Introduction

I want to welcome everyone on this Back to Church Sunday. Today, there are churches all over the country that are making an intentional effort to invite their communities to join them for worship. Coming off a year when many churches have not been able to worship in person the way they would like to, an invitation to get back to church is such a powerful opportunity.

The church is made up of its people. It is not about a building; it’s about a collection of individuals who have trusted Jesus with their lives and choose to support one another in the journey. When we come together like this, we find hope. We find a hope that empowers us to overcome anything life can throw at us.

So, with that said, welcome to church today! You are a part of something bigger than yourself, and you are here for a reason.

Today we begin a brand-new series called Hope Is Here. I would argue that the greatest need we have in our lives, after the year we have experienced, is a sense that there is hope in the world. Some of us have experienced great loss this year, and it has been troubling. This year has caused some of us to doubt our faith and the things we used to hold tightly. Some of us feel broken because of the pain in our country and in our world. Can we all just agree that we are in need of hope?

Can we all just agree that we are in need of hope?

Main Teaching

As we get started I’m reminded of a story about a man attending a little league baseball game. The kids were all on the field or in the dugout, playing their hearts out. It was only the first inning, and the score was already 16 – 0. One team was losing in a landslide. The man walked up to the dugout of the losing team and asked one little boy if he was discouraged by the score. Had he lost hope? The little boy looked at him, a little puzzled, and said, “Why would I be discouraged? We haven’t even gotten up to bat yet. There is always hope!”

That is one way to look at the challenges that we face in life. The Church throughout history has had the audacity to have hope in the face of trouble. It stems from the victory of the resurrected Jesus Christ. When things looked the darkest for Jesus, as he hung on the cross, he knew it was far from over. The tomb would not be the end, he would defeat death and come back to life. With this as the Church’s backdrop, there is always reason for hope.

In the Gospels, Jesus was always offering hope to those around him. Whether it was a crippling disease, an oppressive government, a physical or spiritual hunger, or an evil attack, Jesus would meet people right where they were. The characters in the scriptures knew that if Jesus was there, then hope was there too.

POINT #1 – LIFE IS HARD

There are times when we need a reminder that there is hope. Life’s circumstances have a way of leaving us hopeless. I would argue that there is nothing in life that can steal our hope more than when we find ourselves weary, tired, or worn out. I would imagine that there are many in the room/online today who know exactly what this feels like. Waiting for a diagnosis, paying off bills, saving a marriage, enduring Covid-19, and trying to grow spiritually. It is times like this when we feel like we cannot keep going and all we want to do is give up.

It’s like the famous NFL coach Vince Lombardi once said, “Fatigue makes cowards of us all.”

Jesus was aware of the tendency of people to shoulder heavy burdens and for this to cause them to lose hope ... View this full sermon with PRO Premium