Advent Sermon Series (What Do You Want For Christmas?) – The Longing to Hope (Part I)

Sermon Title: What Do You Want For Christmas – The Longing to Hope

Good News Statement: Jesus gifts us with the longing to have hope

Summary: In the hustle and bustle, in the chaos and the noise, do we have enough hope to ear the silver bells?

Preached: Sunday, November 30^th, 2025 at Dogwood Prairie & Seed Chapel UMC

Pastor Daniel G. Skelton, M.Div.

 

Scripture (NRSV): Isaiah 6:8 & Luke 1:30-32, 34-35, 38 – Today’s Scripture reading comes from both the Old and New Testaments. In the readings for today, we witness the power of hope and how having hope in unpredictable situations can change your life. May the hearing, reading, and understanding of the word add a blessing to your life.

 

Isaiah 6:8

⁸ Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” And I said, “Here am I; send me!”

Luke 1:30-32

³⁰ The angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. ³¹ And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. ³² He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David.

Luke 1:34-35

³⁴ Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?” ³⁵ The angel said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be holy; he will be called Son of God.

Luke 1:38

³⁸ Then Mary said, “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.” Then the angel departed from her.

 

 

This is the Word of God for the People of God; And all God’s people said, “Thanks be to God.”

 

 

 

 

Introduction:

In 2016, Forbes Magazine senior contributor Kathy Caprino, published an article striving to find an answer to the following question: “If you could say in one word what you want more of in life, what would that be?” As of 2016, 771 people responded to Caprino’s survey. Upon analyzing the results of her survey, Caprino shared, “What’s so intriguing about these responses is that it’s becoming more obvious with each passing year that the things we humans desperately long for today are not only universal and timeless, but also have become even more elusive and challenging to access and sustain, even as we “evolve” and develop in this tech-frenzied, time-crushing world.”[1]

Of all the things people indicated they want more of in life, the following were the eight mentioned most frequently, according to Caprino’s survey: happiness,[2] money,[3] freedom,[4] peace,[5] joy,[6] balance,[7] fulfillment,[8] and confidence.[9]  Doing a simple Google search on “What people want in their life” you will see that there are many lists that claim to provide what people want most in their life. Most of those links are valuable. However, most of those links are composed by people fulfilling out survey upon survey: they don’t necessarily describe what you want most in life. Happiness, money, freedom, peace, joy, balance, fulfillment, and confidence, are all great things, but are they what you really want in life?

During the Advent Season, our “wants” increase. We make lists. People ask us all the time what we want. Amazon and Wal-Mart both know our address by heart. As humans, our need to want more consumes us this holiday season. However, is what you want something that you need? When was the last time, especially during Christmas, you sat down and made a list not from your mind but from your heart? The birth of Christ, in Bethlehem, in a manger because there was no room in the Inn with two scared and uncertain parents, is what we need in our life. What is your heart seeking this Christmas Season?

To help us answer this question, for the next four weeks we will be using the words of James W. Moore (1938-2019), an author and preacher and pastor ordained in The United Methodist Church. In 2008, he published a book titled What Do You Want For Christmas: An Advent Study for Adults.

 

Body:

In 1944, Donald Yetter Gardner, while teaching music at several public schools in Smithtown, New York, asked his second grade class what they want for Christmas. As the students answered his question, he noticed that almost all of them had at least one front tooth missing. In 30minutes, he wrote a Christmas classic: “It seems so long since I could say, ‘Sister Suzy sitting on a thistle.’ Every time I try to speak, huh, all I do is whistle. All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth, my two front teeth, see, and my two front teeth. Gee, if I could only have my two front teeth, then I could wish you merry Christmas.” The Christmas classic, as you know is “All I Want for Christmas (Is My Two Front Teeth).” Do you know anyone who is wishing for two front teeth this Christmas?

It happens every year. You count on it. It always repeats itself. Again and again and again in the days leading up to Christmas, we will hear people ask the big question “What do you want for Christmas this year?” Parents will ask their children; Husbands and wives and spouses will ask each other; girlfriends and boyfriends will ask each other; neighbors will visit each other and before they leave the will ask each other this time honored question. After the question is asked, those asking are hoping to hear these words: “All I want for Christmas is______________ (You fill in the blank).

Usually, the question is asked and answered in a materialistic way: “What can I buy for you this year? A new toy? An item of clothing? A piece of jewelry? An electronic game or gadget? A trip to somewhere?” Every year, before Santa would arrive at my grandparent’s house on Christmas Eve, just after supper and after handing out gifts, but before going to church for the Candlelight Christmas Eve Service, I would sit at the kitchen table and make a list of everything I wanted for Christmas: Hotwheels, a few clothes, whatever electronic device my brothers had, and more drum stuff. I knew what I wanted for Christmas!

But as I have gotten older, my Christmas list isn’t as long anymore—although Hotwheels and drum stuff and fun/goofy socks on the list. I usually tell people that I don’t need anything for Christmas, which is true. Over the years, my Christmas list—now-a-days my Amazon wish list—has gone from material items to much more personal things. I’ve begun to really treasure the words of Dr. Seuss, “It came without ribbons! It came without tags! It came without packages, boxes, or bags! Maybe Christmas, he thought, doesn’t come from a store. Maybe Christmas perhaps means a little bit more.”

For the next four weeks, I invite you to journey with me as I explore the “more” of Christmas as I seek to answer the following question, “What do we really want for Christmas?” It’s an age old question, a Christmas classic if you will. Each week to help us ponder this question, we will look at a passage or passages of scripture focused on the birth of Jesus Christ, relate the scripture chosen to our own life, and then I will offer you what is on my Christmas list this year. To begin, my hope is that this year for Christmas you answer that age old question by saying, “All I want for Christmas is not two front teeth but…hope.”

 

Movement One: Examination of Scripture…

James Moore begins chapter one of his book by sharing a conversion he had with a friend. He says, “A friend of mine who is a psychologist once told me that he had found the perfect formula for getting through Christmas. He said, ‘You just put your mind in neutral and go where you are shoved.’ Of course he was just kidding around.”[10] But, we know full well what he was talking about. The Christmas rush, the hectic pace, the heavy traffic, the long lines, the delayed arrival of items ordered, items being out of stock, the frayed nerves, the bills, the deadlines, the pressures all combine to cause some people to give up and give in and just put their mind in neutral through the season; therefore not taking in the sights, the sounds, and the wonders of a season that over 2,000 years ago changed the world on a silent but not so silent night.

At times during the season, we will find ourselves just going through the motions: checking things off a list, physically attending concerts and performances with other things on our mind, getting in the car to travel to different locations not remembering how we got there or how we got home, and agreeing to do a lot of things without realizing how busy our schedule already is. We find ourselves in neutral a lot during this season. However, this is not what our scripture passage teaches us. Both Isaiah and Luke, teach us to not treat this season as something we simply endure; but, rather, we should enjoy it, relish it, savor it, celebrate it, learn from it, and have hope in what it offers. Let’s take a deeper dive into how Isaiah and Luke give us hope for the season.

As a reminder, Isaiah 6:8 states, “Then I heard the voice of the Lard saying, ‘Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?’ And [Isaiah responded], ‘Here am I; send me!’” Isaiah lived in tough times, during the eighth century BC, when the Israelites—God’s people—were under attack. It is said that the people had gotten away from God—so far away that Isaiah knew that they needed a savior; and this savior was the people’s only hope for survival. Isaiah also knew that the people needed a prophet—a person who is believed to speak on behalf of a deity—to call them back to the covenant of faith and to give them hope. He saw the Lord. He heard the call, and he responded “Here am I, Lord; send me” (Isaiah 6:8).

Breaking down this text even more, it describes the moment the prophet Isaiah was called by God. After witnessing the divine vision and being cleansed from his sin, Isaiah responded to God’s question, “Whom shall I send?” with an immediate and willing, “Here am I; send me!” This verse symbolizes a call to serve God, emphasizing a willing and surrendered heart that answers the call to be God’s messenger to a world in need of His word. In this text, we encounter a divine invitation: The Lord asks “Whom shall I send and who will go for us?” not because God is unsure, but to present an opportunity for someone to willingly serve. It’s an invitation for a partnership between God and a human servant. The text also offers the opportunity for willing and prepared response: Having been cleansed by the seraphim’s touch, Isaiah, from a place of awe and humility, offers his service without hesitation. His response is an immediate and full submission to God’s will. Upon his surrender, Isaiah enters into an essence of service: The verse represents the core of obedient service: hearing God’s call, responding with “Here am I,” and being ready to go wherever He leads. It signifies that God often works through ordinary people who are willing to be His hands and feet. God works through ordinary people to do extraordinary things. Lastly, this verse gives a timeless example: Isaiah’s response serves as a model for believers today, encouraging a life of mission, selflessness, and a readiness to say “yes” to God’s plans for spreading His message.

Isaiah’s response to God is not just composed of a divine invitation, a needed response, a commitment to service, and the trust in God’s plan even though he couldn’t see the fullness of God’s plan, it also provides a message of hope. Isaiah offers us a powerful example of how hope can change our life, if we allow ourselves to say “yes” to God. But Isaiah isn’t the only person who, through hope in the unknown, finds themselves trusting in the plans of God. We see it even more dramatically in Mary, the mother of Jesus. Mary has so much to teach us about real faith and real hope.

Here’s a reminder of our text from the Gospel of Luke: “The angel said to [Mary], ‘Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus….’ Mary said to the angel, ‘How can this be, since I am a virgin?’ The angel said to her, ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be holy; he will be called Son of God….’ Then Mary said, ‘Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.’ Then the angel departed from her” (Luke 1:30-31, 34-35, 38).

When we see Mary so beautifully portrayed in Christmas pageants and on Christmas cards and in Nativity scenes, she looks so serene and lovely, and the whole matter appears too simple and easy: almost as if the news, the all of a sudden change in life, didn’t affect her. But think realistically for a moment. Mary, a not-yet-married young woman, living in the small town of Nazareth where nothing good is said to come from (John 1:46), has become pregnant. Then, Mary hears that Joseph, who she is engaged to, not only denies the conception of Jesus, but decides to divorce her, leaving her to fend for herself. As a result of what has conspired and on top of what Mary is emotionally and mentally experiencing, she is subject, by law, to be stoned to death. It must have been incredibly difficult: the constant whispering behind her back, the pointed fingers, the false accusations, the family pressures, the crude jokes, the cruel laughter, the poverty, the heavy taxes for having a child, the not knowing of what to do, the fear of not being able to provide for this child alone. Not even to mention the long, hard journey Mary and Joseph made to Bethlehem—about 90 miles, anywhere from four to seven days travel—to register for the census, mandated at a time when an expectant mother shouldn’t have had to travel anywhere except to the nearest hospital. Then, to add to all that, the birth in a stable, with no doctor, no midwife, no medicine, and no anesthetic—nothing but faith and hope in God. If someone had any right to not have hope, it would be Mary.

Moore asserts in his book, “Mary was just a teenage girl—approximately 14-16 years of age, with some suggesting that she was 12—from a poor family who lived in an obscure village in a tiny nation, which itself was subject to a despised foreign power.”[11] Then one day, out of the blue, an angel—Gabriel to be exact, the same angel that appears to Daniel, Zechariah, and Joseph—gives Mary a message: “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David” (Luke 1:30-32). And all of this was going to happen without Mary’s ever having been with any man.

Now, be honest. Would you have believed that? Sarah laughed at God when God said she would become pregnant at her old age (Genesis 18:12). Moses tells God to send someone else (Exodus 4:13). And Jeremiah told God that he is too young to lead the people (Jeremiah 1:7). I think most of us would respond like the latter—generating excuse after excuse to why this sort of thing has happened, and not how Mary responded. Mary believed in what she was told. Although perplexed, she believed. Although afraid, she believed. Although uncertain, she believed. That’s real faith and real hope. She was willing to hear God’s word, obey God’s will, and entrust the future into God’s hands, even though it put her in an awkward, difficult, complicated, and life threatening situation, she believed. She had hope.

Her response is actually captured in what is known as “Mary’s Song” (or Mary’s Magnificat). Luke 1:46-49 quotes Mary, “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant. For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed; for he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name.” Mary gives praise: her soul magnifies the Lord. Mary’s spirit rejoices in God. Mary, a humble servant, has experienced great things and will be blessed by all generations. Mary has enough hope to realize the blessings of this situation. She may appear perplexed and still a little afraid, but she rejoices in the moment because she has hope.

It was a tough situation for Mary, and under similar circumstances, most of us would have asked the Lord to find someone else to do this job. But not Mary. Her answer to the angel was a model of real faith and real hope. Like Isaiah before her, she said, “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.” Because Mary had hope, her life was changed. Do you have enough hope to respond like Mary? Do you have enough hope to continue to trust in God when God changes your plans? Do you have enough hope to not let difficult times define you? Do you have enough hope to not let your life go on neutral? Do you have enough hope to respond with the words “Here am I”? Do you have hope today or is hope something that is on your Christmas list this year?

 

Movement Two: Applying Hope In Your Life…

Noting how hope was part of Mary’s story, and how hope is what we long to experience throughout the Christmas season, the question we need to ask ourselves is “What does having hope help us with in life?” Moore offers his readers and us three things to consider: hearing God’s voice, obeying God’s will, and trusting God’s power.

First, hope allows us to hear God’s voice above the chaos and the noise. Both Mary and Isaiah were tuned in to God. They were listening with the ears of faith and, thus, were able to hear God’s message and respond. I’m convinced that God is speaking loud and clear today, but sadly so few people are “tuned in” to hear him. So many of us get so caught up in the hectic pace of living that we stop listening. Too many of us throw in the towel, retreat from the struggle, and give in to the sin of the closed mind. So many of us get caught up in the materialism of Christmas that we miss out on the true reason for the season. We don’t want our world disturbed by new ideas; we don’t want things to change, so we tune those things out. We have ears, but we will not listen and we do not hear.

Let me explain by sharing with you a story. As the story goes, in the late 1800s, a conference of church leaders in Indiana held their annual conference on the campus of a local college. The president of that college addressed the assembled leaders, and he said, “I think we are living in such an exciting age. I think we are going to see things happen in our lifetime that right now are just unbelievable.” The presiding bishop was intrigued by the college president’s remarks. The bishop interrupted him and said, “What do you see? What specifically are you talking about? What kind of new things do you mean?”

And the president of the college said, “Well, all kinds of things, Bishop. I believe we’re coming into a time of great inventions. This is the year 1870, and I believe, for example, that one day soon we will be able to fly through the air like birds.” “You what?” said the bishop. “You believe that one day we will be able to fly?” “Yes sir, I do,” said the college president.

And then the bishop expounded, “Why, that is heresy, sir. Just plain heresy. The Bible says that flight is reserved for the angels and angels alone. Enough of that talk. We will have no more of such talk here. Flying! What a ridiculous idea!” And do you know what? When the conference was over, that same bishop, whose last name was Wright, went home to his wife and to his two small sons, whose names just happened to be Wilbur and Orville! The bishop had tuned out the possibility of something new. He wasn’t listening.[12]

For some, this next example may hit closer to home. When my nieces and nephews were first born, their parents would try their best to find a quiet place for them to sleep during family gatherings. As the festivities grew louder and louder, it became harder and harder for the kids to fall asleep. But when they did, it seemed that only their parents could hear them crying. The parents were listening and hearing but for the rest of us, their cries were covered up by the noise in the room. You see, the parents were in tune with their children in the same way that we should be tuning in to God, not letting the chaos and noise of the world distract us from God’s voice.

God has plans for us—new ideas to embark upon, new challenges to face, new mountains to climb—but are we listening? Are we tuned in to God? Above the hustle and bustle of the season, can we hear those silver bells? My point is we need hope to hear God. We need hope to listen for God calling upon us. We need hope to hear the first cry of Jesus as he lay in the manger. We need hope to hear the concern but also the joy of Mary and Joseph. We need hope to hear what others are saying about the birth of the Christ Child. We need hope in order to fully listen to and for God. This Christmas season ask for hope so that you can hear God talking to you.

Second, hope is what allows us to obey God’s will. In the original New Testament Greek, the word for faith is pistis, and it literally means “believing obedience,” believing in God so much that we commit ourselves body, mind, and soul to the doing of God’s will. Do you have enough hope to believe in God’s obedience?

In one Peanuts cartoon, Linus, the statistician for Charlie Brown’s baseball team, brings Charlie Brown his final report. He states, “I’ve compiled the statistics on our baseball team for this last season. In 12 games, we ALMOST scored a run. In 9 games, the other team ALMOST didn’t score before the first out. In right field, Lucy ALMOST caught three balls, and she once ALMOST made the right play. Charlie Brown, we led the league in ALMOST.”[13] That’s the way many people are with regard to obeying God’s will. They “lead the league in almost.” They almost obey God’s will, but not quite. They almost listen to God. They almost do what God calls them to do. They almost heard every word spoken to them. They almost trust in the Lord and not on their own understanding. They almost pray every day. They almost tried sitting in a new pew. They almost love their neighbor as they love themselves. There are a lot of “almosts” out there. Are you one of them?

In 1741, John Wesley preached a sermon titled “The Almost Christian.” In this sermon Wesley draws out the distinctions between two types of Christians, the high-minded hypocrite—the almost Christian—and his new conception of the altogether Christian. The almost Christian experiences the form of godliness, but denies the power of God (2 Timothy 3:5). They realize that God exists but they don’t want to fully trust in Him. They believe in the miracles of Christ but have a hard time understanding that miracles exist today. On the other end of the spectrum, there are those who can be identified as an “altogether Christian.” Don’t let this title deceive you. This term is not suggesting that to be a Christian we need to have everything figured out; we need to have all of our ducks in a row. If that were true, no one would be an altogether Christian because no one has everything under control. None of us here know what tomorrow will bring. Rather, an altogether Christian is one who has the faith that worketh by love, love of God and love of neighbor. And is one whose hope is what allows them to continually say “yes” to God. So who are you: are you an almost Christian or an altogether Christian?

This is all to say that Mary’s hope and Isaiah’s hope were not tentative or conditional. The hope they had in God was not the hope of an almost Christian: it was the hope of an altogether Christian. Even though the term Christian isn’t mentioned until Acts 11:26, which actually appears several years—over a decade—after Jesus is crucified, Mary and Isaiah demonstrate to us what is needed to be an altogether Christian. It takes the will to obey in God’s will for our life. It takes the believing obedience to know that what God is calling us to do is what God needs us to do. It takes the commitment to follow through on the ideas and dreams of becoming the body of Christ. No matter how rough the road was for Mary and Isaiah, they obeyed God’s will for their life. Mary’s hope and Isaiah’s hope were great because they heard God’s voice and because they obeyed God’s will. Maybe on your Christmas list are the words “hope to be an altogether Christian.”

Third, hope is needed to trust in God’s power. Both Mary and Isaiah took things one step at a time, one day at a time, and trusted God for the future. Some years ago, there was a captain on a Mississippi riverboat. He had been on that job for more than thirty-five years. One day a passenger said to him, “After all these years of navigating the river, I guess you know by now where all the rocks and sandbars are.” The captain answered, “No, but I know where the deep water is!”[14]

In life, the best we can do sometimes is live one step at a time and one day at time and remind ourselves where the deep water is. Just because you have been calling yourself a Christian for many years—for some of you many decades—doesn’t mean you know everything there is about God, about Christ, about the Holy Spirit, or even how the three of them work in your life. But what you do know is that they were there to help get out of the deep water. Just because everything went well yesterday, doesn’t mean that everything is going to go swimmingly tomorrow. Just because you like spending time in the shallow water doesn’t mean you won’t drift out further into the sea from time to time. My point is just because we have been doing something for several years, are comfortable where we are, doesn’t mean we know everything, especially the small details. But what we do know is what has and has not worked, where there is shelter, where the deep waters are, and who we can lean on and trust.

Mary and Isaiah put their trust in the power of God. They allowed Him to carry out His plan for their life. In deep waters, he rescued them just like Jesus did for his disciples on many occasions. They, although afraid, realized that people needed to hear their story. They came to abide by the words of Proverbs 3:5, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.” They realized that in the deep water, their hope would get them back to God. Both Mary and Isaiah spent their life trying to understand the small details of life, but realized that those small details didn’t amount to much if they didn’t believe and have trust in the power of God. Does the hope you have today lead you to trusting in the power of God?

 

Movement Three: Putting First Things First…

Considering the hope found in Mary and Isaiah, this year for Christmas I long for that same hope: a hope that leads me to hearing God, a hope that grants me the opportunity to obey His will more than I have been, and a hope that nudges me, even in deep water, to trust in the power of God; essentially, a hope which gives me the confidence to say “Here am I, Lord. I am your servant. Put me to doing, let me have nothing, let me be empty, so that I can be an altogether Christian for you.” To sum this is up, I wish for a hope that helps me put first things first. That’s what I want for Christmas—the good sense to put first things first.

Do you know what the hardest thing about being a minister is? It’s not writing and preaching sermons. It’s not teaching or counseling or keeping track of administrative details. It’s not preparing and leading Bible Studies. It’s not putting together reminders, sending out emails, distributing text messages, or even putting together images for our social media page. It’s not officiating funerals or weddings. (The hardest part, is finding good jokes!) None of those are hard things to do or accomplish. The hardest thing about being a minister is knowing how to use your time well; knowing when and where to put your weight down; knowing where you are needed most, where you can, at the moment, do the most good; knowing how to prioritize; knowing when to say “yes” and when to say “no”; knowing when to delegate the work load; and knowing when to put first things first.

When things begin to get hard and feel as if I am losing hope, I find myself reciting Reinhold Niebuhr’s Serenity Prayer: “God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference.”[15] We see this prayer everywhere—on plaques, on banners, on cards, on refrigerators. Moore creates his own version of this prayer: He prays, “Lord, grant me the wisdom to know the important things in life and the will to do them first.” And when we stop to think about it, that is precisely the gift of Christmas. Christmas, indeed, reminds us of our priorities. Christmas reminds us of the things that really matter: love, grace, faith, kindness, hope, trust, tenderness, truth, and forgiveness.

Now, I don’t know nearly as much about those good things as I would like to know, but what little I do know about them, I learned at church from the lessons of Christmas. So, that’s what I put down first on my Christmas list of the most-wanted items this year: the good sense to put first things first: to pay attention to the people and things that matter most to me.

Is what I have added to my Christmas list something that you can put on your Christmas list? Are there things in your life which were given priority but really shouldn’t have? Are you willing to put hearing God first on your list instead of putting “I will listen later”? Are you open to the idea of putting God’s will first before your own? Are you okay with putting first the hope of trusting in God instead of always trusting in yourself? Make hope one of the things you put first on your Christmas list this year.

 

Conclusion:

In conclusion, I want to remind you of what the Apostle Paul wrote to the people of Rome. He wrote, “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit” (Romans 15:13). Hope is more than wishful thinking: it is trusting in God’s plan for you. Hope is more than dreaming: it is Jesus’ presence in your life. And hope is more than a single word: it is a prayer offered by you through the power of the Holy Spirit. Hope begins our Advent Season because we expect to be filled with the hope of God as we anticipate to witness the salvation of Christ lying in a manger in the small town of Bethlehem surrounded by all people of all walks of life. Hope is what inspires us to say “Here am I.” Hope is what allows us to find ourselves at the manger scene and then at the cross and then leaving the empty tomb. Hope is realizing that you need God in your life. Hope is what allows you to hear God, to obey God, and to trust in God. Hope is the reminder of what needs to be put first in your life.

There are many people today, you may be one of them, who are struggling with hope. You’ve been praying for something to happen and it hasn’t happened yet. Keep praying. Maybe you are in need of healing but the pain is stronger than ever. Keep wanting to be healed. Perhaps there is something in your life that you have asked God for help for and it seems as if He is taking His time. Keep waiting on God. Losing hope does happen in our life as a response to numerous circumstances and situations. But I’m inviting you today, during the Advent Season, as we anticipate and expect the arrival of Jesus Christ, to not lose hope: to put hope on your Christmas list and to make having hope a priority. Do you have hope today? What are you hoping for this Christmas? I hope that this year when people ask you “What do you want for Christmas?” can you say, “All I want is hope.”

Let it be so…

 

 

Closing Prayer:

Dear God, we want a lot of things for Christmas, but this year we long for hope: a hope that helps us hear you, a hope that helps us obey you, and a hope that leads us to trusting in you. Lord, help us to make having hope a priority. In your precious and holy name, we pray. Amen.

 

Benediction:

Church, what are you hoping for this Christmas? What is on your Christmas list? This week don’t pass up the chance to hear God, obey God, and trust in God because what He is doing in your life is changing you for the better. May the Lord make His face shine upon you, and be gracious to you; and May the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace (Numbers 6:24-26). In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, go forth living out the hope of Christmas. And all God’s people said, Amen. Amen. Amen.

 

 

[1] Kathy Caprino, Forbes Magazine, “The Top 8 Things People Desperately Desire But Can’t Seem To Attain.” May 24, 2016. Accessed November 24, 2025. https://www.forbes.com/sites/kathycaprino/2016/05/24/the-top-8-things-people-desperately-desire-but-cant-seem-to-attain/

[2] People said they find happiness in a job, a spouse, in their family, a title or position, a paycheck, or in fancy house.

[3] Money allows us to do wonderful things: buy our favorite brand of clothing, purchase the newest tool on the market, go on vacations, go out to eat, go shopping, and it allows us to support those in need. To this finding, Caprino asked, “How much money do you really need to bring about the life experiences that will truly fulfill you?”

[4] We all want it, and, to some extent, we all have it. Freedom requires making yourself right, following your own authentic beliefs and values, and building strong boundaries to protect yourself. It also requires, notes Caprino, “boldness and courage to make yourself your own.”^[4] We all want freedom, but how do we pursue freedom through our faith.

[5] We long for peace, desperately. Peace from noise, chatter, pressure, responsibilities. We also want peace from the painful thumping inside our own heads—the conflicts and strain we inflict on ourselves every minute to be better, stronger, smarter, you fill in the blank… I appreciate what Caprino states, “You don’t have to know your purpose to be at peace—you just have to commit to being at peace…”

[6] Simply put, joy comes from the process of becoming more of who you already are from those in your life, from your blessings, and from finding the good even in the bad.

[7] Balance takes understanding of our non-negotiables—what we won’t compromise on and what we will say “yes” to all while making the right decisions that align with our life’s priorities.

[8] Fulfillment can be defined as this: “Satisfaction or happiness as a result of fully developing one’s abilities or character.”^[8] Fulfillment is possible when you are filling up your cup (maybe to the point of having it run over), honoring and respecting yourself, and doing what brings you joy.

[9] Confidence comes from acknowledging our own magnificence, not shying away from it. When we’re in situations that are hurtful, demeaning, challenging and worse, we lose confidence. We get rocked and we stay rocked. We forget who we are, and what we are capable of.

[10] James W. Moore, What Do You Want For Christmas: An Advent Study for Adults, Nashville, Tennessee: Abingdon Press, 2008. pg. 1.

[11] James W. Moore, What Do You Want For Christmas: An Advent Study for Adults, Nashville, Tennessee: Abingdon Press, 2008. pg. 3.

[12] James W. Moore, What Do You Want For Christmas: An Advent Study for Adults, Nashville, Tennessee: Abingdon Press, 2008. pg. 4-5.

[13] James W. Moore, What Do You Want For Christmas: An Advent Study for Adults, Nashville, Tennessee: Abingdon Press, 2008. pg. 7.

[14] James W. Moore, What Do You Want For Christmas: An Advent Study for Adults, Nashville, Tennessee: Abingdon Press, 2008. pg. 8.

[15] James W. Moore, What Do You Want For Christmas: An Advent Study for Adults, Nashville, Tennessee: Abingdon Press, 2008. pg. X.