By Josh Read on Mar 10, 2026
The word "hope" has become church wallpaper. It's on coffee mugs in the lobby, printed across banners above the baptistry, and threaded through every worship set since 2015. Your congregation has heard it so many times it slides off them like rain off a windshield.
Here's the tension: the biblical word for hope has almost nothing in common with the sentiment we've domesticated it into. The Hebrew word "tiqvah" literally means "cord" or "rope", something you cling to when the ground gives way. The Greek "elpis" in Paul's letters is never wishful thinking. It's confident expectation aimed at a future only God can deliver.
This sermon outline is built for the Sunday you peel the bumper sticker off and show your congregation what hope actually costs and why it's the most defiant act a believer can perform.
Scripture:
Tags:
By SermonCentral .com on Dec 25, 2024
based on 6 ratings
| 29,911 views
Someone asked me if I ever considered quitting when I was a pastor. My response was quick and truthful: “Yes. On the average about once a week.”
Tags:
By Randy Alcorn on Dec 3, 2022
based on 2 ratings
| 13,103 views
"In times of doubt, difficulty, and trials, our fundamental beliefs about God and our faith are revealed. So how can Christians find faith in the midst of doubt? How can they trust God’s plan when their lives seem out of His control, and prayers seem to go unanswered or, sometimes it feels, even unheard?"
Scripture:
Tags:
By SermonCentral .com on Jun 23, 2022
based on 2 ratings
| 18,847 views
Hope is to our soul what energy is to our body. Just like our bodies must have energy to keep going, our souls must have hope to keep going. So when our soul needs hope, what do we do? We feast on the promises of God.
Scripture:
Tags:
By SermonCentral .com on Jul 1, 2022
based on 1 rating
| 18,690 views
You are not the first Christian to have felt angry at God, and you will not be the last.
Scripture:
Tags:
By Randy Alcorn on Nov 12, 2022
based on 2 ratings
| 11,837 views
"If a young man without modern medicine and dying of an excruciating disease could make choices that brought him happiness in Christ, surely we can too."
Tags: