Series: Advent 2024 – Stand Sermon: Hope Overcomes Despair
WATCH THE SERVICE HERE
Primary Text: Luke 21:25-36
Supplementary Texts: Jeremiah 33:14-16, Psalm 25:1-10, 1 Thessalonians 3:9-13
How are believers to respond to the despair that is in the air? With the hope of Jesus Christ.
“Fear and foreboding” reigns supreme in the news headlines and hearts of our day. Natural disasters, international and civil wars, immorality and anxieties spread out around the globe and in our neighborhoods. But believers respond with hope. Not hope in their own strength, nor hope in the powers of the world, but hope in the “Son of Man” who “shall execute justice and righteousness” (Jeremiah 33:15).
Hope is a holy perspective and posture.
It is looking at and responding to the problems of the world through the person and promises of Jesus.
In Luke 21:25-36 Jesus was in the middle of a tense time, was predicting a tense time, but acted and spoke with hope.
When Jesus predicted the destruction of the temple and Jerusalem, the disciples asked for a sign, a clue for the end times (Luke 21:7). Jesus offered himself as the sign, the clue for life’s questions. “My words will never pass away.” (Luke 21:33)
In this text, God is calling us to
1. Repent from behaviors and blindness of despair
Drunkenness and worry weigh us down and leave us unprepared for Jesus (Luke 21:34).
2. Ask for a posture and perspective of hope
We must “be on guard” (21:34) and “be alert at all times” (21:36) so that we can “stand up and raise up our heads…as our redemption is drawing near” (21:28).
The result of repentance from despair and standing in hope is a lifestyle of holiness that is ready for Jesus to come back at any moment.
Are you standing in hope?
We do not know when the Son of Man will return, but let’s join Paul in praying for strength to “be blameless before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints” (1 Thessalonians 3:13).
Reflection Questions
Begin with a prayer pause on Psalm 25:4-7. Choose a line to meditate on for 2 minutes.
What is the difference between despair and hope?
As you read Luke 21:25-36, what are examples of disaster and despair?
As you read Luke 21:25-26 again, what are words and examples of hope?
The disciples were a work in progress and were distracted with determining what “the sign” was going to be. What are other ways that believers today can be distracted or even led to anxiety?
Jesus specifically called out carousing and drunkenness and worry as things that will cause people to be weighed down and caught by surprise (Luke 21:34). Why are these things unhelpful and unhealthy behaviors and how should believers remove these from their lives today?
What are ways that believers can “be on guard” and “be alert” in ways that aren’t distracting, desperate or anxious?
Are you standing in hope? In what way is God calling you to leave despair behind and choose a posture and perspective of hope?
Close in prayer.
Daily Advent Readings: www.stillnaz.com/advent2024