Sunday Morning Message,

November 29, 2020:

The Meaning of Christmas ~ HOPE

Isaiah 9:1-7

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Greetings in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,

Recent days have been tough on so many. It seems that no matter what we try to do something happens and we are unable to accomplish what we desired. I just can’t imagine what is going to happen next.

The struggles of 2020 have people talking about what they should do and how they should handle the things that are coming up. I have made plans only to have them changed at a moment’s notice. It seems like no matter what I have been working on something comes up that messes with it.

I’m sure that I am not the only one that feels this way. I haven’t talked with anyone whose life hasn’t been turned upside down by all that is taking place. We have been separated from loved ones and struggling to make sense of all that is going on.

As I thought about this my mind turned back to the days when the people were exiled in Babylon. Their lives had been turned upside down. What had been was no more and the struggles they faced caused them to question what all was going on. That is when God gave them a message to carry them through.

Jeremiah 29:10-14 says -- ¹⁰ “For this is what the Lord says: ‘When seventy years have been completed for Babylon, I will visit you and fulfill My good word to you, to bring you back to this place. ¹¹ For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans for prosperity and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. ¹² Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. ¹³ And you will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart. ¹⁴ I will let Myself be found by you,’ declares the Lord, ‘and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and all the places where I have driven you,’ declares the Lord, ‘and I will bring you back to the place from where I sent you into exile.’

I love the part of this passage when God says ‘I will visit you and fulfill My good word to you, to bring you back to this place.’ It was the promise that He would be there for the people and provide the way for them to return to their home.

At times I have found myself asking what else could happen. It just seems that we are moving further and further away from where we are able to walk in confidence that all will be well. Yet in the midst of it all, God continues to speak and bring His promises to us.

Verse 11 says so much – “For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans for prosperity and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.” The hope of the exiles to Babylon is our hope as well. He will be our hope in the midst of all that is going on as we call upon Him and search for Him with all our heart.

There is no doubt that the struggles we face are real, but we must not forget that our God is greater than any struggle we face. He promised the early exiles that he would restore their ‘fortunes and gather them from all the nations and all the places’ where they were.

I believe that is still His promise to us today. In Hebrews 7:25 God’s Word says – “Hence, also, He is able to save forever those who draw near to God through Him (Jesus), since He always lives to make intercession for them.”

Our Lord will stand with us and bring us through this time to where He wants us to be. We must simply hold to Him and trust that His plans for us will carry us through. So draw near to God through Jesus and let Him lead you safely through.

JESUS, JESUS, JESUS, there IS something about that name!!

Christ only, always,

Bro. Paul

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If we as Christians are going to accomplish the tasks for which we have been called, we must lay hold of the power of God.  One person shared how we must do that --

The church’s greatest deficiency today is in power – not in programs, strategies, materials, or ideas. Power for ministry can be released only through prayer.”

Anonymous