Amelia Church of Christ - Christian Church in Amelia, OH near Cincinnati in Clermont County

Welcome to the second week in our series called Searching. In this series we’re talking about things that everyone is searching for.

Christmas began with the search. After Jesus was born in Bethlehem, the Lord sent angels to announce His birth to a bunch of shepherds who were out in the field. In Luke chapter 2, the Bible says, “ 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.” (Luke 2:15, NIV)

As soon as the angels left, the shepherds said, “Let’s go! Let’s go see this thing that God has told us about! Let’s go find the Christ child!” Christmas began with the search, and that search is still going on today.

This series is based in Isaiah 9:6. “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” (Isaiah 9:6, NIV)

In this verse written 700 years before the birth of Christ, Isaiah gives the coming Messiah four different titles. He calls him Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, and the Prince of Peace.

In each week in this series were talking about one of the four titles that Isaiah gave to the coming Messiah. Last week we talked about Jesus as our Wonderful Counselor, which means that He is the answer to our search for direction.

Everybody wants direction. Specifically, everyone wants to hear the voice of God. Everyone wants to know the will of God. But apart from Jesus we will never hear the voice of God. And we will never understand the will of God.

This week, we’re moving onto the second title that Isaiah gave to the Messiah. The Messiah is Mighty God. Today, were talking about the search for hope.

There is no such thing as a person with no hope. As long as you are alive, hope is available.

In Ecclesiastes 9, the Bible says, “Anyone who is among the living has hope—even a live dog is better off than a dead lion!” (Ecclesiastes 9:4, NIV)

This verse reminded me of a pastor that told a story about one of his friends. Every time this guy wanted to zing someone, he would say, “I hope your dog dies.” When someone would poke fun at him, he would say, “I hope your dog dies.” That was his comeback.

Well one day he said this to a buddy, and then that buddy went home and discovered that his dog really had died. I don’t think that guy went around saying that anymore.

Now, I would never say that. I would never say that I hope your dog dies. I hope your cat dies. I’m kidding! Please don’t email me. I’m just kidding.

I know a lot of you love your pets. So this verse from Ecclesiastes feels kind of weird to us. We’ve got to understand that this was written in a different time period. In the Hebrew culture, dogs were despised. I know that’s hard for some of you to believe. You have a dog as a pet. Maybe you have several dogs. And you love your dogs. You buy Christmas gifts for your dogs. Your dogs have stockings hung above the fireplace.

That wasn’t the way dogs were viewed in Hebrew culture. Dogs weren’t pets. Dogs were scavengers. They were filthy, diseased animals that ate garbage.

On the other hand, lions were noble. They represented courage and honor. They were revered.

But in this verse, Solomon said, “You know what? A live dog is better off than a dead lion. Life means that you have hope, no matter who you are.”

No matter who you are…no matter what you’ve done…no matter what circumstances you’re facing…you can live with hope.

I want you to repeat after me. God is God. And God is good. God is God. And God is good.

When we live without hope, we believe one of those things is not true. Either God is not God, or God is not good. If we don’t live with hope in our lives, then one of those two things is not true for us. Either God is not God or God is not good. Because if God is God and God is good then we will live with hope.

When Isaiah prophesied about the coming Messiah, he said that he would be Mighty God. Jesus is our Mighty God. And he's also a good God. If God is God and God is good, then we can live with hope.

In Romans 15, the Bible says, “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” (Romans 15:13, NIV)

Did you see what this verse does? This verse makes a direct connection between the power of God and our hope. In fact according to this verse, we can only have hope through the power of God. The apostle Paul says that we can overflow with hope only through the power of the Holy Spirit, meaning that apart from the power of God there is no hope.

And we see that all the time, don’t we? Everyone is searching for hope, but most people are looking in all the wrong places. How many people do you see that are searching for hope in their money? Or in relationships? Or in positions of power? Or in sex? Or in their job? Or in their education? Or in their family?

Remember this poster from the 2008 presidential campaign? Barack Obama really latched on to this hunger for hope. He sensed the hopelessness in our country, so he promoted himself as the source of hope.

Here's the thing though…no politician can be the source of our hope. I don't care who it is. I don't care if they are a Democrat, Republican, Libertarian, Green Party, etc. It doesn’t matter what their political stripe is. If you are looking to a politician to be the source of your hope, you're a fool. They are people. They are flawed sinful human beings.

In Proverbs 11, the Bible says, “Hopes placed in mortals die with them; all the promise of their power comes to nothing.” (Proverbs 11:7, NIV)

No politician can be your hope. And any time you place your hope in a flawed sinful human being, you’re in trouble. Something to keep in mind as the election season really heats up in 2012.

The bottom line is if your hope comes from anything other than the power of God, you're going to crash and burn. Eventually things will fall apart for you. Our singular hope is rooted in God and in his power. Anything else is going to fall short. Anything else is going to disappoint and discourage and destroy us. Searching for hope anywhere other than God is going to be a spiritual death sentence.

But here's the good news… God is God and God is good and therefore we can live with hope. For some of you your life is going to change today. Because today, for the first time, you are going to put your hope in God. Others of you, you’re going to come back to God today. Were going to challenge you to hope in God for big things today. And why wouldn't you hope for big things when you have a God like ours?

In Luke chapter 1, we see just how big and mighty our God really is. God sent an angel to Mary to explain his plan for bringing Christ into the world. Mary was going to become pregnant through the power of the Holy Spirit. Not surprisingly, Mary had some questions.

Starting in verse 34, the Bible says, “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”

The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be barren is in her sixth month. For nothing is impossible with God.” (Luke 1:34-37, NIV 1984)

For nothing is impossible with God. Do you believe that? Do you really believe that? If you do, then you will live with hope. If you believe that nothing is impossible with God, then all of a sudden there’s no such thing as a hopeless situation, is there? If nothing is impossible with God, then hopeless is not even a word in our vocabulary.

So what are you hoping in God for today? Where have you placed your hope in God, where are you relying on him to come through? God is God, meaning nothing is impossible for him.

But not only is God God, but God is also good. In Romans 8, the Bible says, “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” (Romans 8:28, NIV)

Not only is God God, but God is also good. The Bible says that God works for the good of those who love him who been called according to his purpose.

Now notice what it doesn’t say. It doesn’t say that all things are good. Some of you are dealing with things in your life right now that are anything but good. This verse doesn’t say that all things are good. It says that in all things God works for our good. And that's why we can have hope.

We don't have hope because our circumstances are good. We have hope because our God is good. We have hope because in all things, good and bad, God is working for our ultimate good.

In all things….in every thing…even in the worst things…God is working for our good. That means that there is no such thing as a hopeless situation.

In Lamentations 3, the Bible says, “I remember my affliction and my wandering, the bitterness and the gall. I well remember them, and my soul is downcast within me. Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. I say to myself, “The LORD is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.”

The LORD is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him; it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD.” (Lamentations 3:19-26, NIV)

Sometimes the only thing we can do is wait. And that's hard for us because waiting time feels like wasted time. I'll be honest… I love Christmas, but one thing I don't love is the crowds. And specifically, I can’t stand waiting in long lines. But that seems to be all I’m doing lately. I wait in line at the store, I wait in line at the restaurant, I wait in line in traffic, etc. I hate waiting in these long lines because it feels like I'm doing nothing but wasting my time.

But sometimes in our lives, waiting is the only thing we can do. And for a lot of us, that waiting time feels like wasted time. But nothing could be further from the truth. Waiting time is not wasted time when we are waiting on God. When we are waiting in hope…when we are waiting because we believe that God is God and God is good…that’s not wasted time.

In Romans 8, the Bible reminds us, “For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.” (Romans 8:24-25, NIV)

There are seasons when waiting is the only thing we can do. But we wait in hope. We wait on God to come through. We wait on him because we believe that God is God and God is good. We believe that nothing is impossible for God. And we believe that in all things God works for our good. So we wait.

In Psalm 33, the Bible says, “We wait in hope for the LORD; he is our help and our shield. In him our hearts rejoice, for we trust in his holy name. May your unfailing love be with us, LORD, even as we put our hope in you.” (Psalm 33:20-22, NIV)

Somebody here today is ready to give up. You're ready to cash in your chips and walk away. God is simply not coming through for you and you’re about to lose hope.

Let these words from Psalm 33 permeate your mind and heart and spirit. We wait in hope for the Lord. He is our help, meaning he hasn't left us. He hasn't given up on us. He’s going to come through for us.

He is also our shield. Shields are defensive. God is your shield, meaning God's got your back. He is your protector. He is your defender. He is your shield.

We need to pray the same prayer that the Psalmist prayed. May your unfailing love…your love that knows no bounds…your love that never, ever leaves us…may that love always be with us even as we put our hope in you. God never let me forget how much you love me. Never let me forget the high price you paid for me when Jesus died for my sins. Always help me remember that if you loved me enough to give me your own son, you will never leave me. You will never give up on me. You will never walk away from me.

Repeat after me again. This time we’re going to add one more thing. Repeat after me. God is God. God is good. And God is with us.

In Matthew 1, the Bible says, “All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”).” (Matthew 1:22-23, NIV)

God’s Son would be called Immanuel. That name means “God with us.” There’s so much hope in the simple presence of God. When Jesus was born in Bethlehem, he was God with us. And today, over 2000 years later, He is still God with us.

Back in September, our family went to the Brown County Fair. Nicki and I are from that area, so we go back for the fair every year. Nicki goes to see people from high school.

I go to eat. I’m not gonna lie. I go to eat fried cheese and French fries and ribeye sandwiches.

Our boys go for the rides. This year, Ryan rode everything for the first time. This was the first year where he rode it all. The bigger and the faster the ride, the happier he was.

But it wasn’t always that way. A couple of years ago, Ryan was pretty skittish about the rides. He thought he was too big for the kiddie rides, but he wasn’t really sure of the bigger rides. So I thought, “The Ferris wheel. That’s the answer. It’s a big ride, but it’s not fast and crazy. That will work.”

So I asked Ryan, “Do you want to go the Ferris wheel with me?”

He said, “Yeah! Let’s go!”

So we got in line for the Ferris wheel. But as we got closer to the front of the line, Ryan’s attitude started to change. By the time we got to the front of the line, Ryan said, “I changed my mind. I don’t want to ride it.”

I said, “It’s ok, son. You’ll have a great time, I promise.”

But Ryan was adamant. “I don’t want to ride it.”

And in one of my prouder dad moments, I said, “Boy, I paid for these ride passes. You’re going!”

So we got on the Ferris wheel, and you know what happened? He loved it! In fact, when we got off the Ferris wheel, we got right back in line for it again.

The fear that once held him captive was now something that he rejoiced in!

But he would have never gotten on the ride in the first place if I wasn't willing to go with him. But the fact that he was going to be with his father gave him the courage to face his fear.

But now also notice this. Just because I was with him didn't mean that he still didn’t have to face his fear. I still made him get on that ride. I still put him in a situation where he was going to have to stare down his fear. I didn’t make it easy on him. I was with him, but I didn’t remove him from that situation. He was still in a situation that scared him.

I placed him in a situation that forced him to overcome his fear. This fear had no business controlling his life, and so as his father, I placed him in a situation where he had to overcome it.

God does the same thing for His children. So many times we are held captive by fear. And the fear paralyzes us.

“What if I am single for the rest of my life?”

“What if I try this tithing thing and go broke?”

“What if something happens to me and I cannot provide for my family?”

“What if I go on this mission trip and something bad happens to me?”

“What if our church moves and everything falls apart?”

You see where I am going, right? We’ve all allowed fear to control us to the point to where we beg God to pick us up and take us away from the fearful situation.

But a lot of times Jesus puts us right in the middle of the situation we fear the most to remind us of His presence. To prove His power. To reassure us of His faithfulness. And to remind us that we are to fear Him above anyone and anything else.

Maybe you need to start praying a different prayer. For a long time, you've been praying, “God remove me from this situation.” And it hasn’t happened. Maybe you’re praying the wrong prayer.

Instead, maybe you need to start praying, “God reveal yourself to me in this situation. God, I can’t do anything about this situation so I'm simply going to trust you. You are God. You are good. And you are with me. So I'm going to wait on You. I’m going to hope in You.”

Now, let’s add one more. Repeat after me. God is God. God is good. God is with us. God is victorious.

You can have hope because your God is a God of victory. It drives me out of my mind when I see people who claim the name of Christ and still live completely defeated lives. If you are living a life of defeat, then you don’t know Jesus. You know some pseudo-fabricated fake Jesus, but you don't know Jesus. Jesus is our Mighty God. He is a God of victory.

In Ephesians 1, the Bible says, “I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead…” (Ephesians 1:18-20a, NIV)

Jesus is a God of victory because he defeated the undefeatable force in our world. He defeated death. Jesus was crucified, but three days later he rose from the grave.

But now, did you see this? That same power of God that raised Jesus from the dead is now working in our lives. The apostle Paul said he wanted us to know the hope to which God has called us. That hope rests in God's incomparably great power for us who believe. And then Paul said that power is the exact same power that God used to raised Jesus from the dead. The same power of God that made the resurrection of Christ possible is of available in your life today. How can we not live with hope if that’s true? How can we possibly live a defeated life if that’s true?

In 1 Corinthians 15, the Bible says, “But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you.” (1 Corinthians 15:57-58a, NIV)

We have been given victory. Not victory future tense. Victory present tense. Not victory someday. Victory now!

And because of that victory, the Bible says, “Let nothing move you.”

What has moved you away from the hope of God? What have you allowed to move you outside God’s hope?

Is it your job? Or your lack of a job?

Is it your financial situation?

Is it a dream that has never happened?

Is it worry? Stress? Anger? Anxiety?

What has moved you away from God’s hope? The Bible says that your God is a God of victory. Not a God of defeat. And because of that, let nothing…let no thing…move you.

Let me go back to my original question. What are you hoping in God for? Are you hoping big? Are you hoping to see God comes through in an amazing, miraculous way? Are you placing your hope in his supernatural power instead of your own abilities?

Jesus is our Mighty God. It was prophesied 700 years before he was born. It was evident in the miraculous way that he was born. It culminated when he rose from the dead. He was mighty God then and he is mighty God now. Are you hoping in him?

Think about where we've been today. Think about the truth from Scripture that we have seen today.

God is God. He is undisputed, unrivaled, and unmatched. He is all-powerful. Nothing is impossible with Him. He is God.

But He is also good. Your circumstances may not be good. But your God is good.

And He is with us. He is Immanuel…God with us. You have never been and you never will be alone.

And He is victorious. His purposes cannot be defeated. He is a God of victory.

If all that’s true…if God is God, and God is good, and God is with us, and God is victorious…how can we not live with an intense, white-hot hope?

Hope is not some abstract concept. It is laser precise. Our hope emanates only from Jesus…our Mighty God. He is God. He is good. He is with us. And He is victorious.

So what are hoping for in Him? I’m talking really specifically. What are you specifically hoping in God for today?

In just a minute, we’re going to ask you to move to one of the stations around the room. You’ll find some Christmas ornaments and some markers. In just a minute, we’re going to ask you to go to one of those stations, take a marker and an ornament, and write your hope on the ornament. And then when you’re finished, come and hang the ornament on this tree.

Jesus is your Mighty God. What are you hoping for? Where are you waiting for Him to come through? What are you praying for Him to do? Where are you trusting Him to deliver you? Write that on an ornament. Write it is a prayer to Jesus, your Mighty God. And then come and hang it on this tree.

We’ve hung our hopes on a tree. We’ve done that because 2,000 years ago, our Hope hung on a tree. Jesus, our Mighty God, hung on a cross because it was the only way to give us hope.

In Ephesians 2, the Bible says, “Remember that at that time you were separate from Christ…without hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ.” (Ephesians 2:12-13, NIV)

At one time, we were without hope and without God. But because Jesus, our Hope, hung on a tree, everything changed. Those of us who have made Jesus our Savior and Lord know this is true. You know the change that Jesus brought into your life. You know the hope that you now have…the hope that you never had when you lived apart from Jesus.

Others of us have never experienced that hope because we’ve never fully surrendered to Jesus. Today can be the day when that changes. Today can be the day when you declare that Jesus is your Mighty God. And you can find the hope that is only available because He gave His life for yours.

Mike Edmisten

Tags: Christmas, hope, Isaiah 9, Jesus, Searching...,