Pastors Notes 4 December 2011
Last Sunday we began to prepare for the celebration of Jesus’ first coming, which we traditionally do on the 25th December. We prepare for this celebration while looking forward to Jesus’ second coming. This preparation has started with a focus on hope which God sent with the coming of Jesus, the Messiah, the Son of God. And what a message of hope we have. Jesus the king of kings is coming back to reign on this earth and to bring our salvation to completion (Lk 1:26-33). God has chosen in his sovereignty and love to show his presence through his grace, not only when Jesus came to this earth, but will do so again when Jesus returns. Between his first and second coming, we have been given the Spirit of Christ in our hearts. God is with us. While God’s presence is with us our hope in Jesus the king will not be disappointed. The beautiful thing is that this hope we have is not in our abilities or human effort or our plans, but in God’s agenda (Lk 1:32). God will once again act in history and complete our salvation. Our hope is not in a baby but in the exalted Jesus. Evil is doomed. The final word is the triumph of God.
This hope we have speaks of action until Christ returns. It is a hope which can shape our attitudes about life. Jesus wants us to come into our lives anew now and show God’s grace (Lk 1:28). Jesus is calling us to a new awareness of our need for God’s grace to break in on us, to cause us to review where our faith is placed, to renew us, to set us free, and to stir the Spirit within us. Jesus is calling us to trust in him and his purposes (Lk 1:34,37,38). God does not want us to respond to his voice of hope like Zechariah – “How can I be sure of this?” (Lk 1:18). When God speaks to us a message of hope, he wants us to respond like Mary – “How will this be?” (Lk 1:34). In Mary’s response, there is no doubt. There is openness and willingness to yield to God’s will despite not knowing all the answers. Her response to God’s message of hope sets in motion God’s will for her.
Are you in a place where you are prepared to do whatever God asks of you? Is the hope you have, that you hold onto, an anchor for your life? Is your life secured by hope that grips on our solid rock Jesus Christ? Remember, that our hope in Jesus will never fail us (Lk 1:32-33,37). Hope is a confident eager expectation of good, because God is committed to his promises (Lk 1:32-33), and there is a certainty and finality in the hope in God (Lk 1:37). Therefore, let us be a church where hope in God is alive, and lets set in motion God’s will for us here at NBC.
God bless
Pastor Phil
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