Skip to content The Advent of Hope | The Coming King with Dusty Davis – Audio Only Dec 11 ...more
Support this leader Liking this video? Support this ministry.
Support this leader
Liking this video? Support this ministry.
Give
Support this leader Liking this video? Support this ministry.
56K followers
Since 2000 Every Man Ministries has been activating men worldwide to live out their truest identity in Christ through its discipleship resources, live events, and steaming platform.
56K followers
0:00 Well, Merry Christmas from all of us here at Everyman Ministries, and welcome back to our Advent series for week 2 of the coming king. And remember last week we learned that the Advent just means the arrival,0:12 right? The coming of a notable person. At Christmas, we're celebrating the arrival of the most notable person, King Jesus. If you're with us for our first week, the advent of peace, we saw that the0:24 birth of Christ, his life, his death, his resurrection, and his ascension brought to us peace. Not just the absence of conflict, but the presence of perfect wholeness.0:36 Shalom. And today, we're going to talk about another gift that the baby in the manger brought to us. Today, we're going to talk about the arrival, the advent of hope. Now, my family and I were recently on a vacation and0:48 we used a peer to peer program to rent our car, right? And so instead of renting from a large agency or a fleet, we rented directly from the owner of the car. It was great. Super easy. The car was waiting for us at the1:00 airport. Pricing was right. Super inexpensive, relatively. The car was also somewhat sketchy. Maybe not super sketchy, but sketchy enough. Right? It it made noises1:11 like something was going on in the engine, maybe something was alive in there. It really couldn't get out of second gear very well, right? We kinda got the bouncing RPMs, and so as we were driving this thing around,1:24 my kids started to affectionately refer to her as Espe. Espe short for Esperanza, which is Spanish for hope. Right? And it wasn't because she instilled great feelings of1:35 hope in us. It's because we were constantly hoping that she didn't break down, Hoping that the transmission didn't just drop, hoping that she would get us where we were trying to go. And as I was thinking1:47 about this message, as I was thinking about hope, the Lord brought good old Espy back to mind To remind me how often I wrongly think about1:59 hope. Right? Culture usually uses the word hope for the same emotions that we had for our car. It's sort of like wishful thinking. Right? We hope things get2:10 better. I hope I'm not included in the downsizing. We use hope to talk about, an expectation we have or a desire we have for things to get better. Things that are clearly outside of our2:22 control. When we can't influence something, then we resort to hoping. It seems like in our culture, hope has gotten reduced. It's gotten diminished to just2:33 wishful thinking. It's almost like wishing upon a star. When all of our resources are exhausted, I guess we can resort to hope. It's sort of like throwing in the towel, resigning2:45 ourselves to whatever happens. But that's that's not hope. That's certainly not the type of hope that we read about whenever we encounter hope in God's word. And it's certainly not the hope2:57 that Jesus brought to us that very first Christmas. Remember like we said last week, the whole Christmas season is a season of hope. Right? The expectation that things can and that things will get better.3:09 The New Year is just around the corner and there's a lot of anticipation and hope that we can maybe leave some of the more challenging things in 20 25 and we hope that 20 26 is gonna bring something3:20 better for us. But for many, as the Christmas lights fade, so does whatever hope we were looking to in this season. Because3:32 too often, we can hope in the things of Christmas, the things surrounding Christmas, and we're ultimately on our way to disappointment. Right? When we hope in all of the gifts, when we hope in all of3:44 the parties and the gatherings. When we we hope that the time with our family, the opportunity for some some restoration, maybe even the hope that we'll repair a damaged relationship. Right? When we look to that to give3:56 us encouragement and strength and peace, we're gonna be let down. Because to believe that we can find ultimate healing, ultimate restoration, or true lasting4:08 contentment in the events or the traditions or the experiences surrounding Christmas, we've misplaced our hope. And when we do this, far too often, like I said, Christmas leaves and4:19 so does our feelings of hope. Psychologists even have a word for this now. That letdown feeling is called the Christmas blues. And it's very, very common. Many people feel4:31 this traumatic letdown after Christmas. But how? I mean, how could we ever experience a lack of hope after just celebrating the birth of Christ, the source of real4:43 and lasting hope in our lives? How could we ever feel down? How could we feel blue? Well, think it's like we just said. Too often we can be tempted to place our hope in things4:55 that cannot ever, that were not ever designed to support the full weight of our lives and the hope that we need to experience. Let me explain because I don't want to be confusing here.5:07 But oftentimes the good things in our lives, the great things in our lives that we celebrate and that we celebrate alongside of during Christmas, like we said, family and friends,5:19 all those fun experiences, giving gifts, going to parties, which are great and wonderful things. But ultimately, they'll disappoint if we're leaning on them with the full weight of5:31 our hope. Your family is a good thing. Your spouse is a great thing. Your friends are wonderful gifts from God. Remember, scripture tells us all good things come to us from5:42 him. Thank him and celebrate those great things. But they were never meant to provide you with the emotional anchor to hold you steady during the trials of life. They were never5:54 meant to be the sources of your ultimate comfort, your ultimate peace, or your ultimate hope. Only Jesus is equipped to do that. And Jesus Christ will do that. He6:06 promises to if we'll let him, if we'll look to him. I want you to take heart. Because if Christmas has ever left you feeling hopeless, I want you to know you can leave this6:18 Christmas season without experiencing those blues. You can leave this Christmas anchored fully in the hope that only Christ provides. Hope that6:30 lasts no matter the circumstance. Remember, not wishful thinking, not a positive outlook, not even the guarantee that things are gonna turn out as you want them to because our hope isn't6:42 based on a situation or a circumstance or a thing at all. Our hope is a person. Jesus Christ is our hope. And whenever I'm saying the word6:54 hope, I wanna make sure that we're thinking about hope the way that we read about hope in God's word. Because whenever we encounter hope in scripture, it's not wishful thinking. It's a real tangible7:05 thing. It is a truth. Like we said, it's an anchor that holds our souls steady through life's most challenging storms, through all the raging storms. Hope is never described as an7:17 emotion that we feel. When we read it in scripture, it's always a true strength given to us when our lives are anchored in Jesus because real hope provides us7:28 with sure footing. Real hope gives us real confidence. I wanna read a passage to you from the book of Hebrews that unpacks hope.7:41 Hebrews is a beautiful book that really talks at length and unpacks the reality of our hope, the foundation of our hope. As followers of Christ, we can find rest7:53 and peace and strength. Truly, we can find perfect hope in the finished work of Christ. And this is not a maybe sort of hope. This8:04 isn't a wishful thinking. This is going to be a profound confidence brought about by the certainty of the completed work of Christ. 3 c's there. Okay?8:16 Easy to remember. 3 c's that are gonna turn our hearts back to our ultimate hope. That's confidence, certainty, completed. You hear how tangible those words are? That's what we're talking about when we talk about hope.8:27 So this is this is Hebrews chapter 10 verses 19 to 24. Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the most holy place by the blood of8:39 Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain. That is his body. And since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near to God8:51 with a sincere heart and with full assurance. The full assurance that faith brings having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience, having our bodies washed9:03 with pure water. Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess for he who promised is faithful, and let us consider how we may spur 1 another on towards9:15 love and good deeds. So much going on here. Such an incredible verse that clearly lays out the basis and the process for our hope. It starts off with that9:26 great word. It says we can have confidence. Certainty. Confidence as we enter the most holy place. I love the certainty because now we're swimming upstream. Now we're not talking9:38 about culture's wishful hoping. We're talking about certainty. You know, too often, we hear hope and faith wrongly described this way, right, with9:50 with uncertainty. Faith and hope are only needed when things are are really out of control. That's not our first option. It's our it's our last option. And too often, well meaning friends or even pastors10:02 have encouraged us that when you just can't see a way forward, just have faith. Or when life gets really, really, really hard and you don't know how you're gonna go forward, just hope hope it gets10:14 better. But if you look at this passage, it's not an encouragement to wishful thinking or striving or efforting. It has to do with certainty. It says we come10:26 before God in confidence with certainty, which is a lot better than just hoping. But how? Why does it say that we can do this? Is it based on our wonderful performance? Is it based on10:37 our our white knuckled effort? It says, because the blood of Jesus has already opened a new way for us. There is incredible hope10:49 in knowing that I can draw near to God. In the most holy place, it says, and I can have a sincere heart, no shame, because I've already been cleansed11:01 from my guilt, because Christ has already washed me clean. That's the basis of my hope. That's the source of my hope. I'm not hoping for that. I've placed my hope in that.11:12 That's my reality. That's the certainty of my life. I'm not efforting towards this. I'm not hoping that someday at the end of my life, the good things I've done somehow outweigh the bad. I don't live11:24 with that fear. I live with certainty, hoping in the finished work of Jesus. My focus is not good behavior. I'm not checking boxes spiritually. That's not good news, by the11:36 way. It's not good news to get a list of things you have to do to try to make the team. This passage is talking about a deep peace of mind, a settled state of our heart that comes about only11:48 through the finished work of Jesus Christ. That is just good. That's good news. We've already been washed, past tense. It's already done. We are now clean,12:00 present tense, reality. That is our standing before God. And I think that for a lot of people, this is 1 of the hope killers when they can't fully grasp this because it's really hard12:12 to maintain hope when you feel like you can't get beyond your past, When the life that you used to live comes a calling. When the enemy starts to remind you. When you consider12:24 all the bad decisions you've made. All the sinful stuff you allowed yourself to be involved in. Maybe people that you've hurt. Sins you either tolerated or even pursued, it can be really, really hard12:36 to have peace and to find hope when you're constantly plagued by guilt and shame. When guilt and shame are present, hope is usually absent. But if you think12:48 about the scripture, if you think about the knuckleheads that God has used all throughout scripture, How can we hang on to our past? You got Noah. He was a13:00 drunk. David was an adulterer and a murderer. Peter was flaky at best. Paul used to spend his time hunting down and killing Christians and on and on and13:11 on. But just like them, we can actually find confidence and hope, and it has nothing to do with our performance. Praise God.13:24 Because if it was based on our performance, we would have absolutely no reason for hope. But it's not so we can have confidence in what Christ has done for us. So whenever the enemy comes13:36 around, tries to remind me of who I used to be before Christ, I don't even argue with him anymore. I just agree. You're right. Man, that Dusty. Such a sinner. I13:47 mean, such a mess. Right? He was just evil, selfish, and lustful, and arrogant, and judgmental. And, man, that guy deserved to die. And so he did.13:59 He was crucified with Christ. He's not even alive anymore. I now live, and it's the spirit who lives in me. In fact, you're never even gonna meet that guy. I have hope because Christ lives14:11 in me. I have hope every day because the Holy Spirit leads me and guides me and ministers to me and through me. God's given me a brand new heart. He's put a new song in my14:23 mouth. He's made me completely new. This passage says he's washed me and brought me close and that gives me hope. And I need to continue to place my hope in14:35 that. But the decision to hope is not some 1 time decision we make when our eyes are open to the reality of our sinful situation and we cry out to God to rescue us. It's something14:47 we have to choose. It's ongoing every day. I have to place my hope in Jesus alone. That's why it says in this passage that we have to hold unswervingly14:59 to the hope that we profess. Right? That type of hold fast language, it's all over the book of Hebrews. It's kind of a mantra, this kind of hold tight. Hebrews two:one says, pay careful attention to what you've15:11 heard so that you don't drift away. Right? The emphasis there is that you're gonna be drifting. You gotta be anchored. Hebrews chapter 3 and verse 1 and 12 says, fix your thoughts on Jesus.15:23 That means I'm gonna be tempted to allow my mind to drift, to fix my thoughts on other things. Like I said, verse 12 in that same chapter says, make sure that you don't develop a sinful or unbelieving15:35 heart. It's encouraging me. You got to keep on trusting. Hebrews 4 14 says We have an incredible high priest, and because of that, we should hold15:46 firmly. Do you hear all this language? It's ongoing. It's intentional. It's a decision. It's not going to be my natural reaction to just trust God and place my hope in him.15:58 This is keep on keeping on kind of language. We got to hold fast. Because this world, my enemy, even my own flesh are all working against me,16:10 trying to to pull me away from Jesus and away from the hope that he'll bring. And like we said, they're going to try to do that by reminding me of my past or convincing me that the16:22 current challenge that I'm facing is never going to get any better. Those are 2 huge hope killers. To wrongly believe that my hope in Christ isn't going to fully free me from my past,16:35 or that my hope in Christ isn't going to be able to pull me through this current situation. Hope dies in my life when I either don't fully receive God's forgiveness in the past, right? I keep trying to16:47 earn it, or I just convince myself I'm not worthy of it. Which, by the way, we're not worthy of it. That's why grace is a gift. But we have to receive it. We have to choose to trust16:59 it. But my hope also dies whenever I think this current life season is my new normal. It's just the way life is for me. When today becomes forever, it's just hard17:11 to hope. Whenever we face a struggle we can't we can't see around. When it's so big that I can't see beyond it. When I know I can't get through this in my own strength. When it when17:23 it seems like it's beyond my ability to even cope. Friends, I have no doubt that many of you listening to me today are in a very, very difficult season of life, maybe a terrible17:34 season. Pain or loss Or crippling fear and anxiety and doubt or tragedy. Maybe all of those things have struck17:46 at some point this year. Maybe your entire life feels upended. Maybe you can't even sit here and imagine a path forward. And if that's the season you find yourself in, I wanna17:57 pause. And I wanna allow the Holy Spirit to examine and minister to your heart. As you felt yourself kind of drifting hopelessness, have you found that the storm that you're18:09 in seems to be kind of having its way and just throwing you around? Ask yourself. Allow the Lord to reveal to you what is it you've been reaching out for. What's the thing that you've tried to grab hold of18:21 to anchor yourself? Where have you started to place your hope? Because tough times do that. They reveal if we have an anchor or not, and they reveal what we're trying to anchor18:33 ourselves to. The things that we're trusting will steady us. Storms do that. They really test a thing. They test its durability. They find the weaknesses and reveal them. Storms reveal what's actually18:45 there structurally, whether it's a house or a boat or a life. The storms in our life reveal exactly where it is that we've placed our trust, where we've placed our hope. It's the18:57 stuff we reach out to when life gets hard. Oftentimes, the things that we're grieving are things that we've hoped for in our lives. Maybe things we've hoped for for a long time that haven't come19:09 to pass or haven't been resolved. Maybe we hoped for a long and healthy life, but a recent diagnosis has changed that. Maybe we hoped for stability at work or we had some plans19:21 financially, but a recent downsizing has just shaken that all up. Maybe we've started to look to these things to provide something in my heart that only Jesus is capable of. Guys, there's19:32 nothing wrong with desiring these things. There's there's nothing wrong for for hoping for these things. Like we said, scripture says, every good thing comes to me from God, so hoping for these outcomes is not19:44 wrong. But hoping for these things and choosing to place our hope in these things are 2 very different things.19:57 Hoping for something just says that I've got a desire for this this good thing, as long as it is a good thing, for a long life, for for a healthy family, for friends, for community, for20:09 a home, a place, a work meaningful work to do, people to work alongside. Those are all good things. But placing my hope in those things is when I start to look to20:21 them to protect me, to make me feel fulfilled, to make me feel whole. When I look to that thing to bring me joy or to deliver me or to give me hope,20:33 I've now gone to that thing to do for me what Christ said he would do for me. Only Jesus Christ can be hoped in. Great things can be hoped for, but20:45 they can't support the weight of our trust when we try to hope in them. I'm not saying that those things or those people are bad or will always let you down. What I am saying is that they are simply not strong enough to20:56 build your life upon. Because only Christ is the foundation that we can we can build enough. He's the only 1 with shoulders broad enough. He's the only 1 who's consistent enough to build every21:08 aspect of our life upon. He's the only foundation that will fully support our lives. And so if you find yourself in a storm this season, I ask you plainly, what is it that you're hoping for, and what are you placing21:20 your hope in? What are you hoping happens, but what is the anchor of your hope? And I love where the passage goes after this. Right? Right after that continuing to that21:32 encouragement just continues to squeeze Jesus tightly. Right? Hold unsorbently to him in that storm. It doesn't give us a list of to dos or or some religious ideals or some some idolized future. It21:44 says, hold on to him. Just hold on to him. And then the resume it gives is because he's faithful. Because he who promised all this stuff is21:56 faithful. He won't let us go. He can't. It's not in his nature. We have hope because of the person, the character of Jesus. Our hope is based on the person and the22:07 performance of King Jesus, who he is and what he's done. That's why we have hope. How do I know what Jesus is like? Because I read about him in God's22:19 word every single day. I know what his character's like. I watch him interact with people. I know the way that he shows up. I trust it'll show up in my life. Understanding who he is gives me hope.22:32 That's the basis. It's not some emotional feeling that's rocking up and down. This is that deep confidence based on the reality that Jesus has already won. He's already defeated death. He's already taken22:44 my sin from me. He's already preparing a spot for me, for you to spend eternity with him. That gives me hope. That's a hope strong enough to pull me through the22:55 storms of life. This Christmas, go all in on hope, but make sure your hope is placed in Jesus. When you wake up in the morning, make the conscious23:07 choice to put your hope in Jesus. Don't look to the situations or even the great people that God has surrounded you with to be the the anchor of your hope. Anchor yourself in Christ.23:19 But you do have a role to play in the lives of those around you. And I love the way this passage closes because it's so countercultural, especially this time of year. For anyone desiring23:30 hope, for anyone starting to find it in Christ, listen how it ends. Let us consider how we may spur 1 another on towards23:42 love and good deeds. We're called to pursue this hope in Christ ourself, right, to to stiff arm the lies of our enemy that things aren't gonna get better or that my past somehow disqualifies me from what23:54 God's doing. But you know what the very next calling is? Look outward. You're supposed to help others do the same. Whenever I feel overwhelmed with hopelessness, culture says, get a little you time. Focus on24:06 you. Turn inward. Scripture says, when you feel that, look outside. Give away the life that you desire to keep. Encourage others and in that be24:17 encouraged. Walk together in community. Lift people up and then be lifted up in return. It's a beautiful picture of the hope that's found in the body of Christ, in the family of king24:29 Jesus. And so if you're struggling for hope this Christmas season, I encourage you, take a look at the community that you've surrounded yourself with because you're becoming24:41 the people you spend your time with. So if you're constantly around cynical or judgmental or fearful or angry people, you're on your way to becoming them. Your friends are your future24:52 you. And that either fills you with hope or that's a very, very discouraging reality. Find people who aren't focused on what's25:04 going wrong in this world. Find people who still have hope that God can redeem all things. And actually, the people that are involved in getting involved with him in it. That aren't just sitting back and throwing25:15 grenades. That are getting involved, that want to be a part of what God is doing in this world. And then as you experience that hope in that community, lead other people in that same way towards hope. Become a person25:28 of encouragement and hope this Christmas. That pervasive sense of hope that we have when life is tough, that's our greatest witness to this world. That we have a hope that25:40 pulls us through no matter life's ups and down. The fact that our life is anchored to something outside of this world. When people see that strength pulling you through life, they're gonna want that for themselves. So25:51 receive the gift of hope that only Jesus brings this Christmas and then regift it. Give it away by encouraging others.26:03 Isaiah 43 19 says, See, I am doing a new thing. Now it springs up. Do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the26:14 wasteland. Hi. I'm Kenny Luck, founder and president of Everyman Ministries. And for the last 20 years, God has been using every man to reach, to train, to26:26 encourage, and equip men to live out their calling as men. And today, I'm standing in Montana where we're hosting the very first Everyman encounter. God certainly is doing26:38 something new. We have a group of men here encountering God in powerful and in new ways. You know, 20 25 was such an incredible year, and we are in awe of26:50 everything that God has done. Every man was a part of live events all over California, Illinois, Wisconsin, Texas, and here in27:01 Montana and those were just the live events. We did father son events, men's retreats, youth camps, church services, school chapels, discipleship conferences, and27:13 more. In 20 25, we continued to follow Christ's encouragement in Matthew 25 where he said, I was in prison and you visited me. We saw27:24 incredible fruit in our prison ministry and partnership with God behind bars. Can you believe 1848 men profess Christ for the first time this last year?27:37 Our content was viewed in prisons over 1300000.0 times. And here's the real exciting thing. We have 1600 men enrolled in Get Healthy courses.27:48 This year we introduced the eBook collection and the first 3 books have been seen over 11000 times. We get feedback every week from prisoners telling28:00 us about the encouragement and the transformations that are happening behind prison walls. In 20 25, God took ministry of Everyman literally28:12 everywhere through our international partnership with Pray dot com. All over the world, we've seen 7500000.0 minutes streamed on the Everyman platform. You know what that amounts to?28:24 188 countries all over the world. And now, we're using AI to translate our content into nearly every28:35 language, allowing us to encourage and instruct and teach every man like it says in Colossians 1 28. And we proclaim him admonishing every man and teaching28:47 every man so that we may present every man complete in Christ. Well, was 20 25. What does 20 26 hold? We wanna focus on 3 things that are new. The local28:58 church, the next generation of younger men, and discipling men on a daily basis. Let's talk about the local church. We are launching a brand new series of our classic get29:10 healthy discipleship program. Over 1000000 men have been through it, and we're excited for the next generation of men to go through and get healthy in family, in temptation, in friendship, and in their marriages.29:22 We're also going after men who are younger, the next generation. How? Through father son events. We're gonna have events that are geared up toward young adults and college age men to model what it means to be God's29:34 man. So you're gonna witness the launch of the dangerous good and young movement. In terms of discipling men daily, we're going to launch the new every man29:45 Encounter app. We're so excited about this because you're gonna be able to walk through daily challenges, daily studies, along with all of our content with the men in29:57 your life. We're gonna share prayer requests through the app. We're gonna remain connected to your forever brothers in group settings and situations, be able to encourage and sharpen 1 another all through the Everyman30:07 Encounter app. Now we are going to continue our partnerships with pray dot com. We're gonna expand that partnership. You know, they've asked us to film for all 17000000 of their users a new series30:19 for the women in men's lives. We're excited about that. They've also asked us to own Father's Day with unique, highlighted video content, daily30:31 devotions, and more to encourage all of those users. In 20 26, we're gonna continue to expand our prison ministry, actually looking at in person events within the walls of the30:43 prison for every man. We're gonna make some unique content just for the prisoners filmed exclusively behind bars. And we're gonna continue to speak at conferences, churches,30:54 schools, and retreats wherever God calls us to transform the lives of men. But listen, my brothers, it is going to take all of us. If we're gonna reach every man to31:06 continue teaching and encouraging men behind bars, to train up the next generation to live out their calling as God's men and continue to see marriages strengthen. And finally, to reach men31:17 all over the world with the gospel of Jesus. It's just gonna take all of us because this is the great super story. The super adventure called the kingdom31:29 of God. And we all get to play our part. So this is our invitation to you to take up your spot in the kingdom and serve with us.31:41 God bless.
Comments No comments yet. Start the conversation.
Comments
Keep it kind. Comments are public.