Hope Part 3 "good Friday" Series

Series: Find Joy in the Journey

Scripture Text Series:

Phil. 4:4: “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!”

Romans 15:13: “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”

Sermon 2: Finding Joy in the journey through Hope! Pt 3 - Good Friday “Hope Come Find It.”

Thesis: Hope is a significant key to finding in the journey of life because it is a wonderful gift from God. Hope will become a source of strength, power 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!

Scripture:

Main Scripture: 1 Peter 1:3 “Blessed be the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.”

Hebrews 6:19-20: Message

16When people make promises, they guarantee them by appeal to some authority above them so that if there is any question that they’ll make good on the promise, the authority will back them up.

17When God wanted to guarantee his promises, he gave his word, a rock-solid guarantee—

18God can’t break his word. And because his word cannot change, the promise is likewise unchangeable. We who have run for our very lives to God have every reason to grab the promised hope with both hands and never let go.

19It’s an unbreakable spiritual lifeline, reaching past all appearances right to the very presence of God

20where Jesus, running on ahead of us, has taken up his permanent post as high priest for us, in the order of Melchizedek.

Introduction:

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

“Hope. It is something as important to us as water is to fish, as vital as electricity is to a light bulb, as essential as air is to a jumbo jet. Hope is that basic (3).”

Hope is a key and essential for life. Hope is a power that helps us find joy in the journey. We need it and trust me everyone wants it, but it is only found in a “Living Hope” – This Living Hope is alive and active in our lives!

Peter tells us and those he addresses in his letter that we may be suffering now but we cannot give up and lose hope. Why because we have a Living Hope! Jesus is His name! Hope is His mission! He is a Hope dealer to those who are hopeless!

I want to define HOPE for you in the acrostic and help you find the living hope Peter refers to!

H - He (Jesus)

O – Offers (us)

P – peace

E – encouragement

Especially in times of great suffering! Jesus is a living hope not a dead person hanging on a cross or stuck in a tomb. Tonight is Good Friday a day we actually remember the death of Jesus. This service tonight could be gloomy and solemn as to the content of the story of Jesus tonight.

Jesus is not a dead hope – he may be in our story tonight hanging and dying on a cross – but our hope is not a wishful thought that maybe he will make it – he promised he would raise again people just did not get it – the truth is Jesus is not still hanging on the cross - He is the One who defeated death and opened up the door for us to defeat it too. He is the One who opened up a relationship with us and the Living God – God the Father and The Holy Spirit! He opened up the door to the living hope at His death and resurrection, especially when the curtain was torn in two in the Temple when he died and the earthquake rumbled through Jerusalem. That scene should infuse us with hope and joy! The door is open to connect with God the Father and the Holy Spirit.

T.S. – Yes in the natural eyes the cross looks hopeless – Jesus is losing – Satan is winning – blood is flowing and many are devastated and in grief.

1. We Christians call “Good Friday” – “Good” but when you read the story of Jesus crucifixion it’s far from “Good” it’s really – really bad to the natural eye:

a. The story of Good Friday is not very good to the natural eye – it’s about betrayal, swords cutting off ears, soldiers getting knocked down, chains clanging, arrest, disciples running for their lives, illegal trials, lies, beatings, mocking’s, denial, abandonment, crown of thrones, whippings, humiliation, carrying a heavy cross to your death, cruelty, bloody nails, bloody crosses, torture, stabbings, cries of loneliness, darkness, crying, grief, hopelessness, earthquakes, temple shaking apart and then death. A lifeless body is pulled off the cross in darkness and laid in a tomb.