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
