WEBVTT 00:00:09.940 --> 00:00:12.699 Hey everyone, this is Josh from Encounter Church, 00:00:12.880 --> 00:00:15.279 Henley, and thanks so much for tuning into our 00:00:15.279 --> 00:00:19.000 podcast. Our prayer is that through this podcast, 00:00:19.019 --> 00:00:20.839 you can have an encounter with Jesus that'll 00:00:20.839 --> 00:00:24.359 change your life. And now get ready for an inspiring 00:00:24.359 --> 00:00:28.579 message from our preaching team. Henley, how 00:00:28.579 --> 00:00:32.740 are we doing? Good. Hey, if we haven't met before, 00:00:32.799 --> 00:00:35.219 my name's Mike. I am kind of one of the passers 00:00:35.219 --> 00:00:39.299 here. I am... I had the privilege with my wife, 00:00:39.439 --> 00:00:42.219 Jenny, to be the lead passer over in counter 00:00:42.219 --> 00:00:44.579 Adelaide. So I'm at Enfield in Henley, but I'm 00:00:44.579 --> 00:00:46.380 at Enfield most of the time, and most of you 00:00:46.380 --> 00:00:49.060 know that anyway. So I won't dwell on that too 00:00:49.060 --> 00:00:52.520 much, but how good is it to be here? Be by the 00:00:52.520 --> 00:00:56.560 beach and see all your smiling faces. Enjoy whether 00:00:56.560 --> 00:00:59.899 that's not too hot and not too cold. Man, shirts 00:00:59.899 --> 00:01:03.159 and jeans in November. What a dream. So it's 00:01:03.159 --> 00:01:06.859 Christmas. Big Christmas fans, anybody? Yeah. 00:01:07.260 --> 00:01:09.980 Yeah, I love Christmas. The carols, the presents, 00:01:10.340 --> 00:01:13.180 the annual tinsel war between Passegen and Emma. 00:01:14.340 --> 00:01:17.829 What have you got planned this year? You haven't 00:01:17.829 --> 00:01:19.189 planned anything yet, have you? No, you haven't 00:01:19.189 --> 00:01:22.269 planned anything yet. Okay, so it's great, but 00:01:22.269 --> 00:01:24.510 this is legendary. Ask Emma. It goes back a long 00:01:24.510 --> 00:01:28.250 time. And this is great to be able to kick off 00:01:28.250 --> 00:01:30.969 our Christmas series, The Gift That Keeps On 00:01:30.969 --> 00:01:33.689 Giving. And I wanted to do that by using the 00:01:33.689 --> 00:01:36.109 framework of the classic Charles Dickens novel, 00:01:36.269 --> 00:01:38.629 A Christmas Carol. People familiar with The Christmas 00:01:38.629 --> 00:01:41.349 Carol? Obviously, it's based on the legendary 00:01:41.349 --> 00:01:44.849 Muppets movie, The Muppets Christmas Carol. And 00:01:44.849 --> 00:01:46.790 Dickens then adapted that to a book, I believe, 00:01:46.969 --> 00:01:49.909 afterwards. And it's a story about wealth and 00:01:49.909 --> 00:01:52.150 loneliness and the things that really matter. 00:01:52.530 --> 00:01:54.790 And perhaps most famously, the thing we take 00:01:54.790 --> 00:01:57.799 from the ghosts of Christmas is past and present 00:01:57.799 --> 00:02:00.239 and future. So what I'm going to do is share 00:02:00.239 --> 00:02:02.280 a message about hope today and try and push it 00:02:02.280 --> 00:02:04.040 into that framework. And then you guys can tell 00:02:04.040 --> 00:02:06.319 me afterwards if it lands or not. But that's 00:02:06.319 --> 00:02:08.860 the aim today. And I want to talk about the way 00:02:08.860 --> 00:02:12.280 we tend to get haunted by the ghosts of our past 00:02:12.280 --> 00:02:15.180 and our present and our future and how this impacts 00:02:15.180 --> 00:02:18.039 the way we interact with the idea of hope. Is 00:02:18.039 --> 00:02:20.159 that all right? Good. All right. I'm going to 00:02:20.159 --> 00:02:22.460 pray and then we're going to get into the teaching 00:02:22.460 --> 00:02:26.759 texts. Let's pray together. Loving God, as we 00:02:26.759 --> 00:02:31.520 gather together on this last day of spring, we 00:02:31.520 --> 00:02:34.439 just want to be ready for what you do. We're 00:02:34.439 --> 00:02:36.740 coming into Christmas, Lord. We're in Advent. 00:02:37.060 --> 00:02:40.439 The King is coming. And as we look ahead to that, 00:02:40.479 --> 00:02:43.000 Lord, we want to look out above and beyond ourselves. 00:02:43.020 --> 00:02:45.300 We want to look to something that is bigger and 00:02:45.300 --> 00:02:47.580 deeper and richer than us. We want to be aware 00:02:47.580 --> 00:02:50.139 of the needs of those around us, physical and 00:02:50.139 --> 00:02:52.479 spiritual, Lord. Help us to be people who are 00:02:52.479 --> 00:02:55.659 generous in our minds and lives. But more than 00:02:55.659 --> 00:02:58.900 that, help us to be attentive to you, to your 00:02:58.900 --> 00:03:02.139 spirit, to what you're stirring up among us. 00:03:02.439 --> 00:03:05.620 So we pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen. 00:03:06.960 --> 00:03:11.479 Okay. Isaiah chapter 11, if you've got your Bibles 00:03:11.479 --> 00:03:13.719 with you, I want to encourage you to just be 00:03:13.719 --> 00:03:15.919 in the Word with me, because if you get distracted 00:03:15.919 --> 00:03:17.659 because you're reading your Bible, like I'm fine 00:03:17.659 --> 00:03:19.180 with that, like I'm cool with that, you can do 00:03:19.180 --> 00:03:22.639 that. So outside of the Gospels, and the Gospels 00:03:22.639 --> 00:03:24.919 are the four biographies of Jesus, Matthew, Mark, 00:03:25.039 --> 00:03:27.800 Luke and John, there's no book that talks about 00:03:27.800 --> 00:03:30.740 Jesus more than Isaiah does. It's full of this 00:03:30.740 --> 00:03:33.419 prophetic, future -oriented thinking about what 00:03:33.419 --> 00:03:36.199 is to come. And in the passage today, that's 00:03:36.199 --> 00:03:39.639 what we hear. geared around the concept of the 00:03:39.639 --> 00:03:43.080 Messiah. Moving to the side so I feel like I 00:03:43.080 --> 00:03:44.500 don't have something between me as I look at 00:03:44.500 --> 00:03:46.460 you. Plus I'm not as tall as the rest of you 00:03:46.460 --> 00:03:48.340 guys at Henley. Like we banished a lot of our 00:03:48.340 --> 00:03:50.680 tall people to Henley when we planted you guys 00:03:50.680 --> 00:03:53.280 but we've got more tall people at Enfield now. 00:03:53.900 --> 00:03:55.479 Almost seems like the problem might not be the 00:03:55.479 --> 00:04:00.439 tall people. Anyway, all of this in Isaiah chapter 00:04:00.439 --> 00:04:02.860 11 is geared around the concept of the Messiah. 00:04:03.520 --> 00:04:06.650 Everybody say Messiah. Messiah, all right, say 00:04:06.650 --> 00:04:08.810 it like you mean it next time. Messiah is a Hebrew 00:04:08.810 --> 00:04:11.789 word that means anointed one. So literally, it 00:04:11.789 --> 00:04:13.969 means that a person has been smeared with oil 00:04:13.969 --> 00:04:16.350 on their head. And when I say smeared, like dripping, 00:04:17.089 --> 00:04:18.410 it talks sometimes in the scriptures about the 00:04:18.410 --> 00:04:20.810 way the oil is dripping down into the beard. 00:04:20.850 --> 00:04:23.589 So that's like a lot of olive oil on a person's 00:04:23.589 --> 00:04:26.370 head. And it is a declaration that this person 00:04:26.370 --> 00:04:29.470 has been chosen and equipped by God for a particular 00:04:29.470 --> 00:04:31.930 task. So in the Old Testament, kings and priests 00:04:31.930 --> 00:04:34.839 are anointed, but this is not... an anointed 00:04:34.839 --> 00:04:37.899 one, this is the anointed one. You know, it's 00:04:37.899 --> 00:04:40.839 that singular definite article which helps you 00:04:40.839 --> 00:04:42.959 to know this is not like one of a hundred anointed 00:04:42.959 --> 00:04:46.639 ones, this is the guy. There's only one Messiah, 00:04:46.819 --> 00:04:48.980 one of one, and in the New Testament, well that 00:04:48.980 --> 00:04:51.079 was written in Greek, not in Hebrew, so they 00:04:51.079 --> 00:04:52.740 don't use the word Messiah, they use a different 00:04:52.740 --> 00:04:56.019 word, that word is Christ. So when you hear the 00:04:56.019 --> 00:04:59.199 word Christ as in Jesus Christ, Jesus the Christ, 00:04:59.379 --> 00:05:02.439 Jesus the Messiah, Jesus the anointed one. So 00:05:02.439 --> 00:05:05.079 we understand that the Jewish people are waiting 00:05:05.079 --> 00:05:07.360 for a Messiah. And they don't know him as Jesus 00:05:07.360 --> 00:05:10.139 yet in the time of Isaiah. They just know they 00:05:10.139 --> 00:05:12.720 are waiting for God's chosen blessed leader to 00:05:12.720 --> 00:05:14.899 come and save them. They're living in a time 00:05:14.899 --> 00:05:17.220 of war and division, which we can't relate to 00:05:17.220 --> 00:05:20.389 at all. The Jewish people are split into two 00:05:20.389 --> 00:05:22.990 nations, not one. The southern nation of Judah 00:05:22.990 --> 00:05:25.470 and the northern nation of Israel and Israel 00:05:25.470 --> 00:05:27.189 was coming to attack Judah. They're meant to 00:05:27.189 --> 00:05:30.029 be one family, the twelve tribes of Israel, but 00:05:30.029 --> 00:05:32.230 instead they're split and they're attacking one 00:05:32.230 --> 00:05:33.930 another. This is the direct opposite of what 00:05:33.930 --> 00:05:37.199 God longs for, for His people. And so the prophet 00:05:37.199 --> 00:05:39.779 Isaiah, he comes to the king of Judah Ahaz and 00:05:39.779 --> 00:05:41.660 he says, listen Ahaz, let me tell you something. 00:05:41.779 --> 00:05:44.579 I know this seems overwhelming, but God has promised 00:05:44.579 --> 00:05:47.480 that He will give you a sign that you will overcome. 00:05:47.779 --> 00:05:50.040 Don't worry about it. Look to the sign and Ahaz 00:05:50.040 --> 00:05:52.860 says, I hear you prophet Isaiah, you know God, 00:05:53.019 --> 00:05:55.040 you're with God, you hear Him clearly, you speak 00:05:55.040 --> 00:05:56.879 about Him, so I'm going to ignore you and I'm 00:05:56.879 --> 00:05:58.939 going to ally myself with the king of Assyria 00:05:58.939 --> 00:06:01.879 instead. This much powerful pagan nation, which 00:06:01.879 --> 00:06:04.220 I'm sure in no way could come back to haunt me 00:06:04.220 --> 00:06:08.670 down the line. spoilers. It comes back to haunt 00:06:08.670 --> 00:06:11.670 him down the line. King Ahaz chooses politics 00:06:11.670 --> 00:06:14.889 instead of the prophetic and so he allies himself 00:06:14.889 --> 00:06:18.990 with the Assyrians. The Assyrians smash Israel 00:06:18.990 --> 00:06:22.610 and take them into captivity and then they smash 00:06:22.610 --> 00:06:26.310 Judah and take Judah into captivity and so Assyria 00:06:26.310 --> 00:06:29.790 has completely absorbed the people of God at 00:06:29.790 --> 00:06:31.829 this point. And this would then happen again 00:06:31.829 --> 00:06:35.529 by the Babylonians later. And so, the reason 00:06:35.529 --> 00:06:37.850 I tell you all of this is not just to show that 00:06:37.850 --> 00:06:40.430 I've researched it. It's to show you that the 00:06:40.430 --> 00:06:42.810 context of Isaiah does not seem like a context 00:06:42.810 --> 00:06:46.269 of hope. As we talk about hope today, this does 00:06:46.269 --> 00:06:49.170 not feel like a context of hope. As you're allying 00:06:49.170 --> 00:06:51.230 yourself politically and getting smashed, as 00:06:51.230 --> 00:06:54.589 you read through the 66 chapter behemoth. As 00:06:54.589 --> 00:06:56.769 you journey through the life and death of four 00:06:56.769 --> 00:06:58.709 kings, some who are good, some who are bad, as 00:06:58.709 --> 00:07:00.389 you journey through the enslavement of God's 00:07:00.389 --> 00:07:02.930 people, it's hard to imagine this as a story 00:07:02.930 --> 00:07:06.610 of hope, yeah? But it is. The Messiah is all 00:07:06.610 --> 00:07:08.610 about hope. So let's look at the three ghosts 00:07:08.610 --> 00:07:12.610 to see what I mean. So the first ghost in A Christmas 00:07:12.610 --> 00:07:16.629 Carol is the ghost of Christmas past. And the 00:07:16.629 --> 00:07:19.170 past is the first perspective Isaiah wants us 00:07:19.170 --> 00:07:23.240 to see, the ghost of hopes gone by. Isaiah spends 00:07:23.240 --> 00:07:25.100 most of this passage talking about the future. 00:07:25.639 --> 00:07:27.759 Yes, the promise of Messiah still to come. But 00:07:27.759 --> 00:07:30.480 he begins with this verse, then a shoot will 00:07:30.480 --> 00:07:33.500 grow from the stump of Jesse and a branch from 00:07:33.500 --> 00:07:36.759 his roots will bear fruit. Okay. Well, the hope 00:07:36.759 --> 00:07:39.300 of this Messiah, this promised Saviour, Isaiah 00:07:39.300 --> 00:07:42.600 says, is going to come from Jesse's family. And 00:07:42.600 --> 00:07:44.040 that's a way of saying it's going to come from 00:07:44.040 --> 00:07:46.939 King David's family. Jesse was his father. That's 00:07:46.939 --> 00:07:49.060 just the way they talked back then. And this 00:07:49.060 --> 00:07:51.279 is really important because for the Jews, David 00:07:51.279 --> 00:07:53.660 was not only their greatest King, but he was 00:07:53.660 --> 00:07:56.439 the King who God had said, someone from your 00:07:56.439 --> 00:07:59.459 family line, David, will be on the throne forever. 00:08:00.420 --> 00:08:03.920 Now, just think about that. Because during my 00:08:03.920 --> 00:08:05.800 lifetime, it felt like Queen Elizabeth II was 00:08:05.800 --> 00:08:08.439 going to rule forever just by herself. And then 00:08:08.439 --> 00:08:12.670 she didn't. She died. It happens. And so... Every 00:08:12.670 --> 00:08:14.509 time it seems like you've got this dynasty that's 00:08:14.509 --> 00:08:17.910 going to last forever, it ends. They all end. 00:08:17.970 --> 00:08:20.910 But the line of David, God said, would never 00:08:20.910 --> 00:08:24.009 ever end. So setting aside how big that is, how 00:08:24.009 --> 00:08:25.889 unique that is, there's a much bigger problem. 00:08:26.250 --> 00:08:28.029 And that is this, there's two kings, not one 00:08:28.029 --> 00:08:30.250 right now. And both of those kings are about 00:08:30.250 --> 00:08:32.409 to be off the throne because they're making mistakes 00:08:32.409 --> 00:08:35.070 around Assyria. So where is the hope in that? 00:08:35.889 --> 00:08:40.059 How do you take future hope seriously? when the 00:08:40.059 --> 00:08:43.019 past hope people are pointing back to has failed 00:08:43.019 --> 00:08:46.460 you. You ever felt that way? Like you've had 00:08:46.460 --> 00:08:49.120 something in the past and people promise that 00:08:49.120 --> 00:08:50.799 something is gonna work for you and then it just 00:08:50.799 --> 00:08:53.240 doesn't. Because I gotta tell you as a pastor, 00:08:53.639 --> 00:08:56.379 one of the things I see the most is people trapped 00:08:56.379 --> 00:09:00.700 by the hurts of their past. By real or perceived 00:09:00.700 --> 00:09:05.769 hurts, by broken promises. by abuse. And the 00:09:05.769 --> 00:09:08.750 greatest trap people have is the one they set 00:09:08.750 --> 00:09:11.950 for their own minds and their own lives. So we've 00:09:11.950 --> 00:09:13.909 done something fascinating and damaging in our 00:09:13.909 --> 00:09:16.090 culture in the last 30 odd years. What we've 00:09:16.090 --> 00:09:18.870 done is we've decided that victimhood and sainthood 00:09:18.870 --> 00:09:21.830 are the same thing. Let me explain this before 00:09:21.830 --> 00:09:24.710 you boo me off the stage. 40 years ago, if somebody 00:09:24.710 --> 00:09:27.690 claimed they'd been wronged 40 years ago, we 00:09:27.690 --> 00:09:31.049 would probably be inclined to disbelieve them. 00:09:31.200 --> 00:09:33.759 right, if they claim they're a victim. So that 00:09:33.759 --> 00:09:36.340 began to get corrected and that needed to be 00:09:36.340 --> 00:09:38.320 corrected. Let's be really clear on this. That 00:09:38.320 --> 00:09:41.120 needed to be corrected. People were being overlooked. 00:09:41.159 --> 00:09:43.120 We started pushing for these voices to be heard 00:09:43.120 --> 00:09:45.259 as they needed to be. Then we started trusting 00:09:45.259 --> 00:09:48.539 the voice of the victim more than the voice of 00:09:48.539 --> 00:09:51.019 the person they might be accusing. And I've got 00:09:51.019 --> 00:09:54.059 to say that needed to happen too. That's a slight 00:09:54.059 --> 00:09:56.159 overcorrection, but what tends to happen is if 00:09:56.159 --> 00:09:58.559 you don't overcorrect a little bit, you won't 00:09:58.559 --> 00:10:00.570 actually get back to a healthy balance anyway. 00:10:00.710 --> 00:10:03.049 So you kind of got to overcorrect a little bit. 00:10:04.110 --> 00:10:06.690 Then what happened is people recognised that 00:10:06.690 --> 00:10:09.929 by playing the victim card, they could actually 00:10:09.929 --> 00:10:14.370 earn credibility. And that is a new and toxic 00:10:14.370 --> 00:10:17.370 dilemma. That is not one we've seen before. That 00:10:17.370 --> 00:10:18.850 meant that people started recognising that to 00:10:18.850 --> 00:10:20.970 be a victim could be advantageous. So we went 00:10:20.970 --> 00:10:24.210 from supporting the victim to actively searching 00:10:24.210 --> 00:10:27.840 out ways we could become the victim. We started 00:10:27.840 --> 00:10:30.460 to diagnose every person we could, affirm every 00:10:30.460 --> 00:10:32.759 pain people claim, but here's the really damaging 00:10:32.759 --> 00:10:36.039 part. We told them to feel it and sit in it and 00:10:36.039 --> 00:10:39.480 live in it. Just live in the pain guys, recognise 00:10:39.480 --> 00:10:42.279 it, look at it, pull it apart. This is deconstruction 00:10:42.279 --> 00:10:46.019 Christianity for your feelings. And so by living 00:10:46.019 --> 00:10:47.940 in that, this is what we did. We told people 00:10:47.940 --> 00:10:50.879 to live in their past trauma. And I say this 00:10:50.879 --> 00:10:53.539 next sentence as somebody who has diagnosed depression 00:10:53.539 --> 00:10:57.080 and undiagnosed ADHD. And that's self -diagnosed, 00:10:57.100 --> 00:10:59.379 but every time I say it, nobody goes, not you, 00:10:59.460 --> 00:11:03.919 Mike. No one said that yet. So I say all that 00:11:03.919 --> 00:11:06.299 to give you context for this next line. We want 00:11:06.299 --> 00:11:08.320 diagnoses more than we want responsibilities. 00:11:09.919 --> 00:11:13.360 We want to be able to justify our childish behaviour 00:11:13.360 --> 00:11:16.059 or our disobedience to God by blaming what has 00:11:16.059 --> 00:11:18.620 happened to us. But the great theologian Will 00:11:18.620 --> 00:11:21.460 Smith put it this way, something might not be 00:11:21.460 --> 00:11:23.440 your fault, but it's still your responsibility. 00:11:24.659 --> 00:11:27.539 So, for example, someone insulting your wife 00:11:27.539 --> 00:11:29.759 at an awards show is not your fault, but the 00:11:29.759 --> 00:11:31.860 decision to walk up on stage and slap them is 00:11:31.860 --> 00:11:35.100 still your responsibility. Okay? He didn't know 00:11:35.100 --> 00:11:36.759 that quote would come back to haunt him like 00:11:36.759 --> 00:11:39.559 that, but it really did. It really did. So if 00:11:39.559 --> 00:11:43.220 you're here, and somebody, you're here and you've 00:11:43.220 --> 00:11:46.059 had a past hurt happen to you, I'm so genuinely 00:11:46.059 --> 00:11:50.120 sorry. I promise you, I have sat with people 00:11:50.120 --> 00:11:53.860 who have gone through extraordinary pain. Extraordinary 00:11:53.860 --> 00:11:56.580 pain. And I mean it when I say what has been 00:11:56.580 --> 00:12:00.200 done to you is not your fault. But the choice 00:12:00.200 --> 00:12:04.259 of what to do next is your responsibility. And 00:12:04.259 --> 00:12:06.259 you do have the capacity to make that choice 00:12:06.259 --> 00:12:09.299 for yourself. So here's the thing, do you have 00:12:09.299 --> 00:12:11.720 the courage to process that pain with a therapist, 00:12:12.019 --> 00:12:14.580 not just to open it up, but then to go and now 00:12:14.580 --> 00:12:17.480 what? Or with a pastor, with Tim or Tex or Ash, 00:12:17.740 --> 00:12:20.080 do you have the courage to do that, to acknowledge 00:12:20.080 --> 00:12:23.669 it and refuse to let it crush you? Because that 00:12:23.669 --> 00:12:26.690 is where hope is found. Not in going something 00:12:26.690 --> 00:12:30.809 I hoped for in the past has been crushed, but 00:12:30.809 --> 00:12:33.610 by recognising that you had the capacity to do 00:12:33.610 --> 00:12:35.929 something bad in the future. Because most people 00:12:35.929 --> 00:12:37.789 who have done something extraordinary in this 00:12:37.789 --> 00:12:40.429 world have been through immense pain, but have 00:12:40.429 --> 00:12:42.590 come through the other side. They have not let 00:12:42.590 --> 00:12:46.210 it define their character. I liked Kori Ten Boom. 00:12:46.629 --> 00:12:48.909 Do people know who Kori Ten Boom is? She was 00:12:48.909 --> 00:12:52.000 a Dutch... refugee, I suppose, but she was a 00:12:52.000 --> 00:12:54.940 prisoner of war in the Second World War. And 00:12:54.940 --> 00:12:56.879 the reason she became a prisoner of war is because 00:12:56.879 --> 00:13:00.980 she was hiding Jews in her house in Amsterdam, 00:13:01.019 --> 00:13:02.919 I think she was. And she eventually got taken 00:13:02.919 --> 00:13:05.480 off to Ravensbruck, which was a concentration 00:13:05.480 --> 00:13:07.860 camp in Germany. And while she was there, she 00:13:07.860 --> 00:13:11.019 was consistently searching for things to praise. 00:13:11.500 --> 00:13:13.570 And eventually she started... Well, actually, 00:13:13.649 --> 00:13:16.129 it was her sister, Betsy, who taught her to praise 00:13:16.129 --> 00:13:18.889 God for the fleas in their jail cell. That's 00:13:18.889 --> 00:13:21.250 how hard they were looking for things to praise. 00:13:21.970 --> 00:13:23.730 And that ended up being something really powerful. 00:13:24.110 --> 00:13:26.809 Now, I'm not saying all of this just to, like, 00:13:26.970 --> 00:13:29.029 make Tex feel better by telling people to take 00:13:29.029 --> 00:13:30.809 responsibility for things that they need to take 00:13:30.809 --> 00:13:33.909 responsibility for. Like, I could feel him air 00:13:33.909 --> 00:13:36.990 -high -fiving while I said that. But here's why 00:13:36.990 --> 00:13:41.200 I say it. because our past hope is all caught 00:13:41.200 --> 00:13:45.519 up in our past pain. And if we can't get past 00:13:45.519 --> 00:13:48.379 our past pain, we can't come to a future hope 00:13:48.379 --> 00:13:50.860 because it's all wrapped up the same. Anytime 00:13:50.860 --> 00:13:53.580 you've had a hope in the past and you felt let 00:13:53.580 --> 00:13:57.039 down by someone else, or even by yourself, the 00:13:57.039 --> 00:14:00.259 temptation is to say never again. And God's saying, 00:14:00.299 --> 00:14:03.159 no, no, don't do that. Isaiah says, I know things 00:14:03.159 --> 00:14:05.379 look bad. I know you're struggling to see hope 00:14:05.379 --> 00:14:07.940 anywhere. And it looks like all the trees are 00:14:07.940 --> 00:14:10.279 being cut down throughout the Bible, throughout 00:14:10.279 --> 00:14:12.419 the Psalms in particular. You hear these Psalms 00:14:12.419 --> 00:14:15.100 about towering oaks of righteousness where the 00:14:15.100 --> 00:14:17.179 oaks are being cut down. And I see that there 00:14:17.179 --> 00:14:20.000 are stumps, but out of the stump will grow a 00:14:20.000 --> 00:14:22.919 green shoot. There is life that comes out of 00:14:22.919 --> 00:14:25.360 it. The reason I know this isn't an AI photo 00:14:25.360 --> 00:14:28.779 is because under all the headlines for things 00:14:28.779 --> 00:14:30.899 growing out of stumps was how to stop things 00:14:30.899 --> 00:14:33.980 growing out of stumps. All the Google pictures 00:14:33.980 --> 00:14:35.899 were like, this is how you should try and stop 00:14:35.899 --> 00:14:38.100 things growing out of stumps. But Isaiah's point 00:14:38.100 --> 00:14:40.039 is this, it may seem like the people of Israel 00:14:40.039 --> 00:14:41.919 are cut down, but something will come out of 00:14:41.919 --> 00:14:44.679 the roots. Now there is something in your life, 00:14:44.820 --> 00:14:48.080 a pain that God can turn to eternal goodness 00:14:48.080 --> 00:14:52.649 if you let it. if you let it. It can be a great 00:14:52.649 --> 00:14:55.710 strength. Let's move on to the ghost of Christmas 00:14:55.710 --> 00:15:01.250 present. This is the ghost that takes Ebeneezer 00:15:01.250 --> 00:15:04.730 Scrooge around to show him what life could look 00:15:04.730 --> 00:15:06.509 like to him because it's happening in the lives 00:15:06.509 --> 00:15:10.090 of others. And this is the comparison game, right? 00:15:10.149 --> 00:15:12.470 This is the comparison game. The ghost of our 00:15:12.470 --> 00:15:14.730 hopes in the present is where our alternatives 00:15:14.730 --> 00:15:18.090 haunt us. It's FOMO, it's choice anxiety, and 00:15:18.090 --> 00:15:19.909 in its comparison, which is the thief of our 00:15:19.909 --> 00:15:21.820 joy. I don't know if you've heard that line before, 00:15:21.860 --> 00:15:25.179 but comparison is the thief of joy. If you constantly 00:15:25.179 --> 00:15:28.159 ask yourself what someone else has and why you 00:15:28.159 --> 00:15:30.360 don't have, you'll feel crushed all the time. 00:15:30.480 --> 00:15:32.639 You'll feel miserable all the time. Gratitude 00:15:32.639 --> 00:15:37.399 is the antidote to comparison. But it's also 00:15:37.399 --> 00:15:39.620 seeming trapped by our circumstances and our 00:15:39.620 --> 00:15:41.779 situations. It's presuming that where we are 00:15:41.779 --> 00:15:44.919 now is where we're destined to stay. And I don't 00:15:44.919 --> 00:15:47.120 think, as I look around, our culture has much 00:15:47.120 --> 00:15:50.679 hope. If you're a Gen Z in the room, Like, I 00:15:50.679 --> 00:15:53.100 can tell you guys are Gen X's kids because you're 00:15:53.100 --> 00:15:55.679 just a little bit more cynical than Gen Y's are. 00:15:55.980 --> 00:15:57.620 And you could say millennials are ridiculously 00:15:57.620 --> 00:16:00.960 optimistic without any reason and I'll buy that. 00:16:01.159 --> 00:16:03.759 But also, there's been something that's happened 00:16:03.759 --> 00:16:06.860 over the last decade and just these series of 00:16:06.860 --> 00:16:09.539 events that have made us feel like, what's the 00:16:09.539 --> 00:16:11.379 point in hope? This isn't gonna work, right? 00:16:11.379 --> 00:16:14.139 We've gone through COVID, fears about climate 00:16:14.139 --> 00:16:16.799 change, some unusual global political appointments, 00:16:17.679 --> 00:16:20.500 growing loneliness and isolation. Polarization, 00:16:20.679 --> 00:16:22.779 cost of living crisis and housing prices that 00:16:22.779 --> 00:16:27.480 go up and up and up and up and up. Where's the 00:16:27.480 --> 00:16:31.500 hope in that? Well, I don't see much hope in 00:16:31.500 --> 00:16:35.179 that. That's not where I look for hope. And I'm 00:16:35.179 --> 00:16:37.940 not surprised that people are despondent. I'm 00:16:37.940 --> 00:16:41.220 surprised why Christians are despondent. We are 00:16:41.220 --> 00:16:43.419 meant to be the ambassadors of hope. We're not 00:16:43.419 --> 00:16:45.080 meant to look around at housing prices and go, 00:16:45.179 --> 00:16:47.860 well, I guess my life is ruined. Of course not. 00:16:48.059 --> 00:16:50.519 If our lives are dependent upon housing prices, 00:16:51.019 --> 00:16:53.059 what are we going to do if there is a war and 00:16:53.059 --> 00:16:55.620 your house gets demolished? What do we do when 00:16:55.620 --> 00:16:58.200 that is taken away? If you put your hope in something 00:16:58.200 --> 00:17:00.919 that is tactile and can be taken away from you 00:17:00.919 --> 00:17:03.629 at any moment, it's not really hope at all. It's 00:17:03.629 --> 00:17:05.569 not really hope at all. Friends, the hope of 00:17:05.569 --> 00:17:08.329 Jesus comes into the world at Christmas and so 00:17:08.329 --> 00:17:11.089 do you now because you have the Holy Spirit in 00:17:11.089 --> 00:17:13.750 you as well. And so this was Isaiah's message 00:17:13.750 --> 00:17:16.809 to King Ahaz. He said, Ahaz, do not trust in 00:17:16.809 --> 00:17:20.029 political systems, trust in God. God is the only 00:17:20.029 --> 00:17:23.710 thing that will last. And Ahaz is a Jew. He knows 00:17:23.710 --> 00:17:25.690 that he's meant to be one of God's chosen people. 00:17:25.869 --> 00:17:27.569 He's a leader who's meant to understand that 00:17:27.569 --> 00:17:29.670 only God can rescue his people. For goodness 00:17:29.670 --> 00:17:45.720 sake, Ahaz is the political system. What have 00:17:45.720 --> 00:17:49.039 you been putting your trust in recently that 00:17:49.039 --> 00:17:52.880 hasn't been working out for you? What's been 00:17:52.880 --> 00:17:56.160 going on as you look around you? Because Isaiah's 00:17:56.160 --> 00:17:59.160 context is grim, remember? But we've got to remember. 00:17:59.500 --> 00:18:02.319 Five chapters earlier, Isaiah 6, we hear one 00:18:02.319 --> 00:18:04.500 of the most beautiful passages in Scripture. 00:18:04.960 --> 00:18:07.539 Isaiah has a vision of the throne room of Jesus 00:18:07.539 --> 00:18:10.900 and in that he sees the feet of God, he sees 00:18:10.900 --> 00:18:13.859 the train of his robe filling the temple and 00:18:13.859 --> 00:18:15.940 he has these two amazing things happen. He has 00:18:15.940 --> 00:18:18.220 a vision of the glory and power of God and then 00:18:18.220 --> 00:18:20.579 God forgives him his sins and sends him out of 00:18:20.579 --> 00:18:23.539 mission. Sound familiar to anybody? That's the 00:18:23.539 --> 00:18:26.339 same thing that's happened to you. The same thing 00:18:26.339 --> 00:18:28.700 that's happened to you. You've got the glory 00:18:28.700 --> 00:18:30.640 of God inside you, the Holy Spirit, and you've 00:18:30.640 --> 00:18:33.160 been forgiven and sent out on mission. So listen, 00:18:33.480 --> 00:18:35.700 let me give you a definition of hope just to 00:18:35.700 --> 00:18:37.599 show you this isn't about wishful thinking. And 00:18:37.599 --> 00:18:39.440 it comes from Timothy Keller, not me. So, you 00:18:39.440 --> 00:18:42.460 know, take it seriously. Mere optimism assumes 00:18:42.460 --> 00:18:44.980 that bad circumstances will improve at the passing 00:18:44.980 --> 00:18:49.180 of time. In contrast, hope assumes that God is 00:18:49.180 --> 00:18:52.000 faithful and is convinced that He is able to 00:18:52.000 --> 00:18:55.900 bring about His good purpose. Hope assumes that 00:18:55.900 --> 00:18:59.119 God is faithful. Not the circumstances around 00:18:59.119 --> 00:19:02.319 you, God. You're not trusting in like, like, 00:19:02.339 --> 00:19:04.480 if we come to the next election and go, I know 00:19:04.480 --> 00:19:06.460 if I vote just right, everything will get better. 00:19:06.839 --> 00:19:08.299 Like, we don't believe that, right? None of us, 00:19:08.380 --> 00:19:10.579 none of us are silly enough to think that. But 00:19:10.579 --> 00:19:12.759 sometimes we let ourselves go down that path. 00:19:12.779 --> 00:19:15.359 And I can promise you, there are people in your 00:19:15.359 --> 00:19:18.839 workplace or uni or family, and they do think 00:19:18.839 --> 00:19:20.619 that way because they don't have another place 00:19:20.619 --> 00:19:22.640 to put their hope in. They haven't been shown 00:19:22.640 --> 00:19:25.039 Jesus. The beauty of seeing Jesus is you can 00:19:25.039 --> 00:19:27.960 sit back and go, I choose to engage in the political 00:19:27.960 --> 00:19:30.259 system because I want to be part of a solution, 00:19:30.380 --> 00:19:32.700 not a problem. However, I'm not looking to that 00:19:32.700 --> 00:19:39.500 as my ultimate source of hope. I'm looking at 00:19:39.500 --> 00:19:41.980 one of the ways we can make our society a better 00:19:41.980 --> 00:19:44.099 place, hopefully step by step, but no matter 00:19:44.099 --> 00:19:47.619 who is in government. My ultimate hope and authority 00:19:47.619 --> 00:19:50.900 is in Jesus. That's where it all is. That's the 00:19:50.900 --> 00:19:53.539 only thing that will work. Friends, the ghost 00:19:53.539 --> 00:19:56.559 of our hopes in the present is when we lack perspective. 00:19:57.259 --> 00:19:58.960 Instead of being trapped by our past, this time 00:19:58.960 --> 00:20:01.259 we're trapped by circumstances and we're convinced 00:20:01.259 --> 00:20:03.599 that our current reality is the only reality. 00:20:04.339 --> 00:20:06.940 You ever been there where you're like, I just 00:20:06.940 --> 00:20:10.059 can't get out of where I am? I was talking to 00:20:10.059 --> 00:20:11.920 a friend this morning at the morning service 00:20:11.920 --> 00:20:18.190 at Enfield who does AA. And he said to me, I'm 00:20:18.190 --> 00:20:20.190 almost up to step five and I need someone to 00:20:20.190 --> 00:20:22.549 confess to. I was like, that's awesome, man. 00:20:22.910 --> 00:20:25.710 I'd love to be there for you. He's like, I don't 00:20:25.710 --> 00:20:28.049 know when I'll get there. I was like, oh, OK. 00:20:28.490 --> 00:20:31.150 He's like, I meant to be there and I'm close, 00:20:31.170 --> 00:20:33.930 but I keep getting stuck. I was like, oh, OK. 00:20:34.970 --> 00:20:38.630 All right. What can I do to help? But he feels 00:20:38.630 --> 00:20:41.809 stuck in his circumstances. He wants to move 00:20:41.809 --> 00:20:44.589 forward. He sees how close it is. He can almost 00:20:44.589 --> 00:20:47.329 taste it. But he's stuck because he feels like 00:20:47.329 --> 00:20:51.589 his situation around him controls him. And sometimes, 00:20:52.009 --> 00:20:53.769 this is a person who lives a bit rough. And so 00:20:53.769 --> 00:20:56.309 for people like that, sometimes they feel like 00:20:56.309 --> 00:20:58.509 their circumstances are totally in control of 00:20:58.509 --> 00:21:01.569 them. And that's understandable, but it's not 00:21:01.569 --> 00:21:05.160 accurate. You feel me? You with me? Alright, 00:21:05.460 --> 00:21:09.579 this is what Romans 12 reminds us. The Bible 00:21:09.579 --> 00:21:13.460 points to a true reality. Rejoice in our confident 00:21:13.460 --> 00:21:17.319 hope. Be patient in trouble and keep on praying. 00:21:18.019 --> 00:21:20.859 Just hear that combination. Hope, trouble and 00:21:20.859 --> 00:21:23.740 prayer. Okay, so this isn't about denying reality. 00:21:24.019 --> 00:21:28.160 Trouble is right there. Rejoice in our confident 00:21:28.160 --> 00:21:30.740 hope, but be patient in the trouble that, you 00:21:30.740 --> 00:21:33.190 know, again, Let's add some words in here. That 00:21:33.190 --> 00:21:35.390 we know is coming because Jesus promised us, 00:21:35.470 --> 00:21:37.329 in this life you will have trouble. It's coming. 00:21:37.950 --> 00:21:40.930 And keep on praying in the midst of it all. Don't 00:21:40.930 --> 00:21:43.509 be afraid of that. Keep on praying. It's not 00:21:43.509 --> 00:21:45.529 about denying reality, it's about choosing the 00:21:45.529 --> 00:21:49.309 greater one. So let's move on to the third ghost, 00:21:49.490 --> 00:21:52.029 the ghost of future hopes. The ghost of Christmas 00:21:52.029 --> 00:21:55.369 hopes we barely dare believe in. Now, this is 00:21:55.369 --> 00:21:58.369 where Isaiah really leans in. He really leans 00:21:58.369 --> 00:22:01.069 in. This is what he says about the Messiah. The 00:22:01.069 --> 00:22:03.390 Messiah is coming and here's what he will be 00:22:03.390 --> 00:22:05.730 like. He'll be filled with the Spirit of God 00:22:05.730 --> 00:22:07.910 for wisdom and understanding, for counsel and 00:22:07.910 --> 00:22:10.170 might, for knowledge and fear of the Lord. That's 00:22:10.170 --> 00:22:11.890 a lot of good stuff. Can we jump to the next 00:22:11.890 --> 00:22:16.150 slide Ash? He will delight in obedience to God. 00:22:16.490 --> 00:22:19.589 Now the word obey is mentioned 87 times in the 00:22:19.589 --> 00:22:21.869 Old Testament and most of the time it feels like 00:22:21.869 --> 00:22:23.829 it's just in Leviticus like obey the Lord your 00:22:23.829 --> 00:22:26.430 God or else and you're like okay yeah it's a 00:22:26.430 --> 00:22:30.410 bit heavy but okay but here it says he will delight 00:22:30.410 --> 00:22:34.519 in obeying God he'll bring him joy. He will offer 00:22:34.519 --> 00:22:37.720 fairness and justice for the poor and exploited. 00:22:38.240 --> 00:22:40.900 Isaiah is specific to say, God is saying that 00:22:40.900 --> 00:22:43.700 if you feel overlooked and exploited and beaten 00:22:43.700 --> 00:22:46.660 down, the Messiah is here for you specifically. 00:22:47.099 --> 00:22:49.940 You are not overlooked. He will have the power 00:22:49.940 --> 00:22:51.960 of God in him, which means he's not just going 00:22:51.960 --> 00:22:54.640 to say he can do this, he will actually do it. 00:22:55.180 --> 00:22:57.940 And he will show the righteousness and truth 00:22:57.940 --> 00:23:01.009 of God through his life. And then he goes on 00:23:01.009 --> 00:23:03.470 to show the Messiah's influence and I love this 00:23:03.470 --> 00:23:17.049 language. In that day, this is verse 6, The cow 00:23:17.049 --> 00:23:19.470 will graze near the bear. The cub and the calf 00:23:19.470 --> 00:23:22.069 will lie down together. The lion will eat hay 00:23:22.069 --> 00:23:25.170 like a cow. The baby will play safely near the 00:23:25.170 --> 00:23:27.650 hole of a cobra. Yes, a little child will put 00:23:27.650 --> 00:23:30.549 its hand in a nest of deadly snakes without harm. 00:23:31.309 --> 00:23:33.390 If you can't get the picture by this point, I'm 00:23:33.390 --> 00:23:37.390 not sure I can help you anymore. The idea is 00:23:37.390 --> 00:23:39.809 that no matter what you see around you, actually 00:23:39.809 --> 00:23:43.750 a time of hope is coming that will be true and 00:23:43.750 --> 00:23:47.319 genuine peace. Fear will be gone. Hope will be 00:23:47.319 --> 00:23:50.519 all that remains. And because of our past pain, 00:23:50.960 --> 00:23:53.000 and because of our present circumstances around 00:23:53.000 --> 00:23:56.200 us, we can struggle to hold onto hope sometimes. 00:23:57.420 --> 00:24:01.500 That's very real. And it's very understandable. 00:24:01.880 --> 00:24:06.000 But again, it's not accurate. You and I, friends, 00:24:06.140 --> 00:24:10.049 we live in a time... and a place of more opportunity 00:24:10.049 --> 00:24:12.930 and more possibility and more safety and more 00:24:12.930 --> 00:24:16.829 security than ever before. And we simultaneously 00:24:16.829 --> 00:24:20.170 live in a time of more anxiety and depression 00:24:20.170 --> 00:24:23.650 and uncertainty than ever before. That doesn't 00:24:23.650 --> 00:24:27.089 work. That doesn't make sense. Yet here we are. 00:24:28.069 --> 00:24:30.829 It's because we are wounded by our past hurts 00:24:30.829 --> 00:24:34.130 and we're convinced that we're trapped in our 00:24:34.130 --> 00:24:38.539 previous circumstances. and our present circumstances 00:24:38.539 --> 00:24:40.880 rather. But it's simply not true. So what do 00:24:40.880 --> 00:24:44.759 we do about this? Because we have somebody who 00:24:44.759 --> 00:24:47.319 has transcended our present circumstances and 00:24:47.319 --> 00:24:53.240 healed our past wounds. We have Jesus. Now, when 00:24:53.240 --> 00:24:57.140 I say we have Jesus, I'd like you to hear me. 00:24:57.519 --> 00:25:00.470 I don't mean that in a... Like, I'm meant to 00:25:00.470 --> 00:25:02.150 say this, right? This is what I... I'm a preacher. 00:25:02.630 --> 00:25:05.269 I'm a pastor. If I don't say we have Jesus, like, 00:25:05.269 --> 00:25:07.450 I get docked points. I have to give the chocolate 00:25:07.450 --> 00:25:11.869 back. But this is what I mean. I mean that Jesus 00:25:11.869 --> 00:25:14.809 at Christmas came as a baby boy to live in the 00:25:14.809 --> 00:25:17.369 flesh and experience the fullness of life and 00:25:17.369 --> 00:25:19.890 its joys and its struggles. He was persecuted 00:25:19.890 --> 00:25:21.809 as a baby and forced to flee the country with 00:25:21.809 --> 00:25:25.410 his family as a refugee. He has past trauma he 00:25:25.410 --> 00:25:29.309 could have leaned on. But instead... He became 00:25:29.309 --> 00:25:33.029 an advocate for justice and the poor, just as 00:25:33.029 --> 00:25:36.710 he promised. So he turned any trauma he could 00:25:36.710 --> 00:25:40.769 have had into goodness and hope for others. Jesus 00:25:40.769 --> 00:25:43.950 was born into a situation in the Roman Empire, 00:25:44.230 --> 00:25:46.750 a place that was distinctly unfriendly for the 00:25:46.750 --> 00:25:49.470 Jewish people, but he was also born as a Messiah 00:25:49.470 --> 00:25:51.970 into a Jewish people who wanted a particular 00:25:51.970 --> 00:25:55.109 kind of Messiah, and he wasn't it. He did not 00:25:55.109 --> 00:25:56.910 fit the bill that the Jewish people were looking 00:25:56.910 --> 00:25:59.430 for and so he was persecuted not only by the 00:25:59.430 --> 00:26:03.089 Romans but also by the Jews. So Jesus, knowing 00:26:03.089 --> 00:26:05.890 exactly the kind of King he was, coming into 00:26:05.890 --> 00:26:10.109 a place that crushed other kings, still set himself 00:26:10.109 --> 00:26:12.589 up because he knew the mission was directly from 00:26:12.589 --> 00:26:14.890 God and that his mission was not just about the 00:26:14.890 --> 00:26:16.789 hope of his own life but about the hope of others. 00:26:17.339 --> 00:26:20.119 And friends, that's part of the thing here. If 00:26:20.119 --> 00:26:22.279 you look around and you look back and you go, 00:26:22.339 --> 00:26:24.619 I can't have hope because of what's happening 00:26:24.619 --> 00:26:27.160 to me, friend, it's not all about you. It's not 00:26:27.160 --> 00:26:30.839 all for you. It's not all to you. All of life 00:26:30.839 --> 00:26:33.519 is about how you can love others through God. 00:26:34.240 --> 00:26:37.279 All of life. When you do that, oh my gosh, it's 00:26:37.279 --> 00:26:40.839 a relief. It is such a relief. You stop being 00:26:40.839 --> 00:26:45.710 so self -centered. At least I do. Jesus did not 00:26:45.710 --> 00:26:48.650 allow his present circumstances, fear of the 00:26:48.650 --> 00:26:51.029 Roman authorities, fear of the Jewish authorities, 00:26:51.309 --> 00:26:53.470 or even the knowledge that one of his best friends 00:26:53.470 --> 00:26:56.869 would betray him to shape his circumstances. 00:26:57.369 --> 00:27:00.490 If you have experienced betrayal or pain, if 00:27:00.490 --> 00:27:02.490 you have felt like your circumstances are overwhelming, 00:27:02.609 --> 00:27:07.490 Jesus knows that. He understands it. He knew 00:27:07.490 --> 00:27:09.869 the hope for which he had been born into the 00:27:09.869 --> 00:27:13.920 world was bigger than life itself. bigger than 00:27:13.920 --> 00:27:16.680 the world's hope for itself, a bigger burden 00:27:16.680 --> 00:27:19.900 than anything we will ever carry. But that is 00:27:19.900 --> 00:27:22.980 not why we have a future hope. We have a future 00:27:22.980 --> 00:27:24.660 hope because Christ has been raised from the 00:27:24.660 --> 00:27:29.059 dead. Now think about it. Think about it. One 00:27:29.059 --> 00:27:31.539 of the reasons we struggle to have hope is because 00:27:31.539 --> 00:27:36.039 of past pain. Hope that's let us down. When we 00:27:36.039 --> 00:27:37.980 struggle to see beyond our current situation, 00:27:37.980 --> 00:27:40.480 that is what the world has tried to achieve in 00:27:40.480 --> 00:27:44.299 its own strength seems hopeless. All the baby 00:27:44.299 --> 00:27:46.579 boomers right now, no baby boomers in the room, 00:27:46.740 --> 00:27:48.839 are they? Good. Okay. If they listen to the podcast, 00:27:49.279 --> 00:27:50.700 oh, shouts to them. If they've learned to listen 00:27:50.700 --> 00:27:52.099 to a podcast, they're probably doing it right. 00:27:52.599 --> 00:27:55.480 But all the baby boomers that we are pointing 00:27:55.480 --> 00:27:57.740 at and going, why have you collected all this 00:27:57.740 --> 00:27:59.980 property? You're so greedy. You're so selfish. 00:28:00.380 --> 00:28:03.740 Every one of them was a post Vietnam war flower 00:28:03.740 --> 00:28:07.000 child with more idealism than anyone in our generation. 00:28:07.660 --> 00:28:10.339 Every one of them. And now they are the quote 00:28:10.339 --> 00:28:13.809 unquote enemy. This is what happens when we trust 00:28:13.809 --> 00:28:15.369 in the systems of the world for our goodness 00:28:15.369 --> 00:28:19.369 and hasn't made them happy No rich. Yes comfortable. 00:28:19.670 --> 00:28:24.730 Yes, but any man go into an old folks home That 00:28:24.730 --> 00:28:29.630 it comes for us all Money cannot insulate you 00:28:29.630 --> 00:28:32.210 from pain Wealthy people when something goes 00:28:32.210 --> 00:28:36.910 wrong. Holy smokes. I don't know what to do We 00:28:36.910 --> 00:28:40.710 need a hope that is proven A hope that has proven 00:28:40.710 --> 00:28:43.430 itself worthy of our trust. Jesus' birth, this 00:28:43.430 --> 00:28:45.809 is the past, was the fulfillment of Isaiah's 00:28:45.809 --> 00:28:48.029 prophecies. And by His life, in the present, 00:28:48.329 --> 00:28:50.329 His teaching and His miracles and His healing, 00:28:50.470 --> 00:28:52.950 He showed that He was the Messiah. All of that 00:28:52.950 --> 00:28:55.089 was proof. Fulfillment of prophecy shows that 00:28:55.089 --> 00:28:57.970 He is the Messiah. But Him dying on the cross, 00:28:58.390 --> 00:29:00.569 total fulfillment of all the prophecies, it is 00:29:00.569 --> 00:29:04.430 finished, but it wasn't finished. His life was 00:29:04.430 --> 00:29:06.509 finished. That proved that He was who He said 00:29:06.509 --> 00:29:09.420 He was, but it wasn't hope for us. It was just 00:29:09.420 --> 00:29:11.700 proof that Jesus was who He said He was. That 00:29:11.700 --> 00:29:13.700 was important because the next bit really mattered. 00:29:14.500 --> 00:29:16.420 Our hope, if it ended on Good Friday, would be 00:29:16.420 --> 00:29:18.319 very shallow. In fact, the apostle Paul puts 00:29:18.319 --> 00:29:20.980 it this way in 1 Corinthians 15, and if you want 00:29:20.980 --> 00:29:23.000 to read about the resurrection, 1 Corinthians 00:29:23.000 --> 00:29:26.740 15, my friends, if our hope in Christ is only 00:29:26.740 --> 00:29:30.220 for this life, we are more to be pitied than 00:29:30.220 --> 00:29:35.180 anyone in the world. But in fact, Christ has 00:29:35.180 --> 00:29:38.480 been raised from the dead. Paul would go on to 00:29:38.480 --> 00:29:40.900 say that because Christ has been raised from 00:29:40.900 --> 00:29:43.779 the dead, this proves that the resurrection for 00:29:43.779 --> 00:29:47.779 you after death will happen, not might, will. 00:29:48.160 --> 00:29:51.220 Jesus' resurrection is proof of your future resurrection 00:29:51.220 --> 00:29:55.220 and that is proof of future hope. Hope that is 00:29:55.220 --> 00:29:58.240 still yet to come. Christ's birth is proof that 00:29:58.240 --> 00:30:00.160 your past does not have to define your hope. 00:30:00.519 --> 00:30:02.900 Christ's life is proof that your circumstances 00:30:02.900 --> 00:30:06.140 do not have to define your hope. But Christ's 00:30:06.140 --> 00:30:08.200 resurrection is proof that there is an ultimate 00:30:08.200 --> 00:30:11.079 future hope for you and for me and for everybody 00:30:11.079 --> 00:30:13.740 else. Present hope, past and present hope has 00:30:13.740 --> 00:30:16.720 value and you can dare to hope again. You can 00:30:16.720 --> 00:30:18.880 have true hope because of the resurrection of 00:30:18.880 --> 00:30:22.160 Jesus. You should have hope because of the resurrection 00:30:22.160 --> 00:30:27.059 of Jesus. That's the whole thing now as I come 00:30:27.059 --> 00:30:32.359 to a close Some of you you're here today and 00:30:32.359 --> 00:30:34.640 at some point you stopped hoping for something 00:30:34.640 --> 00:30:39.299 better either because of a past pain or situations 00:30:39.299 --> 00:30:41.619 that you're in right now, and you started believing 00:30:41.619 --> 00:30:45.079 that this is as good as it gets and I don't know 00:30:45.079 --> 00:30:46.740 I feel I actually feel like I'm speaking to someone 00:30:46.740 --> 00:30:49.759 on the podcast today that you weren't here in 00:30:49.759 --> 00:30:53.359 person today, and you're listening online because 00:30:53.359 --> 00:30:56.519 you just couldn't. It's not that you couldn't 00:30:56.519 --> 00:30:59.339 be bothered, you were just sort of done. If that's 00:30:59.339 --> 00:31:01.660 you, I'm really speaking to you, believing God 00:31:01.660 --> 00:31:06.039 wants to minister to you today. Sometimes it's 00:31:06.039 --> 00:31:07.960 because we don't take responsibility for our 00:31:07.960 --> 00:31:11.240 past. Every single one of us, we've got to take 00:31:11.240 --> 00:31:14.500 responsibility for who we are today. You can't 00:31:14.500 --> 00:31:16.799 control the past, whether that's something you've 00:31:16.799 --> 00:31:18.990 done. or something someone else has done to you 00:31:18.990 --> 00:31:21.410 you can't control that you can only control the 00:31:21.410 --> 00:31:23.670 future you've got to get up and hope for the 00:31:23.670 --> 00:31:28.230 future again and you as children of God are destined 00:31:28.230 --> 00:31:32.369 for a future perfect hope that hope is available 00:31:32.369 --> 00:31:35.549 for everybody in Christ but those last two little 00:31:35.549 --> 00:31:42.009 words matter a lot in Christ if I was not in 00:31:42.009 --> 00:31:45.829 Christ I don't think I would have hope I wouldn't 00:31:46.249 --> 00:31:48.930 Because I've seen over 40 odd years what human 00:31:48.930 --> 00:31:51.789 beings do to one another. Geez, we are awful. 00:31:52.829 --> 00:31:55.170 Really, at the heart of it, we're selfish. We 00:31:55.170 --> 00:31:59.410 are in it for ourselves. And I would question 00:31:59.410 --> 00:32:01.049 the purpose of existence because I would look 00:32:01.049 --> 00:32:03.509 around and I would go, really? Like, this is 00:32:03.509 --> 00:32:07.269 what we're in for? If I did not have Jesus, I 00:32:07.269 --> 00:32:08.829 just wouldn't understand it. And if you're in 00:32:08.829 --> 00:32:10.750 this room and you're an atheist, or you're listening 00:32:10.750 --> 00:32:13.319 and you're an atheist, God bless you, but I don't 00:32:13.319 --> 00:32:15.839 understand you. I really struggle to understand 00:32:15.839 --> 00:32:19.099 you. So it doesn't mean I don't like you or respect 00:32:19.099 --> 00:32:22.140 you. I just don't understand how you could go 00:32:22.140 --> 00:32:24.640 through life, looking at the world around us, 00:32:24.660 --> 00:32:27.220 the beauty and the pain and not recognize that 00:32:27.220 --> 00:32:29.960 meaning is something we are constantly searching 00:32:29.960 --> 00:32:32.940 for and pulling together. And every time we do 00:32:32.940 --> 00:32:35.920 it, apart from Jesus, just falls through our 00:32:35.920 --> 00:32:40.240 hands like sand. But we have a different hope. 00:32:41.549 --> 00:32:45.490 We have a hope that is proven for life after 00:32:45.490 --> 00:32:49.430 death because Jesus Christ did not just live 00:32:49.430 --> 00:32:54.809 or perform miracles or heal or teach or die but 00:32:54.809 --> 00:32:58.049 he was resurrected from the grave and he's ascended 00:32:58.049 --> 00:33:01.470 to sit at the right hand of the Father and judge 00:33:01.470 --> 00:33:05.410 the living and the dead. The future work of Jesus 00:33:05.410 --> 00:33:10.309 points to your future hope. So tonight what I 00:33:10.309 --> 00:33:13.509 want to do ...is this. I want to give people 00:33:13.509 --> 00:33:21.670 an opportunity to be healed. I think the temptation 00:33:21.670 --> 00:33:24.650 on a nice warm spring day... ...is we come here 00:33:24.650 --> 00:33:29.390 and we get a bit drowsy and... ...we do things 00:33:29.390 --> 00:33:32.329 out of habit and I get that. I'm glad people 00:33:32.329 --> 00:33:35.710 are here out of habit. We need to be here out 00:33:35.710 --> 00:33:40.549 of hope. This afternoon, here's what I want you 00:33:40.549 --> 00:33:44.480 to do. You just take a moment to pray with me. 00:33:46.299 --> 00:33:48.140 And just stretch your hands out in front of you 00:33:48.140 --> 00:33:51.259 where you're sitting. I just encourage people 00:33:51.259 --> 00:33:53.859 to do that as a sign of receiving something from 00:33:53.859 --> 00:33:58.559 God. And I'm going to invite the Holy Spirit 00:33:58.559 --> 00:34:03.799 to come. And I want to start praying and seeing 00:34:03.799 --> 00:34:06.799 breakthroughs come in the Spirit of God. And 00:34:06.799 --> 00:34:08.659 in a moment what I'm going to do is invite people 00:34:08.659 --> 00:34:10.559 who feel like they need a particular healing 00:34:10.559 --> 00:34:12.739 to lift their hands while everyone's eyes are 00:34:12.739 --> 00:34:17.699 shut. And I'm just going to pray for you specifically. 00:34:25.579 --> 00:34:36.920 Come Holy Spirit. Come Spirit of God. God, pour 00:34:36.920 --> 00:34:41.380 yourself out today. We are here, we're stepping 00:34:41.380 --> 00:34:47.300 into Christmas and there's excitement and sometimes 00:34:47.300 --> 00:34:49.820 there's exhaustion as we come to the end of the 00:34:49.820 --> 00:34:53.420 year. And just right now, first of all, before 00:34:53.420 --> 00:34:56.360 we really get into it, for those of you, you're 00:34:56.360 --> 00:35:00.400 here tonight and you're exhausted, God is saying, 00:35:00.599 --> 00:35:05.079 I've got you. Let me wash over you with my peace. 00:35:07.119 --> 00:35:12.159 Hallelujah. God, would you just rest on people 00:35:12.159 --> 00:35:17.960 now? Let them soak up your presence. Thank you, 00:35:18.000 --> 00:35:22.480 God. But God, tonight there are people in this 00:35:22.480 --> 00:35:24.840 room who are wounded and hurting and needing 00:35:24.840 --> 00:35:28.920 the healing of God. And if that's you, and you 00:35:28.920 --> 00:35:30.780 know there's something that's gone on in your 00:35:30.780 --> 00:35:33.719 life, either past hope that has really crushed 00:35:33.719 --> 00:35:36.849 you or you're struggling to look beyond your 00:35:36.849 --> 00:35:40.429 circumstances today or struggling to dream for 00:35:40.429 --> 00:35:42.610 the future. Would you just lift up your hand 00:35:42.610 --> 00:35:44.409 while everyone's eyes are shut? I just want to 00:35:44.409 --> 00:35:49.170 pray for your healing. Yeah, that's great. That's 00:35:49.170 --> 00:35:52.710 great. That's great. Anyone else in the room? 00:35:52.969 --> 00:35:54.670 Everyone's eyes are shut. This is just you, me 00:35:54.670 --> 00:36:02.769 and Jesus. Yeah, that's great. The power of God 00:36:02.769 --> 00:36:05.389 is present to heal. Lord Jesus, for those who 00:36:05.389 --> 00:36:08.050 have raised their hands today, would you pour 00:36:08.050 --> 00:36:11.869 out your Spirit on them? Pour it out. Pour it 00:36:11.869 --> 00:36:13.710 out. I see a picture of a waterfall. This is 00:36:13.710 --> 00:36:16.710 not a dribble that is coming out of the Holy 00:36:16.710 --> 00:36:19.889 Spirit. This is a waterfall of the love and presence 00:36:19.889 --> 00:36:26.400 of God. The healing power of God. God, I just 00:36:26.400 --> 00:36:28.820 want to speak first to the wounds that people 00:36:28.820 --> 00:36:31.739 carry from the past. You're a God who binds up 00:36:31.739 --> 00:36:35.000 the wounds of the brokenhearted. Lord, I just 00:36:35.000 --> 00:36:38.019 see you coming down the tender hands of Jesus, 00:36:38.559 --> 00:36:41.099 binding up the wounds people carry. The wounds 00:36:41.099 --> 00:36:43.599 you have from the past, friend, will not define 00:36:43.599 --> 00:36:47.139 you in the name of Jesus, but the love of Jesus, 00:36:47.920 --> 00:36:50.260 the fact that He came into the world to identify 00:36:50.260 --> 00:36:55.659 with your pain. Lord, for those who are carrying 00:36:55.659 --> 00:36:58.420 wounds as they look around, they feel overwhelmed 00:36:58.420 --> 00:37:02.320 by their situation today. Holy Spirit, would 00:37:02.320 --> 00:37:07.400 you pour out on them so that they exhale and 00:37:07.400 --> 00:37:10.980 breathe deep for the first time in a long time 00:37:10.980 --> 00:37:15.400 and recognise that the situation they are in 00:37:15.400 --> 00:37:18.559 does not have to define them. Their hope is not 00:37:18.559 --> 00:37:22.400 defined by what they see. Because what is seen 00:37:22.400 --> 00:37:28.320 is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal Holy 00:37:28.320 --> 00:37:33.300 spirit come The freshness of your breath on those 00:37:33.300 --> 00:37:46.539 people Thank you God Amen Amen. Hey, I know pastor 00:37:46.539 --> 00:37:49.400 Tim's down here ready to pray if anyone would 00:37:49.400 --> 00:37:52.360 like some personal prayer. But as we come into 00:37:52.360 --> 00:37:55.519 this moment of worship and close off the service, 00:37:56.139 --> 00:38:01.460 I just want to say I just prayed for people for 00:38:01.460 --> 00:38:05.039 healing from past and present. I believe the 00:38:05.039 --> 00:38:07.099 Holy Spirit is saying to you today encounter 00:38:07.099 --> 00:38:11.179 Henley that the creativity within this congregation 00:38:11.179 --> 00:38:14.880 is so powerful. You need to recognise the creative 00:38:14.880 --> 00:38:16.760 spirit God has put within you and do something 00:38:16.760 --> 00:38:20.159 about it. Now, creativity is not just playing 00:38:20.159 --> 00:38:23.920 guitar or being like Josh and Emma who pretty 00:38:23.920 --> 00:38:25.539 much cover all the creative arts between them, 00:38:26.360 --> 00:38:29.900 I think. Creativity is entrepreneurship. Creativity 00:38:29.900 --> 00:38:31.860 is dreaming something into existence. It is one 00:38:31.860 --> 00:38:34.019 of the unique things about you as human beings. 00:38:34.380 --> 00:38:36.719 Some of you have had a dream and you put it on 00:38:36.719 --> 00:38:38.980 the shelf because it seemed too hard, but really 00:38:38.980 --> 00:38:41.869 because you felt deflated by life. And God is 00:38:41.869 --> 00:38:44.909 saying right now the Spirit of God is stirring 00:38:44.909 --> 00:38:47.650 up dreams in this place. We cannot afford as 00:38:47.650 --> 00:38:50.110 the people of God just to go with the flow and 00:38:50.110 --> 00:38:52.210 trudge along with our heads down. We need to 00:38:52.210 --> 00:38:55.730 lift up our eyes to what God has before us. There 00:38:55.730 --> 00:38:58.909 are bigger dreams and greater days ahead. Would 00:38:58.909 --> 00:39:01.329 you stand with me if you're able? We're gonna 00:39:01.329 --> 00:39:05.289 worship. Josh and Emma are going to lead us and 00:39:05.289 --> 00:39:07.449 I want to encourage you. What is it that God 00:39:07.449 --> 00:39:09.349 is calling you to dream about for the future? 00:39:09.650 --> 00:39:12.949 Your future hope. Your future hope, friends. 00:39:15.989 --> 00:39:18.329 Thanks so much for tuning into this week's message. 00:39:19.030 --> 00:39:22.110 If you felt challenged or need prayer, we'd love 00:39:22.110 --> 00:39:24.469 to hear from you on Instagram at encounterhenley. 00:39:25.170 --> 00:39:27.449 Or if you're interested in how you can support 00:39:27.449 --> 00:39:31.309 this ministry, please go to our website encounteradelaide 00:39:31.309 --> 00:39:35.579 .com .au. Thanks again for listening. God bless 00:39:35.579 --> 00:39:35.940 you.