Four Lessons about having hope…
1. WHEN YOU COME TO JESUS YOU FIND LIVING HOPE
1 Peter 1:3-5, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to His great mercy, He has caused us to be born again to a LIVING HOPE through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God’s power are being guided through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
Have you received Jesus in your life?
Where is this living hope expressed in you?
What does this hope bring into your life?
2. ONE BENEFIT HOPE IS RESOLVE: IT DECLARES “I’M GONNA MAKE IT.”
Think about an army surrounding your town, you cannot get out, no-one, no products or produce can come in. You are hungry, you have little food. You are living in anxiety and see no hope for tomorrow. This is the scenario Jeremiah is writing from, Listen to JEREMIAH, who is living in Jerusalem at the time that the Army of Babylon has surrounded his city.
Lamentations 3:19f (TMSG)
I remember it all-oh, how well I remember-the feeling of hitting the bottom. But there's one other thing I remember, and remembering,
I KEEP A GRIP ON HOPE:
God’s loyal love couldn't have run out, his merciful love couldn't have dried up. They're created new every morning. How great your faithfulness! I'm sticking with GOD (I say it over and over). He's all I've got left. GOD proves to be good to the man who passionately waits, to the woman who diligently seeks. It's a good thing to quietly hope, quietly hope for help from GOD. It's a good thing when you're young to stick it out through the hard times. When life is heavy and hard to take, go off by yourself.
Enter the silence.
Bow in prayer.
Don't ask questions:
WAIT for HOPE to appear.
Quavah Hebrew word picturing when you pull a cord tight - you feel a tension till there is a release. And the tension creates expectation - hopeful waiting…
Several years ago the noted British journalist Malcolm Muggeridge was a guest at a breakfast in Washington, D.C. ... When he had finished his speech, he made a number of comments about world affairs, all of which were very pessimistic. One of the Christians present asked, "Dr. Muggeridge, you have been very pessimistic. Don't you have any reason for optimism?"
Malcolm Muggeridge replied, "My friend, I could not be more optimistic than I am, because my hope is in Jesus Christ alone." He allowed that remark to settle for a few seconds, and then he added, "Just think if the apostolic church had pinned its hope on the Roman Empire!" -- Richard Halverson in The Living Body. Christianity Today, Vol. 39, no. 9.
OUR HOPE IS IN JESUS:
Isaiah 9:6 (ESV)
“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor Mighty God, Everlasting Father Prince of Peace.”
The tension today is real yet we have resolve - we will not give up - we keep holding on to hope.
"My hope is built on nothing less,
Than Jesus blood and righteousness
I dare not trust the sweetest frame
But wholly lean on Jesus name.
On Christ the Solid Rock I Stand,
All other ground is seeking sand,
All other ground is seeking sand.
Do you have this Hope? Is it evident in your life?
3. ANOTHER BENEFIT OF HOPE IS IT TRANSFORMS YOUR ATTITUDE…
Two gold miners in the mountains of Colorado struck it rich and begin to go into town to make their claim on their mine. They agree they will not tell anyone about the gold they found. Yet when they walked into town everyone began to get excited because gold was found - the men never said a word - hope of a better life was written on their face and everyone who saw them followed their hope.
Living hope is seen on the face of those who serve Jesus.
1 Peter 3:15 (NKJV)
…sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the HOPE that is in you, with meekness and fear;
4. HOPE NOURISHES EXPECTATION
(IT GIVES YOU SOMETHING TO LOOK FORWARD TO)
Lucy and Linus were sitting in front of the television set when Lucy said to Linus, "Go get me a glass of water." Linus looked surprised, "Why should I do anything for you? You never do anything for me."
"On your 75th birthday," Lucy promised, "I’’ll bake you a cake."
Linus got up, headed to the kitchen and said, "Life is more pleasant when you have something to look forward to." May 23, 2016
Titus 2:13 (NKJ) looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God & Savior Jesus Christ
Do you display this hope in your life?
Jesus Christ is coming again:
C S Lewis reminds us three things concerning His coming:
When we live as though Jesus could come at any moment - this anticipation keeps us pure…
1 John 3:2-3 (ESV)
Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that WHEN HE APPEARS we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. AND EVERYONE WHO THUS HOPES IN HIM PURIFIES HIMSELF AS HE IS PURE.
OUR HOPE IS IN JESUS CHRIST.
COMING TO JESUS GIVES YOU A LIVING HOPE
WHICH INSPIRES YOU - YOU’RE GONNA MAKE IT.
IT A HOPE THAT WILL TRANSFORM YOUR ATTITUDE.
A HOPE THAT WILL EXCITE YOU ABOUT TOMORROW.
The Christmas carol “O Little Town of Bethlehem” “Yet in thy dark streets shineth the everlasting light; the hopes and fears of all the years are met in thee tonight.”
Are your hopes and fears “met in Jesus?”
Make sure your fears during these days of anxiety drive you to hope in Jesus!
1. WHEN YOU COME TO JESUS YOU FIND LIVING HOPE
1 Peter 1:3-5, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to His great mercy, He has caused us to be born again to a LIVING HOPE through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God’s power are being guided through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
Have you received Jesus in your life?
Where is this living hope expressed in you?
What does this hope bring into your life?
2. ONE BENEFIT HOPE IS RESOLVE: IT DECLARES “I’M GONNA MAKE IT.”
Think about an army surrounding your town, you cannot get out, no-one, no products or produce can come in. You are hungry, you have little food. You are living in anxiety and see no hope for tomorrow. This is the scenario Jeremiah is writing from, Listen to JEREMIAH, who is living in Jerusalem at the time that the Army of Babylon has surrounded his city.
Lamentations 3:19f (TMSG)
I remember it all-oh, how well I remember-the feeling of hitting the bottom. But there's one other thing I remember, and remembering,
I KEEP A GRIP ON HOPE:
God’s loyal love couldn't have run out, his merciful love couldn't have dried up. They're created new every morning. How great your faithfulness! I'm sticking with GOD (I say it over and over). He's all I've got left. GOD proves to be good to the man who passionately waits, to the woman who diligently seeks. It's a good thing to quietly hope, quietly hope for help from GOD. It's a good thing when you're young to stick it out through the hard times. When life is heavy and hard to take, go off by yourself.
Enter the silence.
Bow in prayer.
Don't ask questions:
WAIT for HOPE to appear.
Quavah Hebrew word picturing when you pull a cord tight - you feel a tension till there is a release. And the tension creates expectation - hopeful waiting…
Several years ago the noted British journalist Malcolm Muggeridge was a guest at a breakfast in Washington, D.C. ... When he had finished his speech, he made a number of comments about world affairs, all of which were very pessimistic. One of the Christians present asked, "Dr. Muggeridge, you have been very pessimistic. Don't you have any reason for optimism?"
Malcolm Muggeridge replied, "My friend, I could not be more optimistic than I am, because my hope is in Jesus Christ alone." He allowed that remark to settle for a few seconds, and then he added, "Just think if the apostolic church had pinned its hope on the Roman Empire!" -- Richard Halverson in The Living Body. Christianity Today, Vol. 39, no. 9.
OUR HOPE IS IN JESUS:
Isaiah 9:6 (ESV)
“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor Mighty God, Everlasting Father Prince of Peace.”
The tension today is real yet we have resolve - we will not give up - we keep holding on to hope.
"My hope is built on nothing less,
Than Jesus blood and righteousness
I dare not trust the sweetest frame
But wholly lean on Jesus name.
On Christ the Solid Rock I Stand,
All other ground is seeking sand,
All other ground is seeking sand.
Do you have this Hope? Is it evident in your life?
3. ANOTHER BENEFIT OF HOPE IS IT TRANSFORMS YOUR ATTITUDE…
Two gold miners in the mountains of Colorado struck it rich and begin to go into town to make their claim on their mine. They agree they will not tell anyone about the gold they found. Yet when they walked into town everyone began to get excited because gold was found - the men never said a word - hope of a better life was written on their face and everyone who saw them followed their hope.
Living hope is seen on the face of those who serve Jesus.
1 Peter 3:15 (NKJV)
…sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the HOPE that is in you, with meekness and fear;
4. HOPE NOURISHES EXPECTATION
(IT GIVES YOU SOMETHING TO LOOK FORWARD TO)
Lucy and Linus were sitting in front of the television set when Lucy said to Linus, "Go get me a glass of water." Linus looked surprised, "Why should I do anything for you? You never do anything for me."
"On your 75th birthday," Lucy promised, "I’’ll bake you a cake."
Linus got up, headed to the kitchen and said, "Life is more pleasant when you have something to look forward to." May 23, 2016
Titus 2:13 (NKJ) looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God & Savior Jesus Christ
Do you display this hope in your life?
Jesus Christ is coming again:
C S Lewis reminds us three things concerning His coming:
- He is Coming.
- We do not know when.
- Therefore we must be ready.
When we live as though Jesus could come at any moment - this anticipation keeps us pure…
1 John 3:2-3 (ESV)
Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that WHEN HE APPEARS we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. AND EVERYONE WHO THUS HOPES IN HIM PURIFIES HIMSELF AS HE IS PURE.
OUR HOPE IS IN JESUS CHRIST.
COMING TO JESUS GIVES YOU A LIVING HOPE
WHICH INSPIRES YOU - YOU’RE GONNA MAKE IT.
IT A HOPE THAT WILL TRANSFORM YOUR ATTITUDE.
A HOPE THAT WILL EXCITE YOU ABOUT TOMORROW.
The Christmas carol “O Little Town of Bethlehem” “Yet in thy dark streets shineth the everlasting light; the hopes and fears of all the years are met in thee tonight.”
Are your hopes and fears “met in Jesus?”
Make sure your fears during these days of anxiety drive you to hope in Jesus!
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