Fortifying Our Hope

FORTIFYING OUR HOPE

Text: 1Thess.1:1-6

Intro: Hope means hoping when things are hopeless,

or it is no virtue at all...as long as matters are very

hopeful, hope is mere flattery or platitude [ trite ];

it is only when everything is hopeless that hope

begins to be a strength.

----G.K. Chesterton, Signs of the Times, April 1993, p. 6.

Folks often face the question, "Is there any hope?"

Hope for:

married couples & their conflicts

those with addictions (gambling,

alcohol, street drugs, perverted

lifestyles)

moms-to-be hear Drs. say,

"...Can’t find a heartbeat."

weary single parents with

their heavy challenges

the deeply depressed & anxious

one whose spouse lays dying

youth who seem to be an easy target for--

drugs, STD’s, abuse, pain of a broken

family

Theme: "There are no hopeless situations; there

are only people who have grown hopeless."

____________Clare Boothe Luce

I. What hope is not.

A. not wishful thinking

B. not an insecure "I hope so."

II. What hope is.

A. Vine, "The happy anticipation [ looking

froward to] of good"

B. A confident expectation,i.e., payday

C. Desire plus expectation

(something I want and expect to receive)

D. Futher Definitions

1. "Hope is a desire for something to happen,

while expecting or being confident that

it will come true. Hope also implies a

certain amount of perseverance, believing

that something is possible even when there

is some evidence to the contrary. Hope may

be directed toward something minor or

towards something extremely significant."

___Source Unknown

2. "Until the day when God shall design to

reveal the future to man, all human

wisdom is summed up in these two words,

--’Wait and hope’."

3. "Ah,Hope! what would life be, stripped of

thy encouraging smiles, that teach us to

look behind the dark clouds of to-day,for

the golden beams that are to gild the mor-

row."

________Susanna Moodie

4. "If it were not for hopes, the heart would

break." ___Thomas Fuller

III. Importance of Hope

A. H. necessary to keep on keeping on

( persevere)

1. Romans 8:25

2. our text-1 Thess. 1:3

B. H. necessary for our motivations to

become pure-1 Jn 3:2-3

C. H. necessary to increase our

opportunities to evangelize.

1. (1 Peter 3:15 )

2. With hope, we save our souls

& lead others to their salvation.

3. Ps. 71:5 (NKJV), "For you are my

hope, O Lord God;"

IV. Fortifying (making strong)Our Hope

A. WOG written to produce hope.

1. Romans 15:4

2. Biblical evidence assures that God

keeps His promises.

a. Abraham received the child of

promise.

b. Issac-And Isaac intreated the LORD for

his wife, because she [was]barren:and

the LORD was intreated of him, and

Rebekah his wife conceived

(Gen.25:21).

3. "When there is no faith in the future,

there is no power in the present."

___Source Unknown

4. Peter-"rest your hope fully upon the

grace that is to be brought to you at

the revelation of Jesus Christ,"

1Peter 1:13

5. Some Bible passages that show the eternal

destiny of the saints.

a. Psa 71:14 But I will hope continually,

and will yet praise thee more and more

b. Psa 146:5 Happy [is he] that [hath]

the God of Jacob for his help,

whose hope [is] in the LORD his God:

c. Pro 10:28 The hope of the righteous

[shall be] gladness: but the

expectation of the wicked shall

perish.

d. Jer 17:7 Blessed [is] the man that

trusteth in the LORD, and whose hope

the LORD is.

e. Lam 3:24 The LORD [is] my portion,

saith my soul; therefore will I hope

in him.

f. Rom 5:2-5 By whom also we have access

by faith into this grace wherein

we stand, and rejoice in hope of the

glory of God. And not only [so], but

we glory in tribulations also:knowing

that tribulation worketh patience;

And patience, experience; and

experience,hope: And hope maketh

not ashamed; because the love of

God is shed abroad in our hearts

by the Holy Ghost which is given

unto us.

Concl: "Nurture hope for if you do hope will nurture

you."

____Source Unknown

"...It is often in our darkest times that God

makes His presence known most clearly. He uses

our sufferings and troubles to show us that He

is our only source of strength. And when we

see this truth, like Pastor Gerhardt, we receive

new hope. Are you facing a great trial?

Take heart. Put yourself in God’s hands.

Wait for His timing. He will give you a "song

in the night."

___Our Daily Bread, May 7, 1992