Advent - Hope Restored
What is Advent? Hope/Love/Peace/Light– The word “Advent” is derived from the Latin word adventus, meaning “coming,” which is a translation of the Greek word parousia...the great anticipation of Santa Clause...Christ[1]
Problem - Heart Sick
Proverbs 13:12 (NIV) 12 Hope deferred makes the heart sick…ff
Hopes, dreams, wishes and desires – The enemy is a great attorney, always presenting the evidence...most of the time it’s fabricated. “We are made in the image of God; we carry within us the desire for our true life of intimacy and adventure. To say we want less than that is to lie.” - John Eldridge Quote
· Discouragement
· Despair
· Despondency/Depression
Our Tendency
Stop Praying/Stop Worshiping/Stop Following/Start Substituting
1 Peter 1:3-9 (NIV)
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 and into an inheritance 5 who through faith are shielded by God's power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. 6 In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. (RARE) 7 These have come so that your faith--of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire--may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. 8 Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, 9 for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.
Proverbs 13:12 (NIV)
Hope deferred makes the heart, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life.....We moment we get our eyes off of him and we begin to sink
Application
Worship -Spotify/Thankfulness “Email”
Word
Isaiah 55:8-13 (NLT2) 8 “My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the LORD. “And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. 9 For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts. 10 “The rain and snow come down from the heavens and stay on the ground to water the earth. They cause the grain to grow, producing seed for the farmer and bread for the hungry. 11 It is the same with my word. I send it out, and it always produces fruit. It will accomplish all I want it to, and it will prosper everywhere I send it. 12 You will live in joy and peace. The mountains and hills will burst into song, and the trees of the field will clap their hands! 13 Where once there were thorns, cypress trees will grow. Where nettles grew, myrtles will sprout up. These events will bring great honor to the LORD’s name; they will be an everlasting sign of his power and love.”
Song: My Hope is built on nothing less...on Christ the Solid Rock I Stand