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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.
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The Advent of Hope: Anchoring in Christ 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, right?0:12 The coming of a notable person And 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 gonna talk about another gift that the baby in the manger brought to us. Today we're gonna 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 rent it 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 Espy. Espi, short for Esperanza, which is Spanish for hope. Right? And it wasn't because she instilled great feelings of hope1:36 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 thinking about1:48 this message, as I was thinking about hope, the Lord brought good old SP back to mind To remind me how often I wrongly think about hope.2:00 Right? Culture usually uses the word hope for the same emotions that we had for our car. It's it's sort of like wishful thinking. Right? We hope things get better. I hope I'm2:12 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 our control. When we can't2:24 influence something, then we resort to hoping. It seems like in our culture, hope has gotten reduced. It's gotten diminished to just wishful thinking. It's almost like wishing2:36 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, resigning ourselves to whatever happens. But that's that's2:48 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 hope that Jesus brought to us that very first Christmas. Remember like we said3:00 last week, the whole Christmas season is a season of hope. Right? The expectation that things can and that things will get better. The new year is just around the corner and there's a lot of3:11 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 something better for us. But for3:23 many, as the Christmas lights fade, so does whatever hope we were looking to in this season. Because too often we can hope in the3:35 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 of the parties and the gatherings, when we we hope3:47 that the time with our family, the opportunity for some some restoration, maybe even the hope that will repair a damaged relationship. Right? When we look to that to give us encouragement and strength and3:58 and peace, we're gonna be let down. Because to believe that we can find ultimate healing, ultimate restoration, or or true lasting contentment in the events or the traditions4:11 or the experiences surrounding Christmas, we've misplaced our hope. And when we do this far too often, like I said, Christmas leaves and so does our feelings of of hope. Psychologists even have a4:23 word for this now. That that let down feeling is called the Christmas blues. And it's it's very very common. Many people feel this traumatic let down after Christmas, but how? I mean, how4:35 could we ever experience a lack of hope after just celebrating the birth of Christ, the source of real and lasting hope in our lives? How could we ever feel down? How could we feel4:47 blue? Well, I think it's like we just said. Too often we can be tempted to place our hope in things that cannot ever that we're not ever designed to support the full4:59 weight of our lives and the hope that we need to experience. Let me explain because I I don't wanna be confusing here. But oftentimes, the good things in our lives, the great things5:11 in our lives that we celebrate and that we celebrate alongside of during Christmas, like we said, family and friends, all those fun experiences, giving gifts, going to parties, which are great5:23 and wonderful things. But ultimately, they'll disappoint if we're leaning on them with the full weight of our hope. Your family is a good thing.5:34 Your spouse is a great thing. Your friends are wonderful gifts from God. Remember, scripture tells us all good things come to us from him. Thank him and celebrate those great things.5:46 But they were never meant to provide you with the emotional anchor to hold you steady during the trials of life. They were never meant to be the sources of your ultimate comfort, your ultimate peace,5:58 or your ultimate hope. Only Jesus is equipped to do that. And Jesus Christ will do that. He promises to if we'll let him, if we'll look to him. I want6:10 you to take heart because if Christmas has ever left you feeling hopeless, I want you to know you can leave this Christmas season without experiencing those blues.6:22 You can leave this Christmas anchored fully in the hope that only Christ provides. Hope that lasts no matter the circumstance. And remember, not6:34 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't based on a situation or a circumstance or a thing at6:46 all. Our hope is a person. Jesus Christ is our hope. And whenever I'm saying the word hope, I wanna make sure that we're thinking about hope the way that we read6:57 about hope in God's word. Because whenever we encounter hope in scripture, it's not wishful thinking. It's a real tangible thing. It is a truth. Like we said, it's an anchor that7:09 holds our souls steady through life's most challenging storms, through all the raging storms. Hope is never described as an emotion that we feel. When we read it in scripture, it's always a7:21 true strength given to us when our lives are anchored in Jesus because real hope provides us with sure footing. Real hope gives us real7:33 confidence. I wanna read a passage to you from the book of Hebrews that unpacks hope. Hebrews is a beautiful book that really talks at length and7:44 unpacks the reality of our hope, the foundation of our hope. As followers of Christ, we can find rest and peace and strength. Truly, we7:56 can find perfect hope in the finished work of Christ, and this is not a maybe sort of hope. This isn't a wishful thinking. This is going to be a8:08 profound confidence brought about by the certainty of the completed work of Christ. 3 c's there. Okay? Easy to remember. 3 c's they're gonna turn our hearts back to our8:20 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. So this is this is Hebrews chapter 10 verses 19 to8:32 24. Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the most holy place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way, open for us through the8:43 curtain, that is his body, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with full assurance.8:56 The full assurance that faith brings. Having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience. Having our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold unswervingly to the hope9:07 we profess, for he who promised is faithful, and let us consider how we may spur 1 another on towards love and good deeds. So much going on9:19 here. Such an incredible verse that clearly lays out the basis and the process for our hope. It starts off with that great word. It says we can have confidence. Certainly9:31 confidence as we enter the most holy place. I love the certainty because now we're swimming upstream. Now we're not talking about cultures, wishful, hoping. We're talking about certainty.9:43 You know, too often, we hear hope and faith wrongly described this way. Right? With with uncertainty. Faith and hope are only needed when things are are really9:55 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 pastors have encouraged us that when you just can't see a way forward, just have faith.10:07 Or when life gets really, really, really hard and you don't know how you're gonna go forward, just hope hope it gets better. But if you look at this passage, it's not an encouragement to wishful thinking10:19 or striving or efforting. It has to do with certainty. It says we come before God in confidence with certainty, which is a lot better than just hoping. But10:31 how? Why does it say that we can do this? Is it based on our wonderful performance? Is it based on our our white knuckled effort? It says because the blood of Jesus has10:43 already opened a new way for us. There is incredible hope in knowing that I can draw near to God in the most holy place, it says. And10:55 I can have a sincere heart. No shame because I've already been cleansed from my guilt because Christ has already washed me clean. That's the basis of my hope. That's11:06 the source of my hope. I'm not hoping for that. I've placed my hope in that. That's my reality. That's the certainty of my life. I'm not efforting towards this.11:19 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 live with that fear. I live with certainty, hoping in the finished work of Jesus. My focus is11:31 not good behavior. I'm not checking boxes spiritually. That's not good news by the 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 about11:43 a deep peace of mind. A settled state of our heart that comes about only through the finished work of Jesus Christ. That is just good. That's good news. We've11:54 already been washed, past tense. It's already done. We are now clean, present tense, reality. That is our standing before God. And I think that for a lot12:06 of people, this is 1 of the hope killers. When they can't fully grasp this because it's really hard to maintain hope when you feel like you can't get beyond your past. When the life that you used12:18 to live comes a calling, when the enemy starts to remind you, when you consider all the bad decisions you've made, all the sinful stuff you allowed yourself to be involved in, maybe people that you've hurt,12:31 since you either tolerated or even pursued, it can be really, really hard to have peace and to find hope when you're constantly plagued by guilt and shame.12:44 When guilt and shame are present, hope is usually absent. But if you think about the scripture, if you think about the knuckleheads that God has used all throughout scripture,12:56 How can we hang on to our past? You got Noah. He was a drunk. David was an adulterer and a murderer. Peter was flaky at best. Paul used to spend his time13:07 hunting down and killing Christians and on and on and on. But just like them, we can actually find confidence and hope, and it has nothing to13:19 do with our performance. Praise god. Because if it was based on our performance, we would have absolutely no reason for hope. But it's not, so we can have13:31 confidence in what Christ has done for us. So whenever the enemy comes around, tries to remind me of who I used to be before Christ, I don't even argue with them anymore. I disagree.13:43 You're right. Man, that dusty? Such a sinner. I mean, such a mess. Right? He was just evil, selfish, and lustful, and arrogant, judgmental, and man, that guy13:54 deserved to die. And so he did. 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 even14:06 gonna meet that guy. I have hope because Christ lives in me. I have hope every day because the holy spirit leads me and guides me and ministers to me and through14:18 me. God's given me a brand new heart. He's put a new song in my mouth. He's made me completely new. This passage says, he's washed me and brought me close, and that gives14:30 me hope. And I need to continue to place my hope in that. But the decision to hope is not some 1 time decision we make when our eyes are open to the reality of14:42 our sinful situation, and we cry out to God to rescue us. It's something we have to choose. It's ongoing. Every day, I have to place my hope in Jesus alone.14:54 That's why it says in this passage that we have to hold unswervingly 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 a15:06 mantra, this kind of hold tight. Hebrews 2 1 says, pay careful attention to what you've heard so that you don't drift away. Right? The emphasis there is that you're gonna be drifting, you gotta be anchored. Hebrews15:18 chapter 3 and verse 1 and 12 says, fix your thoughts on Jesus. 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 that15:30 same chapter says, make sure that you don't develop a sinful or unbelieving heart. It's encouraging me. You gotta keep on trusting. Hebrews 4 14 says,15:42 we have an incredible high priest and because of that, we should hold firmly. Do you hear all this language? It's ongoing. It's it's intentional. It's a decision. It's not gonna be my15:54 natural reaction to just trust God and place my hope in him. This is keep on keeping on kinda language. We gotta hold fast because this world,16:07 my enemy, even my own flesh are all working against me trying to to pull me away from Jesus and away from the hope that he'll brings. And like we said, they're gonna try to do that by16:19 reminding me of my past or convincing me that the current challenge that I'm facing is never gonna get any better. Those are 2 huge hope killers. To wrongly believe that my hope in16:30 Christ isn't gonna fully free me from my past or that my my hope in Christ isn't gonna be able to pull me through this current situation. Hope dies in my16:42 life when I either don't fully receive god's forgiveness in the past. Right? I keep trying to earn it or I just convince myself I'm not worthy of it, which by the way, we're not worthy of it. That's16:54 why grace is a gift, but we have to receive it. We have to choose to trust it. But my hope also dies whenever I think this current life season is my new normal.17:05 It's just the way life is for me. When today becomes forever, it's just hard to hope. Whenever we face a struggle, we can't we can't see around. When it's so big that I I17:17 can't see beyond it. When I know I can't get through this in my own strength. When it when it seems like it's beyond my ability to even cope. Friends, I have no doubt that many of you listening to me17:29 today are in a very, very difficult season of life, maybe a terrible season. Pain or loss or crippling fear and anxiety17:41 and doubt or tragedy, maybe all of those things have struck at some point this year. Maybe your entire life feels upended. Maybe you can't even sit here and imagine a path17:53 forward. And if that's the season you find yourself in, I wanna pause. And I wanna allow the Holy Spirit to examine and minister to your heart. As you felt yourself kind of18:05 drifting hopelessness, Have you found that the storm that you're 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 reaching18:17 out for? What's the thing that you've tried to grab hold of to anchor yourself? Where have you started to place your hope? Because tough times do that.18:29 They reveal if we have an anchor or not, and they reveal what we're trying to anchor ourselves to. The things that we're trusting will steady us. Storms do that. They really test a thing. They test its durability. They18:41 find the weaknesses and reveal them. Storms reveal what's actually there structurally, Whether it's a house or a boat or a life, the storms in our life reveal exactly where18:52 it is that we've placed our trust, where we've placed our hope. It's the stuff we reach out to when life gets hard. Oftentimes, the things that that we're grieving are things that we've we've19:04 hoped for in our lives. Maybe things we've hoped for for a long time that haven't come to pass or haven't been resolved. Maybe we hoped for a long and healthy life, but a recent diagnosis has changed19:16 that. Maybe we hoped for stability at work or we had some plans financially, but a recent downsizing has just shaken that all up. Maybe we've started to look to these things to19:28 provide something in my heart that only Jesus is capable of. Guys, there's nothing wrong with desiring these things. There's there's nothing wrong for for hoping for these things. Like we19:40 said, scripture says every good thing comes to me from God. So hoping for these outcomes is not wrong, but hoping for these things and choosing to place our hope in19:52 these things are 2 very different things. Hoping for something just says that I've got a desire for this this good thing as long as it is a good thing,20:04 for a long life, for for a healthy family, for friends, for community, for a home, a place, a work, meaningful work to do, people to work alongside. Those are all good things. But placing my20:16 hope in those things is when I start to look to them to protect me, to make me feel fulfilled, to make me feel whole. When I look to that thing20:28 to bring me joy or to deliver me or to give me hope, I've now gone to that thing to do for me what Christ said he would do for me. Only Jesus20:40 Christ can be hoped in. Great things can be hoped for, but 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.20:53 What I am saying is that they are simply not strong enough to build your life upon because only Christ is the foundation that we can we can build enough. He's the only 1 with shoulders broad21:05 enough. He's the only 1 who's consistent enough to build every 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,21:17 what is it that you're hoping for? And what are you placing your hope in? What are you hoping happens, but what is the anchor of your hope? And I love where the passage goes after21:29 this, right? Right after that, continuing to the encouragement, just continue to squeeze Jesus tightly, right? Hold absorbently to him in that storm. It doesn't give us a list of to do's or or some21:40 religious ideals or some some idolized future. It says, hold on to him. Just hold on to him. And then the resume it gives is because he's21:52 faithful. Because he who promised all this stuff is 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 of22:04 Jesus. Our hope is based on the person and the performance of King Jesus. Who he is and what he's done. That's why we have hope. How do I know what22:16 Jesus is like? Because I read about him in God's 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.22:27 Understanding who he is gives me hope. That's the basis. It's not some emotional feeling that's rocking up and down. This is that deep confidence based on the reality22:39 that Jesus has already won. He's already defeated death. He's already taken my sin from me. He's already preparing a spot for me, for you to spend eternity with him. That gives me hope.22:51 That's a hope strong enough to pull me through the storms of life. This Christmas, go all in on hope, but make sure your hope is placed23:03 in Jesus. When you wake up in the morning, make the conscious 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 be23:15 the the anchor of your hope. Anchor yourself in Christ, 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,23:27 especially this time of year. For anyone desiring hope, for anyone starting to find it in Christ, listen how it ends. Let us consider how we23:38 may spur 1 another on towards 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 get23:50 better or that my past somehow disqualifies me from what 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 feel24:02 overwhelmed with hopelessness. Culture says, get a little you time, focus on you, turn inward. Scripture says, when you feel that, look outside. Give away the life that you24:14 desire to keep. Encourage others and in that be 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 the24:25 body of Christ, in the family of King Jesus. And so if you're struggling for hope this Christmas season, I encourage you. Take a look at the community that you've surrounded24:37 yourself with because you're becoming 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 becoming24:49 them. Your friends are your future you. And that either fills you with hope or that's a very, very discouraging reality.25:01 Find people who aren't focused on what's going wrong in this world. Find people who still have hope that God can redeem all things, and actually find the people that are involved in getting involved with him in it.25:13 That aren't just sitting back and throwing grenades. They're that are that are getting involved, that wanna be a part of what God is doing in this world. And then as you experience that hope in that community, lead other25:23 people in that same way towards hope. Become a person of encouragement and hope this Christmas. That pervasive sense of hope that we have25:35 when life is tough, that's our greatest witness to this world. That we have a hope that pulls us through no matter life's ups and down. The fact that our life is anchored to something outside of this world, when people25:47 see that strength pulling you through life, they're gonna want that for themselves. So receive the gift of hope that only Jesus brings this Christmas, and then re gift it.25:59 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 the wasteland.Every Man Ministries: Looking Ahead to 2026 26:15 Hi. I'm Kenny Luck, founder and president of Everyman Ministries. And for the last 25 years, God has been using Everyman to reach, to train, to encourage, and equip26:27 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 doing something new. We26:39 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 of everything26:51 that God has done. Every man was a part of Live Events all over California, Illinois, Wisconsin, Texas, and here in Montana. And those27:02 were just the live events. We did father son events, men's retreats, youth camps, church services, school chapels, discipleship conferences, and more. In 2027:14 25, we continued to follow Christ's encouragement in Matthew 25 where he said, I was prison and you visited me. We saw incredible27:26 fruit in our prison ministry in partnership with God Behind Bars. Can you believe 1848 men professed Christ for the first time this last year? Our content27:38 was viewed in prisons over 1300000.0 times. Now here's the real exciting thing. We have 1600 men enrolled in Get Healthy courses. This year, we introduced27:50 the ebook collection, and the first 3 books have been seen over 11000 times. We get feedback every week from prisoners telling us about28:02 the encouragement and the transformations that are happening behind prison walls. In 20 25, God took the ministry of Everyman literally everywhere through our28:13 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 every language,28:36 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 teaching every man so that we28:48 may present every man complete in Christ. Well, that was 20 25. What does 20 26 hold? We wanna focus on 3 things that are new, the local church, the29:00 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 Get Healthy Discipleship29:12 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. We're also going after men29:23 who are younger, the next generation. How? Through father son events. We're gonna have events that are geared up for young adults and college age events. Tomorrow, model what it means to be God's man. So you're gonna29:35 witness the launch of the dangerous good and young movement. In terms of discipling men daily, we're going to launch the new Everyman Encounter app. We're29:47 so excited about this because you're gonna be able to walk through daily challenges, daily study, along with all of our content with the men in your life. We're gonna share prayer29:59 requests remain connected to your forever brothers in group settings and situations, be able to encourage and sharpen 1 another all through the Everyman Encounter app. Now, we are going to continue30:11 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 series for the women in men's lives. We're excited30:22 about that. They've also asked us to own Father's Day with unique highlighted video content, daily devotions, and more to encourage all of those30:35 users. In 20 26, we're gonna continue to expand our prison ministry, actually looking at in person events within the walls of the prison for every man. We're gonna make some unique content just for the30:46 prisoners, filmed exclusively behind bars. And we're gonna continue to speak at conferences, churches, schools, and retreats, wherever God calls us to transform the30:58 lives of men. But listen, my brothers, it is going to take all of us if we're gonna reach every man to continue teaching and encouraging men behind bars, to train up the next generation, to live out, encouraging men31:08 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 men all over the world, the gospel of31:20 Jesus. It's just gonna take all of us because this is the great super sport, the super adventure called the kingdom of God. And we all get to play31:32 our card. So this is our invitation to you to take up your spot in the kingdom and serve with us. God bless.In this video 0:00 The Advent of Hope: Anchoring in Christ26:15 Every Man Ministries: Looking Ahead to 2026
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