Today we gather together in a solemn assembly

Prayerfully, many of you have prepared by fasting and praying together

The purpose is to begin this New Year by re-committing ourselves to God

"You therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. The things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, entrust these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also. Suffer hardship with me, as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No soldier in active service entangles himself in the affairs of everyday life, so that he may please the one who enlisted him as a soldier. Also if anyone competes as an athlete, he does not win the prize unless he competes according to the rules. The hard-working farmer ought to be the first to receive his share of the crops. Consider what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding in everything. Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, descendant of David, according to my gospel, for which I suffer hardship even to imprisonment as a criminal; but the word of God is not imprisoned. For this reason I endure all things for the sake of those who are chosen, so that they also may obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus and with it eternal glory."

Paul says to Timothy, suffer hardship with me as a good soldier of Christ

We are called to be soldiers of the cross; advancing God’s word across the world

Christ suffered for us and we are called to suffer for Him

The suffering we are talking about here is from the lost world who rejects Christ

Paul also compares this to being an athlete

In order to do that you must compete! You must get in the game!

Just as a farmer toils, he takes of the first fruits but does feed others

We, who are believers, are called by God to do His work

So that others may follow Christ

Are you a soldier for Christ? Are you in the fight? Are you plowing the fields?

Vs 10
Paul says I suffer so that others may receive salvation

Today, we have become so comfortable that we forget this

God wants us to be in the battle where, sometimes, we get hurt

But how can we win the war if we don’t ever get in the battle?

Vs 15 says study to show yourself approved

If we are not studying God’s word, how can we follow it and share it?

God is not interested in how well you can make something sound

You speak the truth and God will make sure it does not return void

We want to be useful to the Master

We desire to flee from sin and pursue righteousness

The only way that any of this is possible is if you give your heart to God

"Yet even now," declares the LORD, "Return to Me with all your heart,

And with fasting, weeping and mourning; And rend your heart and not your garments." Now return to the LORD your God, For He is gracious and compassionate, Slow to anger, abounding in lovingkindness And relenting of evil. Who knows whether He will not turn and relent And leave a blessing behind Him, Even a grain offering and a drink offering For the LORD your God? Blow a trumpet in Zion, Consecrate a fast, proclaim a solemn assembly, Gather the people, sanctify the congregation, Assemble the elders, Gather the children and the nursing infants. Let the bridegroom come out of his room And the bride out of her bridal chamber. Let the priests, the LORD'S ministers, Weep between the porch and the altar, And let them say, "Spare Your people, O LORD, And do not make Your inheritance a reproach, A byword among the nations.

Why should they among the peoples say, `Where is their God?'"

HOPE

Without hope people give up

In sports, in love, in life; hope is the driving force

No matter how bad things get, if you have hope, you can persevere

In Isaiah’s day, times were bad for the Jews

"For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us;

And the government will rest on His shoulders; And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor,

Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.

There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace,

On the throne of David and over his kingdom,

To establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness From then on and forevermore.

The zeal of the LORD of hosts will accomplish this."

Suddenly, there is hope and hope for all eternity

This sign was passed on and the people looked for the future hope

Because the birth was a lowly one, many people did not believe

Luke 2:6-14 NASB

"While they were there, the days were completed for her to give birth.

And she gave birth to her firstborn son; and she wrapped Him in cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.

In the same region there were some shepherds staying out in the fields and keeping watch over their flock by night.

And an angel of the Lord suddenly stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them; and they were terribly frightened.

But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people;

for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.

"This will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger."

And suddenly there appeared with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,

"Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased."

The birth of the Hope of the world was announced

Because of the sin in the world, mankind was destined to Hell

That is what this Savior is about; saving us from our own destiny

He would pay the debt we couldn’t pay to reconcile us with God

Without our Savior, Jesus, there would be no hope.

Perhaps some did not believe the shepherds

"And there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon;

and this man was righteous and devout, looking for the consolation of Israel; and the Holy Spirit was upon him.

And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord's Christ.

And he came in the Spirit into the temple;

and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to carry out for Him the custom of the Law,

then he took Him into his arms, and blessed God, and said,

"Now Lord, You are releasing Your bond-servant to depart in peace, According to Your word;

For my eyes have seen Your salvation, Which You have prepared in the presence of all peoples,

A LIGHT OF REVELATION TO THE GENTILES, And the glory of Your people Israel."

How about Simeon; can you believe him? He was led by the Holy Spirit

Simeon shared a great hope for us

He proclaimed a light of revelation to the Gentiles

This gives hope to all people; Jews and Gentiles

"And there was a prophetess, Anna the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher.

She was advanced in years and had lived with her husband seven years after her marriage,

and then as a widow to the age of eighty-four.

She never left the temple, serving night and day with fastings and prayers.

At that very moment she came up and began giving thanks to God,

and continued to speak of Him to all those who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem.

Anna, the prophetess, told everyone that this child was the redemption of Israel

The hope, that over 400 years earlier had been prophesied, was here

He was born, the hope of the world

Romans 3:23 tells us that we have all sinned

Romans 6:23
Says the wages of sin are death

BUT the free gift of God is eternal life

This is the Hope that we have, and His name is Jesus

He lived, was crucified, buried, and rose again on the 3rd day.

Romans 10:9 says WHOEVER believes in Him

Will not perish but have eternal life

This is the Hope that gets us through every challenge of life

Do you know that hope or are you still looking for it?

If you have ever attended church, you probably heard "just trust God"

Sometimes, that seems very easy

Sometimes, not so easy

Sometimes, trusting God is downright hard!

"Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: when His mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph,

before they came together she was found to be with child by the Holy Spirit.

And Joseph her husband, being a righteous man and not wanting to disgrace her, planned to send her away secretly.

But when he had considered this, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying,

"Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife; for the Child who has been conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit.

"She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins."

Now all this took place to fulfill what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet:

"BEHOLD, THE VIRGIN SHALL BE WITH CHILD AND SHALL BEAR A SON, AND THEY SHALL CALL HIS NAME IMMANUEL," which translated means, "GOD WITH US."

And Joseph awoke from his sleep and did as the angel of the Lord commanded him, and took Mary as his wife, but kept her a virgin until she gave birth to a Son;

and he called His name Jesus."

Joseph had a hard decision to make

He obviously loved Mary

What if you were in that situation today?

Joseph was chosen by God also

Now, after hearing from the angel, Joseph still had to make a decision

Most of the time, in our lives we know what we should do, but it is hard

Our friends and families sometimes make it harder

If Joseph trusted God, he would be mocked and shamed

Perhaps, those who were the closest to him would reject him

But if he didn’t trust God ……..

This is a situation we often find ourselves in, and it is hard

Trusting God doesn’t mean there won’t be struggles

You may still go through some very hard times

We know, from scripture, that Joseph and Mary did go through hard times

Ultimately, it is how God brings you through these times

So, do you really trust God? He is the one that already knows the outcome.

We know that this year has been like no other in our lifetimes

But GOD!!

Do you trust Him even when it is hard?

Today is the day to solidly put your trust in Him for all eternity.

Will you receive Him today?

Sometimes, when you talk to people about salvation, they give excuses

One of the most often given is, "God surely wouldn’t want me"

Many people struggle with low self esteem

Some just know they have lived a rough life so far

Either way, they will tell you they are just ordinary and not worthy

Today, I want to talk about the most well-known woman in the Bible

Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city in Galilee called Nazareth,

to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the descendants of David; and the virgin's name was Mary.

And coming in, he said to her, "Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you."

But she was very perplexed at this statement, and kept pondering what kind of salutation this was.

The angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary; for you have found favor with God.

"And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name Him Jesus.

"He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David;

and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will have no end."

Mary said to the angel, "How can this be, since I am a virgin?"

The angel answered and said to her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you;

and for that reason the holy Child shall be called the Son of God.

"And behold, even your relative Elizabeth has also conceived a son in her old age; and she who was called barren is now in her sixth month.

"For nothing will be impossible with God."

And Mary said, "Behold, the bondslave of the Lord; may it be done to me according to your word." And the angel departed from her.

Of course, the woman I’m talking about is Mary, the mother of Jesus

Mary was a young lady of around 13 or 14 and she was engaged

This was the norm for those days and there is no mention of anything special

She would more than likely have been illiterate, as most women were

She probably worked about 10 hours a day

The scriptures would have been taught to her by her father

The angel said "Greetings, favored one" and this perplexed her

She didn’t see anything special about herself

In fact, prior to this moment, there wasn’t anything special

Why was she a favored one?

Because God choose her!

You see, when God calls you and you accept,

It changes everything

But this was Old Testament

Has anyone ever heard of Billy Graham?

How about Lee Strobel?

How about George Riek, Sharon Vittor, or Hugh Ellis?

You see, it isn’t what you have to offer, it is what God has to give

We are all just ordinary, but God still loves us and wants a relationship with us

It is when we say yes to God that He changes us

Will you go from Ordinary to Extraordinary today?