Hope When It Feels Hopeless

Advent comes from the Latin word adventus, which means “coming” or “arrival.”

• Hope

• Peace

• Joy

• Love

Hope deferred makes the heart sick … Proverbs 13:12 NIV

mashach: deferred, to push aside or delay

3 Truths About God’s Hope That Never Fails

1.  Hope has a name.

“[Mary] will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”  Matthew 1:21 NIV 

·     Jesus is our hope. 1 Timothy 1:1

·     Jesus is our blessed hope. Titus 2:13

·     Jesus is our living hope. 1 Peter 1:3

… God … gave [Jesus] the name above all other names, 10that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11and every tongue declare that Jesus Christ is Lord … Philippians 2:9-11 NLT

2.  Hope has perfect timing.

Jesus Would Be Born:

·     Of a woman (Genesis 3:15; fulfilled in Galatians 4:4)

·     Of a virgin (Isaiah 7:14; fulfilled in Matthew 1:22-23)

·     In Bethlehem (Micah 5:2; fulfilled in Matthew 2:1)

... when the right time came, God sent his Son … Galatians 4:4 NLT

3.  Hope is coming again.

For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 NIV

Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life. Proverbs 13:12 NIV