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Keep Your HopeKids MomentPrayerDo you know what this is? It is a bottle of medicine called calamine lotion. Calamine is a medicine that is sometimes used to help stop itching. Have you have ever had the chicken pox? When you have chicken pox, it starts out like a cold -- you feel lousy, have a runny nose, and run a fever. Then, all of a sudden, itchy red bumps start to break out all over your body. The itching drives you crazy, but you can't scratch, because that just makes it worse. It is a very uncomfortable feeling, but it isn't hopeless. Rubbing on some calamine lotion may help to ease the itching. In a few days, the sores go away, the itching stops, and life is back to normal again.During the time when Jesus lived upon the earth, leprosy was very wide-spread and was a dreaded disease. When someone had leprosy, they were covered with sores all over their bodies. Unlike chicken pox, these sores didn't just go away. When someone had leprosy, it was hopeless, because there was no cure. To make matters worse, other people considered them to be unclean and were not allowed to touch them. Many people believed that people who had leprosy got the disease because of some terrible sin they had committed.One day a man with leprosy came to Jesus. The man knelt down before Jesus and said, "If you will, you can make me clean." Jesus looked at the man and he felt love and compassion for him. He reached out his hand and touched the man and said, "I am willing, be clean." Immediately, the leprosy left the man and he was cured.Sometimes, we may find ourselves in a situation where we are uncomfortable, like when we had the chicken pox. But there may come a time in our lives when we find ourselves in a situation that is truly hopeless. When that happens, where can we turn? How do we find hope in a hopeless situation? We can turn to Jesus. When the situation is hopeless, Jesus is our only hope.The summer between my 8th grade and freshman years of school was one of the toughest that I remember, my parent’s grocery store had closed in 94, and then their latest ventures had closed that previous spring, my dad had gone back to work for his old boss at the grocery store he worked at before opening his own store, it felt like a time of great upheaval, our house was having work done to it, parts of it were torn apart, our Pastor was teaching on the book of Revelation, it seemed like everything was changing, I was getting ready to go from being in one school and now moving to the High School, as I looked at my future, things seemed uncertain and scary, I was afraid of what the future was going to bring in my life, to my eye, things did not look so goodAs we dig into Daniel 8, we are confronted with a similar view, God gives Daniel a view of the future and what Daniel sees does not look so good, our verse of the day says that Daniel was appalled by what he saw, the vision exhausted him, he was left shaken by what he sawMany of us may have a similar feeling as we look at our future, Government officials and Drs have said this week that normal may not return until the end of next year or sometime in 2022, that feels appalling to me, I want to get past this crazy pandemic, we are 45 days away from another presidential election and depending upon the candidate or party you support, you could feel shaken by how the polls are going or are not going, as you look ahead to November 4, you wonder what life will be like if your guy or party does not win, as we peer into the future, instead of feeling a since of comfort, maybe you feel shaken, so (advance slide) What Do We Do When The Future Leaves Us Shaken?(advance slide) Keep Your Hope In The God Who Is In Control!It may feel a bit redundant at this point, I have been saying a variation of the same thing for 8 weeks now, the main idea, the big point, the thing that the book of Daniel continues to teach is that God Is In Control, even when it seems like everything is upside down, when everything is falling apart, when your life is being threatened, when your faith is being marginalized, when all that you knew and hold dear seems to be fading, when the future is appalling, God Is In Control, while we may be shaken by our view of the future, God is not, he gives Daniel a vision of the future, in the vision, Daniel sees two wild beats rampaging and ravaging the land, the first is a ram with two horns that roams west, north and south, destroying all in its path, but then a second animal appears a goat with large horn comes from the west and in great rage destroys the ram, the goat becomes great until its horn is replaced by 4 smaller horns, and out of those horns came 1 that set itself against God and his peopleThis took place in the third year of King Belshazzar’s reign, Daniel has been serving in the kingdom of Babylon for 57 years, when he went into captivity, the prophecy of Jeremiah had been shared with him, God told his people they would be in exile 70 years, Daniel knows 13 more years and then God will bring us home, he receives this vision from God, I would imagine expecting to learn more about this one like a Son of Man who will receive the kingdom, and learn about how God would bring them home, instead he receives this startling vision of two kingdoms who will ravage and rampage over the earth leading to one who will come against God and his people, he expects visions of things getting better, instead he only sees it getting worse and God reminds him that even the future looks appalling, he remains in control, how do we keep our hope in the God who is in control? (advance slide) Trust That There Will Be An End(advance slide) Daniel 8:13-14(advance slides) Then I heard a holy one speaking, and another holy one said to him, “How long will it take for the vision to be fulfilled—the vision concerning the daily sacrifice, the rebellion that causes desolation, the surrender of the sanctuary and the trampling underfoot of the Lord’s people?” He said to me, “It will take 2,300 evenings and mornings; then the sanctuary will be reconsecrated.”Daniel is told by a divine messenger that there will be an end to the desolation that is coming, 2,300 evenings and morningsAs we look at the future, as bleak as it may seem or appalling as it may be, there will be an end to it, no matter how dark or how long the night may seem, there will always be a dawnSam to Frodo in The Two TowersIt’s like in the great stories, Mr. Frodo. The ones that really mattered. Full of darkness and danger they were, and sometimes you didn’t want to know the end, because how could the end be happy? How could the world go back to the way it was when so much bad had happened? But in the end, it’s only a passing thing, this shadow. Even darkness must pass. A new day will come. And when the sun shines, it will shine out the clearer. Those were the stories that stayed with you, that meant something. Even if you were too small to understand why.It’s only a passing thing, this shadow, even darkness must pass, a new day will comeNo matter how bleak or bad things may look, there will be an end, that is the promise of scripture, even if things look bad for a long time, at the last, there will be a day when Christ will return and all things will be made new again, there will be an end, a new day will dawnThe Covid-19 pandemic will end, the election will be over, whatever it is that is bleak before you will have an endTrust that there will be an end(advance slide) Listen For God’s Voice(advance slide) Daniel 8:15-16(advance slides) While I, Daniel, was watching the vision and trying to understand it, there before me stood one who looked like a man. And I heard a man’s voice from the Ulai calling, “Gabriel, tell this man the meaning of the vision.”Daniel sees in his vision one who looks like a man who instructs the divine being, Gabriel to deliver the meaning to Daniel, he hears the voice of God speak out, then Gabriel shares the message with himDaniel sees this appalling future but God speaks to him and shares with him what the vision meansWhen our boys were little, and they would fuss and cry for whatever problem, they were over tired, they were gassy, whatever, we would pick them up and start rocking them and talking to them or singing to them, and as we rocked and sang, they would begin to settle, not always but often, now, when one of our boys has a bad dream, they come into our room and we take them and talk to them, there is something about hearing mom or dad’s voice that soothes our fears, we are hearing someone who is bigger than us who we trust and they are with usDaniel could hope in God, because he heard his voice, God is saying, hush my child, I am here, I am with you, I will be with youGod has given us 66 books of his voice communicated by human authors, where he is saying hush my child, I am here, I am with you, I will be with youListen for God’s Voice(advance slide) Be Strengthened By God’s Presence(advance slide) Daniel 8:18(advance slides) While he was speaking to me, I was in a deep sleep, with my face to the ground. Then he touched me and raised me to my feet.As Gabriel approaches Daniel to share with him God’s message, he is overcome by what he is seeing and he collapse, and Gabriel comes and touches him and raises him to his feetBe strengthened by God’s presenceJohn Ortberg tells this story in his book I’d Like You More If You Were More like Me, A few weeks ago, when I was out surfing, there was no one else in the water. In fact, there was no one around at all, except a guy the size of Goliath doing tae kwon do on the beach. After I’d been out a little while, a tiny wisp of a kid came paddling up out of nowhere—I couldn’t believe he was out there by himself. He pulled his little board right up next to mine. He was so small he hardly needed a board. He could have stood up in the ocean on a Frisbee. Anyway, he started chatting with me like we were old friends. He told me his name was Shane. He asked me how long I’d been surfing. I asked him how long he’d been surfing. “Seven years,” he said. “How old are you?” I asked. “Eight.” He asked me about my kids and my family. Then he said, “What I like about surfing is that it’s so peaceful. You meet a lot of nice people here.” “You’re a nice guy, Shane,” I said. “That’s why you meet nice people.” We talked a while longer. Then I asked him, “How did you get here, Shane?” “My dad brought me,” he said. Then he turned around and waved at the nearly empty beach. The Goliath doing martial arts waved back. “Hi, Son,” he called out. Then I knew why Shane was so at home in the ocean. It wasn’t his size. It wasn’t his skill. It was who was sitting on the beach. His father was always watching. And his father was very big. Shane wasn’t really alone at all. Neither are we.We are never alone, God is with us, promise of the incarnation and the power of the Holy SpiritKeep Your Hope In The God Who Is In Control(advance slide) Be Resolved To Continue(advance slide) Daniel 8:27(advance slides) I, Daniel, was worn out. I lay exhausted for several days. Then I got up and went about the king’s business. I was appalled by the vision; it was beyond understanding.Daniel has this vision and this experience with Gabriel, he is worn out and exhausted by what he has experienced, but then after that, he got out of bed and went about his work, he was appalled by the vision but he resolved to continueI don’t know what your future looks like, it may look bright, it may look bleak, but either way, we keep our hope in the God is in control by resolving to continue, we continue to live faithfully, we continue to serve joyfully, we continue to love one moreGet out of bed and keep doing what God has called you to doServe Saturday, October 24th(advance slide) Keep Your Hope In The God Who Is In Control!Response Time ................
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