First Mini-Sermon

It seems that I do not get nearly as much time blogging as I would like to. With online classes, work, Children's Ministry, often times at the end of the day I collapse in my bed and start another long, busy day again. 

However, recently, I was asked by my Church's Women's Ministry to put together a 10 minute sermon/lesson for our After Work Women's Fellowship. 

At first, I was not sure what I wanted to write about, but it seems that when I was in the right state of mind, the Holy Spirit directed me to talk about Advent, and what the Advent/Christmas season is all about. 

Here is the message I shared with the ladies there:

12/4/14

“Hope, Love, Joy and Peace”

The Advent season is filled with many things, and it is during this time of year we can easily get distracted with the busyness and things that we feel like we “need” to do.

Obviously, there are things that we need to do for our basic necessities, such as work and taking care of our families.

But it is often during this time of year, we pick up extra activities: plan for the “big dinner”, go shopping for all our family and friends and get caught up in that moment of commercialism that we can forget what this time of year is really about. Not to mention all that decorating, wrapping and writing.

So what is this season about? Advent, as Pastor Benjamin explained on Sunday means, “to prepare,” or as I found, studying for Kids lessons, it can also be interpreted as “coming.”

Essentially, during the Advent season we are preparing for the coming of Christ.

Hope, Love, Joy and Peace make up this season of preparation.

Hope and Love represent the first two weeks of Advent.

Joy and Peace represent the last two weeks of Advent.

All over in the Bible, both in the Old and New Testaments we find Hope and Love, intertwined together: Here a just a couple of them:

Psalm 33:22: Let your unfailing love surround us, Lord, for our hope is in you alone. (NLT)

Romans 5:3-5: Not only this, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces perseverance; and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope: and hope doesn’t disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us. (World English Bible)

There are other Bible verses that may talk about either hope or love explicitly, but hints at the other.  

For example:

Psalm 25:5: Lead me by your truth and teach me, for you are the God who saves me. All day long I put my hope in you.

We hope in the Lord, but it is by God’s love that we are saved. (Romans 5:8 says, But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.)

And we also see throughout the Old and New Testaments Bible verses about Joy and Peace.

A great example of this comes from Luke 2:10-14: But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the City of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.”

                                             

And again, we can find verses that explicitly talk about one and hint at the others.

1^st Thessalonians 5:13b, 16-18, 21, 23-24,

….Live in peace with one another. Be joyful always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus….May God himself, the God of Peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it.

Peace and Joy. But as I read this passage, I am also filled with immense hope and reminded of the Love that God has for us, through Jesus Christ.

Every year I am one of many who get overwhelmed during this season, yes, it is a joyous time of the year, but life doesn’t stop and wait for this season to be over. Things come up at work, or we lose work, have car repairs, medical bills, other unexpected expenses, heaters going out, death, or even the weather. And we can really easily lose focus.

Right now, a dear friend of mine is in the hospital. Essentially, she is dying, and when I took on the job of being her caregiver, I didn’t realize how hard it was going to be for me to watch her suffer with all the things she is currently going through. She’s only 53; has young grandkids and I am old enough to be her daughter.  

But she has really just shown me what this time of year means. She has been able to live out hope, love, joy and peace in her life as she trusts in the Lord. She has been classified as terminally ill, her COPD will take her life, but she still places her hope in the Lord. She still loves the Lord. The Lord has brought her a sense of peace, something she has never had before. And she still lives life with a smile on her face. She still has reasons to get up every day and she is just a joy to be around.

She cannot get enough of studying the Bible. She cannot get enough of her church and the family of believers that she is a part of. Through her long list of illnesses, almost one dozen different doctors monitoring her every move, she isn’t focused on that stuff. She has placed her complete hope in the Lord that He will provide for her needs. And that has been good enough for her. She loves the Lord her God, with all her heart, soul, mind and strength and has been able to place her hope in the only One who can deliver her. And He has given her peace and joy in the hardest time of her life.  

As I was putting together this lesson, I was reminded that hope, love, joy and peace are there to comfort us, no matter where we are at in life. Whether life is good, or as my friend says, “peaches and cream” we still look toward Christ and what happened the day He was born.

Hebrews 11:1 and 1^st Corinthians 13:6-8a have great reminders for us, during this Advent season, and for the rest of the year.

Hebrews 11:1: Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.

1^st Corinthians 13:6-8a: Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.

And Love was born at Christmas.

Hope, Love, Peace, Joy, the four elements of Advent are not independent. They intertwine, branching from the One who came to this world to save us from ourselves.  

As we go through the rest of Advent, may we prepare for Christ’s birth, in our hearts, our minds, and our spirits. May we continuously look to Him for comfort, guidance, hope, love, peace and joy.

In closing I wanted to leave you with a few words from the Apostle Paul:

2 Thessalonians 2:16-17: May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope, encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and work.  

As I continue to learn and grow and understand what it means to be a 'Minister of the Gospel', it was a great confirmation of my call into ministry that the women not only accepted the message, but it really hit home for them. 

I pray that during this season of Advent and Christmas, that we never forget what is actually important during this time of year.

Peace and Blessings,

Cody Marie