“MAKE ROOM in your Hopes”
Sunday, December 1, 2024
Luke 2:6-7 (NIV)
While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.
“No room”… a sad reality of the First Christmas.
Why Bethlehem, and why was there no room?
- Micah 5:2 (NIV) “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from old, from ancient times.”
- Bethlehem was a town that only had a couple hundred residents… which would have swelled to a thousand or more during the census that brought Joseph and Mary.
- It was a poor town located in what is known as the Judean Mountains, about six miles southwest of Jerusalem.
- Bethlehem would not have had the best accommodations to offer visitors in normal circumstances, let alone for the influx of people who would have been there because of the census.
- Jesus was born in Bethlehem, and placed in a manger, because there was no room…
What’s sadder than there being no room for Jesus in the inn, were the people Jesus came to that made no room for Jesus in their lives.
John 1:11 (NIV)
He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him.
Make Room in Your Hopes!
WHY IS HOPE IMPORTANT?
Hebrew – “to wait with confidence”
Greek – “confident expectation”
For a nation called by God:
Psalm 119:49 (NIV)
“Remember your word to your servant, for you have given me hope.”
Psalm 147:11 (NIV)
“The Lord delights in those who fear him, who put their hope in his unfailing love.”
Psalm 131:3 (NIV)
“O Israel, put your hope in the Lord both now and forevermore.”
For exiles far from home:
Jeremiah 29:11 (NIV)
“I know the plans I have for you… plans to give you hope and a future.”
Isaiah 40:31 (NIV)
“Those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength…”
For a lonely man, battling through life:
Job 13:15 (NIV)
“Though he slay me, yet will I hope in him…”
To the lost world we live in:
Colossians 1:27 (NIV)
“God has chosen to make known among the [nations] the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.”
WHAT IS THE HOPE JESUS BRINGS?
I Peter 1:3 (NIV)
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead…
I Peter 1:5-7 (NIV)
…through faith… of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire – may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.
I Peter 1:8 (NIV)
Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy.