Through Hope Series

Series: Finding Joy in The Journey

Series: We need to find joy in the journey!

Thesis of series: Joy needs to be experienced in the journey of life! But Joy, like any other attitude, can come and go. It is not guaranteed simply because we are born again believers because storms will blow in and out of our lives. We must put ourselves in the places where experiencing joy is a possibility. We need to go after and find joy in our journey of life even in times of grief, illness, financial crisis, hardship and even persecution.

Introduction:

Studying about joy in Scripture, looking at verses which speak of joy, helps build an understanding of how to put ourselves in places where it is possible to find and maintain an attitude of joy in our journey of life. We need to position ourselves in 2019 to seek after and find joy in the journey of life. God desires to help us find that joy!

• We can find Joy through laughter and humor.

• We can find joy in God’s love.

• We can find joy in the journey through praise and worship.

• We can also find joy in the journey through hope.

Sermon 1: Finding Joy in the journey through Hope! Pt 1

Thesis: Hope is a significant key to finding in the journey of life because it is a wonderful gift from God and it will become a source of strength and courage in the face of life’s severest trials. Hope will bring you joy when you think there is no joy! Hope will help you see the light in the darkness!

Introduction:

Chuck Swindoll from his book Hope Again states this about hope:

Hope is a wonderful gift from God, a source of strength and courage in the face of life’s harshest trails.

• When we are trapped in a tunnel of misery, hope points to the light at the end of the tunnel.

• When we are overworked and exhausted, hope gives us a fresh energy.

• When we are discouraged, hope lifts our spirits.

• When we are tempted to quit, hope keeps us going.

• When we lose our way and confusion blurs the destination, hope dulls the edge of panic.

• When we struggle with a crippling disease or a lingering illness, hope helps us persevere beyond the pain.

• When we fear the worst, hope brings reminders that God is Still in control.

• When we must endure the consequences of bad decisions hope fuels our recovery.

• When we find ourselves unemployed, hope tells us we still have a future.

• When we are forced to sit back and wait, hope gives us the patience to trust.

• When we feel rejected and abandoned, hope reminds us we’re not alone …we’ll make it.

• When we say our final farewell to someone we love, hope in the life beyond gets us through grief.

Put simply, when life hurts and dreams fade, nothing helps like hope! (Swindoll page xi and xii).

Hope isn’t merely a nice option that helps us in a tough moment but it is essential to our survival and for Joy in the journey of life.

T.S. - So let’s explore the meaning of hope and learn the difference between a wish and genuine authentic biblical hope.

I. Is hope and wishing the same thing? Not according to the Bible!

a. What does it mean to make a wish and what does it mean to have true biblical hope – are they the same thing?

i. Hope by the way is not a wish and it is not wishful thinking. Hope and wishing are two different attitudes to life and death.

ii. Let me illustrate the difference and see if you can figure out which one of these two you embrace wish or hope.

1. One brings a flood light into the midst of darkness while the other is just a small flickering match in the midst of darkness.

2. One brings encouragement in the midst of discouragement while the other only brings a glimpse of encouragement.

3. One brings a positive view of problems, trials, and tribulations while the other only lifts our burden for a brief moment in time.

4. One brings peace in the midst of pain and suffering while the other only brings a mindset of looking for a fairytale ending from pain.

5. One brings us through the pain to healing while the other teaches us to live in story land.

a. Paul reminded the Corinthians and us what real biblical hope does – it causes us not to lose heart! 2 Corinthians 4:1-18:

i. 1Therefore, since through God’s mercy we have this ministry, we do not lose heart. 2Rather, we have renounced secret and shameful ways; we do not use deception, nor do we distort the word of God. On the contrary, by setting forth the truth plainly we commend ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God. 3And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. 4The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. 5For we do not preach ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. 6For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. 7But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. 8We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; 9persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. 10We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. 11For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that his life may be revealed in our mortal body. 12So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you. 13It is written: “I believed; therefore I have spoken.” With that same spirit of faith we also believe and therefore speak, 14because we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead will also raise us with Jesus and present us with you in his presence. 15All this is for your benefit, so that the grace that is reaching more and more people may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God. 16Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. 17For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. 18So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.