Advent: Hope

What does advent mean?

• Christmas: it is for the weeks leading up to Christmas
• It is a way to prepare ourselves for Jesus' birth.

Who has hope for their future?

Are their times in your life when you don't have hope? In those times, do others see hope for you? Sometimes it can be hard to have hope when we're struggling with something.

²⁶ In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, ²⁷ to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. ²⁸ The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”
²⁹ Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. ³⁰ But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. ³¹ You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. ³² He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, ³³ and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.”
³⁴ “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”
³⁵ The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called^[a] the Son of God. ³⁶ Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month. ³⁷ For no word from God will ever fail.”
³⁸ “I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Then the angel left her.
~Luke 1 (NIV)
 

Girls: how would you react if an angel told you that you're going to have a baby?
Boys: how would you react?

Mary and Joseph both find hope in God and say "okay". The know that God has a plan, and have hope that He will guide them.

Thanksgiving

Everyone had a chance to write on the board what they are thankful for. For the most part, these things are what make us happy.

Most of these things will pass away, eventually. Spend your time building relationships and spending time with God.

²⁷ The words “once more” indicate the removing of what can be shaken—that is, created things—so that what cannot be shaken may remain.
²⁸ Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, ²⁹ for our “God is a consuming fire.”
~Hebrews 12 (NIV) 

Thanksgiving Challenge:
Don't look at Thanksgiving as a day off, but as a time to reflect on what your life has been, and how much worse it could be. Be thankful that you can move on. Be thankful for your life.

Sin

A lot of people walk the line of sin. They try to do as much as they can that's close to sin without actually doing it. Christians don't get as close as they can to sinning, the distance themselves from sin.

¹⁵ Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them. ¹⁶ For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world. ¹⁷ The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever.
~1 John 2 (NIV)

We don't need to keep a list of sins that we've committed, God will forgive them.

Goal: Live your life for God. Try to be the person that God wants you to be.

Responding to Adversity

Adversity: a state, condition, or instance of serious or continued difficulty or adverse fortune
Adverse: 1: acting against or in a contrary direction, hostile; 2a : opposed to one's interests; especially  unfavorable, b : causing harm, harmful

We read through Job 1 and Job 2 for this lesson.

Did Job experience adversity?
Yes. Job lost everything, which was not in his interests or fortune.

How did Job respond?

Job responded in a positive way toward God, who took everything away from him. Job still praised God and talked to God.

 

Give some examples of adversity that you experience:

• Illness
• Unkind comments from others
• Actions of others

Illustration:

Heat represents adversity
•Carrots  -> mushy, fall apart
•Egg        -> hard
•Coffee   -> changes environment

 

How do you respond to adversity?