Series: Christmas Chaos
Sermon: Broken Expectations
Scripture: Luke 1
ICE BREAKER: What is a family Christmas tradition that you love, but others may think is strange?
REVIEW:
This week, we opened up a new series acknowledging that the Holiday season can often get very messy! Statistics show that loneliness, depression, financial stress, and family disfunction is at a peak during Christmas due to the extra stress this time of year often brings.
To make things worse, we are usually comparing our crazy life to our understanding of the first Christmas - an occasion of joy and wonder! However, as we saw on Sunday, that first Christmas has been misunderstood - ripped out of its context and made to seem like a peaceful, "silent night."
The truth is, it was filled with confusion, frustration, family issues, and BROKEN EXPECTATIONS!
The first chapter of Luke tells the story of two women facing down extreme broken expectations, Mary and Elizabeth. Elizabeth was old and barren, facing the shame in that culture of not carrying on her families lineage. Mary was young and found herself pregnant out of wedlock - a dangerous position for a young woman in that time!
When we have TENSION in life, we often blame it on our situations or frustrations. The truth is that the core of that tension is our broken expectations! Consciously or subconsciously, we expected the world to go one way, and it went another! The key question for us is:
DO I TRUST GOD WITH MY BROKEN EXPECTATIONS?
Mary and Elizabeth were cousins and God miraculously caused Elizabeth to become pregnant as a sign to Mary that He was in this! Mary, having heard the news that she was chosen by God to carry this child, submitted in spite of her broken expectations and said: “I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Then the angel left her.
God has promised to work all things for good for those who love him and are willing to submit to his calling on our life! If we can truly confront our broken expectations and make the choice to trust God with them, we can recover the Hope we are meant to experience during Christmas!
APPLY:
What situations are frustrating you in this season? (work, family, finances, future plans, etc.)
What expectations lie at the core of those frustrations? (this is you chance to dig deep and confront the ROOT of what you are experiencing!)
What would it look like for you to truly trust God with those broken expectations?
PRAY:
Ask the Holy Spirit to continue to reveal what expectations are driving your decision/actions/reactions and for the strength to trust those to God!
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