. I didn't hope any harder for the things I received than I did for the things I never received. Just wishing and wishing harder didn't seem to help me much.

The hope of the Bible, the hope associated with Christmas has nothing to do with wishing it has to do with waiting. Hope trusts the promises of God and knows it is just a matter of time until God fulfills His promise.

Abraham and Sarah hoped for a long time as they waited for God to fulfill the promise of a son for them. Over those long years of waiting they weren't wishing and hoping they had hope God would keep His promise.

Even when they passed their normal child-bearing ages they still hoped in God's promise. They weren't hoping, they were waiting in hope!

Hope trusts God's timing as well as His truthfulness.

That's what Paul reminds the Christians in Galatia about in this portion of Scripture. He is reminding them of God's perfect timing in the Christmas Story. Jesus was sent to earth at the perfect time in human history!

It is interesting to note that for Mary and Joseph God's hope came too early!

They were planning a wedding and making plans to set up their household and suddenly God makes an announcement to Mary. She will become pregnant by the Holy Spirit and give birth to Jesus, the Son Of God. I'm sure and Mary had plans for a beautiful wedding and a romantic honey moon before even thinking about having a child.

But in God's perfect timing, Mary was given her hope much sooner than she had planned. She obeyed God and in so doing, gave up many of her personal hopes to embrace God's hope.

For Zechariah and Elizabeth God's hope came too late for for their fondest dreams to be realized. They were both well beyond child-bearing years. Honestly, they were beyond child-rearing years. But, they did get the joy of holding their long-awaited son they had hoped for all these years!

Hope came too early for Joseph and Mary, so it seemed. But Paul said to the Galatians that "at just the right time" God's hope came to them wrapped in a baby. Sooner than they wished their hoping was over and they held the hope of the world in their hands.

Hope seemed to come too late to Zechariah and Elizabeth but they received what they had always had hoped for - a son! Interestingly, Paul wrote to the Galatians that God's time was perfect! They received their long hoped for little John, latter known as John the Baptizer.

True hope, godly hope waits it doesn't wish. Hope hears the promise of God and waits confidently for it 

Will you stop hoping and hope in God?

Will you give up on wishing and get busy waiting for God to do what he promised? Isn't it about time?

December 13, 2016

"Zechariah asked the angel, “How can I be sure of this? I am an old man and my wife is well along in years." Luke 1:18

This is the question of a man who had lost hope trying desperately to hope again.

Have you ever lost hope?

What caused you to lose hope? 

I'm going to guess that it was the same thing that caused Zechariah and his wife, Elizabeth, to lose hope. They lost hope when the impossibilities of life seemed more real than the possibilities of faith.

Am I close?

Zechariah and Elizabeth lived in a culture that negatively stigmatized a woman who found herself unable to bear children. Every time he went to serve in the temple he silently bore the shame of being childless. When he was with the other priests and they talked about their children it was like a dagger to his heart. It had to be awkward for the other priests to be careful not to speak of their children around Zechariah to spare him the pain. It was hard for them to not think of him as a second-class citizen and most days he felt like one.

These were very good and faithful people who had spent their lives sacrificially serving their God. During those many years they had pleaded with God for a child and no child was given them. For years they bore this shame and must have secretly wondered why God had forgotten them.

Now the ravages of time and the realities of old age had drained them of any hope that may have remain in the remote places of their souls.

At the most improbable moment of their lives God sent his angel to ask Zechariah to hope again. And while he wanted to his "hoper" had timed out. That is quite obvious in the question he asked the angel, “How can I be sure of this? I am an old man and my wife is well along in years.”

How is your "hoper" this morning? Have you stopped asking or even thinking, "How can I be sure of this?"

Have you, like Zechariah, limited your faith to a focus on the impossibilities of your situation and stage of life?

Here's some good news from this story!

When you have run out of faith in yourself (or even in God) He hasn't lost faith in you!

When you have lost your hope God still has hope for you!

Let's change the focus from Zechariah's hopeful question to the angel's hope-filled response, "The angel said to him, “I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to tell you this good news."

How can you restore hope?

Here are a few tips from this true story"

1) Refocus on the source of hope - God's will expressed in God's Word!

2) Remember God's patience is not limited to your impatience. His timing is not tied into your day-timer, your schedule, your calendar or your convenience!

3) Realize what you thought was God's "no" to your prayers might just be a "not now"!

4) Recognize that God's delay is not to deny you of your desires but to prepare to fulfill His!

So, Christmas reminds you there is hope for your struggling "hoper".

December 12, 2016

"You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly." Romans 5:6

The Apostle Paul writes after the fact that all the events of Christmas happened at precisely the right time and in exactly the right way!

I believe that is true. You probably do too!

But, for Mary and Joseph, not so much! Christmas was an inconvenience for them!

Think about it!

What a terrible time to get pregnant! Mary was engaged to a wonderful man and was making plans for the dream wedding. But then the angel shows up with another plan. Mary would conceive by the Holy Spirit and bear a son. As far as she was concerned, it couldn't have happened at a worse time!

What a terrible time for the Caesar to declare a tax! Just when Mary and Joseph were trying to scrape up enough money to begin their new life together, now they have to cough up a bunch of it to Rome! From their perspective it couldn't have happened at a worse time!

What a terrible time to have to take a trip! Mary was nine months pregnant! And what a terrible trip to have to take, across the hilly, rocky roads of Galilee - ON A DONKEY!

What a terrible place to have to go! Bethlehem? Such a tiny little place with only one hotel! And what a terrible time for that one hotel to be all booked!

And, what a terrible time for the king to get paranoid! Mary has just given birth to a baby - in a manger inside a stable no less - and not they have to hit the road for another trip! This time they must head down to Egypt to escape the edict of the king to kill all newborn boys. What a hassle!

Just when everything seemed to be going wrong, God brought the miracle of salvation! When everything was uncomfortable and inconvenient for Mary and Joseph it was perfect timing for God!

That is another of the amazing truths of Christmas! God's timing is always perfect even if it doesn't fit your schedule! When everything seems to be going wrong, God can still work a miracle! IF you are obedient to Him in spite of the inconveniences.

This Christmas season, trust God's timing! Trust His sovereign goodness! Even if it looks like the worst time for something to happen, remember that when everything seemed to be going wrong God brought a miracle!

Obedience is a willingness to be out of control - and under His control!

December 11, 2016

"Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” Luke 2:11-12

Love has a name and it's Jesus!

Peace has a name and it's Jesus!

Jesus has a name and it's Lord!

This will stretch your imagination, Jesus the Lord as a weak helpless newborn wrapped in cloths in a feed trough for animals.

Is that strange on not?

I can't see myself putting any of my newborn children or grandchild into a feed trough inside a barn wrapped in rags. Can you?

God did!

I can't see myself trusting any of my newborn children or grandchildren with a couple of young teens, especially in a stable.

But God did! 

Wow, what a strange way to save the world!

While you meditate on that, listen to this musical version of this thought: (place you cursor on link and right click)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yGsarig0V2c

Wow! Amazing!