Last Updated on January 19, 2023 10:25 am by Steven

I was asked to give a talk in Church on Christmas 2022.  This is my talk:

The Hope of Christ

A few weeks ago, I was reading in the Old Testament in Haggai during our Come Follow Me scripture study. Haggai, at this time, was talking to the people about the need to refocus their energies on the things of the Lord. I read in Haggai chapter 1 verse 5: “Now therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts; Consider your ways.” Then in the next verse, he continues: “…and he that earneth wages earneth wages to put it into a bag with holes.” Then he repeats, “Thus saith the Lord of hosts: Consider your ways.”

I love the analogy of putting our wages into a bag with holes. Everyone knows that when you have a hole in your pants pocket, money only stays in that pocket for a short time. Haggai is teaching us the importance of considering where we focus our time and energy, or we will lose our time and energy just like we will lose our money if we put it into pockets with holes in them.

How many hours this past week have been wasted scrolling Facebook, TicTok, Instagram, news feeds, or other so-called “Social Media”? Consider your ways.

One of the principles that Haggai teaches us is that where we are heading is vastly more important than where we have been. This is the Hope of Christ! The Hope that no matter what we have done, all Christ asks of us is to point ourselves toward Him!

The Christmas Season is the celebration of the Hope of Christ. Christ has asked us to Consider our Ways this Christmas season with how we focus our efforts on Christ.

Consider your Ways and Come unto Christ – we do this from where we are NOW!

Do not wait to kick that old bad habit before you come to Him. Come unto Christ as you are. You are enough right now! Just let him into your life!

Most holidays that we celebrate, we celebrate some origin story. Some of these include:

• New years – marking a new year, a rebirth, a renewal of life.
• 4th of July – celebrating the origin of our country
• Pioneer Day – honoring our forefathers starting over.
• Christmas is the origin story of Christ’s life here on earth.

It is the story of an Immortal Father and mortal mother giving birth to the very Son of God. It is the story of the start of His 34-year mission to bring us back to God. It was the first Act of His mortal ministry that would end with him fulfilling all righteousness.

Where you are pointed and where you are headed is vastly more important to Christ than what you have done. Your progression and direction are the Hope of Christ and the Spirit of Christmas.

The Spirit of Christmas is a Spirit of Hope! Hope that Christ will help us. I hope Christ will forgive us for the 1,000th time for making the same mistake. Hope our children and grandchildren will have a better life than we have. I hope that our kids will learn from our mistakes. Hope that we will bring our sins to Christ. Hope that He will take our mistakes from us. Hope that Christ will take our sins upon himself.

There is no uncertainty in the Hope of Christ! Amulek ended his excellent sermon in Alma 34:41, saying: “But that ye have patience, and bear with those afflictions, with a firm hope that ye shall one day rest from all your afflictions.” We can follow Amulek’s advice and have a “Firm Hope” in Christ!  

Last week in this sacrament meeting, Sister Andrea Clark told us about a boy who lost a laser pointer that belonged to his Dad. This simple boy wrote a note asking for forgiveness. The boy was concerned that his father would never forgive him for this error because that boy really “knew better.” Isn’t this all of us? Don’t we all “know better, yet we still make mistakes? I imagined the father in this story understood how Christ views us. It is not a matter of “If” Christ will forgive us, and it is a matter of when we will come to Christ with a Firm Hope to allow him to forgive us.

In 1 John 5: 14-15, we read: “And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask anything according to his will, he heareth us: And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him.”

In 2 Nephi 25:26, Nephi is writing to us. He wanted us to know his focus, “And we talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we prophesy of Christ, and we write according to our prophecies, that our children may know to what source they may look for a remission of their sins.”

During this Christmas season, this season of Hope we are reminded of the miraculous events that happened centered on Christ’s Birth:

In the second chapter of Luke we read about the shepherds “abiding in the field” being visited by the angel of the Lord with “the glory of the Lord shown round about them.” These were simple men leading a simple life, privileged to be among the first to hear the announcement of Christ’s birth. “For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.”  

The angel’s appearance and the announcement were then punctuated by “…a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men.”

What a wonderful blessing for these humble men to be among the first to visit Mary and the Christ child.

Another reminder is found a few verses later in Luke chapter 2.

Eight days after Christ’s Birth, Christ was taken to the Temple to offer a sacrifice according to the Law. Here at the Temple, this day was Simeon. At some point in his past, he was promised by the Holy Ghost that he would not see death before seeing the Lord’s Christ. He was led to the Temple by the Spirit, took Christ in his arms, and blessed God! “And Simeon blessed them, and said unto Mary his mother, Behold this child is set for the fall and rising again of many in Israel; and for a sign which shall be spoken against”

The original Christmas was a worldwide event. The Third book of Nephi, Chapter 1, describes some of the events that happened in the land of the Nephites.

Imagine being a Nephite at this time. Just a few years ago, you saw Samuel the Lamanite standing on the wall telling you of the coming of Christ! The Spirit witnessed to you the truthfulness of Samuel’s words! But there was evil all across the land. Many influential people claimed that the time had passed for the signs of Christ’s birth. These wicked people caused all believers – including you and your family – to be mocked. These unbelievers picked a day. You are told that if the sign does not happen by that day, everyone that believes in Christ will be killed.

As that day approached, the prophet Nephi was told that the sign would come that evening.

Imagine your wonder: “… at the going down of the sun, there was no darkness, and the people began to be astonished because there was no darkness when the night came.”  

“And they began to know that the Son of God must shortly appear; yea, in fine, all the people upon the face of the whole earth from the west to the east, both in the land north and in the land sound, were so exceedingly astonished that they fell to the earth”

“And it came to pass that there was no darkness in all that night, but it was as light as though it was mid-day. And it came to pass that the sun did rise in the morning again, according to its proper order; and they knew that it was the day that the Lord should be born, because of the sign which had been given.”

“And it came to pass that a new star did appear, according to the word.”

This new star led wise men from the east to Jerusalem to offer the King of King’s gifts. This journey was arduous, lengthy, and dangerous for them. It was of the utmost importance for these men to make this journey to be given a few moments with the Christ child and to offer a few gifts.

What gifts does Christ ask of us? To Come unto Him.  

Jesus at the Door

Jesus at the Door

I’m reminded of the painting “Jesus at the Door.” It depicts Christ standing outside, knocking at a door. One of the subtle symbols in this painting is that the door has no handle on the outside. He cannot open the door to us, which we are required to do. He patiently waits for us to open the door and let Him in. This is His Hope in us.

How do we open the door to let Him in?  

It starts by doing one thing at a time better. Take one small step closer to Him each day. If you cannot take a step, then rotate a little to face Him. Sometimes all we can do is better each day.

I want to tell you my personal story of changing by 1%.  

Almost ten years ago, after being out of steady work for a very long time, I received a job offer demonstrating software that I had never used. After over six months on this job of learning and practicing … I was not very good.  

After one mistake-ridden presentation, I was talking to a co-worker, who would later become my coach. He saw that I wanted to learn and change and be better. He asked me to change just one thing for our presentation the following week. I did that one thing, and then he picked one more thing for the next presentation. This cycle continued for multiple years until I was the senior presenter on the team.

In just a few years, I had grown from someone who knew very little and made more mistakes than I did things right to someone who was training and helping others.

I could not and did not change overnight. Effort is multiplied by time and moves mountains – in fact, in road construction, that is exactly how they move mountains, effort, and time. Each time I did a presentation, I would ask my co-workers what area I could improve by just 1%. What should I change to be better next time? I repeated this day after day, changing and adjusting.

This is the Hope of Christ, and this is the Spirit of Christmas. Changing ourselves towards Christ.

Sometimes all you can do is just be 1% better than you were before.  

The Hope of Christ and the Spirit of Christmas is life! It is about every part of our life! It is a Hope of leading a joyous life in every aspect that we can experience. It is a Hope of our relationships. It is the Hope of our Families. It is the Hope that we can have a Christ-centered relationship with our spouse (or future spouse), our family, our friends, those that we work with, our ward family, and everyone in our community.

Take a look at where you stand before Christ. What can you do to come just 1% closer to Christ today? How can you embed the Spirit of Christmas, the Hope of Christ into your life? How can you experience the Hope of Christ 1% more fully today?  

If you don’t know where to start, I suggest you join the wimpy verse club. This is a very special club that anyone can join; all you have to do is commit to read one verse from the scriptures each day. Some days all we can manage is to be part of the Wimpy Verse Club. That is enough for Christ.  

Change one little thing, then do it again tomorrow, and the next day, and the next day, until the Hope of Christ is embedded into your soul. 

I testify that as you move closer to Christ in minimal steps, just 1% better at a time, you will move your own Mountains that block your path! This is the Hope that we have in Christ! This is the Spirit of Christmas!

In the Name of Jesus Christ – Amen!