Hope For The Future -
I would like to speak this evening on a subject that of all subjects probably defines best what I see this ministry defined as.
If somebody where to say, “David, could you very briefly tell me in a sentence what the impact of your ministry would be” it would be the essence of tonight’s message.
If somebody where to ask, “David, when you stand in front of VWC and you look at the faces of those who make up this church, what would be the definition of what you see?” It would have to be the subject matter of tonight’s message.
Yet, if somebody were to question me on what do I see as one of the biggest task I’ve ever had to try and accomplish - I would have to also say, “Getting the Christian sitting in the pew to realize this message is talking about them.”
Tonight I want to talk about, “Hope For The Future”
Do you know that you are the hope for the future?
When we talk about hope we are talking about something that is quickly becoming a diminishing commodity.
You see you need hope for hope and what is happening is people are losing hope in hope.
We all hope things will turn out
We all hope things will get better
We all hope that we will remain healthy and prosperous
But when tragedy hits like this tragedy the other week in Denver (Columbine), when we see things like what has happened in our government over the last couple of years (Clinton immorality), when we see in our neighborhoods
People start losing hope in hope - they become hopeless - there is no confidence in the outcome, that things will be better, because the circumstances effecting the outcome are disasters.
So there is a world walking around in a state of hopelessness because they are losing hope in their hope.
But that is not how it is with the Body of Christ
We don’t have to conjure something up to raise our hope -
Our hope does not lie in balance sheets and budgets, as important as they are
We aren’t in by the notion that the Democrats don’t get it.
We aren’t disturbed by the budget philosophy of the republicans
Our lives and our motivation - thus the basis of our hope is rooted in our theology
Our faith in not only who God is, but what God had in mind for us is the driving factor that keeps us going.
I don’t find myself concerned about many aspects of life that many of the world is concerned with:
Carjackings
violence
going up to the ATM at night
losing what I have acquired
I, as with you, if your trust is based in the Word do not concern yourself with the hopelessness of these situations of life - because you have a hope that is based on a far greater source than any of these items I have mentioned.
taking that thought, as I look at the Word of God I can see that God’s intent for man is not to wonder around in a state of hopelessness.
It was not in God’s original plan for people to be sleeping outdoors in the rain and the snow under a bridge somewhere giving up on their human potential
God did not intend for babies to be born in the hospital addicted to - God didn’t plan that
God’s design did not include the thought that a women would be in more danger behind the locked doors of her own house than a person would be living in a war zone
God didn’t make us to send our kids to school only to have their classmates dressed in long black jackets and for sport put a to their head.
God didn’t make us for the purpose of our teenagers attaching themselves to a gang whose sole purpose is and destruction
So I must analyze within my being that if I walk around with a hope that is rising up within - in the midst of a hopeless society what is God’s intent for my life?
If I am not the Hope For the Future than what am I?
Somebody within my realm of influence is in a situation of hopelessness:
They are headed for hell
They are in an abusive situation
They are bound by the clutches of addiction
I may not know it by looking at them, but when I take my hope that is founded on the Word of God
When I live my life with the hope of a future that is greater than my present even when circumstances appear dreadful.
If I go through my life with my hope carefully tended to, but I never share that hope. I never give that hope to anther.
Can I honestly think that my Lord and Savior will say, “David, well done thou good and faithful servant?”
I read the parable told by Jesus in Luke chapter 19 about a man who was given something (a talent) by his master and this man kept it and didn’t do anything with it and the master cast him out.
How can I sit in comfortably by believing that my master will deal with me differently?
This is why I stated in the introduction that the essence of this ministry and the essence of the people who make up this church sitting here before me is the hope for the future.
And the biggest challenge to me tonight is to not let this message fall on deaf ears. Because it is easy to say - he’s not talking about me, I have no money.
He doesn’t mean me, I’ve only been saved a short while
He couldn’t possibly mean me I’ve been so sick in my body and unable to do anything.
But every person in this place tonight - from the youngest to the oldest, from the poorest to the richest - from the sickest to the healthy - YOU ARE THE HOPE FOR THE FUTURE.
You are that hope because within you - IS THE HOPE THAT IS NEEDED.
But if you keep that hope within - if you never let it out God’s hands are tied from accomplishing His will through you.
-----------------------
We, Christians, live in a very perplexing society that teaches that everything should be even.
When my daughters were in Soccer they gave every team a trophy because it’s not fair that only the winners get the trophies.
We don’t want to say you got the problem wrong or you made a bad decision - we ask, how do you feel about the choice that you made.
And this twisted detour that our society has shifted to has bleed over into many Christian lives
>We want the power of God in our lives
>But we don’t want to spend time in prayer
>We want to have a church that we can come to and be built up
>But we don’t want anyone instructing us as to what we should be doing.
>We want the blessings of God to come and overtake us
>But we don’t want to seek first the Kingdom of God.
>We want freedom
>But we don’t want to talk about responsibility
We live in a time that is different than any other time in history
But there are little grains of salt sprinkled throughout this ure who believe that one grain of salt can become the Hope For the Future.
And I believe that Valley Worship Center and the people of whom she is comprised is one of those grains of salt.
I believe we can make a difference, not only to the people’s of Visalia, not only to the Families of California, but for multitudes of a nation and a world.
I stand here tonight and say as Martin Luther King once said, “I have a dream” But my dream tonight is that the people who call themselves the Body of Christ will one day arise from their obscure lives and proclaim who they are in Christ (Luke 4:18) and that the Spirit of the Lord is upon them to preach the gospel to the poor;
to heal the brokenhearted,
to preach deliverance to the captives,
and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,(KJV)
To become the Hope For The Future
This dream is not the concoction of David, but a vision of this ministry.
As I shared with our leaders on Wednesday God gives you what you need to accomplish what He’s called you for
and He has given this church you. You are the ones it will happen through.
YOU ARE THE HOPE FOR THE FUTURE
The only thing that can stop you from being the Hope For The Future
Is if is successful at getting you to look at you.
If he can get your financial situation so big in your eyes you’ll turn inward and not do what you’ve been called to do.
If he can get your focus on that pain that you are experiencing you’ll decide to wait until complete healing arrives before you’ll go into battle.
If he can get some circumstance to present itself to you that is enticing enough to get your focus inward -
another baby will be born tomorrow
that women will lock her door tonight wondering if she will be beaten again.
your neighbors life may be taken in a car wreck and they’ll live for eternity in hell
IF - WE TURN OUR FOCUS INWARD.
You may be thinking that this isn’t a message of my normal manner - usually I’ve inundated you with scriptural references and so far you probably haven’t even opened your bible.
What is a person who is the Hope For The Future?
He is a person who strates that if you have a big problem, you and God can deal with it.
Who is a person of hope?
We all know the story of David - David was a shepard boy whose father told him to go check on his brothers who were in battle.
1 Samuel 17 has the whole story
So David gets the food and goes down to see his brothers, but little did David know that for the previous 40 days this great big giant named Goliath had intimidated the whole army of Israel.
When you look at Goliath you have to assume that every neighborhood, every person, every ministry has a Goliath.
And every individual facing that Goliath whether it is , gangs, depression, crime, poverty they are just like the army of Israel looking at that situation saying, “My God what are we going to do?”
Isn’t that what happens when Goliath shows up?
Isn’t that what happens when someone walks up and say’s what impact can VWC have in this world for Hope For The Future?
What are you going to do about Marilyn who is out warping the minds of our youths.
What are you going to do about the cripps and the s taking over our state.
You can’t fix the Body of Christ - the problem is too big!
That’s exactly what David heard when got down to the front line - the soldiers looked at Goliath and said, “We can’t handle that!”
Do you know what I’ve determined about ’s strategies? You only need one Goliath - you don’t need a whole bunch of them, just one problem can shut you down.
When that problem turns you inward and you are concerned about you - you’ve been rendered useless!
What about David - he gets down to the front line and he’s going to look for his brothers, David hears the voice of this giant challenging the armies of Israel.
And the soldiers shook in their boots and Saul locked himself in the officers club.
David looks around to see who is going to respond to the problem - a person of hope responds to the problems.
Is there anyone who is going to fight back and reclaim what belongs to God?
When David realizes that nobody is willing to stand, when nobody is willing to serve, nobody has confidence in what God can do - David says, “Let me do something! Who is this uncircumcised Philistine who defies the army of God?”
That’s our of Hope For The Future
>David saw Goliath
>The soldiers saw Goliath
>Saul saw Goliath
But David saw something different than what the soldiers and Saul saw
But isn’t that a person who is the Hope For The Future?
Isn’t that what the bible offers?
Isn’t that what this is all about?
We have a different perspective --
We see crime and they see crime, but we see something different in the criminal than the criminologist.
Criminologist sees the outcome of statistics but the church sees a soul destined to hell that can be saved and become a deacon or a missionary, a mother or a father because we see with different eyes because of the hope that lies within us.
We don’t walk by sight we walk by faith -
we look at burned down buildings and see opportunities
we look at fragmentation and see the potential for resurrection
we look at aids and think about healing
we look at and think about peace.
We look at Goliath’s, at our neighborhoods, at our problems differently because David gave us the example to look into hopelessness and say:
Who do you think you are you uncircumcised Philistine - you may be bad, but you ain’t that bad!
And you bring hope into hopelessness.
We need to keep our perspective:
We have got to stop acting like crime has won
That sin has won
The last time I check, Paul said, “We are more than conquerors!”
Walking around with our heads down, ringing our hands, wondering what are we going to do.
I mean how could this happen in Denver -- why wouldn’t it happen in Denver? Why wouldn’t it happen in Visalia?
The freedom of choice has brought a moral decay which has brought the results of destruction which at times manifest themselves in situations like this and the Oklahoma City ing.
We know the problem, but thank God we know the solution!
So our perspective that gives us the hope of David is that God gives us the authority to look in the eye and declare - you may have some power, but you don’t have all power!
So David experienced something that maybe you and I sometimes experience -
When David challenged Goliath - when David tried to get the church to unite in order to move forward - when David tried to get other churches to join in and be part of the army
Do you know who challenged David?
David’s Brother!
David’s oldest brother Eliab who was so physically fit that Samuel thought that he was to be the king of Israel
The same man that the prophet wanted to anoint to be the next king of Israel in all of his physical capacity heard his little brother challenging Goliath said, “Boy, you better shut your mouth.”
Eliab challenged David and said, “whose watching those few sheep.”
In other words, “you ain’t nothing but a small time flock herder.”
I had to laugh at myself the other night as I was stuffing some envelopes.
We just mailed out a letter to about 50 ministries sharing information that I obtained at the conference I was just at, about how to increase your church.
I looked at the address of this one ministry in particular and the ministry has been in existence for many years. I’ve also seen a picture of their church and it is much larger than ours and much newer.
And the thought went through my mind, “who am I to send a letter about growth to churches bigger than we are.”
And I had to answer myself, “I’m a person who believes I can make a difference because I have hope.”
Why are you bothering those people who haven’t asked for your help?
Why have you become involved with someone who thinks they can make a difference in the world, you’re only 70 people....
That’s what Eliab said!
You’re just showing off!
Do you know why David is our example of Hope For the Future?
Because when David’s brother Eliab challenged David to be silent - David just turned and kept on talking.
Do you know it is very easy to find someone who say’s it can’t be done?
Christians should never be surprised, because there is always someone whose pointing out potential problems.
There are those who said we’d never make it as a church
There are those who said we were too small to buy a church
There are those who said we could never rise above mediocrity
And there are those who don’t think we can be a church of 200 hundred by the end of the year.
But what I see David saying here is: when people don’t see your vision or understand your passion - when people don’t sense your call - DO IT ANYWAY!
If you listen to some of the voices of the neighborhood, if you listen to some of the voices of your friend or family who don’t believe there is any hope then you’ll succumb to the pressure and influence and you’ll never do ministry.
But thank God that David had a perspective on David -- David knew who he was.
Look throughout the bible from the beginning to the end and anybody who ever did anything significant had to understand the hope in following what God gave them to do -
Noah could not get a city counsel resolution to build an ark.
Moses couldn’t have a family meeting to decide to go see Pharaoh.
Esther didn’t have the support to go see the king without an appointment.
Jeremiah didn’t get the ministerial alliance to endorse his message.
The disciples did not wait for the Sanhedrian to approve their work
Even Jesus was disrespected and misunderstood by His own people and said that his family were those who do the will of God.
There is a time in ministry when you are dealing with Goliath - that people who love you, who think they are helping you - will discourage you and prompt you to give up.
But realize they don’t have a clue. I don’t care if you think they are the most spiritual person you’ve ever met.
I don’t care what their biblical background is - what their relationship to you is
If they’re telling you to stop doing something for Christ say, “Get away from me Eliab!” The Word of God says to seek first His will and then everything else will be added.
What gives me hope in this David example is even when it appears that I make no sense to the people around me.
Even if there are those who don’t seem to see the vision.
Even when it doesn’t appear that I have the troops behind me
I can see this example conforming to the words of Paul in:
Gal 1:10
10 Am I now trying to win the approval of men, or of God? Or am I trying to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ.(NIV)
We’ve got to keep our perspective straight on who we are
Because that perspective is what keeps our hope alive.
So Saul’s men come up to the officer’s club where Saul is and tell him, “King, we have a problem.”
Saul says, “I know that’s why I’m back here.”
They say no, it’s not Goliath, but there is a kid whose making the troops nervous.
So they bring David to the King and David says to the king, “I just wanted to know who Goliath thinks he is intimidating the whole army of God.”
And Saul says, David did you see the size of his head and his shield and his sword.
And David responds like a man who is the Hope For The Future:
King, if there is no man who will go and deal with Goliath
And Mr. King if you won’t deal with Goliath
And if there are no resources available and if there are no volunteers - if nobody is willing to deal with the problem.
Then Mr. King send me
It is time the church became the church and said send me!
if nobody is willing to stand up and say that the sick don’t have to be sick no more - then say send me I will go and lay hands on them and they will recover
If nobody is willing to go to the bound proclaim liberty to the captives then say, send me I will go and they will recover
Saul looks at David, little puny shepard harpist like you can deal with a great big problem giant problem like Goliath?
What makes me think a little pew sitter like you can make a difference in this world?
What makes me think that each one of you possess within you the ability to be the Hope For the Future in the last of the last days?
What makes me think that you possess the ability to make churches go beyond their four walls and engage in combat against the that is ravaging our city?
What makes you think, David, a little guy like you - not a soldier, no army experience, no training, no background.
What makes you think that little you and only you can deal with our big problem?
Because David in all of his lack of capacity understood the covenant that told of the outcome when he came against an enemy.
You see David kept his perspective on God and he knew the kind of power that God had.
And if you ask me why I know that you are the Hope For The Future it is because I know the Word of God of what He has place in you
Because Greater is He that is in each one of You than he that is in the world.
I understand that you are the church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against you.
Because I have a revelation that the same spirit that raise Jesus from the now resides within you
And all of that tells me that what is within you is the same thing that is within me that gives me a hope of tomorrow and a commission to share that hope.
My hope is in Christ
My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus and righteousness
and I dare not trust the sweetest rain
but holy lean on Jesus name
On Christ the solid rock I stand
All other ground is sinking sand
With that hope we can rebuild anything.
