Who Am I Becoming? The Issue Of Hope Series

INTRODUCTION

• VIDEO- Apollo 13

• SLIDE #1

• Life can throw some difficult situations at us can’t it?

• Life is not always easy and for many it is never easy.

• That reality leads us to a key question this this morning. How do I deal with the hardships and struggles in life?

• Since God does not promise to shield us from the difficulties of life how do we get through, how do we face situations that seem hopeless?

• The situation that Tom Hanks character found himself in would be enough to scare most people because it was looking hopeless; however, when the situation seemed to turn from bad to worse, he was able to get through.

• When life looks hopeless, we have to have something to cling to in life.

• What I want us to grasp today is the fact that I can cope with all the hardships of life because I have hope in Jesus!

• Jesus gives us hope, and hope can assist us in enduring the difficulties of life.

• Hope is a complex subject because if we are not careful, we can place our hope in the wrong place in life and come out extremely disappointed one day.

• For many, stating that Jesus is our hope is such a foreign concept, they cannot understand why one would put their hope so deep into Jesus that they are willing to change their entire life’s purpose to live for Him.

• As we are being transformed into the image of Jesus, our hope should be something that grows.

• Once again, think of the 12 Apostles, then the 11. When they walked with Jesus, the did not place their hope fully on Jesus.

• We know this is the case because when Jesus was taken, they ran. However, after the resurrection, they all stood strong for Jesus.

• Their hope was in the right place.

• Let’s look at why we can place our hope in Jesus! We will be in Hebrews 6:17-20 this morning.

• In this passage, the Hebrew writer has been talking about God making His promise to Abraham to make him a great nation. At age 75 he had no children, 25 years later he had his first son with Sarah, who was 90 at the time!

• SLIDE #2

• Hebrews 6:17–18 (HCSB) — 17 Because God wanted to show His unchangeable purpose even more clearly to the heirs of the promise, He guaranteed it with an oath, 18 so that through two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to seize the hope set before us.

• SLIDE #3

SERMON

I. The hope of the Christian is based on the character of God. 17-18

• The tricky thing about hope is the fact that hope has to be anchored to something real.

• For many, having hope in Jesus is like having hope in a fairytale because they do not know or understand the nature of God.

• I can hope to pitch for the St. Louis Cardinals next season; however, that hope has no reality to it or no possibility of happening.

• For hope to be HOPE, that hope has to be based on something real. That hope has to be based on something reliable, that hope has to be based on something that can deliver!

• In the context of God dealings with Abraham, we are told that God not only wanted to make a promise to Abraham, but He also backed that promise with an oath.

• Men take an oath to remove doubt about their truthfulness. We take an oath before we would testify in a court to swear we will tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.

• God does not lie; however, to alleviate any apprehension on the part of Abraham that what God was says would not come true, God offered an oath.

• WE have this recorded in Genesis 22:16-17 where God told Abraham after Abraham was willing to sacrifice his son Isaac.

• God wanted it to be absolutely clear to Abraham and the other heirs of the promise that God’s promises would be fulfilled!

• Christians are the heir to the promises of God!

• SLIDE #4

• Galatians 3:7 (HCSB) then understand that those who have faith are Abraham’s sons.

• Now God made a promise and an oath to back up the promise.

• Verse 18 says that there are 2 unchangeable things by which we can base our hope.

• The two things are God’s oath and His promises!

• When God speaks something, it is done in such a way as if the event has already happened!