Christian Hope in a Painful World

♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪ God and sinners reconciled ♪ ♪ Joyful all ye nations rise ♪ ♪ Join the triumph of the skies ♪ ♪ With angelic hosts proclaim ♪

♪ Christ is born in Bethlehem ♪ ♪ Hark the herald angels sing ♪ ♪ Glory to the newborn King ♪ ♪ Oh, glory in the highest ♪ Sing it. ♪ Oh, glory in the highest ♪ ♪ Hail the heaven-born Prince of Peace ♪ ♪ Hail the Son of Righteousness ♪ ♪ Light and life to all He brings ♪ ♪ Risen with healing in His wings ♪ ♪ Mild He lays His glory by ♪ ♪ Born the man no more may die ♪ ♪ Born to raise the sons of earth ♪ ♪ Born to give them second birth ♪ ♪ Hark the herald angels sing ♪ ♪ Glory to the newborn King ♪ Oh, glory to Jesus Christ. ♪ Oh, glory in the highest ♪ Sing it. ♪ Oh, glory in the highest ♪ ♪ Higher ♪ ♪ Sing it. ♪ Oh, glory in the highest ♪ ♪ Oh, glory in the highest ♪ ♪ Sing it. ♪ Oh, glory in the highest ♪ ♪ Oh, glory in the highest ♪ ♪ Oh, glory in the highest ♪ All glory to you, God. Jesus Christ, we love you.

Praise you. Praise your name. ♪ And I love you, Lord ♪ ♪ And for your mercy never fails me ♪ ♪ In all my days I've been held in your hands ♪ ♪ From the moment that I wake up until I lay my head ♪ ♪ Oh, I will sing of the goodness of God ♪ Come on, you know it. Sing it with me. ♪ And all my life you have been faithful ♪ ♪ And all my life you have been so, so good ♪ ♪ With every breath that I am able ♪ ♪ Oh, I will sing of the goodness of God ♪ ♪ Oh, I will sing of the goodness of God ♪ ♪ And I love your voice ♪ ♪ For you have led me through the fire ♪ ♪ In the darkest night ♪ ♪ And you are close like no other ♪ ♪ I've known you as a father ♪ ♪ And I've known you as a friend ♪ ♪ And I have lived in the goodness of God ♪ ♪ Oh, we sing all my life ♪ ♪ Because all my life you have been faithful ♪ ♪ Oh, you have ♪ ♪ And all my life you have been so, so good ♪ ♪ Oh, God, with every breath that I am able ♪ ♪ Oh, I will sing of the goodness of God ♪ ♪ Because your goodness is running after, running after me ♪ ♪ Yes, because your goodness is running after, running after me ♪ ♪ Oh, I plead to surrender now, I give you everything ♪

♪ Your goodness is running after me ♪ ♪ Your goodness is running after me ♪ ♪ Your goodness is running after me ♪ ♪ When the life is down, surrender now ♪ ♪ I'll give you everything ♪ ♪ Your goodness is running after me ♪ ♪ Cause all my life you have been faith ♪ Sing it out. ♪ In all my life you have been so, you're so good ♪ ♪ With every breath that I am able ♪ ♪ All I will sing of the goodness of God ♪ ♪ Oh yes ♪ ♪ Cause all my life you have been faith ♪ ♪ In all my life you have been so, you're so good ♪ ♪ With every breath that I am able ♪ ♪ All I will sing of the goodness of God ♪ ♪ Oh yes, all I will sing of the goodness of God ♪ Come on, let's sing it one more time. ♪ Cause all my life you have been faith ♪ ♪ In all my life you have been so, you're so good ♪ ♪ With every breath that I am able ♪ ♪ All I will sing of the goodness of God ♪ ♪ All I will sing of the goodness of God ♪ Good morning, church family. My name is Paige. My husband and I have been members here for about 15 years and we serve on the production team. Today, we are sharing in the lighting of the candle of hope as we begin our journey through the Advent season, celebrating the arrival of Christ our Lord.

A reading from the Gospel of John chapter one, verses nine through 14. The true light which gives light to everyone was coming into the world. He was in the world and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. He came to his own and his people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. And the word became flesh and dwelt among us and we have seen his glory. Glory as only son from the father, full of grace and truth. This is the word of the Lord. ♪ Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh ♪ ♪ Lift up your voice, fall on your knees ♪ ♪ All hail the reigning king of kings ♪ ♪ All nations and tribes, rulers and lords ♪ ♪ Come and bow low here at his feet ♪ ♪ Come worship Christ Jesus the king ♪ ♪ Come bow low here at his feet ♪ ♪ Bow before this true prince of peace ♪ ♪ Let heaven and earth come together as we sing ♪ ♪ Praise to the Lord most high ♪ ♪ Yeah, all glory to Jesus Christ ♪ ♪ Praise to the Lord most high ♪ ♪ With all of our hearts, all of our minds, all of our souls ♪ ♪ Let all of us sing praise to the Lord most high ♪ ♪ With heavenly hosts, angels and saints, come and exult ♪

♪ Let give praise, always worthy ones of God's love ♪ ♪ Worthy, worthy, come worship Christ Jesus the King ♪ ♪ And come bow before the true prince of peace ♪ ♪ Let heaven and earth come together as we sing ♪ ♪ Praise to the Lord most high ♪ ♪ Yeah, all glory to Jesus Christ ♪ ♪ Yeah, all praise to the Lord most high ♪ ♪ Yeah, all glory to Jesus Christ ♪ ♪ Always worthy, worthy, worthy, worthy of you ♪ ♪ All glory, all honor, all blessing and all power ♪ ♪ All wisdom, dominion, it's yours God forever ♪ ♪ All glory, all honor, all blessing, all power ♪ ♪ All wisdom, dominion, it's yours God, yes it is, yes it is ♪ ♪ All glory, all honor, all blessing, all power ♪ ♪ All wisdom, dominion, it's yours God forever ♪ ♪ All glory, all honor, all blessing, all power ♪ ♪ All wisdom, dominion, it's yours God forever ♪ ♪ All glory, all honor, all blessing, all power ♪ ♪ All glory, all honor, all blessing, all power ♪ ♪ All wisdom, dominion, it's yours God forever ♪ ♪ All glory, all honor, all blessing, all power ♪ ♪ We bow before the true friends of peace ♪ ♪ Who let heaven and earth come together as we sing ♪ ♪ Praise to the Lord most high ♪ ♪ All glory to Jesus Christ, always worthy, always worthy ♪ ♪ Praise to the Lord most high ♪ ♪ All glory to Jesus Christ ♪ ♪ Oh come worship Christ Jesus the King ♪ ♪ And come bow before the true prince of peace ♪ ♪ Let heaven and earth come together as we sing ♪

♪ Praise to the Lord most high ♪ ♪ All glory to Jesus Christ, all glory to you God ♪ ♪ Glory in the highest, you are worthy, you are worthy ♪ ♪ Yes you are worthy of all blessing and honor ♪ ♪ All glory and power to the Lamb who was slain ♪ ♪ Oh to the Lamb who was slain, you are worthy, you are worthy ♪ ♪ You are worthy, you are worthy ♪ ♪ I just lift up your song of praise to the Lord, he is worthy ♪ He is worthy, yes, so worthy, so worthy. Oh, how great You are. Oh, how great You are. Oh, how great You are. Oh, how great You are. Oh, how great You are. Oh, glory in the highest. Oh, so worthy, so worthy, so worthy. Hallelujah. Oh, come on, my soul. Oh, don't you get shy on me. Lift up your soul. Cause You've got a light inside of thousands. Oh, get up and praise the Lord. Yes, get up and praise Him. Oh, come on, my soul. Oh, don't you get shy on me. Lift up your soul. Cause You've got a light inside of thousands. Oh, He's worthy. He's worthy. He's worthy.

Oh, come on, my soul. Oh, don't you get shy on me. Lift up your soul. Cause You've got a light inside of thousands. Get up and praise the Lord. Yes, get up and praise the Lord. Oh, come on, my soul. Don't you get shy on me. Lift up your soul. Cause You've got a light inside of thousands. So get up and praise the Lord. So I fold up my hands. And praise You again. Cause all that I have is love. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. And I know it's not much. And nothing else is meant for a king. Except for a heart singing hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Oh, we praise the Lord. Hallelujah. You know, one of our main roles as pastors

is to help us as a community remain attentive to God. Remain attentive to what He's doing in us corporately, but also to remind you of what He's doing in you individually. In Psalm 95, what we began our service with says, let us enter His courts with thanksgiving and praise. And so I thought it would be appropriate this week as we close out our time of worship for me to just give you a couple of moments there at your seat. Whether through gritted teeth, maybe teary eyes, or maybe a big smile. I don't know what kind of season it's been for you lately, whether a mountaintop or a valley. I just want to give you a few moments. Just tell the Lord right there at your seat what you're thankful for. Just between you and God. Lord, tell the Lord this morning what you're grateful for. Almighty God, as we begin this Christmas season, we as a people are first and foremost thankful that you came. You dwelt among us. You died a death. We should have died. You were raised to new life so that we could experience new life. And we look forward to your return, oh Jesus. And Lord, we just are reminded as a church family this morning that all of our hope rests in you and you alone, King Jesus. So we come together this morning. We've worshiped. We've prayed. We are expectant.

We are ready to receive a word that you have for us this weekend. God, thank you for what you're doing in this community. Thank you for what you're doing in us. And it's in Jesus' mighty name we pray, everybody said amen. Let's give God praise one more time this weekend. As always, so good to worship with you. Hey, before we continue on with our service, would you welcome somebody around you to our gathering and then we will get on with the rest of our morning. Well, it is good to be here with you this weekend, church family. Those of you that love the cold weather, it is here. And man, it is officially Christmas season. We're looking forward to the end of the year with you. We'll tell you more about that in a moment. If I've not met you yet, my name is Chris and I'm one of the pastors here at Church on the Move Tulsa. Thank you for spending your weekend with us. You know, I know on a weekend like this, there might be family that you've stayed over from the holiday. Maybe this is your first time with us. Welcome, we're glad that you're here this weekend. We do wanna send you a gift just to say thank you for spending your morning with us. So if you would, if you'll take out your phone and text the word new to 23101, we'd love to send you a gift. Again, just to say thank you for spending your weekend with us.

And if you do decide to come back, we have a gathering that we host every single month around here called Next Move, where Pastor Witt shares a little bit of vision for what it means to follow Jesus in this community. But then also just other just general information around our ministries here. We share a meal together, we have childcare available. Our last Next Move of the year is happening December 14th after the 1130 service. So we would love to have you here in just a couple of weeks. You can get signed up for that by texting next to 23101. That just lets us know how much food to have prepared for you. And it will be in our new Next Steps room here in just a couple of weeks. In fact, the team finished this room, used to be the baptism room. This finished up this week. We're continuing to make progress. There are actually ceiling tiles up there now. This is a little bit of old footage, but everything is looking really good in this space. And we also, over the past couple of days with our expansion campaign, got glass in our main lobby. And so we've been able to make a lot of progress over the last few weeks. The team is working really, really hard. And I just wanna say thank you. As we are nearing two years of this focus campaign

to really plan for the future of Church on the Move, thank you for all of you that have been supporting this, that you've sacrificially given. Around here regularly as the people of God, we practice generosity. If you would like to partner with us financially around here, you can reach down in the seat back in front of you and grab a card that's in that seat back that walks through the three different ways you can partner with us. The easiest way to do so is to just text GIVE to 23101, follow the prompts. If you'd like to support our expansion campaign, you can text EXP. And this is really a time of year where we're able to really tap into our compassion offering, which is above and beyond generosity of you, that just helps us to take care of those in need. You can text CO to 23101 if you would like to partner with us in that way. As you prepare to do that this weekend, I wanna just make you aware of two upcoming events. The first one, and maybe the most pressing one, is Christmas here in just a few weeks. We will have eight different Christmas concerts for you this year. They're all the same service experience. We'll have four on the weekend, so two Saturday night at four and six.

If you sometimes attend Saturday night, we won't have the five o'clock, that will be at four and six. And then Sunday, those times are changing as well. We will be at nine and 11 that Sunday morning. We will then take Monday the 22nd off, have two services on the 23rd at four and six, and two more on Christmas Eve at four and six. So all the evening times are at four and six, and they are all the same experience. So you don't have to come to multiple unless you just want to, but they are all the same experience. We invite you to be thinking about people that you can bring with you. This is a great time to bring families, friends, neighbors, people may be looking for a church home, as we think it'll be a really fun time to celebrate Christmas as a church family. And then to point you ahead to the new year, for all the men in the room, we are hosting a Forming Men Conference. We are partnering with a pastor from New York called John Tyson. He pastors Church of the City, and he has a ministry called Forming Men that is dedicated to helping men live out their faith in this time and this age. And what does it really mean to follow Jesus in this culture as men?

And so this is gonna be a great opportunity for any of you looking to kick off the year and really just maybe to plant a flag in the ground and say, this is what following Jesus is gonna look for me into the future. So we'd love to be able to have you sign up for that by going to cotm.info. You can get tickets there. They are at a lower rate until January 25th. So you can get tickets again at cotm.info. I'm gonna pray over the rest of our service this morning, and then we're gonna hear from Pastor Gabe, one of our teaching pastors, as we dive into week one of Advent. Dear Lord, thank you. Thank you for the opportunity we have today to receive your word, to worship, to praise. Lord, to be reminded of the reality that you came, you made yourself man, and you dwelt among us. So God, we thank you this morning for the word that we're gonna hear from Pastor Gabe. It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Well, good morning, Church on the Move. So good to be with you. I wanna take a second and welcome. our men at Dick Conner, our women at Eddie Warrior. We have two churches in prisons, which is just an incredible thing. They are a part of our family,

and so could we just welcome them joining us, to all those joining us online, also such a privilege to be here. Happy Thanksgiving, you made it, you made it through. You ate all the food, and you can still fit into your grownup clothes, so I commend you for that, what a gift. It's a pleasure to be here, beginning Advent, our journey towards Christmas. Four themes of Advent, four weeks, we will be in this series, talking about hope, peace, joy, and love. And our focus this morning is on hope. Now before I get into the message, there are just a couple of little obstacles, little hindrances that I have observed that can affect our reception of this topic, and really just the messages of this season. The first hindrance to the Advent season, for some, is unfamiliarity. And it isn't just people who are unfamiliar with church. I find that people who are unfamiliar with church come in understanding that there are things that they're not aware of, and so there's a general receptivity. But I would say more people who are unfamiliar with church history, more unfamiliar with this tradition of Advent. I know this, for me, in 2018, when my family and I moved back to Tulsa from Los Angeles.

During the time we were gone, my dad had passed the church to my brother, and the church started celebrating Advent. Advent wasn't something that I had heard of, at least not like that. And so I remember coming back and hearing about Advent, and I was thinking, so are we Catholic now? Is that what's happening? We're going into the Latin, we robes and incense, what's going on here? Well, I know that there are people who are unfamiliar with the church tradition of Advent, and Advent just means arrival. It's his coming. It's his coming 2,000 years ago, we remember, we celebrate. But it's also anticipation for his coming in the future. And this has been celebrated church-wide since the third or fourth century, so this thread has been going on for a long time, and we are anchoring in what Christ's communities have been anchored in for centuries. Now, as Americans, we don't often think of ourselves in the context of history. We're a relatively young country, we're a melting pot. We come from all different places, and if we're honest, it's just really not our style. We don't think too much about history because we're too busy making it, right? You know, that's kind of how we feel as Americans.

But it's important for us to anchor ourselves in history, in tradition. It helps us know where we fit, and we're not just disassociated with this thread, but we are just part of a larger story, and so unfamiliarity can be an issue, but so can familiarity. Jesus said this to his disciples in Matthew 13. They asked him, why do you speak to them, the crowd, in parables? And he answered them, to you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. To the one who has, more will be given, and he will have an abundance. But from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. This is why I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. Indeed, in their case, the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled that says you will indeed hear, but never understand, and you will indeed see, but never perceive. It can seem a little bit unfair. I've read this and thought this doesn't seem right, that some people are given the gift of revelation, and other people are not given the gift of revelation, but he expounds upon this idea,

and explains it here in the next verse. For this people's heart has grown dull, and with their ears they can barely hear, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and turn, and I would heal them. There's a progression here to have eyes opened, ears opened, your heart understands, and then you turn. And Jesus says the reason why we don't turn, and our heart doesn't understand is because our eyes are closed. Our hearts have grown dull. This is on us to have a heart that is receptive to this message, and the familiarity of the Christmas message can cause us to in some sense grow numb to it. We've heard this so many times before. There is a repetitive nature to this season, and if we're honest, it can be a little bit lackluster to us. I know this years ago, I started reading my Bible in January and thought I'm going to go through and read the Bible in a year. And I began the program, of course, with Genesis 1, and whenever I get to the creation account, if I'm honest, I just thought I would love to skip all of this because I know this so well. I've read this so many times. In essence, I'm saying there's really nothing in this for me because I am so familiar with

it. There's no appropriate response to the word of life. The word lives, and it has something for us. It always has something to teach us. And so I realized this while I was reading the beginning of Genesis and just closed my Bible and prayed a prayer to the Lord, Lord, give me fresh eyes. I lack a passion for this. I have grown a little bit numb to this. Give me fresh eyes so that I can see this the way you want me to see that. And I feel like that's important for us to do before we proceed, before we move into this series, that we would say, Lord, give us fresh eyes as a Christ community to approach Advent properly, not just as a Christmas season that's festive and that we're celebrating the holiday, but that we would receive what is there and has been given to us. So would you join me in doing that, please? Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for your goodness and faithfulness to us. Thank you for the revelation of your word that is before us. Lord, we ask you to open our eyes. We ask you to give us fresh eyes. We ask you to open our ears. We turn our heart towards you. May it not be dull or numb, but may it be receptive. We sit in humility before your word, ready to receive. Thank you for sowing seed that will produce much fruit. This is our prayer of faith. And everyone said, Amen. Isaiah 9, 6 and 7, two very familiar verses, says this, it's prophetic. For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government shall be upon his shoulder and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and of peace, there will be no end.

And on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore, the zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this. A little context. This prophecy comes 600, 700 years before the birth of Christ. It comes to Israel at a very dark time. They were being oppressed by their neighbors. The Assyrians had crushed much of their land. The kingdom was divided. They were spiritually lost. And there were many in the land who were crying out for a solution, a savior, someone to rescue them. And God inserts light into this moment of darkness and provides hope for these people. These people who were deeply longing for a solution, deeply longing for a savior. Now we live in the reality, at least the partial reality, the partial fulfillment of this prophecy. These people waited with great expectation and anticipation for this coming savior who would not come in or near their lifetime. But God inserted this prophecy that they would look forward and hope that God saw his people and that he would respond by bringing light into darkness. And that's what we do during this time. We celebrate. This isn't just the holidays, although it's very easy to get lost in the holiday shuffle. We are also remembering the solution that came 2,000 years ago. Light came into darkness as our savior was born. It is the greatest gift that could be given. And salvation is available to us all because of this great gift. And we remember, we sing songs about, we decorate, we put lights on our house. Not everyone who does it does it with this in mind, but it's light entering into darkness. There is a glow of Christmas into the darkest time of our year. We recognize that light comes into darkness.

We see nativity scenes. We sing carols about the birth of our savior. We remember. We celebrate. But it's more than that for us. It's more than just looking back, and we will talk about the birth of our savior more and more in the coming weeks. But it's more than that. Our hope is not just in what has been. Our hope is in what will be. And we too are meant to be a people filled with great anticipation. And we understand anticipation. this time of year, we get it, because we were all kids. For me, as a kid, Christmas, if I had to sum it up in one word, it summed up in anticipation, just great anticipation. And not just great, painful anticipation, because time just seems to loiter when you're little during this time of year, and as you get closer and closer to Christmas, I remember Christmas Eve just like suffering through it, just hurt so bad. You see the presence, and you just can't wait, because you have no perspective, and you're just like, I can't, it just hurts so bad, and it hurts so bad that I'm almost to the point where I'm not responsible for what I'll do next, you know? I'm outside of myself. I remember one particular year, I was looking around the tree, and there was one little package there for me waiting, and my mom put it out there early,

and I remember seeing it had my name on it, and I had asked for a box of baseball cards, and this package seemed to be that. I could pick it up, I could kind of tell, I'd shake it a little bit, and I'd think, this is baseball cards, and I couldn't wait. I couldn't wait, I wouldn't wait. My parents went out of town, and they put a babysitter in charge over us who was not near the watchdog that my parents were, and so I remember grabbing this box, and I remember sneaking into my dad's closet, and I revealed this to him last night while he sat there on the front row. He didn't know. And I took this thing in, and I just wanted to sort of test it, is this what I think it is, and it was, and I couldn't wait, and so I brought a little razor blade, an X-Acto knife in there, and just with surgical precision, I opened it up, and I just wanted to see the box. At least, that's how it started. I wanted to see, and so I looked in there, and I saw, it is what I thought it was, and I was so excited, I couldn't wait, and I realized that I could fit my little fingers in there, and I could extract one package of cards, and I did that, and I pulled it out, and I put it in my pocket, and I put it in my pocket, and I did that, and I pulled it out, and I taped it back together,

and I put it back under the tree, and I went, and I hid, and I opened it up with great anticipation, only to be let down incredibly because there wasn't one good card in the pack. And so I went back to the well. I went back to the well like 10 times during the season. On Christmas morning, when I opened that box, I had to do it sort of quickly and in secret because it was half full. I had already taken half of the, I could not wait. Great anticipation. Now, a lot of the time whenever we approach the Christmas season, we think of the gift of Christ as that. A gift, and it is a gift, and you can see this in Isaiah 9, the beginning of six, for to us, to us, a child is born to us. A son is given, it's a gift. Jesus is a gift to us, but with a critical distinction. Most Christmas gifts are superfluous. They're not necessities for life. It's not critical that we have them. I never opened up a present as a kid, and it was like, oh, thank you, Mom. Clean water, you know, that wasn't really under the tree. Although, some parents do like to give necessities at times, underwear, socks. I do this with my son. I give him underwear and socks for Christmas,

and it's sort of a dirty parent trick, right? Because it's like it's supposed to be part of the budget line item anyway, but you just add it in to just sort of beef up the Christmas experience. Look at what I've done for you. I've given you things that I'm required by law to give you, you know? But by and large, Christmas gifts are just, they're a greatly appreciated addition. We're incredibly thankful for them, but they're luxuries, they're extras, they're things that maybe we wouldn't buy for ourselves, but there they are, and we're thankful for them. And if we're honest, from time to time, we view not just the birth of Christ, but specifically his coming as a gift, a gift we're grateful for, but not necessarily something that feels like it is critical for our well-being. And we are called, as Christians, to view everything in our world through the lens of his coming. Because he came 2,000 years ago, he will come again, and our life is not just meant to be a comfort here and now where we are in many ways trying to bring what is unfamiliar into the familiar, and this is kind of the tendency for us because heaven or the hereafter, the second coming of Christ,

can be a difficult concept to grasp. I remember as a kid thinking of heaven, trying to understand what it was like, asking questions, and most of it was just centered around whether or not I could fly. That was what it was about. Will I be able to fly in heaven as if God's great work of salvation was just simply to make us all like Peter Pan? You know, we can all sort of fly around. And as you get older, you try to understand it. What's it gonna be like? What are we going to do? What is heaven? like, and we have a difficult time understanding it, plus it feels very far away. And so our tendency is to try to find what heaven promises fulfillment wise and bring that fulfillment into our time here on the earth. We want to be fulfilled. We want to be satisfied. And so part of the reason for our distance from the anticipation of his coming is that we are seeking fulfillment here and now. We want to be satisfied now. And I don't condemn that. That's a normal human function. But the reality is that fulfillment doesn't exactly exist on this side of heaven. Not really. The older you get, the more you realize that life isn't fair. The more you live, the more you realize that life is filled with hardship, regret, there are difficulties. Some of these difficulties are reconciled. Some of these difficulties God redeems on this side of heaven, but many of them remain unreconciled. We're wounded. All of us in different ways. We don't always pay attention to this, some more than others. Some of those wounds we receive from other people. Some of those wounds are wounds that are self-inflicted. And there's pain there. And usually what I find is the more pain someone experiences, the more they long for heaven.

The more they long for Christ's coming. And no doubt in this room we have varied response. There are people in this room who are in relative comfort. Life is going well. There are people in this room where life has been difficult lately and you're here in a sort of desperation trying to find God. And the reality is that God is good, absolutely good here and now. But there are also things that are not meant to necessarily be resolved on this side of heaven. There are issues that won't be resolved this side of heaven because earth is not heaven nor is it meant to be. This is why we are called to be a people of expectation. Look at this in 1 Peter 1.13, prepare your minds for action and exercise self-control. Be sober. Put all your hope in the gracious salvation that will come to you when Jesus Christ is revealed to the world, the gracious salvation that will come. We think of salvation as something that has come and it has. But it is not fulfilled completely. Salvation has come but it also will come. It is already but not yet. There is a salvation coming and we are meant to put all of our hope in that, not all of our hope, in chasing our earthly dream that if we could just get this then we would find fulfillment. We are called as Christ followers to live transitory on this earth. Titus 2.11 says this, for the grace of God has been revealed bringing salvation. It has come. Jesus was born. He died. He's resurrected. Salvation has come to all people and we are instructed to turn from godless living and sinful pleasures. We should live in this evil world with wisdom, righteousness, and devotion to God while we look forward with hope to that wonderful day when the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, will be revealed. He's saying we're not meant to embrace this earth. This earth is evil. It doesn't mean that everything around us all the time is evil and we should go hide out from the earth but we're meant to live this life with perspective, that we were not meant and made for this life. And this is important because this helps us deal with pain. This helps us deal with disappointment because our eyes are not just on the here and now, at dreams, unrealized, and desires unmet. We don't know what to do with that. It breaks us down. We see this in 1 John 3.2, dear friends, we are already God's children but he has not yet shown us what we will be like when Christ appears. But we do know

that we will be like him for we will see him as he really is. When Christ appears in the cloud, when he comes again, we will, in the blink of an eye, transform to be like him. And this is meant to be our hope. And this is hopefully a moment of conviction to some degree to say that we're not meant to just embrace life the way everyone else embraces life, to live the way everyone else lives. We're not meant to just accumulate the way everyone else accumulates, hoping that the accumulation will bring us some measure of peace because peace is what we seek. Peace is found in degree here and now, but mostly peace will come. And so there's a trouble that we experience. There are difficulties that we experience. And the scripture calls this suffering and no doubt in this room. If we were to sit down and we were to talk, I'm sure every single one of you could divulge places of pain in your life. And this is not meant to be an elevation of just personal struggle. It is just the simple reality of humanity, that we all have pain. We have struggle. There are things that are unresolved in us, and we like to heap life on top of those things so that they're numbed a bit, but they are there, in many cases, unreconciled. Romans 8, 18 says this, yet what we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory he will reveal to us later. There is a glory coming, but the writer of Romans does not say that suffering isn't really suffering or that you shouldn't suffer. He says you do suffer, but that suffering will disappear in light of what's coming. And this is what I know and believe of God. That the goodness of God and what's coming in his second coming is not just the beginning of peace, but it is a peace that is retroactive, that has the power to go back into your past and resolve the pain, the things that we hold in tension, the tension of what we've experienced

versus the truth of who God says he is. I've been married to my wife, Summer, now for 25 years. We have two wonderful children. My daughter, Jane, is 23 years old. She's a senior at Oral Roberts University. My son, Charlie, is 21, and he's also a senior at Oral Roberts University, and they're wonderful kids. I could not be more proud of them. I could not be more thankful for them. But my wife, Summer, and I, we always dreamed of having more kids. We had our kids when they were young. We wanted more kids, and we tried for more kids, and we have more kids. They're just not here. We have four kids in heaven, and, excuse me, we long for them. I know that there are people who desire kids who don't have kids. I understand that. And I, in one hand, hold unbelievable gratitude for the children that I have. I am fully grateful for them and realize I do not deserve it. But there's also a tension. There's a tension of loss. There's a tension of what could have been. Children are a gift from God, and there are the questions, why? Why could we not have more kids? I'm now 47 years old, and Summer is younger. And that window has closed. For years, we lived with hope, years. And our life has taken us in all these different places. And honestly, I'm sure the stresses of all of that have been a contributor to the difficulty. And for that, I have regret.

I carry that with me. I feel, as husband, that if I could go back, I would do it different. I trust God. I trust in his goodness. I know that he's good, and I know that it will all be made new. But it's not yet. And within the not yet, there's a pain. And that pain is something that we often try to disassociate with. No one wants to live focused on pain. We know people who live focused on pain. And if you focus on your pain and what you don't have, you don't get up. And so we get up, and so we live, and we move, and we fulfill purpose, God willing. But I think that many Christians have a difficulty facing their pain because it doesn't make sense to them. How can God be good? And so, in order to keep good God on the throne, we have to diminish our pain. We have to kind of brush it off. We have to talk about why it existed because it just actually... makes more sense this way. But it's not necessarily the case. Because two things can be very true, and they are. God is every bit of who he says he is. And earth is not heaven. But there's a peace coming. A peace where there is no end. There is a goodness coming. A goodness that does not end. And how is this done? How does it come to be? We see this in Romans 8, 23. And we believers also groan, even though we have the Holy Spirit within us. We are saved, but yet we groan the Spirit as a foretaste of future glory. For we long for our bodies to be released from sin and suffering. The reason why earth is not meant to produce utter fulfillment is because on earth there is still sin and suffering. And the only way that peace can exist is when sin and suffering are dealt with in totality. And this is why Christians are meant to have an eye towards heaven always. It is the lens in which we see the world. Because the world is filled with sin and suffering. And maybe for you, you would go,

my life hasn't been marked by suffering. I'm doing pretty good. But your brothers and sisters around you, there is suffering. There is hardship in this earth. And we are not meant to go, well, I'm good and that's all that matters. So take your time, Lord. We're meant to be a body. We're meant to be anchored, to be connected to the thread of history in Christ's communities throughout our world and throughout time who long to be released from the sin and the suffering. And Isaiah prophesies the solution. He says this, of the increase of his government, of his order and of peace, there will be no end. He will establish it and uphold it with justice and with righteousness. This is the remedy to sin and suffering. Righteousness as a remedy to sin, to your sin, to the weight we carry as we follow God and try to follow God and yet we still stumble, we struggle, that righteousness has been given as a gift of grace. And for that, we are and will be eternally thankful. Righteousness given to us. Our hope is in what he's done, but our hope is also in what he will do. What has not been given yet is justice. We await justice. The answer to the pain you've experienced, the answer to the brokenness in the world. If God is good, how could he let all this happen? He has let it happen, but he will not leave it undone. And justice will come to the earth. And this is who our Lord is. And this is what we are to long for. We are to be a people of deep longing and great anticipation. Our hope into the future. Our hope to Jesus. And this is what it says, and I'll close with this in Romans 8, 23-25. We too wait with eager hope for the day when God will give us our full rights as adopted children including the new bodies he has promised us. We were given this hope when we were saved. If we already have something, we don't need to hope for it. But if we look forward to something we don't yet have, we must wait patiently and confidently. This is something we don't yet have, which means we cannot find fulfillment. But we can have hope. And we wait. And God is with us in the waiting. And he is with us as we walk. And he is pointing us to what will be. And it is better than anything you can imagine because he loves you more than you could ever fathom. And what he has for us has not yet entered into our thinking. It is so far above us. This is the message of Christmas, and this is how we begin with hope. Hoping what he did. Hoping what he's doing. Will you bow your heads please? Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for calling our names. Thank you for writing our names in your book. Thank you for calling us to be your children. Thank you for the promise coming. The resurrection of the dead. The redemption of life. That all things will be made new because of the gift of your son and his sacrifice. We put our hope in that fully. And if there's anyone in this room

who has not done that, your hope is not in. the Lord Jesus, but you have lived life in a different way. I don't condemn you for this, but this is a moment of opportunity. It is an invitation of grace to you. The Spirit of God moves throughout the room, to those watching and listening online. The Spirit of God stirs the heart. If your heart is stirred in this moment, you know you're not right with God, you know. You don't have a relationship with God, you know it. Even though in this moment there's a part of you fighting against this because it's uncomfortable, it can be scary, you don't know what to do with it exactly, but we'll give you a step and if the Spirit is stirring your heart, that's God. God is doing this. He's calling you right now. This is not an opportunity nor an invitation to pass up. So if you would say, that's me. That's me and I'm willing to do something about it. Right where you sit on the count of three, I want you to lift your hand and lift it boldly. One, two, three. Any hands? I see your hand back over here to my left, sir, in the red shirt. You can put it down. I see hand back over here. Where am I looking, guys? I can't see. Oh, right here. Young lady to my left, I see your hand. Thank you. You can put it down right here. You can put it down. Anyone else over here? Right back here, I see your hand to my right. You can put your hand down. It looks like there's another, I'm having a hard time seeing. Over here, I want to find you. Where am I looking, guys? I'm so sorry. Okay, right back over here. Way over here. Yes, I see your hand. Thank you. You can put it down. Praise God. This is God's great gift of grace and love. He loves us so much. Now, church on the move, whether you lifted your hand or not, we're gonna pray a prayer, a prayer of surrender, a prayer of submission. I'm gonna ask you to repeat this prayer of faith after me. Say this, Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for loving me, for sending Jesus to live for me, to die for me. You resurrected him. Resurrect me. Give me new life. Put your spirit in me. Change me from the inside out. From this day forward, you are my focus. I walk after you, my Savior, my King, my Lord. Thank you for saving me. Now, Lord, I thank you for your word. It is powerful, transformative. It finds lodging places all over this room, all over those

watching us online. I thank you for the seed of your word, and it will produce. It will produce. May we have eyes to see and keep our focus this holiday season as we move towards you with hope, with great expectation, and anticipation. Thank you for your goodness to us all. And it's in Jesus' name we pray, and everyone said, Amen. Amen. Will you stand to your feet, please? We're going to dismiss here in a second. Before we do, I want to let you know that we'll have prayer partners down front. If you lifted your hand, we would love to pray with you. If you have a need, we would love to pray with you, to join our faith with yours. This is what the family of God is for. We carry each other's burdens. Don't walk out carrying this alone. We're here. We would love to pray with you. Now, I'll pronounce a blessing over you, then we'll dismiss. You can say this with me if you like. The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make a space to shine upon you and be gracious to you. The Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. God bless you. Have a wonderful week. ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪

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