Hope Part 1

Based on a Message by Pastor Kevin Rogler on November 24, 2013. To view the message on video in its entirety, click here.  Special music by Milt Carr.

This is a very simple message.  Just because truth can be simple doesn’t mean it’s not powerful.  Simple truth is very powerful.  Have you ever had your child say something to you at the very right time and it’s powerful?  They just say something and it’s like, yeah, I see that.  Today while I was preparing the message and preparing for things, I thought Lord, what can I say today, it’s not Christmas day, but we’re kind of getting ready for Christmas.  We know Christmas is on the way because of the preparation we see.  There is something telling us that something is about to happen.  It’s not a Christmas message.  Sometimes we hear a Christmas message on Christmas day, but it’s too late.  This message today may sound like Christmas, but it’s meant to prepare your hearts for the Christmas season.  Because it all builds up to that one day, December 25^th.  What happens to a lot of people after that day?  It’s a huge crash.  Maybe not for some, but for a lot of people it is.  Ah, but then we have New Years, party hardy, it’s not over yet, I’m not depressed yet, New Years is coming.  So, we get ready for New Years.  New Years comes and goes and then what happens?  Slump!  Maybe not for some of you, I see those halos floating right over your heads today.  Sometimes for me, it feels like a slump.  February, March, I know there’s another holiday somewhere in there, just bring it to me quick.

So, my message today is about hope.  What’s amazing is however much hope you have today, I’m going to show you, you can have more of it.  It’s all because what I have in my bible to share with you.  I’m a little old fashioned that I still get excited about what’s in here.  I still get stirred up because what’s in here is alive to me.  It doesn’t mean that I always get it right, it doesn’t mean I always understand it but that doesn’t change the fact that it’s alive and powerful.

Luke 2:8 - 20

⁸ And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. ⁹ An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. ¹⁰ But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. ¹¹ Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. ¹² This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”

¹³ Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,

¹⁴ “Glory to God in the highest heaven,
    and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”

¹⁵ When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”

¹⁶ So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. ¹⁷ When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, ¹⁸ and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. ¹⁹ But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. ²⁰ The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.

If shepherds are about to get some hope, then don’t you think you can get some hope in a hopeless situation.  They were minding their business, going to work.  Doesn’t say they were fasting, doesn’t say they were praying, doesn’t say they were seeking the Lord at that moment, they were just minding their business.  So, this is good news as you mind your business.  You have to remember, we have our bible we can just crack open and read, beginning to end, end to beginning.  They didn’t have that, they couldn’t just open their bibles and read revelation.  So, this was hope to them.  They had heard things.  They heard the messiah was coming, and now it’s fulfilled.  Have you ever hoped for something and then it is fulfilled?  The question is this, when it’s fulfilled, do you still hope for it?  That doesn’t mean you put your hoper away.  You always need to have hope, if not for yourself, somebody else needs to hear about it.  Maybe you’ve got it all together, but someone else out there needs your hope.  If you have some extra hope to spare, send it to me because I need it sometimes on a Wednesday or Thursday. 

Which the Lord has made known to us.  That’s powerful because I believe that there are things that the Lord has made known to you, you who are believers, you who are Christians, that hopelessness is trying to kill.  Maybe it was made known to you years ago, and in the distance between when it was made known to you and that it still hasn’t happened yet, in this distance called life.  Life is not what we wish it to be, life is where we are right?  In that distance we lose that hope sometimes.  Your hope, whatever you are hoping for, is still about to be fulfilled.  It’s not over yet.  I pray that God opens our eyes to this today.

The shepherds told everybody.  Just people minding their business, got some great news, saw it happen, told others and others marvelled.  They marvelled not at the shepherds, they marvelled at what the shepherds were saying, there’s a big difference.