The Joy and Hope of the Christmas season is ever present with us. We that are believers are not without hope. God’s word has told us that if we are saved, we are a Child of the King, we can Rejoice in the birth of Emmanuel. (God with us) God’s special gift to us.

Where is my Hope you ask!  It is in my Emmanuel.

Christians should never be without Hope.

Psalms 31:24 Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the LORD.

We all have a heart condition, and we need it checked out to make sure our heart has hope in the Lord.

We need to be strengthened with courage, and we need to let others see the hope of the Lord within our lives and in our hearts. We have hope knowing that the hope of the Lord is within us, and that we have courage knowing we cannot fail with our Lord at our side.

There is one thing that should bring much hope to all of us. It is the birth of Jesus the Christ child. This one special birth that can help all of us throughout life no matter the stage of life we are in. This Jesus came to seek save his people from their sins. Amen!

Unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given by a Holy Living God to help us with our sin of disobedience, with our sin of selfish pride, and with our sin of unbelief.

Luke says,

Luke 1:26 And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth,

The Angel Gabriel was sent from God = to deliver an important message.

To a city of Galilee, named Nazareth, =specific place

Sea of Galilee- known for its fishing several of Jesus disciples were fisherman there.

Nazareth- Possibly a small fishing village in Jesus’s day.  Nazareth is believed to be the place where Jesus spent his childhood. Have you ever been to a fishing village everything smells like dead fish… that is what they use for bait.  A place of low esteem, insignificant to Jerusalem and Judea, despised by Jewish because of Roman Rule there.

Jesus was of low esteem, lowly birth, humbled beginnings, despised and rejected. All the more reason to pick this place.  Jesus came to fulfill scripture, and to save his people from their sin.

The Spiritual meaning of Nazareth is branch, offshoot, sprout, verdant, shining, watched, guarded.

Luke 1:27 To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary.

To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph= specific Jewish couple.

Joseph, of the house of David = Jewish Royalty linage (King David) – Tribe of Judea

To a virgin named Mary = Jewish Priestly linage (Zachariah)- Tribe of Levi

Luke 1:28 And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women.

The Angel Gabriel said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women. Noticed how the Angel addressed her Hail, that is how you would address royalty. We are made in the image of God, we are a little higher than the angels God’s messengers.

Why Mary? The Lord is with thee, she was obedient to God. Highly favoured-Greek word khar-ee-to’-o (charitoō)=great grace. Grace is undeserved favor. Mary was a sinner just like you and me, but she knew that she needed a Savior.  Perhaps that Jewish Priestly linage, we are not sure.

**The Bible nowhere describes Mary as anything but an ordinary human female whom God chose to be the mother of the Lord Jesus Christ.**

Mary had Hope by being blessed by an angel visitation and given a double portion of grace.

Luke 1:30 And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found Favor with God.

The angel Gabriel said Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favor with God. It would be Mary’s total devotion to the Lord in her answer to the angel Gabriel: “be it unto me according to thy word.”

Luke 1:38. And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her.

Will you be as obedient as Mary was? Willing to do whatever it takes, to get Gods Work done? Mary suffered through humiliation, ridicule, embarrassment and possibly even death by stoning.

Luke 1:31 And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS.

JESUS= Yeshua= His name means “The Lord Is Salvation.”

This is something that would bring Hope knowing he shall save his people from their sins. It clearly came from our Father above and shows us hope is at His right hand. And it is forever….

Is God the Lord of Your life? If not, today is the day the Lord hath made a way for you to obtain salvation.

Now after all this we should understand that the Hope, we have just received we should give our God all Honor Glory and Praise we can.

John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins. The only son of the living God.

This is where my hope is it is with Jesus. How about you?  This is why we should approach this season with Hope. Because we have the Lord of Salvation on our side.