The Gift of Hope | Sunday, December 18, 2022

Welcome to Cross Connection Church online. I'm Pastor Garrett, and we at Cross Connection Church are so grateful that you are joining us for our service today. If you'd like to know more about Cross Connection Church, please check us out on our website at lifeinconnection.com, where you'll find more about us, upcoming events, and ways to get plugged in.

Also, because you're watching virtually from home, we love that we get to offer the opportunity to serve you at a distance. However, we would love to know a little bit more about you and be encouraged by you. If you would be as kind as to take a quick video of yourself and whoever you're watching this broadcast with, just let us know who you are and where you're watching from. You can send that to the number 760-814-1223. Our pastors and staff would be greatly encouraged to see how our broadcast is being received.

Of course, please stick around to the end of the broadcast today, and you'll find some announcements about things that are currently going on at Cross Connection Church and ways for you to get involved. If you would like to give today and support the ministry of Cross Connection Church, you can do so right now online from your home at give.lifeinconnection.com.

Christmas is just a week away, and therefore many, myself included, are feeling the excitement of the season.

It is the most wonderful time of the year. Unfortunately, it does come and go very quickly. Be that as it may, it is still a joyful time of the year, and it is a time that Christians, who are really the reason that there is a Christmas in the first place, should rejoice in. We should take advantage of the opportunity that this holiday season provides for us.

This is a time of the year that we need to see as one of the greatest opportunities for fulfilling the commission that Jesus gave to us, His followers. Jesus commanded us to go into all the world and proclaim the good news of the Gospel. What better time of the year is there to do that than at Christmas? Our culture still highly values Christmas. Even if we've added a whole bunch of trappings and distractions onto the holiday, Christmas remains the favorite holiday for most Westerners.

Westerners do not celebrate Easter to the same extent that they do Christmas. So, if virtually all of our neighbors, co-workers, family members, and friends are going to be celebrating this holiday, it provides Christians with a huge opportunity to share the good news of the Gospel with them at this time of the year.

What exactly is that good news of the Gospel? Well, as we have been sharing over the last several weeks here at Cross Connection Church, the good news that we share at this time of the year is that the gift-giving God has given us the greatest gift, the most needed and necessary gift, in and through His Son, Jesus Christ. Our job as His followers, and what we would say is His disciples, is to clearly articulate what that good news is.

We are to share or proclaim the praises of Him who called us out of darkness into His marvelous light. That's what we read in First Peter, chapter two. There, Peter says, "But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's own special people." Why? So that you would proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light. We who once walked in darkness have seen a great light.

That great light has brought us great joy. If you're in a really dark area and you see just a little bit of light, it causes your heart to fill with joy. We, who were once in darkness, have now seen a great light, and it has brought us great joy, as the prophet Isaiah talks about in Isaiah chapter 9.

Not only has this light come to those who are in darkness, bringing them joy, but it has also brought us freedom from bondage. Of course, that great light that we celebrate at Christmas is Jesus Christ. Now, having seen that great light and received the gift of His love and the gift of His grace, we are to proclaim the praises of Him who called us out of darkness and into His marvelous light.

With all of that as a bit of a preface, let me remind you what we have been talking about this Advent season here at Cross Connection. This Christmas, we have been discussing some of the gifts of God. We, who love to give gifts and receive gifts, do so because God, who is the gift-giving God, has made us in His image and likeness.

We have seen that our good God, our Father in heaven, loves to give good gifts. We find this in the Old Testament in a fascinating story in the Book of Numbers about a prophet who was hired by some of the enemies of Israel to curse God's people, Israel. This prophet's name was Balaam. As he stood up to begin to curse the people of Israel, all that would come out of his mouth was a blessing.

Part of the reason that all that would come out of Balaam's mouth was a blessing was that, as we read in Numbers chapter 24, it pleased the Lord to bless Israel, His people. It pleased God to bless the children of Israel. The Old Testament makes it very clear that our good God loves to bless His people.

In the New Testament, in the Gospels, we find from Jesus that He says to His disciples in Luke chapter 12, verse 32, "Do not fear, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom." God loves to give good gifts; it is His pleasure to give us good things. We find this from Balaam in the Old Testament Book of Numbers, from Jesus in the Gospel of Luke, and we also find it from the apostles in some of their New Testament writings in the Epistles. We find this from the Apostle Paul in Ephesians.

Chapter one states, "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in heavenly places." At the end of verse 5, it says, "according to the good pleasure of His will." What that means is it pleases God to bless His people. We find that from Balaam, we find that from Jesus, and we find that from the Apostle Paul.

Not only does our good God love to give good gifts to His people, but we have seen in this series of teachings, this Advent series, that God gives us good gifts to enjoy. I think this is a key and important truth for us. For some reason, I find that a lot of Christians seem to live as if joy and enjoyment are somehow bad or wrong, as if it is somehow more spiritual to be dour and morose. In reality, the Scriptures teach that God desires our joy, rejoicing, and enjoyment. It honors and glorifies our God more when we are joyful than when we are kind of dour.

In Paul's first letter to Timothy, we read in 1 Timothy 6:17, "Command those who are rich in the present age that they not be haughty nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God." Note this: He gives us richly all things to enjoy. We shouldn't be haughty or arrogant in our riches and blessings. Living here in the United States of America, particularly in Southern California, we are blessed with amazing abundance. We have phenomenal riches, and we have to be really careful as followers of God that we do not become arrogant or haughty, thinking that we somehow deserve these things or that we are better than other people who don't have them.

Paul says to command those who are rich. If you're watching this and you live in the Western world, you are among those who are rich, even if you don't think you are as rich as others. He says to command those who are rich in this present age that they not be arrogant or haughty in their riches. On top of that, he says to command them not to trust in or put their confidence in their abundance. Those are two major pitfalls or traps where we can begin to think that we are something special because we have all these things, or we can begin to put our confidence and trust in the things that we have.

Instead, we should rejoice in and trust in our Father, who has blessed us with these things.

It is okay to enjoy all of His great blessings. The psalmist recognized this in Psalm 103, verse 2, where he says, "Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all of His benefits." Sometimes, we have to remind ourselves to praise God and bless Him for the blessings He has given to us. The psalmist is speaking to himself when he says, "Bless the Lord, O my soul." He emphasizes the importance of not forgetting all the blessings and benefits that God has provided.

Our Father in Heaven loves to give good gifts. The Scriptures make this very clear, from Balaam to Jesus and the apostles in the New Testament letters. He has given us abundant blessings to enjoy and rejoice in, and our enjoyment of His good gifts brings Him glory. This idea is echoed in Ephesians chapter 1, where Paul states that God has given us every spiritual blessing. In Ephesians 1, verse 3, he writes, "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in heavenly places." He has done this according to the good pleasure of His will. At the end of verse 5, and in verse 6, Paul continues, "to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He has made us accepted in the Beloved." All of these abundant blessings that God, our loving Father in Heaven, has given to us for our enjoyment are meant to stir us to praise Him for His great grace.

God, who is a loving Father, has given us great gifts. These gifts are for our joy and enjoyment, and they are also for His praise and glory. Finally, God gives us good gifts to share with and bless others. We find this truth in 1 Peter chapter 4, verse 10, where Peter says, "As each one of us has received a gift, minister it to one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God." We have been blessed to be a blessing to others. We have not been given these great gifts—both physical and spiritual—so that we can hoard them. Instead, we have been given these blessings to share them as good stewards of the great grace of God.

In my message last time, if you were with us last week, or if not, you can go back and find that message on our website or our YouTube channel, I talked about God's gifts and their purpose.

The great gift of love that God has poured out upon us in abundance is through His Holy Spirit. He continues to pour out His love upon us, and He will do so for all of eternity. His love is abundant and great, and this love, which has been freely given to us, should cause us to rejoice. It is a reason to rejoice that we are the beloved of God. We ought to enjoy His loving-kindness, and we need to share His loving-kindness with others.

God pours out His love upon us to the point that it is so abundant it overflows, and it ought to overflow to other people. We should be like conduits of God's love to others. My prayer is that you have been able to be a conduit of God's love this last week and hopefully even more so in the coming week as we lead up to Christmas.

Love is just one of many wonderful blessings that God has poured out upon us in abundance. There are many more gifts that God has blessed us with: physical blessings, practical blessings, and spiritual blessings. He has given us every spiritual blessing in heavenly places. Today, I want to highlight another gift that God has given to us in abundance. As I do, I want you to remember that God's gifts are given to us for our joy, for His praise, and for us to share with others.

With this in mind, I want to point your attention to a passage of Scripture in the New Testament book of Hebrews, specifically Hebrews chapter 6, beginning at verse 16. The author of the book of Hebrews writes, "Now when people take an oath, they call on someone greater than themselves to hold them to it, and without question, the oath is binding. God also bound Himself with an oath so that those who received the promise could be perfectly sure that He would never change His mind. So God has given both His promise and His oath. These two things are unchangeable because it is impossible for God to lie. Therefore, we who have fled to Him for refuge can have great confidence as we hold to the hope that lies before us. This hope is a strong and trustworthy anchor for our souls; it leads us through the curtain into God's inner sanctuary."

I love this passage of Scripture, which talks about God's promises and the oaths He has given to us to fulfill those promises.

His oath gives us great confidence, and we have this really important and essential gift: the gift of hope. Hope is, I find, a fascinating topic. Do you realize that hope is a good thing? But not just a good thing; it is an essential thing. Hope is an essential reality for our lives.

I've shared this story before because I find it really interesting. It is the story about a man named Victor Frankl. He lived in the middle of the 20th century and wrote a great book, which I highly recommend if you've never read it before. It's called "Man's Search for Meaning." Victor Frankl was a Jewish Holocaust survivor, and he was also a neurologist and psychiatrist. In the mid-1940s, he lived in the worst possible places for Jews during that time, specifically in Austria and Germany. As a result, he spent three years in German concentration camps, including Auschwitz.

It was in those camps that he observed an important truth about hope, which he writes about in his book. He recognized that those prisoners who gave up on life were the first to be lost in the camps. They were the ones who lost all hope for the future, and he says they were inevitably the first to die.

Modern psychologists have observed that hope is not just a feel-good emotion. In an article I read several years ago, hope was described as a dynamic cognitive motivational system. What does that even mean? Writing for Psychology Today the day after Christmas in 2011, a psychologist named Scott Kaufman wrote these words: "Talent, skill, ability—whatever you want to call it—will not get you there. Sure, it helps, but a wealth of psychological research over the past few decades shows loud and clear that it is the psychological vehicles that really get you there. You can have the best engine in the world, but if you can't be bothered to drive it, you won't get anywhere."

Psychologists have proposed lots of different vehicles over the years.

Years that will get you where you want to go include grit, conscientiousness, self-efficacy, optimism, passion, and inspiration. They are all important. However, one vehicle is particularly undervalued and underappreciated in psychology and society: hope. Dr. Kaufman, in his article in Psychology Today, argues for the reality that hope motivates us to move forward.

Now, one of the challenges of moving forward is that, as we all recognize, and you don't have to look very far to find that this is true, we live in a broken and fallen world. The Bible makes that clear, but even without the Bible making that clear, all you have to do is look around you. We live in a broken, fallen world, a world that can sometimes leave you feeling pretty hopeless. Three thousand years ago, King Solomon of Israel observed that hope deferred makes the heart sick. At this present moment, in 2022 coming into 2023, we are witnessing heart sickness on an astronomical level. It is not good.

The heart sickness that people are experiencing, this hopeless heart sickness, is leading to, in huge ways, increased substance abuse and, unfortunately, increased suicide as well. This was already true before 2020, but it is especially true post-COVID. I had about a 30-minute conversation a couple of weeks ago with a friend of mine who is a sergeant in the local police department. He shared with me that this season has been super difficult for our law enforcement and emergency medical staff because they have been confronted by the effects of hopelessness like never before. He said we see it in a really impactful and heavy way.

But I want to remind you, or maybe let you know for the very first time if you didn't already know, that Christmas and the celebration of Advent, or the coming of Christ into this world, is also the celebration of the Advent of the eternal and abundant hope. This is a very important and good thing because the gift of hope is essential for life. Jesus's entrance into the world 2,000 years ago is the entrance of hope into a hopeless world. One of my favorite Christmas songs that we sing at Christmas time says, "Oh Holy Night, the stars are brightly shining; it is the night of our..."

Dear Savior's birth long lay the world in sin and error pining until He appeared, and the soul felt its worth. It says this: a thrill of hope, a weary world rejoices. We live in a weary world, a world that is weary because of the brokenness of sin. We see it all around us constantly, and Jesus coming into this world brings hope to a weary world and causes joy and rejoicing.

Before Christ came to this world, we were without hope. Paul says that very clearly in one of his New Testament letters, in Ephesians chapter 2. He writes, "Therefore remember that you once Gentiles in the flesh, who are called the uncircumcision by what is called the circumcision made in flesh by hands, that at that time you were without Christ." For some of you watching right now, you can remember a time when you were without Christ. Remember the time when you were without Christ, being aliens from the Commonwealth of Israel? You were not a part of the family of God and strangers from the covenants and promises. You did not have a covenant relationship with Him, and you did not have His promises, having no hope and without God in the world.

But now, in Christ Jesus, you who were once afar off have been brought near by the blood of Jesus Christ. Do you remember when you were without hope in the world? Maybe right now you're watching this; you just stumbled upon this video on YouTube, a friend sent it to you, or you saw it on social media somewhere. Perhaps you are at this present moment without hope in this world. But for some of you who have received Christ, you can remember when you were without hope. You did not have the promises that were for the people of God; you did not have a relationship with God. All of those things have changed because now Christ Jesus is the one who comes and brings hope. Jesus brings hope to a hopeless and broken world.

At this point, it is probably worthwhile to explain that the biblical concept of hope is different from what we often think of when we consider hope. For some people, hope is just kind of an optimistic feeling. However, the hope that we have in Christ is greater than just an optimistic feeling that everything will turn out well. For those of us who live in San Diego County, where I live and where I'm sitting right now, years ago we had this football team. They have since left us; they've gone to a different place and are kind of like an accursed anathema to us. But once upon a time, we had this football team here called the Chargers.

Unfortunately, the Chargers had this terrible pattern of starting off both the season and mini-games really well. You would come to halftime of a game, and they could be up by three or four touchdowns. They could be leading the charge and doing really well. As you're watching the game, you turn to your friend and say, "I have a really good feeling about this. I think we're going to win." Then the third and fourth quarters would come, and that optimistic feeling of hope would be dashed.

That's the kind of hope that some people have; they have that Chargers hope that they will win, sort of optimism. However, that is not what we are talking about when we discuss biblical hope. Biblical hope is greater than just an optimistic feeling. Not only is it greater than just an optimistic feeling, but it is also greater than wishful thinking.

There is another way to use the word hope, where it is just kind of like wishful thinking. This might get me into trouble, but I think most San Diegans feel the same about the Chargers. There is another sports team here in San Diego that sometimes inspires a wishful thinking kind of hope, and that is our beloved baseball team, the Padres. Many times, they will start off a season, or as we just experienced not too long ago, they will come into the run-up to the World Series, the postseason, and they will be doing really well. So much so that someone will say, "I hope that the Padres make the World Series," or "I hope that they will win this whole series." Then their hope is dashed.

That is a wishful thinking kind of hope. It is the same kind of hope that sometimes people express when they say things like, "I hope I win the lottery someday." That is wishful thinking. There is a kind of hope that resembles blind optimism, and then there is a kind of hope that is wishful thinking. But biblical hope is not just an optimistic feeling; it is not wishful thinking. Biblical hope is greater than that.

Christmas brings hope for an absolutely certain future or outcome. Two thousand five hundred years ago, the nation of Israel was in the midst of a seemingly hopeless and dark situation. They were already being exiled from their homeland in Israel, far away to Babylon, and the nation was in the midst of great turmoil.

In the midst of that, a prophet by the name of Jeremiah wrote a letter with a word from God to the children of Israel, to his people, to those who were about to be carried away into captivity and to those who were already in captivity, from Jerusalem to Babylon. He says this to them: God's word to his people who have been exiled into Babylon, going through a really difficult time.

In Jeremiah chapter 29, a very famous verse, God spoke to his people and said, "For I know the thoughts that I think toward you," says the Lord, "thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope." The future and hope that God promised to his people 2,500 years ago is the same future and hope promised to us today in Christ. They are not mere optimistic feelings or wishful thinking; rather, they are great confidence and a strong, trustworthy anchor for our souls, as I read back in Hebrews chapter 6.

In another place in the New Testament, the Apostle Paul writes that this certain hope given to us is a hope that does not disappoint. Wishful thinking often disappoints, and blind optimistic hope constantly lets you down. However, the gift of hope in Christ is a sure and steadfast anchor for our souls.

Having such great hope as a precious gift from our Father in Heaven, how should we respond? If we have this absolute certain hope—not wishful thinking or blind optimism, but absolute certainty that the outcome is going to come—what should be our response? The author of the book of Hebrews gives us a word in Hebrews chapter 10. He says in verse 22, "Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful."

Furthermore, he encourages us to consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much more as you see the day approaching. God has gifted us with a sure and certain hope, which is an anchor.

For our souls, this hope should be a reason for us to rejoice. We should have great joy and rejoicing in this hope, and we need to share this hope with other people. But having this kind of hope as a gift from God, how should we respond?

Well, the author of the Book of Hebrews gives us, I think, three ways in which we ought to respond. Number one, he says we should draw near to God. God has given us a promise that He will not go back on, and because His word is sure and steadfast, because His word will not be overcome, He will fulfill the promise that He made to us. So, we can have a strong, confident hope in His word, and as a result, that should make us draw near to God.

Not only should we draw near to God, but the author of the Book of Hebrews also says that we should hold fast to the faith. We should continue to hold on to our trust and our faith in God as we draw near to Him. Even if we go through difficult times, it is possible that you are going through a difficult time right now. In 2023, we are likely to face some challenging times. For certain, there will be people who go through really rough times, whether it’s difficult problems within their family, issues related to work, health problems, or whatever it may be. We are going to go through challenging things.

However, if we have a sure and steadfast hope in our God, who has given us His great word and promise, then we can draw near to Him and continue to trust in Him. So, first, we draw near to God in response to hope. Second, we hold fast to our trust, our confidence, and our faith in God.

Third, the author of the Book of Hebrews says that we are to encourage others to persevere and press on. We should enjoy that fellowship within the body of Christ, stir up one another to love and good deeds, and encourage people to maintain their relationships within the body. We have this strong confidence, this strong hope in God, and so we can encourage people to press on.

Finally, I'll close with this: if you look again at those final words in Hebrews chapter 10, verse 25, it says, "and so much more as you see the day approaching." As I mentioned earlier, from that article by Dr. Kaufman, Psychology Today observed that hope is not just a feel-good emotion, but it is a dynamic cognitive motivational system.

It motivates us to move forward. The gift of certain hope and the resurrection motivates our faith and faithfulness. God has given me, and He has given you, great hope in Christ. Such great hope is something to rejoice in, and it is meant to be shared with others.

I'm sure that you know a lot of people. I certainly know quite a few people who, at this very moment, find themselves without hope in this world. They may have a kind of blind optimism, thinking, "I really hope this works out," or wishful thinking, saying, "I'm really hoping for this bonus in the future" or "this job in the future." Whatever it is, those things have let them down before because that kind of hope disappoints.

But we have a certain, steadfast, confident hope that is found in Christ. As Christians, having received this great gift of hope from God and rejoicing in and enjoying that great hope that we have in Christ, we need to share that great hope with others.

As I mentioned previously in First Peter chapter two, you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, God's holy nation, His own special people. He has separated you, set you apart as His people, so that you would proclaim the praises of the One who called you out of darkness and into His marvelous light. He has given you great hope this Christmas, or in the lead-up to Christmas. If you know that hope, if you rejoice in that hope, if you have joy in that hope that God has given to you, then you need to share that with other people.

I guarantee you there is someone you work with, someone you go to school with, someone who lives next door to you, a family member, or a friend. There is someone who is lacking that kind of hope, and they need to see the light of that hope that is found only in Jesus Christ.

So I want to encourage you to take the opportunity. May God give you the boldness by His Holy Spirit to share that great hope with other people. Don't hoard it; don't hold on to it all for yourself. Freely you have received; freely give.

Father God, I pray that this season, where we are celebrating with one another, where we are giving and receiving gifts, and where we are remembering Your coming into this world, You would impress in a huge way on the hearts of those who know You, Your church, the reality that Your coming to this world brings us joy, hope, mercy, and grace. You have given us these great gifts in abundance for our joy.

Rejoicing for your praise and honor, you have given them to us so that we would share with other people. I pray that this week you would open doors of opportunity for my brothers and sisters to be able to share the good news of your hope with others. This is not just blind optimism or wishful thinking, but a sure and steadfast anchor for our souls that does not disappoint—the hope that you have given to us in Christ Jesus.

Jesus, we thank you for that kind of hope. Lord, help us to share it with others, we pray. We ask it in Jesus' name. Amen.

Silent night, holy night. Share this weekend. Oh, sing Hallelujah! The Savior is born. Christ the Savior is born. Silent night, holy night, with the dawn of redeeming grace. Jesus.

Jesus, Lord, at Thy birth.

Thanks for joining us for our broadcast today. I pray that you were greatly encouraged by it. We here at Cross Connection Church would love to invite you to join us in person next week on Sunday at 8:30 and 10:30 services. If you can make it, again, 8:30 and 10:30 services here at Cross Connection Church in Escondido, California. We'd love to see you there. Of course, if you want any more information about Cross Connection Church, check us out on our website, lifeinconnection.com. God bless you guys and have a wonderful week.

Good morning, Cross Connection! I want to take a moment and invite you to our Christmas Eve Eve service on December 23rd here in the sanctuary. Pastor Miles is going to share a message about Christmas and the birth of Christ. It's going to be a great time. We will have a kids' choir, and we have two service times that you can attend: one at five o'clock and one at 6:30. Make sure to invite some friends, family, and neighbors. We'd love to see you here at five o'clock and 6:30 on December 23rd.

On Christmas Day, which is a Sunday, we will have one service at 10:30. New Year's Day will also have one service at 10:30 on Sunday, so I hope to see you guys there. Between Christmas and New Year's that week, our church office will be closed. If you are a parent of junior high or high schoolers, we will also be taking a break on Wednesday night youth groups until January 4th, that next Wednesday. Just to let you guys know, we will be back meeting on January 4th for the youth group on Wednesday nights.

With that, I hope to see you guys here on Christmas Eve Eve, December 23rd.