Video Transition:
From Wingclips.com - Apollo 13 - Jim Lovell commander of Apollo 13 “finding hope” In the midst of crisis - He talks about how he found his way home when everything went wrong!
I used today’s historical story to highlight “How we find hope in times of crisis.”
In our clip today we heard about a life event that happened to Jim Lovell commander of Apollo 13 (Who had the horrendous accident of the oxygen tank exploding and blowing a large chunk out of their space craft, that explosion should have ended those astronaut’s lives on Apollo 13, but God had another plan). All the astronauts thanked the Lord for bringing them home safely.
Jerry Woodfill was a Nasa engineer also on Apollo 13, He noted the whole world prayed for them and for a safe return – He said “I saw prayer make a difference during Apollo 13.” He noted how a unrehearsed script seemed to be guiding the drama and crisis.” Too many things happened that spared the astronauts lives – like a Nasa designed mechanism failing during the simple of functions which assisted in saving the lives of the Astronauts as well as timing of the incident and other unusual circumstances. The stuff they needed to save the astronauts was on board a miracle in itself. When they re-entered the atmosphere it was miracle they did not burn up and that a storm was right were they were landing but mysteriously shifted course at the time a teacher had her students praying for the storm to move For Jerry Woodfill, the spacecraft’s successful return has shaped more than his professional career. The event has resonated within him and shaped his view of God’s role in events. From www.houstonchronicle.com.
It’s important to note that Jim was also the Pilot of Apollo 8 which is another story filled with hope - I will share that story in a moment.
Jim’s story is about finding his way home when all seemed hopeless to a world looking for hope for Apollo 13. He shares about his fighter plane malfunctioning. He is in utter darkness he has a jammed radar, a false signal leading him away to Japan but not to his home base carrier and he is running out of fuel. He ponders ditching the plane when his instrument panel short circuited. Now he has no instruments to lead him. But then in utter darkness he sees a trail of light from algae that he knows has been churned up by a big ship. It’s Interesting that in his hopeless situation and with no tangible resources at his disposal another calamity opened up the door for him to get home. He knew he needed to follow the lighted trail to his ship. He did and it saved his life! The light from the algae also helped him land his plane without lights and instruments.
Sometimes God allows us to exhaust all our resources and our so-called knowledge before He decides to provide a way out of a crisis. It’s all part of the process of faith. It’s faith in the Lord that provides the hope we need to know what to do next, God is both the author of faith and the source of wisdom. The truth is when we submit to Him, we have access to these resources to help us navigate life’s journey’s.
Apollo 8’s message of hope:
The famous reading on Christmas eve of Apollo 8 as they are orbiting the moon for the first time was a message of hope to the world after a dismal year which witnessed protest over Vietnam, the Assassination of Martin Luther King Jr, racial riots rampaged the USA and then the Assassination Robert F Kennedy. But on Christmas Eve at the end of a rough year for the USA – Hope came over the airwaves on National television.
Play audio clip!
It was a simpler time — an era when the hearts of Americans were stirred as they heard the voices of their nation’s astronauts reading Scripture to the world from outer space. On December 23 a few years ago one of those astronauts, James Lovell, Command Module pilot of Apollo 8, recalled that moment on Christmas Eve 1968 when he, Commander Frank Borman, and Lunar Module pilot Bill Anders took turns reciting the first 10 verses of Genesis 1, the account of God’s creation of the heavens and the earth… the trio took a few moments to humbly acknowledge God as the Creator. It was a message of hope for a nation who needed it.
Genesis 1:1-10: The Beginning (The Scripture which was read)
1In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
2Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.
3And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.
4God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness.
5God called the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day.
6And God said, “Let there be an expanse between the waters to separate water from water.”
7So God made the expanse and separated the water under the expanse from the water above it. And it was so.
8God called the expanse “sky.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the second day.
9And God said, “Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry ground appear.” And it was so.
10God called the dry ground “land,” and the gathered waters he called “seas.” And God saw that it was good.
11Then God said, “Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds.” And it was so.
The readings were a great success and brough great hope and healing to a nation that needed it. Even the USA post office saw the significance of this event for the nation:
The postage STAMP PUT OUT BY THE POST OFFICE – SEE SLIDE!
In the years ahead the U.S. Postal Service issued a six-cent postage stamp that featured the “Earthrise” photo along with the words, “In the Beginning,” in honor of the three astronauts and the day in history when they acknowledged God to the watching Earth. Of course they would not be able to do that today.
Lovell stated a few years ago: ‘‘The idea of bringing people together by a flight to the moon where we encompassed everybody in our thoughts is still very valid today,’’ Lovell said, recalling the historic event as he stood by a part of the Apollo 8 spacecraft at the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry. ‘‘The words that we read are and were very appropriate.’’
The Associated Press reported that to commemorate the event, Lovell joined local high school students and a parent at the museum, with each taking turns reading a few verses from Genesis. Illinois Governor Pat Quinn hosted the event, “calling the broadcast an uplifting message that the country needed in 1968 and one that is still applicable today,” reported AP.
A Message of Hope and God is attacked by Athiests:
But back in 1968 years ago there were atheist malcontents poised to complain about such demonstrations of good will and hope in God. They were led by the founding mother of militant American secularism, Madalyn Murray O’Hair, who collected some 28,000 signatures on a lawsuit petition demanding that astronauts — or any other government employee — be prohibited from citing Scripture while on duty. In response Americans sent NASA more than 2.5 million letters and petitions in support of the Apollo 8 astronauts’ actions — and O’Hair’s lawsuit was ultimately dismissed by the Supreme Court.
But NASA ordered that the astronauts could no longer wear their faith on their sleeves while at work. They could not talk about on the air. So they started stifling any reference to God, faith, prayer or Scripture reading. This all was muted for Apollo 13 and also in the movie.
But O’Haire was not done with her quest to remove God from our nation and government she persisted and finally got pray banned from schools. Let me ask: Has that been good for our school systems?
https://thenewamerican.com/apollo-8-astronaut-recalls-historic-scripture-reading-from-space/
But in those days many Christians were asking where is our hope? Why did God let this happen?
But hope rises out of hate and hopelessness again: Side note Question: What ever happened to Madalyn Murray O’Hair? Her beliefs and actions led to a hopeless horrible ending for her – her son, and grandaughter:
• Her demise came from within her own camp, when atheists turned against her. Strangely, Madalyn liked to hire criminals at the American Atheists headquarters in Austin. Bill says she derived pleasure from exercising authority over lawbreakers, and maybe she also felt a kinship with flagrant felons. Whatever the case, she had a dim view of the people she hired. Her diaries called her employees “pimps, whores, hopheads, queers, pinkos, drunks, glue-sniffers and freaks.” She was not known to be a sweet employer.
• In 1993, Madalyn hired David Roland Waters, a convicted felon on parole who had killed a teenager over 50 cents of gasoline when he lived in South Africa. Waters started in the print shop and rose to office manager. As investigators later learned, Waters became part of Madalyn’s fraud schemes. He helped print forged stock certificates in a bid to take over a competing and more profitable atheistic organization, Bill said. And he embezzled $54,000 from American Atheists. He claimed he siphoned off the money at the behest of Madalyn’s family in a deal where he would keep a part. Only he was convicted. To distance herself from any implication, Madalyn exposed in her public newsletter Waters’ criminal past. She included morbid details of how he beat his mother in 70s with a broom handle and then abused her body. According to an IRS affidavit, Waters was outraged and began to voice “fantasies of killing Madalyn” and torturing her by “snipping off her toes,” the Washington Post reported. Meanwhile, Madalyn attempted unsuccessfully to take over the wealthier atheist organization run by James Hervey Johnson in San Diego. Johnson’s lawyers retaliated with a $7 million lawsuit in 1993 that Madalyn feared she would lose. She began to liquidate assets and transfer finances abroad, according to her employee, David Travis. In the Washington Post, Travis said he accidentally opened a letter to Madalyn’s son, Jon Garth Murray, which reported $1 million in a New Zealand Guardian Trust.
• Travis and the other employees expected Madalyn, Jon and Robin to abscond to the South Seas at any moment. So, no one was surprised when on Aug. 28, 1995 a typewritten note appeared on the door of the American Atheist headquarters one morning before work. It said: “The Murray-O’Hair family has been called out of town on an emergency basis. We do not know how long we will be gone at the time of the writing of this memo.” Even the Austin police weren’t interested in investigating the missing persons report filed by Bill. Only the IRS wanted to find the threesome for fraud schemes. During the first days of their disappearance, Jon and Robin called American Atheist headquarters. They were vague and sounded strained but reported that the family was OK in San Antonio, Texas. They were not OK. Jon, under duress of kidnappers, bought $500,000 worth of gold coins from a San Antonio jeweler, which he turned over in hopes of earning freedom for his family. The kidnappers spent (not all of) the money, according to the FBI, IRS and local police. Instead gaining freedom, the Murray-O’Hairs were murdered in a grisly manner.
• Bill explained on his website: Madalyn “and my daughter were held for almost 30 days, probably tied and gagged, while my brother desperately tried to obtain ransom money. At all times my brother was escorted by one of the kidnappers. My brother was a total slave to my mother. He saw himself as her provider and rescuer. All his life she had talked down to him and made fun of him and now, in his mind, he would show her his worth by single-handedly rescuing her. He was murdered for his faithfulness.”
• Waters and two accomplices had so carefully disposed of their corpses that they weren’t found until Waters himself, finally convicted of their murders in August of 2000, led detectives to a Texas ranch where he buried their mutilated bodies. The Murray-O’Hair atheists might have disappeared and gone unaccounted for like missing aviator Amelia Earhart, except that a decapitated, handless body that was found in a wooded area near the Trinity River outside Dallas in October 1995. The site showed little blood, which indicated he was dumped there, not killed there. The corpse was so severely butchered that it was intended to never be identifiable by police. Without face, fingerprints or clothing, the corpse remained unidentified for three years. A reporter for the San Antonio Express-News had researched the case for two years when he got an anonymous tip after writing an article on the “town-skipping” atheists. The caller said a friend of his also disappeared about the same time when he went to see Waters. Knowing that Waters was an enemy to the family, the reporter alerted police. A DNA test proved the body belonged to Danny Fry, who had joined with another convict in Waters’ kidnapping ring. Both were arrested and convicted for the gruesome murders of Madalyn, Jon and Robin.
What about the other son? A Hope arises out of hopelessness. William Murray her son became a Baptist Pastor and opposed his mother’s hatred for God (He Called her an evil person to the core).
• “My mother was an evil person, not for removing prayer from America’s schools, no, she was just evil,” Bill wrote online in 2011. “She stole huge amounts of money. She misused the trust of people. She cheated children out of their parents’ inheritance. She cheated on her taxes and even stole from her own organizations.”
• For me personally, “She bit him, smashed his model airplane to pieces in a fit of rage, and ridiculed his attempts to play baseball. She kept a liquor closet full and the refrigerator stocked with fattening, unhealthy foods (for the kids). She extolled the virtues of sexual liberty and wrote for Hustler magazine. She even tried to defect to the Soviet Union with her entire family and supported communist causes, Bill says she was cruel.” She also bragged of watching x rated movies to her children!
• Bill wonders why atheism doesn’t die along with his mother, brother and daughter. “The deaths of my mother, brother and daughter should make all too clear the need for Christ to others that proclaim atheism,” Bill wrote. “But those who would follow my mother continue to fight against God and His authority. ‘Fools make a mock at sin… ‘ Prov. 14:8.” He stated.
• But through it all He found Jesus as His Lord and Savior and eventually became a Baptist Pastor and founder of a social conservative lobbyist who serves as the chairman of the Religious Freedom Coalition, a non-profit organization in Washington, D.C. It lobbies Congress on issues related to aiding Christians in Islamic and Communist countries.
William Murray found Hope as the anchor of His soul from his troubled life and Jesus gave him hope and the love – which he needed to be set free from the hate and deception of atheism and an evil mother’s action and abuse toward him. This same evil mother lead his brother and daughter to their tortured deaths.
So, as we look at the stories of hope, hate and hope we see God is always at work – his desire is to bring hope to all. Peter understood this maybe more than others because he denied Jesus as was predicted. And most likely thought there was no hope for him, but Jesus came to him and showed what hope is all about. Hope is found in Jesus the restorer and savior of our souls.
Series: Hope Beyond
Scripture: I Peter
I Peter 1:3-7/ 13-15: Praise to God for a Living Hope
“3Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade—kept in heaven for you, 5who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. 6In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. 7These have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed…13Therefore, prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed. 14As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. 15But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do.”
Series Thesis: Someone has wisely stated that if you could convince a man that there is no hope, he would curse the day he was born and then give up. Hope is essential for the mindset of mankind and for vision for the future. It’s also a very powerful attribute to have, it’s also a belief to have in times of crisis. We need to know that as we are connected to Jesus there is always hope in every situation.
Series Introduction:
The question of "Is there any hope?" is common in our chaotic world today. We hear this question being asked by young, middle aged, and older people today. People look around and see pandemics, political dissension, death, racial tensions, a society ready to explode and numerous deaths. We see and read of shootings, addictions, depression, suicide. We hear so many lies being spun daily on the news and through the media we know somethings going to explode. We experience the pain of others greed. We see leadership breakdown, inflation on the rise (for example the cost of lumber has risen by 50% this year, and Gas has almost doubled too in price). We see more unrest in foreign countries than ever before and we see the borders of our nation in chaos. Our society is calling good evil and evil good. They are celebrating sin and rejecting the ways of God more and more. Our family units are crashing and society is sinking deeper into deception and anti-god ways. So many are asking is there any hope?
Question: So, what is a person of faith to do?
Can I share what some people have done in dealing with these seemingly Hopeless situations we have been facing over the last couple of years?
• Some choose to abandon God and dive deep into recreation and partying – numbing themselves to the reality of pain and suffering around them. They are hoping it will all just go away.
• Some have bought in to the lie that church is not essential and God is not a priority so why even attempt a relationship with Him.
• Some choose to get mad at God and they blame Him for societies collapse– forgetting about people’s free will to choose sin.
• Some choose to isolate themselves thinking this will protect them, yet it escalates fear. Their isolation attacks their mind, depression rushes in to replace hope and faith and they go deeper into anxiety as they move further away from the Lord and faith.
• Some become so hopeless they take their lives! The depression rate in the USA is way over 5.9% second worst in the world and suicide is right on the heels of depression rising quickly!
o Suicide rate keeps climbing – why because of Hopelessness:
? Spring 2020 up 2.4 times over spring 2019
? Summer 2020 up 1.7 times over summer 2019
? Winter 2020 up 2.1 times over winter 2019
? Winter 2021 up 1.3 times over winter 2020
• That an increase of 3.4 % in the last 2 years.
• White males are the largest demographic for suicide today with young people following close behind
• See https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/70/wr/pdfs/mm7024e1-H.pdf
• Some choose drugs to alter their state of mind to deal with the anxiety of a crashing society.
• Some choose to become angry and hateful and start blaming others and even start doing violent acts against others.
• Some choose to face the fear with faith and trust in God and move forward with life and Hope in Him to do a miracle.
But the real answer is “Our Hope is in Jesus!” He is a living hope This is what the apostle Peter advocates in 1 Peter and what the Lord tells us to do in the midst of trials and tribulations of life! Put our hope in the living hope. Nothing is impossible with God. So we will be exploring 1 Peter over the next few weeks and discovering that Hope is essential for us to embrace and be anchored to for the rough waters of life.
Sermon Hope in Jesus
Thesis: Hope is the anchor of the soul and that anchor is Jesus who secures us from being tossed around and destroyed by the storms of this world.
Scripture: 1 Peter 1
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…Put simply, when life hurts and dreams fade, nothing helps like hope! (Swindoll page xi and xii).
Quote: “Someone has wisely stated that if you could convince a man that there is no hope, he would curse the day he was born and then give up.”
Question: Would you agree with this statement? Show of hands?
How powerful is hope – true biblical hope? Hope is Jesus?
Hope: convinces us that God will keep us safe in a time of trouble.
Hope: assures me that God will not abandon me.
Hope: affirms that God will not reject me but receive me.
Hope: drives out fear and replaces it with peace.
Hope: creates confidence in the Lord that it will all work out for good in the end.
Hope: will not disappoint us.
Hope: creates life not death.
Hope: opens our eyes to the promises of God and truth.
Hope: prevents us from losing heart in the midst of oppression and chaos.
Hope: renews us day by day.
Hope: reveals the future glory to us.
Hope: unveils eternity.
Swindoll states (page xi, xx from his book -Hope Again):
Hope is a wonderful gift from God, a source of strength and courage in the face of life’s harshest trials:
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 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 the 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 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 our grief.
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.
1. The message of hope is only found in Jesus:
a. Dr. Norman Geisler explicitly explains why Jesus is unique among the founders of other world religions – and why hope is only found in Him.
i. It must be remembered; there are only seven possible choices (with more emerging everyday). But the critical question is, “Which religion is the correct one?” The following is directly taken from https://binmin.org/why-christianity-because-jesus-is-superior-to-other-religious-leaders/
1. Jesus Is Superior to All Other Religious Leaders – Why? Christ is unique among all who ever lived.
a. Jesus proved to be God in the flesh.
b. Significantly, Christ claimed to be God (John 8:58)
c. Moreover, he fulfilled over 300 prophecies
d. Equally important is his sinless life (1 Pet. 2:22)
e. Most compellingly, he performed remarkable miracles, including the resurrection. Historically reliable documents record these events (Mark 16:6; John 2:11; 6:2; 9:16; 11:47, 1 Cor. 15:7).
f. Undeniably his disciples and eyewitnesses confirmed he is God (Matt. 16:13–16; John 1:1–5, 14; Heb. 1:3)
g. Above all, he displayed his love for people in dying for the sins of the world (John 15:13)
2. There are six primary founders of major world religions:
a. Moses, Muhammad, Gurus – Hinduism, Buddha, Confucius, Lao Tzu
i. Moses:
1. Judaism is the world’s oldest monotheistic religion. And Moses is the greatest Old Testament prophet. But Jesus claimed and proved to be the Son of God (Heb. 3:5–6), who fulfilled Moses’ Law (Matt. 5:17). Undoubtedly, Moses performed miracles (Exod. 4:1-7). But Christ’s signs and wonders were more extensive and extraordinary in degree. As a result, the New Testament is clear that Jesus is superior to Moses (Matt. 5:17; Heb. 3:1-6).
ii. Muhammad, the founder of Islam:
1. Admitted he was only a mortal prophet (Surah 6:50). But Jesus proved to be God in at least two ways: First, by fulfilling more than 300 Old Testament prophecies (Isa 7:14; cf. Matt. 1:21f.; 2 Sam. 7:12f.; cf. Matt. 1:1; Micah 5:2; cf. Matt. 2:1; Isa. 35:5–6; cf. Matt. 9:35; 118:22; cf. 1 Peter 2:7; Ps. 22 & Isa. 53; cf. Matt. 27:31f; Ps. 2:7 and 16:10; cf. Acts 2:31 & Mark 16:6). And second, by performing miracles, including his resurrection.
2. It is important to realize that Muhammad offered no sure hope for salvation. Instead, he gave only guidelines for working oneself into Allah’s favor, known as the five religious pillars (e.g., Surah 5:10). By comparison, Christians understand that faith in Jesus and not works save us (Eph. 2:8-9) if we repent and accept him as our Lord (John 3:16).
iii. Hinduism – Gurus:
1. In Hinduism, a guru is a teacher. In essence, he must help Hindus understand the sacred writings. The main ones are the Bhagavad Gita and the Upanishads. In contrast, Christ’s teaching is easily understandable.
2. Further, Jesus taught that there is only one God. On the other hand, Hinduism worships 330 million gods (polytheism). And Hinduism teaches that each Hindu must reach godhood.
3. Faith in Jesus saves us (Eph. 2:8-9). And without a doubt, we can be secure in our salvation (Eph. 1:13-14; 1 John 5:13). However, Hindus must work out their “salvation” on their own. Specifically, this process includes the maze of recurring karmic cycles of reincarnation.
4. Finally, they reach moksha. Moksha, in effect, is the final escape from recurring reincarnations. And in this case means entering a state of oneness with the “ultimate reality,” called Brahman. Christ teaches selfless love (Matt. 22:39). But orthodox Hinduism’s caste system ignores the suffering. Instead, it insists on leaving suffering people alone because it is their karma.
iv. Buddha
1. Buddhism began as an atheistic reformation movement within Hinduism. However, subsequent forms of Buddhism returned to the Hindu gods.
2. Buddhism teaches Siddhartha Gautama’s Four Noble Truths and Eightfold Path. In contrast, Jesus taught that life is a gift from God. Therefore, we are to enjoy God now (John 10:10).
3. And, additionally, have hope in the life to come (John 14:6) to anyone who accepts Him as their Savior (John 14:6). In contrast, Buddhism sees life as suffering. Therefore, the ultimate goal is eradicating individual personhood. This final loss of “self” occurs by reaching nirvana. And reaching nirvana is through the process of recurring reincarnations.
v. Confucianism is an ethical system and not a religion per se.
1. In general, it promotes a virtuous life and societal peace and harmony. The Confucian so-called Silver Rule is: “What you do not want others to do to you, do not do to them.” This rule is like Christ’s “Golden Rule” (Matt. 7:12).
2. Confucianism is a self-effort system believing humans are good and can reach perfection.
3. But Christianity claims we are all sinners (Rom. 3:23). Therefore, we need God’s grace for inner reconciliation with God through Jesus (2 Cor. 5:18) before outward changes in actions are possible.
vi. The Tao believes the world is full of conflicting opposites and manifestations. Therefore, the Yin and Yang represent all things existing as inseparable and contradictory opposites.
1. To understand the Tao means accepting that all opposites are one. Without a doubt, this belief is contradictory. Lao Tzu’s philosophy denies the fundamental principle of logic. This principle is the “Law of Noncontradiction” (LON). The LON asserts the opposite of true is false.
2. Taoism, however, teaches that the opposite of “true is true.” This conflicts with the LON and Christ’s commands to use our reason (Matt. 22:37-38; 1 Pet. 3:15).
3. Furthermore, Taoism asks each follower to relinquish their power to change things. By comparison, Jesus taught that each person has a choice. As a result, we can believe or not believe (John 3:18), obey or disobey (John 15:14), change the world, or allow the world to change us (Matt. 5:13–16).
b. Hope in Jesus is the anchor of our soul according to Hebrews 6:19-20:
i. 19We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, 20where Jesus, who went before us, has entered on our behalf. He has become a high priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek.
1. Anchor: Hope is to be our anchor in the storms of life – It’s rooted in Jesus the Living Hope! The believer trusts and knows Jesus is the most secure thing to believe in and follow – why because he is personal and has our back.
a. HOPE acrostic
i. He (Jesus)
ii. Offers
iii. Peace (and)
iv. Encouragement
1. This is what helps us stay the course of living a good life that will have eternal meaning!
b. Hope: An Anchor to the Soul by Mike Willis of Danville, Indiana – FOLLOWING ARE HIS THOUGHT WITH MINE INSERTED TOO:
i. “The Hebrews passage describes hope as the anchor of the soul. The metaphor compares the Christian to a boat on the sea; the Christian is on the sea of life. There are storms which threaten to drive his ship from its port - the storms of persecution, adversity, doubt, death, etc. Just as the boat's anchor reaches down to the bottom of the ocean and out of sight, the Christian's anchor ascends out of sight into heaven where it is there fixed. To serve any purpose, an anchor must hold. It must be "sure and steadfast." When sailors cast out an anchor, they want it to take hold on the bottom of the sea to prevent drifting, to keep them from being driven upon rocks which might destroy their ship. The Christian's hope also must be "sure and steadfast." It must hold.”
2. A Christian's hope is their anchor and it will give them stability in the midst of the storms of life. During the storms, the ship may drift a little, but the fixed anchor will bring it back to it’s moorings.
a. Psalm 62:5-6: ”Find rest, O my soul, in God alone; my hope comes from him. He alone is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will not be shaken.”
i. Biblical hope found in Jesus causes us to see the hope when everything else around us is wasting away. It helps us see beyond this world into the spiritual world.
ii. This hope is ability to see beyond our failures, our crises, death, suffering, temptation, sin, battles, hurt, depression and lost culture.
c. Hope is what we need to be holding onto in this crazy world we live in – we see the rise of socialism/marxism tearing our country apart.
i. Hebrews 10:23-25:
1. 23Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.
24And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds.
25Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.
ii. Having hope and faith will give us a vision and a promise of the Goodness and faithfulness of God. It strengthens us as we step out in faith.
1. Hebrews 11:1-3: “ 1Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. 2This is what the ancients were commended for. 3By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.”
Conclusion:
Hope is found only in Jesus!
What do we need to know from this message?
Answer: Hope for tomorrow is found only in Jesus. It’s discovered in the words and promises of the Bible. It’s experienced in His presence.
Why do we need to know this truth?
Answer: Because storms are hitting Christianity hard today in America. Attacks from demonic powers are ravaging going after Christian organizations and Christians.
What do we need to do?
Answer: We need to know our battle is not with flesh and blood but with principalities and powers. We need to know our hope comes from the Holy Spirit. We just need to have faith because that will give us hope – we need to believe that Jesus has our back – no matter what happens!
Why do we need to do this?
Answer: Because faith fuels hope and hope will not disappoint us – we need to be attached to the anchor of our soul Jesus for this turbulent time we are in and for what lies ahead!
