Advent #3 Hope, Peace, Joy & Love

Most of you have probably been preparing for Christmas for a month. Some of you have been preparing for a couple of months. And a few of you may have been preparing since December 26 of last year.

We all have a different process of dealing with the big Christmas event. The way you prepared is probably based on how you’ve experienced Christmas in the past. And for some of us, our past

Christmas’s have been less than the most wonderful time of the year.

Maybe Christmas holds difficult memories for you, and maybe they come rushing back every year. For others, this year will be the first time that Christmas will be difficult...because of a loss.

Loss comes in many shapes and sizes. Loss of a job or career, which can, in turn, cause the loss of stability. The most difficult loss is that of a loved one. How are you doing this morning? If today finds you feeling a flood of emotions, such as hopelessness, anxiety, sadness or being unloved...I’ve got some really great news for you.

Jesus came into this world to bring hope to the hopeless, peace to people who are anxious, joy to those who are full of sadness and love to the ones who feel unloved.

You can experience this hope, peace, joy and love, here in this life. The key is to have an eternal perspective. Your eternal heavenly perspective, will determine your current earthly experience.

Colossians 3:1-4 “If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. 3 For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ who isyour life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.”

If you set your mind on the challenges here it will prevent you from having the hope, peace, joy and love that God has for you. To set you mind on something just means to focus on it. It’s like using a magnifying glass to read the fine print. When you focus

on the text using the magnifying glass...the text does not actually get bigger...but your perception of it does.

When you focus your mind on your problems, they don’t get bigger...but your perception of them does. And it’s also true that when you focus your mind on God’s word, it does not become more real or more true...but suddenly it looks much bigger than your problem. God’s word is not less powerful just because you don’t use it or believe it, and it also is not more powerful just because you start using or believing it.

Our perception does not affect God’s word...but God’s word will certainly affect our perception. The old saying is true. You don’t tell God how big your problem is, you tell your problem how big your God is. That is the right perspective to getting through a challenging season in your life.

Hope, peace, joy and love are the traditional Advent themes.

And if we are going to experience those in our life, we have to focus on what God’s word says.

Hope

Let’s start with hope. Do you feel that you have no hope? When you look around at your situation does it leave you hopeless? Hopelessness is a feeling you will experience if you keep your perspective focused on your situation. Here’s how you shift your perspective to focus on the eternal.

1 Thessalonians 4:13 “13 But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope.”

This verse is not saying we should not grieve for the loss of a loved one. Grief is ok, to grieve is healthy. But we are not to

grieve the same way that those without Jesus grieve, because they have no hope.

1 Peter 1:3-4 “3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you,”

We have the hope that through Jesus we have an imperishable (everlasting, eternal) undefiled (perfect) and unfading (never changing) inheritance in heaven. All those who died in Christ will have the same inheritance with us. This is the eternal perspective. Our grief should be accompanied with a great hope for a future reunion.

Our hope is not like blowing out a candle and making a wish. It is rooted in faith.

Hebrews 11:1 “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.”

The hope we have is assured by our faith in Jesus. This is how hope works in our life, it’s through faith.

Peace.

The opposite of peace is anxiety, and it can easily overwhelm and take control of people during the Christmas season.

There is the anxiety of the presents. What do I buy for them? What if they don’t like it? What if it doesn’t fit? How will I make the payments in January, when the credit card bill comes?

There is the anxiety of the family relationships. I don’t know what I’ll do when I see them. I know what they said about me and I don’t want to talk to them. They have treated me terribly and I can’t forgive them.

Do the presents and the people give you anxiety? That’s because you are not keeping an eternal perspective. You’re allowing yourself to have a perspective that is determined by your past experience. Anxiety is the result of focusing on yourself and how the situation makes you feel. Peace is the result of focusing on Jesus.

John 14:27 “27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.”

Jesus promised us peace. Would you like to have some? Jesus said you could have some of His peace that He left for us.

That sure sounds good, doesn’t it? Now how do we receive some of the peace that Jesus left for us? What is the eternal perspective that will allow us to access the peace of Jesus?

Isaiah 26:3 “You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you.”

When we trust Jesus, it allows us to keep our mind on Him.

Proverbs 3:5 “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.”

This verse again illustrates the kingdom principle of trusting God, which leads to peace and avoiding trusting your own knowledge, which leads to anxiety.

Have you ever seen someone do a trust fall team exercise? It’s where someone trusts a group of people enough to fall backwards and have faith that the people will catch them. It requires risk taking on the part of the one falling and faithfulness on the part on the ones catching.

It is a great illustration of the supposed risk we take when trusting in the faithfulness of God. Our God never fails. He is trustworthy. If He said it you can count on it. And He said He will keep you in perfect peace, if you trust Him. He said that His plan is better than your plan. He said that His ways are higher than your ways. Do you trust that?

Deuteronomy 7:9 “9 Know therefore that the Lord your God is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations,”

God has been keeping His word for thousands of generations.

When was the last time you were able to keep your word with zero wavering? Never? Me neither. That’s because we are flawed humans. But God is not like us. His promises are yes and amen.

2 Corinthians 1:20 “20 For all the promises of God find their Yes in him. That is why it is through him that we utter our Amen to God for his glory.”

God’s promises are a “yes”, because they are always fulfilled. And amen just means “so be it.” That’s why you can trust Him. Putting your complete trust in Jesus is how peace operates in your life.

Joy

We sing “Joy to the World” the Lord is come. But do we experience that joy? Are you feeling discouraged? Have your circumstances beaten you down into sadness? Are you carrying the weight of your current situation? What if sadness has over taken you, what do you do then?

Psalm 30:5 says “weeping may endure for the night, but JOY comes in the morning”

Morning isn’t just a time with an AM beside it. Morning is when the light comes and you wake up!

Are you spiritually awake? Could it be that we are still asleep because we don’t have the light or knowledge concerning what God’s word says about joy?

Psalm 126:5 “Those who sow in tears shall reap with shouts of joy!”

Isaiah 61:3 “3 To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he might be glorified.”

The way to have joy in a difficult situation is by praising the King. Praise turns our focus away from our circumstances and turns it to the One, who can turn it around.

I know it sounds crazy, but that’s because the world’s system has trained you to think that your sad situation requires a sad sound. The Kingdom key is a sound of praise! If you want to be free from the spirit of heaviness or sadness, you put on the garment of praise! It will bring the joy of the Lord.

I don’t mean just being in the room while others are singing songs. I mean really bringing Him a sacrifice of praise.

Hebrews 13:15 “Through Him then, let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that give thanks to His name.”

What is the fruit of your lips? Are you praising God? That is the kingdom key to having joy during a season of mourning and sadness.

Love

The last thing we will talk about today is love. I know it can be difficult to feel loved when you are alone. Maybe because of family issues, you don’t have anyone around this Christmas. How can we feel the love of Christ while living this experience?

Feeling unloved may be the most difficult feeling, but it’s probably the easiest to overcome. Her’s how you do it.

Hebrews 10:24-25 “24 And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, 25 not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.”

If you are here this morning, you have already taken the first step. If you are watching online and have not yet decided to show up in person, let me encourage you to make up your mind right now to do that. We will have a Christmas Eve service Tuesday at 3PM. Join us.

The body of Christ is here meeting together to encourage each other and to love each other. If you neglect coming to church and being around people who love God and love you, it will naturally cause you to feel unloved.

Proverbs 18:1 “Whoever isolates himself seeks his own desire; he breaks out against all sound judgment.”

You can’t isolate yourself and expect to feel loved. Satan loves to convince believers that that don’t need church. Have you ever heard someone say, “I don’t have to go to church to be a Christian.” That statement is 100% true. But it’s also true that you don’t have to live with your spouse to be married.

Something can be true and also a terrible idea at the same time.

Do you see the problem? Without being around the ones who love you, the feeling of love quickly dies and so does the relationship. Our love for each other is how we are to be known by those outside of the church.

John 13:34-35 “34 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. 35 By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

Jesus didn’t just suggest that we love one another, He commanded it. You can’t show up to church with an angry scowl on your face and expect people to run over and tell you how much they love you. I don’t know if you’ve ever met people, but that’s not how they work. You have a part to play in this equation. Show up, be loving and you will be loved.

It’s just that easy. I realize it may take some time to be comfortable with new people, but it’s the first step you have to take. Are you ready to experience Hope, Peace, Joy and Love? Keep an eternal perspective.