You Are My Hope Series

I STILL BELIEVE: YOU ARE MY HOPE (1)

A. Romans 8:18- “I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in

us.”

1. Those are powerful and comforting words that would prompt most Christians to emphatically say, “I believe it!

Our suffering cannot compare to our home in heaven.”

a. But when in the middle of SUFFERING with the most painful EXPERIENCE of your life, you may begin

questioning Paul’s words and silently ask yourself, “Do I still believe it?”

b. Yours and my SUFFERING will ultimately end with the decision: “Either I BELIEVE or I DON’T.”

ILLUSTRATION:

If you’ve ever heard the name Robert Ripley then you know that he has made a FORTUNE off this phrase: “BELIEVE IT OR NOT”. (You may have visited Ripley’s Believe It Or Not Museum in Branson or Gatlinburg.) This PHRASE was the TITLE of his first TV show in 1949 and was also the TITLE of four more REVIVALS of the SHOW leading up into the 2000s.

The whole PREMISE is based on individual STORIES, BIZARRE EVENTS, and ITEMS so STRANGE and UNUSUAL that viewers might find themselves QUESTIONING the claims of what they are seeing. What is fascinating about it is that Ripley built an entire empire off of CHALLENGING people’s BELIEFS.

The program would walk through numerous almost UNBELIEVABLE scenarios, and then end with the words: “BELIEVE IT”. At the END of every episode, Ripley would CHALLENGE viewers to STILL BELIEVE, even if it seemed to defy the LAWS of NATURE and didn’t always make LOGICAL SENSE.

2. Now, what may be easy to BELIEVE for one person can cause serious DOUBT in another.

a. That’s because our CIRCUMSTANCES often shape our BELIEFS in one of two ways, either toward

DISTRUST or toward FAITH.

b. As Christians it comes down to . . . “Do we BELIEVE God’s Word or do we NOT?”.

B. For the next five weeks, we will be delving into how CIRCUMSTANCES in our lives SHAPE our VIEW of God.

1. This series of lessons is called “I Still Believe”, from the title of the MOVIE that we saw last Sunday night about how Christian singer Jeremy Camp SUFFERED the LOSS of his WIFE just three-months into their MARRIAGE and found his FAITH in God being THREATENED.

2. We will focus on Romans 8:18ff throughout this series, because no other writings of the Apostle Paul speak

to the SUFFERING HEART like this PASSAGE.

a. Verses from this chapter are often QUOTED to those DEALING with some of the most DIFFICULT

SITUATIONS of their LIVES.

b. In fact, several of you shared PASSAGES from this great chapter with Brenda and me during the LOSS of our SON—and, believe me, that REMINDER was greatly appreciated.

3. Paul is writing to a group of Christians who had yet to experience PERSECUTION, but shortly after this letter,

these HYPOTHETICAL SITUATIONS would become PAINFUL REALITIES.

a. The underlying question of v. 18 that Paul wants Christian to answer is: “WHERE IS YOUR HOPE?”.

b. “Where is your hope?” is probably one of the most FUNDAMENTALLY important QUESTIONS that we’ll ANSWER in our lifetime, because where we put our HOPE determines the COURSE of the rest of our LIVES.

C. Let’s look more closely at v. 18, and then look at 2 OUTCOMES that are determined by where we place our HOPE!

MESSAGE:

I. WHERE DO WE PLACE OUR HOPE?

A. OUR PRESENT SUFFERINGS.

1. By using the phrase “present sufferings”, Paul uses a GENERAL DESCRIPTION to describe something

very PERSONAL to us.

a. There’s a PERSONAL CONNECTION to it—a PERSONAL EMOTION to it.

b. Behind that phrase are REAL HURTS—REAL CIRCUMSTANCES that you and I are dealing with.

ILLUSTRATION:

It could be the LOSS of a LOVED ONE. Maybe it is a TROUBLED MARRIAGE or a PROBLEM TEENAGER. Perhaps you were informed by your COMPANY that they are LAYING

OFF 20 employees, and you’re one of them.

You might hear or see the “present sufferings” when you walk through your neighborhood: A husband SCREAMS at his wife. An AMBULANCE is called to a house down the street. People gather at the house of an ELDERLY WOMAN who lost her husband of 52 years. A FORECLOSURE SIGN

goes up in neighbor’s yard.

Sometimes “present sufferings” aren’t quite as VISIBLE: A TEENAGE GIRL struggles with BULIMIA. A single mom deals with DEPRESSION for having to WORK two jobs to FEED her KIDS and PAY the RENT. A CO-WORKER is diagnosed with LEUKEMIA.

2. We have all EXPERIENCED “present sufferings”.

a. And it’s important for Christians to RECOGNIZE how SCRIPTURE deals with it because often we can give this FALSE IMPRESSION that if you just become a Christian, then there are no “present

sufferings”.

ILLUSTRATION:

When I was preaching in Terre Haute some years back, I had a young lady, a SINGLE MOM of two boys, called me up one day ASKING questions about our church and was needing a ride. It didn’t