{"id":60318,"date":"2021-12-05T11:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-12-05T19:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/livingwaters.wpmudev.host\/?p=60318"},"modified":"2021-12-05T11:00:00","modified_gmt":"2021-12-05T19:00:00","slug":"hope-in-the-dark","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lwrv.org\/resources\/hope-in-the-dark\/","title":{"rendered":"Hope in the Dark"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong><em>\u201cLong lay the world in sin and error pining\u2026\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This week as I was working on my message for Sunday, I took a moment to let these words from \u201cO Holy Night\u201d land on my soul.\u00a0As we walked through the season of lament, the reality that sin has permeated our world, cutting us off from the fellowship and intimacy that the Father always wanted with us, took on a deeper context.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe title=\"Hope in the Dark - Weekly Teaching - Drew Berryessa\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/K5c_9hdfcyI?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Thousands of years have passed since that first sin in the Garden of Eden, and with it the first of HUNDREDS of prophecies in the Old Testament was given promising the coming of the Messiah. \u00a0As time has passed the history of God\u2019s people, and the world surrounding them, time and time again have demonstrated the reach, the potency, and the devastating impact sin had on humanity.\u00a0Over time, each prophetic word spoken pointed to the hope that God had a redemptive plan in place, and that he had not abandoned His people to ruin and destruction. As the writings of the Old Testament came to a close, the prophet Malachi uttered these words to a nation struggling to remain faithful to the God in who they placed their hope:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><em>\u201c<\/em><\/strong><em>But for you who revere my name,\u00a0the sun of righteousness\u00a0will rise with healing\u00a0in its rays. And you will go out and frolic\u00a0like well-fed calves.\u00a0Then you will trample\u00a0on the wicked; they will be ashes\u00a0under the soles of your feet on the day when I act,\u201d says the\u00a0Lord\u00a0Almighty.<\/em> <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>\u201cRemember the law\u00a0of my servant Moses, the decrees and laws I gave him at Horeb\u00a0for all Israel.<\/em> <em>See, I will send the prophet Elijah\u00a0to you before that great and dreadful day of the\u00a0Lord\u00a0comes.\u00a0He will turn the hearts of the parents to their children,\u00a0and the hearts of the children to their parents; or else I will come and strike\u00a0the land with total destruction.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Malachi 4:2-6<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This last promise given to a world \u201cin sin and error pining\u201d, and then silence\u2026 for 400 years.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This 400 years of silence, called by theologians the \u201cintertestamental period\u201d, radically changed and shaped the world that Jesus would be born into.\u00a0Israel was conquered multiple times, sometimes by more friendly occupiers, sometimes by tyrannical kingdoms that did everything they could to silence, kill, demoralize, and pollute God\u2019s people.\u00a0Yet in the dark of that period, and in the absence of any spoken word by His Spirit to the prophets, God was still moving.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He is always faithful to His promises.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p><strong><em>\u201cA thrill of hope, a weary world rejoices\u2026\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>The silence was broken seemingly out of nowhere, speaking hope to what appeared to be a hopeless situation.\u00a0Enter the priest Zechariah, whose story opens the Gospel of Luke:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Once when Zechariah\u2019s division was on duty and he was serving as priest before God,\u00a0he was chosen by lot,\u00a0according to the custom of the priesthood, to go into the temple of the Lord and burn incense.\u00a0And when the time for the burning of incense came, all the assembled worshipers were praying outside.<\/em> <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Then an angel\u00a0of the Lord appeared to him, standing at the right side of the altar of incense.\u00a0When Zechariah saw him, he was startled and was gripped with fear.<\/em>\u00a0\u00a0<em>But the angel said to him: \u201cDo not be afraid,\u00a0Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to call him John.\u00a0He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice because of his birth,\u00a0for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He is never to take wine or other fermented drink,\u00a0and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit\u00a0even before he is born.\u00a0He will bring back many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God.\u00a0And he will go on before the Lord,\u00a0in the spirit and power of Elijah,\u00a0to turn the hearts of the parents to their children\u00a0and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous\u2014to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Luke 1:8-17<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>400 years from the promise given through Malachi, to the announcement that this promise was happening NOW by the Archangel Gabriel.\u00a0And then, Zechariah is silenced, leaving the only knowledge of this promise being fulfilled to a now muted priest, His aged and pregnant wife, and her young cousin, a virgin, who Gabriel also visits to announce to her that she is carrying the promised Messiah in her womb.\u00a0He ends his announcement to her with these words, that speak to us across thousands of years:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p><strong><em>\u201c<\/em><\/strong><em>\u2026For no word from God will ever fail.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>As we start this Advent season, let us remember that truth uttered by Gabriel, and let it ignite the same \u201cthrill of hope\u201d for us today.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This week as I was working on my message for Sunday, I took a moment to let these words from \u201cO Holy Night\u201d land on my soul.\u00a0As we walked through the season of lament, the reality that sin has permeated our world, cutting us off from the fellowship and intimacy that the Father always wanted with us, took on a deeper context.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":697,"featured_media":60319,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wds_primary_category":170,"footnotes":""},"categories":[141],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-60318","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-church-and-ministry",""],"blockli_fields":{"post_type":"","post_action":"","post_type_icon":"","background_image":""},"bb_bookmark":{"bookmark_id":0,"is_bookmarked":false,"bookmark_date":0},"app_bookmark":{"bookmark_id":0,"is_bookmarked":false,"bookmark_date":0},"comments_count":"0","content_native":[{"type":"core\/paragraph","render":"<p><strong><em>\u201cLong lay the world in sin and error pining\u2026\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>","content":[{"type":"text","data":"<strong><em>\u201cLong lay the world in sin and error pining\u2026\u201d<\/em><\/strong>"}],"data":[],"style":{"textAlign":"left","color":"","dropCap":false,"parent_style":{}}},{"type":"core\/paragraph","render":"<p>This week as I was working on my message for Sunday, I took a moment to let these words from \u201cO Holy Night\u201d land on my soul.&nbsp;As we walked through the season of lament, the reality that sin has permeated our world, cutting us off from the fellowship and intimacy that the Father always wanted with us, took on a deeper context.&nbsp;<\/p>","content":[{"type":"text","data":"This week as I was working on my message for Sunday, I took a moment to let these words from \u201cO Holy Night\u201d land on my soul.&nbsp;As we walked through the season of lament, the reality that sin has permeated our world, cutting us off from the fellowship and intimacy that the Father always wanted with us, took on a deeper context.&nbsp;"}],"data":[],"style":{"textAlign":"left","color":"","dropCap":false,"parent_style":{}}},{"type":"core\/embed","render":"<iframe title=\"Hope in the Dark - Weekly Teaching - Drew Berryessa\" width=\"100%\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/K5c_9hdfcyI?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>","content":"<iframe title=\"Hope in the Dark - Weekly Teaching - Drew Berryessa\" width=\"100%\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/K5c_9hdfcyI?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>","data":{"provider":"youtube","type":"video","align":"center","src":"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=K5c_9hdfcyI","url":"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=K5c_9hdfcyI"},"style":{"parent_style":{}}},{"type":"core\/paragraph","render":"<p>Thousands of years have passed since that first sin in the Garden of Eden, and with it the first of HUNDREDS of prophecies in the Old Testament was given promising the coming of the Messiah. &nbsp;As time has passed the history of God\u2019s people, and the world surrounding them, time and time again have demonstrated the reach, the potency, and the devastating impact sin had on humanity.&nbsp;Over time, each prophetic word spoken pointed to the hope that God had a redemptive plan in place, and that he had not abandoned His people to ruin and destruction. As the writings of the Old Testament came to a close, the prophet Malachi uttered these words to a nation struggling to remain faithful to the God in who they placed their hope:<\/p>","content":[{"type":"text","data":"Thousands of years have passed since that first sin in the Garden of Eden, and with it the first of HUNDREDS of prophecies in the Old Testament was given promising the coming of the Messiah. &nbsp;As time has passed the history of God\u2019s people, and the world surrounding them, time and time again have demonstrated the reach, the potency, and the devastating impact sin had on humanity.&nbsp;Over time, each prophetic word spoken pointed to the hope that God had a redemptive plan in place, and that he had not abandoned His people to ruin and destruction. As the writings of the Old Testament came to a close, the prophet Malachi uttered these words to a nation struggling to remain faithful to the God in who they placed their hope:"}],"data":[],"style":{"textAlign":"left","color":"","dropCap":false,"parent_style":{}}},{"type":"core\/paragraph","render":"<p><strong><em>\u201c<\/em><\/strong><em>But for you who revere my name,&nbsp;the sun of righteousness&nbsp;will rise with healing&nbsp;in its rays. And you will go out and frolic&nbsp;like well-fed calves.&nbsp;Then you will trample&nbsp;on the wicked; they will be ashes&nbsp;under the soles of your feet on the day when I act,\u201d says the&nbsp;Lord&nbsp;Almighty.<\/em> <\/p>","content":[{"type":"text","data":"<strong><em>\u201c<\/em><\/strong><em>But for you who revere my name,&nbsp;the sun of righteousness&nbsp;will rise with healing&nbsp;in its rays. And you will go out and frolic&nbsp;like well-fed calves.&nbsp;Then you will trample&nbsp;on the wicked; they will be ashes&nbsp;under the soles of your feet on the day when I act,\u201d says the&nbsp;Lord&nbsp;Almighty.<\/em> "}],"data":[],"style":{"textAlign":"left","color":"","dropCap":false,"parent_style":{}}},{"type":"core\/paragraph","render":"<p><em>\u201cRemember the law&nbsp;of my servant Moses, the decrees and laws I gave him at Horeb&nbsp;for all Israel.<\/em> <em>See, I will send the prophet Elijah&nbsp;to you before that great and dreadful day of the&nbsp;Lord&nbsp;comes.&nbsp;He will turn the hearts of the parents to their children,&nbsp;and the hearts of the children to their parents; or else I will come and strike&nbsp;the land with total destruction.\u201d<\/em><\/p>","content":[{"type":"text","data":"<em>\u201cRemember the law&nbsp;of my servant Moses, the decrees and laws I gave him at Horeb&nbsp;for all Israel.<\/em> <em>See, I will send the prophet Elijah&nbsp;to you before that great and dreadful day of the&nbsp;Lord&nbsp;comes.&nbsp;He will turn the hearts of the parents to their children,&nbsp;and the hearts of the children to their parents; or else I will come and strike&nbsp;the land with total destruction.\u201d<\/em>"}],"data":[],"style":{"textAlign":"left","color":"","dropCap":false,"parent_style":{}}},{"type":"core\/paragraph","render":"<p><em>Malachi 4:2-6<\/em><\/p>","content":[{"type":"text","data":"<em>Malachi 4:2-6<\/em>"}],"data":[],"style":{"textAlign":"left","color":"","dropCap":false,"parent_style":{}}},{"type":"core\/paragraph","render":"<p>This last promise given to a world \u201cin sin and error pining\u201d, and then silence\u2026 for 400 years.&nbsp;<\/p>","content":[{"type":"text","data":"This last promise given to a world \u201cin sin and error pining\u201d, and then silence\u2026 for 400 years.&nbsp;"}],"data":[],"style":{"textAlign":"left","color":"","dropCap":false,"parent_style":{}}},{"type":"core\/paragraph","render":"<p>This 400 years of silence, called by theologians the \u201cintertestamental period\u201d, radically changed and shaped the world that Jesus would be born into.&nbsp;Israel was conquered multiple times, sometimes by more friendly occupiers, sometimes by tyrannical kingdoms that did everything they could to silence, kill, demoralize, and pollute God\u2019s people.&nbsp;Yet in the dark of that period, and in the absence of any spoken word by His Spirit to the prophets, God was still moving.<\/p>","content":[{"type":"text","data":"This 400 years of silence, called by theologians the \u201cintertestamental period\u201d, radically changed and shaped the world that Jesus would be born into.&nbsp;Israel was conquered multiple times, sometimes by more friendly occupiers, sometimes by tyrannical kingdoms that did everything they could to silence, kill, demoralize, and pollute God\u2019s people.&nbsp;Yet in the dark of that period, and in the absence of any spoken word by His Spirit to the prophets, God was still moving."}],"data":[],"style":{"textAlign":"left","color":"","dropCap":false,"parent_style":{}}},{"type":"core\/paragraph","render":"<p>He is always faithful to His promises.&nbsp;<\/p>","content":[{"type":"text","data":"He is always faithful to His promises.&nbsp;"}],"data":[],"style":{"textAlign":"left","color":"","dropCap":false,"parent_style":{}}},{"type":"core\/quote","render":"<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p><strong><em>\u201cA thrill of hope, a weary world rejoices\u2026\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>","content":"\u201cA thrill of hope, a weary world rejoices\u2026\u201d","quote_blocks":[],"data":{"fontSize":"normal"},"style":{"layout":"default","parent_style":{}}},{"type":"core\/paragraph","render":"<p>The silence was broken seemingly out of nowhere, speaking hope to what appeared to be a hopeless situation.&nbsp;Enter the priest Zechariah, whose story opens the Gospel of Luke:<\/p>","content":[{"type":"text","data":"The silence was broken seemingly out of nowhere, speaking hope to what appeared to be a hopeless situation.&nbsp;Enter the priest Zechariah, whose story opens the Gospel of Luke:"}],"data":[],"style":{"textAlign":"left","color":"","dropCap":false,"parent_style":{}}},{"type":"core\/paragraph","render":"<p><em>Once when Zechariah\u2019s division was on duty and he was serving as priest before God,&nbsp;he was chosen by lot,&nbsp;according to the custom of the priesthood, to go into the temple of the Lord and burn incense.&nbsp;And when the time for the burning of incense came, all the assembled worshipers were praying outside.<\/em> <\/p>","content":[{"type":"text","data":"<em>Once when Zechariah\u2019s division was on duty and he was serving as priest before God,&nbsp;he was chosen by lot,&nbsp;according to the custom of the priesthood, to go into the temple of the Lord and burn incense.&nbsp;And when the time for the burning of incense came, all the assembled worshipers were praying outside.<\/em> "}],"data":[],"style":{"textAlign":"left","color":"","dropCap":false,"parent_style":{}}},{"type":"core\/paragraph","render":"<p><em>Then an angel&nbsp;of the Lord appeared to him, standing at the right side of the altar of incense.&nbsp;When Zechariah saw him, he was startled and was gripped with fear.<\/em>&nbsp;&nbsp;<em>But the angel said to him: \u201cDo not be afraid,&nbsp;Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to call him John.&nbsp;He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice because of his birth,&nbsp;for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He is never to take wine or other fermented drink,&nbsp;and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit&nbsp;even before he is born.&nbsp;He will bring back many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God.&nbsp;And he will go on before the Lord,&nbsp;in the spirit and power of Elijah,&nbsp;to turn the hearts of the parents to their children&nbsp;and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous\u2014to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.\u201d<\/em><\/p>","content":[{"type":"text","data":"<em>Then an angel&nbsp;of the Lord appeared to him, standing at the right side of the altar of incense.&nbsp;When Zechariah saw him, he was startled and was gripped with fear.<\/em>&nbsp;&nbsp;<em>But the angel said to him: \u201cDo not be afraid,&nbsp;Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to call him John.&nbsp;He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice because of his birth,&nbsp;for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He is never to take wine or other fermented drink,&nbsp;and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit&nbsp;even before he is born.&nbsp;He will bring back many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God.&nbsp;And he will go on before the Lord,&nbsp;in the spirit and power of Elijah,&nbsp;to turn the hearts of the parents to their children&nbsp;and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous\u2014to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.\u201d<\/em>"}],"data":[],"style":{"textAlign":"left","color":"","dropCap":false,"parent_style":{}}},{"type":"core\/paragraph","render":"<p><em>Luke 1:8-17<\/em><\/p>","content":[{"type":"text","data":"<em>Luke 1:8-17<\/em>"}],"data":[],"style":{"textAlign":"left","color":"","dropCap":false,"parent_style":{}}},{"type":"core\/paragraph","render":"<p>400 years from the promise given through Malachi, to the announcement that this promise was happening NOW by the Archangel Gabriel.&nbsp;And then, Zechariah is silenced, leaving the only knowledge of this promise being fulfilled to a now muted priest, His aged and pregnant wife, and her young cousin, a virgin, who Gabriel also visits to announce to her that she is carrying the promised Messiah in her womb.&nbsp;He ends his announcement to her with these words, that speak to us across thousands of years:<\/p>","content":[{"type":"text","data":"400 years from the promise given through Malachi, to the announcement that this promise was happening NOW by the Archangel Gabriel.&nbsp;And then, Zechariah is silenced, leaving the only knowledge of this promise being fulfilled to a now muted priest, His aged and pregnant wife, and her young cousin, a virgin, who Gabriel also visits to announce to her that she is carrying the promised Messiah in her womb.&nbsp;He ends his announcement to her with these words, that speak to us across thousands of years:"}],"data":[],"style":{"textAlign":"left","color":"","dropCap":false,"parent_style":{}}},{"type":"core\/quote","render":"<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p><strong><em>\u201c<\/em><\/strong><em>\u2026For no word from God will ever fail.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>","content":"\u201c\u2026For no word from God will ever fail.\u201d","quote_blocks":[],"data":{"fontSize":"normal"},"style":{"layout":"default","parent_style":{}}},{"type":"core\/paragraph","render":"<p>As we start this Advent season, let us remember that truth uttered by Gabriel, and let it ignite the same \u201cthrill of hope\u201d for us today.<\/p>","content":[{"type":"text","data":"As we start this Advent season, let us remember that truth uttered by Gabriel, and let it ignite the same \u201cthrill of hope\u201d for us today."}],"data":[],"style":{"textAlign":"left","color":"","dropCap":false,"parent_style":{}}}],"app_access":{"can_access":true,"restrict_message":null},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lwrv.org\/resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60318","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lwrv.org\/resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lwrv.org\/resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lwrv.org\/resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/697"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lwrv.org\/resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=60318"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lwrv.org\/resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60318\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lwrv.org\/resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/60319"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lwrv.org\/resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=60318"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lwrv.org\/resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=60318"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lwrv.org\/resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=60318"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}