(Luke

Описание: Have you ever been waiting for something for such a long time that it seems it will never happen? Are you losing hope? Where shall we find hope?

For 400 years since the prophet Malachi last spoke, God had been silent. Yet God was busy preparing behind the scenes for Jesus’ birth and the spread of the gospel.

Your waiting may seem so long. But remember, God is working. He is making preparations for better things.

So take heart and not be discouraged. Don’t lose hope.

You might feel you’re ordinary. You might feel you are worthless, or you are not capable. Know that God calls you His treasure. You are God’s inheritance. (1 Peter 2:9-10; Ephesians 1:11-12, 18)

He has a calling for you.

Mary was an ordinary girl, living in Nazareth which is just an ordinary small town. In everyday mundane, God appeared to Mary. God chose Mary to be Jesus’ mother.

And history took a big turn. The promised Savior has arrived. The promise of a Savior was like a bright light in the darkness.

Just as God chose Mary to be Jesus’ mother, God chose you too.

God is faithful. He has chosen you to share life with his son, Jesus Christ our Lord.” (1 Corinthians 1:9)

Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. (Ephesians 1:4)

Before we were even born, he gave us our destiny, that we would fulfill the plan of God - and it is God who accomplishes every purpose and plan in his heart. (Ephesians 1:11)

He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago. (Ephesians 2:10)

In Christ we join God in the work he does, this good work has been planned and gotten ready for us to do.

Are you going to say “yes” to God, just like Mary said “yes” to God’s plan for her? Mary’s husband Joseph said yes, the shepherds said yes, the wise men said yes.

We can say yes because God chose to show his love to us by sending his Son Jesus to be our Savior.

We can say “yes” because Jesus chose “yes” to obey the Father, leaving behind his glory, became a human baby, bore my sin, your sin on the cross.

This was the first Advent. Advent means “arrival”. Jesus’ first arrival.
We are living in between two Advents - Jesus’ first arrival as a savior, and Jesus’ second arrival as the conquering King with the armies of heaven at his side

When Jesus comes back the second time, everything will be made new - no more tears, no more sicknesses. We come face to face in the presence of God forever.

Hope is in the Person of Jesus.

Don’t lose hope, fix our eyes on Jesus.