Why Hope?

WhyHope

December 14, 2008

Buying car experience

22 years old

New what monthly payments needed to be

Agreed with salesman

Went to finance office

Payments were over the threshold

I questioned

There are no free lunches

I didn’t want a free car; I just wanted the deal we had agreed on

Bait and switch

Since then Cynical

I get regular emails telling me I have been left a hefty sum of money

NOTIFICATION OF BEQUEST

On behalf of the Trustees and Executor of the estate of Late Dr Jeremy

Lawther , I once again try to notify you as my earlier letter returned

undelivered. Late Dr Jeremy Lawther left the sum of seven million five

hundred thousand United States Dollars ($7,500.000.00 USD) to you in the

codicil and last testament to his WILL.

This may sound unbelievable to you, but it is true. He must have been in

contact with you in the past or you were recommended to him by one of his

numerous friends who wished you good. He was a member of numerous

organizations.

Please give your response to this email via barrthomasmith@gmail.com.

Yours in Service,

Barrister Thomas Smith

Can you really trust anyone?

If it sounds too good to be true _____________

I talk a lot about what God wants to do for you

I’ve been encouraging you to place your hope in God because that hope will eventually pay off

Be faithful, be strong, don’t give up – God will deliver

But on what basis do I have that hope?

Why believe God

Instead of IHOPE, WHYHOPE?

I believe that Scripture gives us some real valid reasons why we can place our hope in God.

God has promised it

And God does not lie

God always keeps his promise

Titus 1:1-2

From Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ. I encourage God’s own people to have more faith and to understand the truth about religion. Then they will have the hope of eternal life that God promised long ago. And God never tells a lie!

CEV

Hebrews 6:18-19

These two things cannot change: God cannot lie when he makes a promise, and he cannot lie when he makes an oath. These things encourage us who came to God for safety. They give us strength to hold on to the hope we have been given. We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, sure and strong.

NCV

Hebrews 10:23

Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.

We can hardly fathom someone who doesn’t lie, because we don’t know anyone else like that.

Most of us don’t lie intentionally

Insurance application, tax returns

Do you swear to the best of your knowledge?

We lie because we don’t know everything

Circumstances change and we can’t keep our word

You get sick, you get busy, you have unexpected circumstances

God doesn’t get sick or surprised by unexpected circumstances

God has proven it

We are expecting a lot of God

We hope that when we die we will be resurrected and live forever with in heaven

Can we believe that claim?

It’s easy to make a claim, hard to get people to believe it.

I can tell you to come up here and hop on my back and we’re going to fly around the auditorium

Would you believe me? Would you get your hopes up?

But what if you saw me do that?

We can have hope in our own resurrection because God has done it.

The resurrection is so important a doctrine because it buttresses our hope like nothing else

If God could raise Christ from the dead, then I can trust that he can the same thing for me

He has a proven track record.

God is not some guy promising to do something for you that he hasn’t already done

He has proven himself

Past performance does not guarantee future results

With God past performance does guarantee future results.

1 Peter 1:3

Praise God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is so good, and by raising Jesus from death, he has given us new life and a hope that lives on.

CEV

1 Peter 1:21

Through Christ you have come to trust in God. And you have placed your faith and hope in God because he raised Christ from the dead and gave him great glory.

NLT

If God could raise Christ from the dead he can do the same for you. And if you can raise people from the dead then he can help you with whatever problem you are experiencing. God has proven that he has strength and power beyond our imagination.

God has empowered us

I believe God made a promise

I believe he can do it based on his past performance