12-21-2025 - THE JOY OF CERTAIN HOPE - Acts 26:6-7 (Special message for this Christmas Season)

 MESSAGE BY PASTOR ROB INRIG

 FROM BETHANY BAPTIST IN RICHMOND, BC.

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I invite you to pray together: O Father of mercies and God of all comfort, our only help in time of need: We humbly beseech thee to behold, visit, and relieve thy sick servants for whom our prayers are desired. Look upon them with the eyes of thy mercy ( Vicky O, Nancy R, Tere G, Liz N, Stevie A, Socrates D, Sara's mom H, Margarita G,   Rosy Ch, Patricia L. Lina J.  Magda- Laci M.  Gloria F, Miguel A H. Silvia H, Manuel D, Brianda M, Alejandro M, Natalia M, Oscar ND.   Comfort them with a sense of thy goodness; preserve them from the temptations of the enemy; and give them patience under his affliction. In thy good time, restore them to health, and enable them to lead the residue of their life in thy fear, and to thy glory; and grant that finally they may dwell with thee in life everlasting; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

You can add names from family and friends who need prayer

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We are praying especially for young people, for those who are living through difficult times in these times where hatred, anger, abuse,Wars, pain, and more appear every day in their young lives, causing them depression, anguish, and above all, anxiety. For all of them, Lord, we ask you to hear our cry, give them the comfort they need today! so that your healing Spirit may come.May they be touched and know that You are great, O Lord, that You are with them and that You will never abandon them. We ask this for specially for Oscar.You know him, dear Father, who is struggling with that anxiety. Heal his mind and body so that he may continue to be That special being whom you endowed with so much wisdom and intelligence, we ask this through your beloved son Jesus Christ, our King of Kings and our Lord of Lords... AMEN!

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This morning I want to take us into Scripture looking at a story that on the brink of Christmas and the delivery of a child, seems to have nothing to do with Christmas.  At first glance this story appears to be the opposite of joy and celebration - more courtroom than delivery room.  It’s about a king and a prisoner – one wearing power, the other not. One serving as judge with the power to deliver a death sentence and the other, preparing a defence that is very different from what his accusers had made. Two men, the one, king Agrippa holding strongly to power, the other, the Apostle Paul seemingly with no power, holding strongly to hope  

The setting: Agrippa’s world with all the surrounds of power - the dress, the throne, the attendants.  And before him, a prisoner having none of these.  Yet, the one who has nothing is the one who has hope and the one appearing to have everything - living with none.  Paul’s hope boldly spoken to the king before whom he stands, I stand on trial because of the hope in what God promised to our ancestors …. for this hope, I am being accused  Acts 26:6,7.

Paul’s declaration, I am accused because of HOPE.  Hope our forefathers   believed. Hope spoken of by prophets.  Hope given to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and to Moses and David.  Hope of Messiah, a coming King unlike any king.  Hope I have seen and hope I know to be true.   

As Agrippa listened he must have thought, any chance of the hope you speak of disappeared years ago. Your people disobeyed that hope away - if you doubt that, look around, where are the things once so important to your people?  Where are your prophets who led you to God and where is God’s protection for His people?  And Paul, where is the One you follow - He now dead and gone?  Paul, the hope you speak of isn’t even on life support.  

Agrippa’s assessment perhaps making some sense IF Paul also hadn’t known of another time when hope appeared to have died when the line of Judah seemed to have been ‘cut off’ when King Azahiah died and his mother, Athaliah, murdered all hers sons and grandsons, so she could rule as Queen.  Her actions meaning that the tree of Judah’s descendants had been cut off and with that, God’s promise was done. Any promise of a Saviour coming from Judah’s line was over. But Paul had evidence - Judah’s line hadn’t been cut off because among all the dead was a child who had been hidden away, not be seen or known of for years, a small shoot from whom in time would come the One the prophet Isaiah was really speaking of,  

There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit. And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord. And His delight shall be in the fear of the Lord. He shall not judge by what His eyes see, or decide disputes by what His ears hear, but with righteousness He shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth; and He shall strike the earth with the rod of His mouth, and with the breath of His lips He shall kill the wicked.  Righteousness shall be the belt of His waist, and faithfulness the belt of His loins.  Is 11:1-5  

From the stump of Jesse, a shoot that gave the certain promise that David’s line was not done.  The prophet Amos says, In that day I will raise up the booth of David that is fallen and repair its breaches, and raise up its ruins and rebuild it as in the days of old   Amos 9:11

So as Paul stood before Agrippa, he wasn’t holding to some hope written 100s of years before. He had better evidence than that.  Not a shoot but he seeing the Branch Isaiah really spoke of.  The Branch that changed Paul’s life all because of what was given in a small child who came in Bethlehem. 

Hope coming when surrounding evidence said, No hope.  No hope like what Noah must have felt when he emerged from the Ark and only seeing water.  Hope?  No sign of that.  And then one day when everything appeared as hopeless as the day before, a leaf in the bill of a mission-sent dove.  Just a shoot.  But oh what a celebration because of what that shoot conveyed!  A shoot signifying a branch, not yet seen but there - speaking of a far more important Branch yet to come. 

Which brings me back to our story. Hearing what Paul had to say, one who was sitting with Agrippa - Roman governor Festus, says, Paul, too much learning has made you mad.  

Festus had good reason to come to that conclusion.  A virgin giving birth?  That defied all logic but a, I’m certain he’s dead Jesus, appearing alive and Paul staking his defence and his hope on that?   

To Festus that was absurd.  The Romans knew how to ensure their executions didn’t fail.  They broke legs for that.  They took a spear and pierced flesh for that.  But Paul had seen what they hadn’t.  Jesus coming to him.  Jesus, fulfilling every Scripture prophesied.  Jesus, changing his life.  That’s why Paul lived with hope no matter what Festus could say or Agrippa would do.

His hope wasn’t that his argument would hold and a sentence of ‘Not guilty’ would be given.  He had no guarantee of that.  He knew that better than anyone.  He had chased down and arrested those who said the same things he was now saying about this Jesus before he had believed.  God didn’t give him any certainty of what the outcome would be as a result of his appearance before these men.  His hope wasn’t in them but in God.

Just what God calls us to as well, our trust to be in Him not in the outcomes we may wish - that a negative diagnosis will change or financial resources will hold up.  Wished for?  Completely but our certainty? - in what God has revealed.  Paul not doubting in the dark what God had revealed to him in the light. Christmas hope in a place we would never have thought to look. 

All appearing in a way that no rational person would look - in an obscure, backwater town.  It’s true, long ago Bethlehem had moments of importance - where Rachel had been buried and where King David once walked but that was long ago when this, Bethlehem which means the House of Bread was far more than the morsels and crumbs it had become.  Now it was just a place to pass by, a destination for very few.  In its current state, residents thought less than 200, what hope was there to find anything important?  That it would once again rise as a place of hope was preposterous.  A world changer should come from a place of power, of prominence, of pedigree, bearing a genetic line people would take note of.   But Bethlehem even challenged the idea of simplicity.  Its reputation now was mainly the domain of shepherds, a reputation hardly considered good, some believing shepherds unclean because of their world of dirt and manure.  All of this putting a dividing line between themselves and those who thought themselves clean. 

And the genetic line of this One being promoted as the Messiah?  Truth is rumours were loud about his father, those nothing compared to what was said about his mother.  Is it any wonder Mary heard, Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. Now listen: You will conceive and give birth to 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 Him the throne of His father David.  He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will have no end.  Lk 1:30-33   

Those words anchoring Mary in hope and given to us, so we may have hope.  

Hope that is more than some  promise given exclusively to one.  Though that testimony may be delivered with passion and convincing power, validation can’t be assured on the presentation of an isolated fact.  But if facts line up, not one but many, each adding different elements to what we know, then we must step back and determine whether there is reason to believe.    

It’s that promise of hope we are given at Christmas of a Messiah that has come.  He coming in fulfillment of prophesies given over the years - most of these hundreds of years before His coming.  Specific prophesies of His supernatural birth, His lineage, His birthplace, His name, His mission and so much more  

Stripped of the miraculous or dismissed as created story, many place the Christmas account alongside imaginary elves and hobbits, no different than a CS Lewis tale of talking beavers, white stags and a sacrificial lion.

Dreamlike.  Fanciful.  A story too good to be true.  But perhaps there is a reason we dream, a reason we hope.  That within us there IS something that longs for more, longs for life different than what we know.  Where a rescuer does come.  Where all creation IS transformed, where all creation IS made new.  New like what Isaiah wrote of, But there will be no more gloom for her who was in anguish; in earlier times He treated the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali with contempt, but later on He (God) shall make it glorious, by the way of the sea, on the other side of Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles. The  people who walk in darkness will see a great  Light; those who live in a dark land, the Light will shine on them.   Is 9:1,2.

Did you catch what that says, There will be no more gloom for her who was in anguish telling us 2 things: for now, struggle and pain and a time coming of No gloom.  When the fog lifts and the clouds part.  That we aren’t meant to live helpless and in pain.  Yes, for a time that may be what we know and what we see but that is not what is to come. To quote a great philosopher, ‘That’s what Christmas is all about Charlie Brown.’  When hope comes and gloom is ushered out the door. For now, last evil and rebellious strugglers refusing to leave but their evacuation is certain. 

That door opened when Jesus enters our story, He coming to a location no one would think to look - in Bethlehem.  No one looked for hope there. Isaiah called it ‘a place of darkness’ because by His time, it was mainly populated by Gentiles who worshipped other gods. No matter whether the face of these gods was Molech, Baal, or Caesar, behind the face were the real gods they bowed to of sex, money and pride.  It was so bad that Isaiah went further to say that, the land of Zebulun and Naphtali, or as we better know it, the region of Galilee in which Bethlehem was situated, was a place of contempt  Jn 1:46, 7:52.  Only the poor and uneducated lived there, that descriptor especially true for Bethlehem.  As far as the Jews were concerned, Bethlehem was as far down the road as you could get and few would even consider travelling there.  It was small.  It was poor.  It was backwater. A place no self-respecting Jew wanted to go, having attributes none wanted to have. 

So enough of our idyllic picture postcard images of O Little Town of Bethlehem.  Even today, Bethlehem is hardly a place worth visiting.  It is still small, poor and backwater. 

But in this castaway city, hidden in obscurity; surrounded by the forgotten and the despised; dressed in cloths rather than robes; in a setting dirty, unkempt and dark - a KING!  But hardly the appearance of any king to whom we are naturally inclined to bow. 

By the time Jesus enters the scene, this area was called ‘Galilee of the Gentiles’ because of the Gentile cultural influences that surrounded it.  But Galilee wasn’t despised just because of its low status or its different values and customs.  It was despised because invading Gentiles were setting up camp in a land not their own. 

Not far away, Rome’s occupying power was strong, her might immensely cruel.  You didn’t oppose Roman rule without paying a swift and terrible price.  Justice wasn’t just delivered, it warned.  Bodies hanging on crosses on roads leading into the city made it clear what happened to any that chose to come up against Rome’s might.  

So, to be clear, the world Jesus entered was no silent night, holy night.  It wasn’t pastures and tranquility.  It was hostile in the extreme.  But Roman presence wasn’t the only power they faced. 

When Rome wasn’t imposing her will, Herod was imposing his.  This was a man who brutally killed his wife and two sons. Josephus describes the  egomania of the man when he observes that Herod was so concerned no one would mourn his death, that he gave orders for prominent citizens to be executed on word of his death so all Jerusalem would be thrown into mourning.  

This was the man who in a matter of months would order the Massacre of the Innocents –Herod’s slaughter of all boys 2 years and under just to ensure that no contender would come to take his throne.  

This is the world into which Christ came – savage, barbaric and cruel.  A world of broken promises, broken dreams, and broken hearts. 

And in a place fit only for livestock: 

Hidden in obscurity.  Surrounded by the forgotten and the despised.  Dressed in rags.  

In a setting dirty, unkempt and dark - an arrival with an invitation to come and worship a king

No pageantry.  No royal proclamations.  No processional parades.

Just the heavenly opening a place of God’s invitation.  To any who would come, willing to bow to One who came with not even the slightest appearance of a King.  

Had it taken place within palace walls instead of a backwater hamlet, the coronation guest list would have been restricted to nobility and heads of state. 

Shepherds would have remained on a hillside.  The poor would have been  shuffled away to the alleys.  The helpless would have remained begging outside city walls.  In no way would royalty be presented with images that would cast a negative shadow on its kingdom.

But in a nondescript stable in a non-admired place, God gave an invitation for all to come – even the poor and the rejected and the helpless.  Not to join a celebration.  Not even to witness a coronation. But to come to accept an invitation to worship, Jesus the King.  Saviour of the world.      

Unimaginable?   If we’re honest, yes!  Completely.  Quite frankly, it defies belief.  Why would God stoop so low that He would subject Himself to such humility?  Why not come in power so all would bow?  Why not come in glory so all would worship?  

Given who this One was, how could it be otherwise? - Shouldn’t this One come with an appearance so overwhelming, all would know? 

And yet the truth is, God, stooping so low because of His great LOVE!  He wants to win hearts, not conquer them. He is inviting us to choose by willingly responding to love.  

Ironic, isn’t it?  An arrival so inconspicuous by the standards we expect, His coming hardly worthy of attention, but the humility of that arrival made it possible for anyone to come, rich or poor, mighty or powerless, beggar or king.   

A stable?  Because anything more would have meant selection instead of invite.   Where you and I would try to buy ourselves in or earn ourselves in.  Or impress ourselves in.  Or right live ourselves in.  Or ‘religionize’ ourselves in.  

Instead, His humble birthplace tells us something incredibly different - we can only humble ourselves in by coming with nothing more than our heart and our willingness to bow before this baby as the Son of God, God’s answer to save the world, more importantly, to save me from sin.  

An invitation - so you and I could come.  

So here’s the amazing promise Isaiah gives that darkness and gloom are not the end of God’s story. Later on, He (God) shall make it glorious, by the way of the sea, on the other side of Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles.  The people who walk in darkness will see a great Light; those who live in a dark land, the Light will shine on them.   Is 9:1,2

And there it is, He (God) shall make it Glorious.  

- the hidden away, unseen, made into the glorious.

- The indescribable made into the greatest describable the world will ever see

- an invitation to a stable-born King made into a coronation that will ‘out-coronate’ any    

• coronation the world has ever known, will ever know, can ever know.

A great Light coming into a world of darkness.  Worlds like yours and mine.

It’s a story Agrippa observed but wouldn’t commit to, a story Festus thought foolish because the miraculous it spoke to didn’t make sense. But that miracle changed Paul’s life. That is why Paul had hope. He believes  that God’s Christmas gift of Jesus wasn’t a story but was real.  God’s love for us is immense. That every promise He’s made will be fulfilled, first and foremost, that this child was born to die, who would go to the Cross so we can live.  This Jesus who will return for those who know Him, and when He does, life will never be the same - there will be no sickness, no heartache, no pain, no death - just life with Him forever.  That is our Christmas hope, that is Easter guaranteed.

This is why hopes and dreams characterize Christmas. This is why one look at Jesus gives us a glimpse of life as we wish it to be. Because He invites us into a Light that in a time to come will be radiant, its glory will never grow dim.  Our certain hope - never-ending joy with Jesus.

And should we ever doubt, He walks us past a cradle, taking us to see His blood-bought, nail-pierced hands reaching to us in our pain and in our mess.  He wants you to know that everything you hoped for is true. Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see... In His great mercy, He has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. Heb 11:1, 1 Pet 1:3.   This is God’s Joy to the World love gift that He offers to each one of us this Christmas.

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