1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:03,840 today is the first week of Advent. 2 00:00:03,840 --> 00:00:05,880 And with each of these weeks, 3 00:00:05,880 --> 00:00:08,040 there's a different theme that goes with them. 4 00:00:08,040 --> 00:00:11,840 And the first one that we look at is the theme of hope. 5 00:00:11,840 --> 00:00:14,680 See, this season of Advent is the coming, 6 00:00:14,680 --> 00:00:19,160 the coming of Jesus Christ when he was born in a manger 7 00:00:19,160 --> 00:00:23,320 and that he is here to bring salvation and hope 8 00:00:23,320 --> 00:00:24,740 for all people. 9 00:00:24,740 --> 00:00:27,120 So as we're looking through these different weeks, 10 00:00:27,120 --> 00:00:29,320 we see how it is that not only 11 00:00:29,320 --> 00:00:31,720 we're looking to what Christ would bring, 12 00:00:31,720 --> 00:00:34,000 but also that he is truly the one to light us 13 00:00:34,000 --> 00:00:35,880 during this time of darkness, 14 00:00:35,880 --> 00:00:40,000 during this season where he truly is the light of the world. 15 00:00:40,000 --> 00:00:43,320 Now, as I was thinking about this idea of hope 16 00:00:43,320 --> 00:00:47,680 and what it is, one of the movies that comes to mind 17 00:00:47,680 --> 00:00:51,360 most often is one of the ones that's most frustrating 18 00:00:51,360 --> 00:00:52,480 as you're watching it. 19 00:00:52,480 --> 00:00:55,520 And that would be Groundhog Day. 20 00:00:55,520 --> 00:00:58,400 Now, Groundhog Day, Bill Murray, right? 21 00:00:58,400 --> 00:01:02,320 Okay, I mean, honestly, I think he was at his best. 22 00:01:02,320 --> 00:01:04,640 All right, now turned out this movie, 23 00:01:04,640 --> 00:01:08,240 it was actually the last movie that he and Harold Ramis 24 00:01:08,240 --> 00:01:09,520 ever worked on together. 25 00:01:09,520 --> 00:01:11,440 Remember from Ghostbusters, Egon, 26 00:01:11,440 --> 00:01:14,320 and then, you know, so well, the two of them 27 00:01:14,320 --> 00:01:16,200 apparently had such a big fight 28 00:01:16,200 --> 00:01:18,840 that they did not even talk to each other again 29 00:01:18,840 --> 00:01:21,000 for about 20 years after this movie. 30 00:01:21,000 --> 00:01:22,960 So, hey, enjoy it. 31 00:01:22,960 --> 00:01:24,760 A lot went into it, apparently. 32 00:01:24,760 --> 00:01:28,520 Now, the movie, the premise is that Phil Connors, 33 00:01:28,520 --> 00:01:31,840 he is a weatherman and he is in this place called Punksutani 34 00:01:31,840 --> 00:01:34,920 in preparation for the Groundhog, 35 00:01:34,920 --> 00:01:37,680 that he's going to emerge and predict the weather. 36 00:01:37,680 --> 00:01:40,920 Well, Phil does not really appreciate being there. 37 00:01:40,920 --> 00:01:43,080 He's very annoyed and he's gonna try to get out 38 00:01:43,080 --> 00:01:44,520 as soon as he can. 39 00:01:44,520 --> 00:01:48,960 So, as he's there, he wakes up and I got you, Babe, 40 00:01:48,960 --> 00:01:51,880 is playing on the radio and he wakes up 41 00:01:51,880 --> 00:01:53,520 and goes through the motions. 42 00:01:53,520 --> 00:01:55,880 And what everything happening is that he has to go 43 00:01:55,880 --> 00:01:57,400 and see the Groundhog. 44 00:01:57,400 --> 00:01:59,480 Great, the Groundhog saw his shadow. 45 00:01:59,480 --> 00:02:02,640 So, unfortunately, it's six more weeks of winter. 46 00:02:02,640 --> 00:02:05,920 And then he goes back and he tries to leave, 47 00:02:05,920 --> 00:02:08,480 but a blizzard is coming through. 48 00:02:08,480 --> 00:02:11,080 So, he goes to bed and wakes up 49 00:02:11,080 --> 00:02:13,680 and he hears, I got you, Babe, playing on the radio. 50 00:02:13,680 --> 00:02:15,760 And he's like, oh, that's funny. 51 00:02:15,760 --> 00:02:18,160 And the announcer is the same. 52 00:02:19,040 --> 00:02:22,240 And then walks out and every person that he interacts with, 53 00:02:22,240 --> 00:02:26,920 it's the same as what he had just experienced. 54 00:02:26,920 --> 00:02:29,600 Even to the point where as everything's finishing up 55 00:02:29,600 --> 00:02:31,600 and he goes to bed and he thinks he's got deja vu. 56 00:02:31,600 --> 00:02:36,000 And then it happens again, over and over, 57 00:02:36,000 --> 00:02:39,560 the same day keeps repeating. 58 00:02:39,560 --> 00:02:41,000 Now, at first he was just confused, 59 00:02:41,000 --> 00:02:44,600 but then he decides, oh, well, then apparently, 60 00:02:44,600 --> 00:02:46,840 I must be some type of a God. 61 00:02:46,840 --> 00:02:49,080 And decides that, well, you know what? 62 00:02:49,080 --> 00:02:50,720 I can ignore all the rules 63 00:02:50,720 --> 00:02:52,880 because I can do whatever I want. 64 00:02:52,880 --> 00:02:54,960 It doesn't matter because every day 65 00:02:54,960 --> 00:02:56,360 is just gonna keep repeating. 66 00:02:56,360 --> 00:02:59,320 So, he eats what he wants, he does what he wants, 67 00:02:59,320 --> 00:03:01,680 he takes what he wants, whatever it is, 68 00:03:01,680 --> 00:03:04,520 because he believes that there are no consequences 69 00:03:04,520 --> 00:03:06,560 to his actions anymore. 70 00:03:06,560 --> 00:03:08,960 But he also then sees, well, 71 00:03:08,960 --> 00:03:11,720 now I know how everything will play out. 72 00:03:11,720 --> 00:03:16,720 So now I can manipulate things to what I want, 73 00:03:16,720 --> 00:03:21,640 except somehow he can't quite win the heart of the woman 74 00:03:21,640 --> 00:03:25,600 that he loves or he likes at the time, Andy McDowell. 75 00:03:25,600 --> 00:03:27,160 Anybody would ever crush on her. 76 00:03:27,160 --> 00:03:30,960 But with it is that he keeps trying to figure out 77 00:03:30,960 --> 00:03:35,480 the exact formula for how to do things a certain way 78 00:03:35,480 --> 00:03:37,280 to get her to like him. 79 00:03:37,280 --> 00:03:41,680 And when that fails, he finally just decides, 80 00:03:41,680 --> 00:03:44,960 I'm done with this, I wanna find a way out. 81 00:03:44,960 --> 00:03:46,840 But no matter what he tries to do, 82 00:03:46,840 --> 00:03:49,080 even when he feels that he needs to just give up 83 00:03:49,080 --> 00:03:52,920 on everything, is that he cannot seem to escape. 84 00:03:53,800 --> 00:03:56,480 There is no formula that allows him 85 00:03:56,480 --> 00:03:59,240 to get out of this cycle. 86 00:03:59,240 --> 00:04:03,400 He loses hope even giving up on life, 87 00:04:03,400 --> 00:04:06,440 but nothing seems to change. 88 00:04:07,680 --> 00:04:10,200 Have you ever had that feeling? 89 00:04:10,200 --> 00:04:12,160 That it feels like no matter what it is 90 00:04:12,160 --> 00:04:13,040 that you're trying to do, 91 00:04:13,040 --> 00:04:16,080 no matter what it is that you're trying to put forward, 92 00:04:16,080 --> 00:04:19,000 nothing seems to change. 93 00:04:19,000 --> 00:04:23,760 And that somehow it's hard to get out of that same loop. 94 00:04:25,040 --> 00:04:30,000 This is the idea as we're looking at our gospel passage today 95 00:04:30,000 --> 00:04:34,280 of what Israel was going through when Jesus was on the scene. 96 00:04:34,280 --> 00:04:36,840 Israel, when Jesus came on the scene, 97 00:04:36,840 --> 00:04:41,840 they had continually lost their nation time and time again. 98 00:04:41,840 --> 00:04:46,080 They had, the northern part had been conquered by Assyria 99 00:04:46,080 --> 00:04:50,920 in 722 BC, the southern part by Babylon in 586 BC. 100 00:04:50,920 --> 00:04:54,640 Later, the Persians in 538 BC. 101 00:04:54,640 --> 00:04:58,280 Then the Greeks came along and conquered them in 322 BC. 102 00:04:58,280 --> 00:05:01,360 They finally got a little bit of independence 103 00:05:01,360 --> 00:05:06,360 for about a century in 167 BC with the Maccabeean Revolt. 104 00:05:06,440 --> 00:05:09,960 And then they lost it again in 63 BC to Rome. 105 00:05:09,960 --> 00:05:14,960 They could not seem to escape this cycle of being conquered. 106 00:05:16,840 --> 00:05:18,720 So when Jesus came on the scene, 107 00:05:18,720 --> 00:05:21,480 they were waiting again for about 70 years or so, 108 00:05:21,480 --> 00:05:25,120 and they were wondering if it was finally time 109 00:05:25,120 --> 00:05:27,240 for their freedom to arrive. 110 00:05:27,240 --> 00:05:29,080 But you see, when it did, 111 00:05:29,080 --> 00:05:33,240 people were also reacting in different ways. 112 00:05:34,240 --> 00:05:37,400 There were some who were living life however they wished, 113 00:05:37,400 --> 00:05:40,520 because they believed that God wasn't paying attention anymore. 114 00:05:40,520 --> 00:05:43,240 So they figured it doesn't matter what we do, 115 00:05:43,240 --> 00:05:45,640 let's just do whatever we wish. 116 00:05:45,640 --> 00:05:48,040 And then there were some that figured 117 00:05:48,040 --> 00:05:50,960 if we could just find the exact formula 118 00:05:50,960 --> 00:05:52,520 for what we need to do, 119 00:05:52,520 --> 00:05:56,480 then God will finally remember us and help us escape. 120 00:05:56,480 --> 00:06:00,240 But we've got to do things perfectly to make him happy. 121 00:06:01,240 --> 00:06:03,640 And then there were those who just gave up. 122 00:06:03,640 --> 00:06:07,000 And they didn't really believe anything would ever change. 123 00:06:07,480 --> 00:06:10,960 So they just found ways to manage their life 124 00:06:10,960 --> 00:06:13,360 in the Roman-occupied country. 125 00:06:13,360 --> 00:06:15,600 But then here comes Jesus. 126 00:06:16,400 --> 00:06:19,000 And it's time for something to change. 127 00:06:19,640 --> 00:06:25,640 See, the thing is, is that Jesus ends up coming into Jerusalem, 128 00:06:25,640 --> 00:06:26,920 and they say, 129 00:06:26,920 --> 00:06:30,120 behold, your King is coming. 130 00:06:30,120 --> 00:06:36,440 See, Jesus ends up knowing that he's about to have to go to his death soon. 131 00:06:38,200 --> 00:06:41,640 But in so doing, he also knows that he must show the people 132 00:06:41,640 --> 00:06:44,040 that he is the one that they were waiting for. 133 00:06:44,040 --> 00:06:47,320 See, there were different prophecies that had come up before. 134 00:06:47,320 --> 00:06:51,640 Things that were supposed to point to him as being the Messiah. 135 00:06:51,640 --> 00:06:54,320 In Genesis 49, 136 00:06:55,320 --> 00:06:58,520 when Jacob was spying on the cross, 137 00:06:58,520 --> 00:07:01,400 when Jacob was speaking over his sons, 138 00:07:01,400 --> 00:07:03,520 and he spoke over Judah, 139 00:07:03,520 --> 00:07:06,720 who was the ancestor of Jesus, 140 00:07:06,720 --> 00:07:07,560 and he said, 141 00:07:07,560 --> 00:07:14,000 binding his foal to the vine and his donkey's colts to the choice vine, 142 00:07:14,000 --> 00:07:16,600 he has washed his garments in wine 143 00:07:16,600 --> 00:07:20,240 and his vesture in the blood of grapes. 144 00:07:21,520 --> 00:07:24,880 We end up seeing that even then, 145 00:07:24,880 --> 00:07:27,520 they knew that the future Messiah 146 00:07:27,520 --> 00:07:30,520 was going to have to be shedding his blood, 147 00:07:30,520 --> 00:07:33,520 but that riding on the donkey's colts 148 00:07:33,520 --> 00:07:36,000 would be a sign of who he was. 149 00:07:36,000 --> 00:07:38,360 And then later in Zechariah 9, 150 00:07:38,360 --> 00:07:40,720 rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion, 151 00:07:40,720 --> 00:07:43,400 shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem, 152 00:07:43,400 --> 00:07:46,280 behold, your King is coming to you. 153 00:07:46,280 --> 00:07:48,480 Righteous and having salvation is he, 154 00:07:48,480 --> 00:07:52,040 humble and mounted on a donkey, 155 00:07:52,040 --> 00:07:55,600 on a colt, the foal of a donkey. 156 00:07:55,600 --> 00:08:00,600 All these things are pointing to Jesus being the Messiah 157 00:08:00,600 --> 00:08:02,600 to be able to show that as he comes in, 158 00:08:02,600 --> 00:08:05,080 he is the one that they are to be looking toward, 159 00:08:05,080 --> 00:08:08,600 and he says, go and get the colt, 160 00:08:09,600 --> 00:08:12,600 because he knows that that's what he needs to ride on. 161 00:08:12,600 --> 00:08:15,600 But how did he know? 162 00:08:15,600 --> 00:08:18,600 How did he know where to send them? 163 00:08:18,600 --> 00:08:20,600 Did he just hope that there would be a colt there 164 00:08:20,600 --> 00:08:23,600 that somebody had never ridden on before? 165 00:08:23,600 --> 00:08:26,600 Did he just hope that if they went up and they said, 166 00:08:26,600 --> 00:08:28,600 the Lord has need of it, 167 00:08:28,600 --> 00:08:31,600 that somebody would happen to let it happen? 168 00:08:32,600 --> 00:08:35,600 This was not the kind of way to look at prophecy 169 00:08:35,600 --> 00:08:37,600 that we might think of, 170 00:08:37,600 --> 00:08:39,600 because in our mind, 171 00:08:39,600 --> 00:08:42,600 in our way of looking at things, 172 00:08:42,600 --> 00:08:44,600 we oftentimes think of it as, 173 00:08:44,600 --> 00:08:46,600 as long as I know what's coming, 174 00:08:46,600 --> 00:08:48,600 and then I can prepare for it. 175 00:08:48,600 --> 00:08:51,600 But with Jesus, it was more than that. 176 00:08:51,600 --> 00:08:54,600 It wasn't just predicting what the circumstance would be. 177 00:08:54,600 --> 00:08:59,600 It was because Jesus was the one who had authored it. 178 00:08:59,600 --> 00:09:02,600 Jesus was the one who was saying, 179 00:09:02,600 --> 00:09:04,600 I am the son of God, 180 00:09:04,600 --> 00:09:07,600 and this is what we have said would happen. 181 00:09:08,600 --> 00:09:11,600 See, that's the thing about who God is, 182 00:09:11,600 --> 00:09:14,600 is that we don't hope in God 183 00:09:14,600 --> 00:09:17,600 just because of the circumstances that we're in, 184 00:09:17,600 --> 00:09:19,600 and just hoping that they work out. 185 00:09:19,600 --> 00:09:23,600 But rather that our hope is in the God 186 00:09:23,600 --> 00:09:27,600 who has made and designed everything already. 187 00:09:27,600 --> 00:09:31,600 Our hope is in the God who knows everything 188 00:09:31,600 --> 00:09:34,600 because he has made it for good. 189 00:09:35,600 --> 00:09:38,600 But that's difficult sometimes, 190 00:09:38,600 --> 00:09:42,600 because what we end up seeing in the circumstances that we face 191 00:09:42,600 --> 00:09:46,600 do not always make us feel very hopeful. 192 00:09:46,600 --> 00:09:50,600 Sometimes as we see things play out, 193 00:09:50,600 --> 00:09:53,600 and they don't turn out the way that we wished that they would, 194 00:09:53,600 --> 00:09:56,600 and we begin to feel hopeless. 195 00:09:56,600 --> 00:09:59,600 That's the thing is that as Jesus is coming, 196 00:09:59,600 --> 00:10:03,600 he is not the one that they are expecting. 197 00:10:03,600 --> 00:10:08,600 You see, Israel was not expecting this. 198 00:10:08,600 --> 00:10:13,600 See, the thing is, is that in our story with Phil Connors, 199 00:10:13,600 --> 00:10:18,600 is that he wasn't actually expecting what was going to happen, 200 00:10:18,600 --> 00:10:21,600 and he didn't know what it was that he was meant to do 201 00:10:21,600 --> 00:10:24,600 to somehow escape everything. 202 00:10:24,600 --> 00:10:27,600 But he just felt frustrated and tired. 203 00:10:27,600 --> 00:10:34,600 And then finally decided that he was just going to try something new. 204 00:10:34,600 --> 00:10:38,600 And he ends up seeing somebody in an alleyway 205 00:10:38,600 --> 00:10:42,600 that he can't seem to help no matter how many times he tries. 206 00:10:42,600 --> 00:10:45,600 And he wants to save this person, 207 00:10:45,600 --> 00:10:50,600 and over and over again, the person still passes away. 208 00:10:50,600 --> 00:10:55,600 Until finally he realizes how much he had been wasting his own life, 209 00:10:55,600 --> 00:11:00,600 and he decides to spend his time becoming the person he was meant to be. 210 00:11:00,600 --> 00:11:06,600 See, that's the thing, is that hope is not in the solution that we keep wishing for, 211 00:11:06,600 --> 00:11:11,600 but rather is being able to turn to God and see what it is that he is doing instead. 212 00:11:11,600 --> 00:11:15,600 It says, blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord, 213 00:11:15,600 --> 00:11:20,600 but that's the thing with Jesus, is that he was meant to be a different kind of King. 214 00:11:20,600 --> 00:11:26,600 The people were excited to see him. They saw him coming down on that cult. 215 00:11:26,600 --> 00:11:29,600 We are so excited. 216 00:11:29,600 --> 00:11:34,600 And then he ends up kicking people out of the temple 217 00:11:34,600 --> 00:11:38,600 and being crucified on a cross. 218 00:11:38,600 --> 00:11:45,600 What kind of hope could we have when it ends up being unfulfilled? 219 00:11:45,600 --> 00:11:49,600 They were hoping for a victory against Rome. 220 00:11:49,600 --> 00:11:52,600 They were hoping that finally their world would change 221 00:11:52,600 --> 00:11:56,600 and that they would see something that they were looking toward. 222 00:11:56,600 --> 00:12:01,600 But that wasn't the kind of victory that Jesus came to bring. 223 00:12:01,600 --> 00:12:06,600 Because that's the thing, what we keep hoping for in our lives 224 00:12:06,600 --> 00:12:14,600 is always so much more shallow than anything that God is actually going to do. 225 00:12:14,600 --> 00:12:19,600 The thing that we keep wishing for, the thing we keep hoping for, 226 00:12:19,600 --> 00:12:26,600 it always pales in comparison to what God is actually going to do. 227 00:12:26,600 --> 00:12:34,600 Because that King coming down on the cross to go through humiliation and to shame 228 00:12:34,600 --> 00:12:38,600 is meant to be the blessing itself. 229 00:12:38,600 --> 00:12:41,600 See, that's the thing about Jesus. 230 00:12:41,600 --> 00:12:48,600 As he came to do his work, it was to provide what we were actually hoping for. 231 00:12:48,600 --> 00:12:54,600 Life, salvation, and to know that we are part of God's family. 232 00:12:54,600 --> 00:12:57,600 See, that's the thing about hope, though. 233 00:12:57,600 --> 00:13:00,600 Hope is not easy. 234 00:13:00,600 --> 00:13:05,600 Hope is not something that just comes and gets fulfilled like that. 235 00:13:05,600 --> 00:13:08,600 Hope is not something where you sit there and make a wish 236 00:13:08,600 --> 00:13:12,600 and then somehow it happens exactly the way you thought it would. 237 00:13:12,600 --> 00:13:18,600 Hope does not come without struggle. 238 00:13:18,600 --> 00:13:22,600 Because that's the thing about hope, is that for hope to be real, 239 00:13:22,600 --> 00:13:26,600 for hope to have substance, for hope to be meaningful, 240 00:13:26,600 --> 00:13:33,600 is that the path to get there is one that is difficult to journey through. 241 00:13:33,600 --> 00:13:38,600 Because if it's something that's meaningful, then it's going to take effort. 242 00:13:38,600 --> 00:13:43,600 But it's not just what Jesus has done on the cross for us, 243 00:13:43,600 --> 00:13:48,600 but it's also the path that he gives to us as well. 244 00:13:48,600 --> 00:13:52,600 Because that's the thing, our character, 245 00:13:52,600 --> 00:13:56,600 all he ends up doing is spending that day 246 00:13:56,600 --> 00:14:01,600 giving everything that he can without wondering what was going to come of it. 247 00:14:01,600 --> 00:14:05,600 He ended up running up under a tree at the exact moment 248 00:14:05,600 --> 00:14:08,600 when a kid was about to fall out of a branch to grab him. 249 00:14:08,600 --> 00:14:12,600 He ends up going to a restaurant and giving someone the Heimlich mover 250 00:14:12,600 --> 00:14:16,600 because he knew exactly where to go and when to be there. 251 00:14:16,600 --> 00:14:19,600 He ends up going for his first piano lesson 252 00:14:19,600 --> 00:14:23,600 after however many times he had repeated that same lesson 253 00:14:23,600 --> 00:14:25,600 because of the same day. 254 00:14:25,600 --> 00:14:29,600 And then that night when he's spending time with the woman that he loves, 255 00:14:29,600 --> 00:14:32,600 and all she sees is who he is, 256 00:14:32,600 --> 00:14:36,600 not who he was trying to pretend that he was. 257 00:14:36,600 --> 00:14:38,600 But that's the thing about it, 258 00:14:38,600 --> 00:14:41,600 is that then when they finally finished that day 259 00:14:41,600 --> 00:14:43,600 and he woke up the next morning, 260 00:14:43,600 --> 00:14:46,600 it was February 3rd, 261 00:14:46,600 --> 00:14:51,600 and he was finally moving forward in the life that he was intended to have. 262 00:14:51,600 --> 00:14:53,600 And that's the thing, 263 00:14:53,600 --> 00:14:58,600 is that we oftentimes need to let go of what it was that we were wishing for, 264 00:14:58,600 --> 00:15:00,600 that we thought was so meaningful, 265 00:15:00,600 --> 00:15:04,600 and to have hope in the one who actually knows what we really need. 266 00:15:04,600 --> 00:15:07,600 To have hope that it's not some sort of a magic formula, 267 00:15:07,600 --> 00:15:09,600 that if you do this or you do that, 268 00:15:09,600 --> 00:15:11,600 or you can somehow prove something, 269 00:15:11,600 --> 00:15:15,600 that you will get everything that it is that you thought you wanted. 270 00:15:15,600 --> 00:15:18,600 That is not where hope is found. 271 00:15:18,600 --> 00:15:24,600 Hope is found in a Messiah who gives up everything. 272 00:15:24,600 --> 00:15:30,600 Hope is found when we see that sometimes the struggle is real, 273 00:15:30,600 --> 00:15:34,600 because hope is meant to be real, not just a wish. 274 00:15:34,600 --> 00:15:36,600 The reason why it matters so much 275 00:15:36,600 --> 00:15:41,600 is because of everything that we have to go through to get to it. 276 00:15:41,600 --> 00:15:44,600 And that's the thing about this time of Advent, 277 00:15:44,600 --> 00:15:46,600 is that for these coming weeks, 278 00:15:46,600 --> 00:15:49,600 we're going to look for the things that are going to bring brightness and joy, 279 00:15:49,600 --> 00:15:51,600 and the things that are going to be fun, 280 00:15:51,600 --> 00:15:54,600 but that's not where the hope is found. 281 00:15:54,600 --> 00:15:56,600 The hope is not in the Hallmark movie. 282 00:15:56,600 --> 00:16:00,600 The hope is not in the Christmas bonus. 283 00:16:00,600 --> 00:16:04,600 The hope is knowing that each and every step of what we are struggling through 284 00:16:04,600 --> 00:16:07,600 has meaning and purpose, 285 00:16:07,600 --> 00:16:10,600 because we don't do it alone, 286 00:16:10,600 --> 00:16:14,600 and because every step of it isn't an accident, 287 00:16:14,600 --> 00:16:20,600 but is something guided and provided by a God who loves us. 288 00:16:20,600 --> 00:16:23,600 I don't know what it is that you're struggling with right now. 289 00:16:23,600 --> 00:16:28,600 I don't know what it is that causes you to struggle to have hope at this season, 290 00:16:28,600 --> 00:16:35,600 and that when the cold sets in and everything feels dark and you're wondering what now. 291 00:16:35,600 --> 00:16:40,600 But what I do know is that resurrection requires death, 292 00:16:40,600 --> 00:16:45,600 but that's because death in Christ Jesus leads to new life. 293 00:16:45,600 --> 00:16:49,600 Whatever this season may be doing in your life, 294 00:16:49,600 --> 00:16:53,600 we know that our hope in Christ Jesus will be fulfilled. 295 00:16:53,600 --> 00:16:56,600 Not the way that we expect it, 296 00:16:56,600 --> 00:17:01,600 but in the way that God loves you and cares for you. 297 00:17:01,600 --> 00:17:06,600 So this season, instead of focusing on the wishes that we want fulfilled, 298 00:17:06,600 --> 00:17:10,600 may we appreciate the journey that God has us on 299 00:17:10,600 --> 00:17:14,600 to get to a place of hope and a place of meaning 300 00:17:14,600 --> 00:17:19,600 because it is a place won for us by Christ Jesus. 301 00:17:19,600 --> 00:17:22,600 Thanks be to God. 302 00:17:22,600 --> 00:17:32,600 Please rise for prayer.