Sermon Central
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God Is In The Business Of Hope
Contributed by Troy Borst on Apr 9, 2020 (message contributor)
Summary: So many things in life are up in the air or on hold or have been canceled because of COVID-19. We need the kind of hope that comes from God through Jesus Christ. I believe the absolute best thing I can do for you today is to point you towards hope!
ILLUSTRATION… www.sermonsearch.com/sermon-illustrations/1833/family-devotions/
[adapted]
A mother and daughter were reading the Bible and talking about what they were reading. They happened one day to be in Genesis 22 where we find Abraham offering Isaac on the altar. The whole time the little girl had her arms crossed and had a frowny face.
After reading, the little girls said, “I do not believe it. God would not have treated His Son like that!"
"But, Katie," the mom replied, "He did."
HOPE IN THE PSALMS
There is a whole book in the Bible full of songs and poems. It is called Psalms. It is not pronounced “Pa-Salms” by the way, just Psalms. It’s a silent “P.” It is the same as if we were talking about “a psychic pterodactyl with a pseudonym dealing with pneumonia who wants to return a pneumatic drill with no receipt.” It’s a silent “P.” What the Psalms are not silent on is hope! Hope is mentioned almost 3 dozen times in various Psalms.
READ Psalm 33:17-22
“A horse is a vain hope for deliverance; despite all its great strength it cannot save. 18 But the eyes of the LORD are on those who fear Him, on those whose hope is in His unfailing love, 19 to deliver them from death and keep them alive in famine. 20 We wait in hope for the LORD; He is our help and our shield. 21 In Him our hearts rejoice, for we trust in His holy name. 22 May Your unfailing love rest upon us, O LORD, even as we put our hope in You.”
This part of Psalm 33 begins by talking about deliverance and salvation… which again is what Easter is all about. Hope for deliverance does not come from external things, but from the unfailing love of God Almighty. For those of us who believe in Him, He is our Deliverer (verse 19), our Sustainer (verse 19), our Helper (verse 20), our Shield (verse 20), our source of joy (verse 21), and our source of unfailing love (verse 22).
The Deliverance that God provides brings us hope.
The Sustaining that God provides brings us hope.
The Help of God Almighty brings us hope.
The Shield that God is for us in this life brings us hope.
The joy of the Lord is our strength (Nehemiah 8:10) and hope.
The overwhelming never-ending boundless love of God brings us hope.
ILLUSTRATION… https://ministry127.com/resources/illustration/who-crucified-christ
Three-year-old Shawn accompanied his dad to church on Easter. The father wanted his son to understand the meaning of Easter, so he tried to explain the significance of the cross which hung at the front of the church. He said, “Jesus died because people nailed him to the cross.” The little boy’s eyes widened as he scanned the church. He asked his dad, “You mean these people?”
SUMMARY AND TRANSITION
The Old Testament is full of hope for us. Stories of hope. P-Salms of hope. Hope in the Old Testament is directly tied to God and even more so to the deliverance that He gives. We find more of the same in the New Testament, but in the New Testament the deliverance, sustaining, help, shield, joy, and love has a Name… His Name is Jesus. The hope in the New Testament has a Name and flesh and blood and does miracles and teaches about God and dies for our sins. The hope in the New Testament not only dies for our sins, but rises from the dead victorious!
