Christmas is the season of Hope.

Christmas is the season of Hope. It’s the season of remembering the work of Christ and celebrating His coming.

I love the song Joy To The World, it’s always been one of my favorites. This song we know so well at Christmas time was never meant to be a Christmas song in the first place. It was originally written by an English Poet named Isaac Watts in 1719. He wrote a book of poems and hymns and this specific poem was inspired by a few verses from Psalm 98, which is a book in the Bible.

Part of it reads like this…

4 Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth; break forth into joyous song and sing praises! 5 Sing praises to the Lord with the lyre, with the lyre and the sound of melody! 6 With trumpets and the sound of the horn make a joyful noise before the King, the Lord!

It was then passed down through a couple of other writers who took it and added to it until it became what we now know as Joy to The World. 

Joy to the world, the Lord is come!  
Let earth receive her King;
Let every heart prepare Him room,
And heaven and nature sing.

It stirs up hope in us, which is one of the greatest gifts given by God to us in the Christmas story. 

Christmas is the season of Hope.

Do you feel hope this Christmas? 

How about the Christmas story, is it a hope-filled story? Mary & Joseph, looking for a place to have a baby? If you just read this text in Luke 2 about the birth of Jesus, and even His first few years on earth, it sounds a little hopeless.

Living with animals in a stable. Living on the run. Not knowing what to do next. Why in the world do we come here, to Christmas, for Hope?

Matthew 12:18-21
18 “Here is my servant whom I have chosen, the one I love, in whom I delight; I will put my Spirit on him, and he will proclaim justice to the nations. 19 He will not quarrel or cry out; no one will hear his voice in the streets. 20 A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out, till he has brought justice through to victory. 21 In his name the nations will put their hope.”

This child, Jesus, was supposed to come and bring Hope to the entire world. WOW. Like this though? Doesn’t it look like God messed up a bit? Like there isn’t any room for them? 

Seriously?

Create all the stars in the universe…can’t find a room at the Bethlehem Marriot Hotel? Orchestrate a virgin pregnancy….can’t get Mary a place to have a baby that doesn’t have a horse in it, or a decent waiting room when random dudes show up to look at the baby?

Don’t be fooled into thinking this is an oversight, it has a purpose.

Immediately, from Jesus’ first moments on earth, He models to us that circumstances don’t have the last word in our lives.

We have hope. Christmas is the season of Hope.

God’s plans are not hindered by hardship.
His plans are not slowed down when we are feeling down.
They are not compromised when the world is in chaos.

God brings light in the darkness.
He brings water in the desert.
The Lord brings peace to our souls even in the midst of internal, personal, emotional, implosion. 

God has had a plan for your life from the beginning. 

Wherever you are at with God today, He’s ready to begin a journey with you. We will never fully understand how God could raise a KING from a manger, but HE does.

Allow me to spread some hope this Christmas, wherever you are at tonight, God has a plan for your life.

God has had a plan since the beginning. But something to remember is that God’s on the move, in this world, and your life. Jesus couldn’t bring hope by staying in the manger. Go look in the manger, He isn’t there.

Jesus steps into the plans the Father has for Him and begins around the age of 30 to speak to people about the love God has for them and the life He has designed for us to live.

Christ performs miracles. The same Jesus from the manger begins to do the miraculous. Christ begins to spread hope by healing, teaching, and sharing who He is with people.

He gathers some specific followers; the Bible calls them disciples. He fills them with hope, loves them and walks with them. They begin to believe that He is the one. The one that would change everything.

Things take a turn.

Jesus is opposed by some.
He shares with His disciples that it must be done, to fulfill the plans of the Father.
They kill Jesus.
His body is put in a tomb.

Gone.

His followers are left alone. Hopeless. 

Maybe this Christmas you feel like these guys. Abandoned. Betrayed. Left by everyone you know, including God. God has a plan for your life even when we’re in the middle, in the thick of things. 

God has a plan for your life in the middle.

The hope of Christ is not meddled with by the menacing world around us, it is too strong. He knew this was going to the case, not just for the disciples, but for all mankind. God, if you’re there, then where are you?! Why don’t you care?! How could you let this happen?!

The world has been asking, the disciples were asking, and maybe today we are still asking…

God, do you really have a plan?

Jesus couldn’t bring hope by staying in the grave. Go look in the tomb, He isn’t there.

In Luke 24, Jesus rises from the dead. Death is defeated. The one in the manger has accomplished the impossible. Two women go to see Him, but the tomb is empty. Then another encounter on the same day. 

Read Luke 24:13-32

My friends, Jesus is closer than you think.

Hope has arrived.

Even when the hopes you had seem to fade away. When the plans you had hoped for have crumbled. When what you had hoped for seems to be gone, God is in your midst. 

Even through the darkest days, the Spirit of God is with you. Even when you don’t recognize Him, haven’t recognized Him, He’s there. 

God has a plan for your life until the end.

It was at the table. It was when they sat face to face and communed together. Then all became clear, it was Jesus.

The one from the manger.
The one from the cross.
He was alive.

In the manger, He was just some unlucky baby. In the markets, He was just some great teacher. When He walked on water, they said He was a ghost. After He performed miracles, they said He used witchcraft.

But for these men.
At the table.
He was God.
And hope was restored.

This Christmas, it’s time to leave the manger and follow Jesus from there.

He’s going to show you things you never thought possible. He will tell you parable and stories that will change you. Jesus will do impossible things in, around, and through you. Our Savior will take you to the cross, show you the work He did for us. He will forgive you, restore you, repair you, and give you hope.

Jesus will give you His spirit. When that happens, the Spirit of God will bring to light everything in your life that you’ve missed. Not all at once, and not at our command, but you will see just as these two men did, that the God of the universe, the hope bringer, is with you.

God has had a plan since the beginning.
He’s with you in the middle.
He’s going to walk with you until the end. 

This Christmas, come to the table with Jesus.

The manger isn’t the only place we dwell at Christmas, the manger reminds us that God can do anything in any circumstance.

The manger points to the life of Christ, the teachings and the compassion. It points to the cross where Jesus bids us come and repent of our sins. Then, by God’s amazing plan, we receive the Holy Spirit, and He lives in us.

Everyday.
Every hour.
All the time.
Giving us hope. 

Romans 15:13
13 May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.

Christmas is the season of Hope.

Somehow, we need to get from the manger to the table with God.

The Christmas story, the account of Jesus’ birth, tells us He has come. His name is Emmanuel, which means God with us.

This Christmas, remember.
He is still Emmanuel.

We all start with a manger scene, we all have beginnings, but Christ desires for us to be at the table with Him.

Christmas is communing.
Christmas finds it’s hope in remembering who He is and what He does.

This evening, before you sleep, take time to remember. Remember Him.

Leave the manger, sit at the table, receive the hope of Jesus. 

Christmas is the season of Hope.

Joy to the world, the Lord is come!
Let earth receive her King;
Let every heart prepare Him room,
And heaven and nature sing.