Persistent Hope

Pastor Bryan – What’s the point – PERSISTENT HOPE

“One day Jesus told his disciples a story to show that they should always pray and never give up. ² “There was a judge in a certain city,” he said, “who neither feared God nor cared about people. ³ A widow of that city came to him repeatedly, saying, ‘Give me justice in this dispute with my enemy.’ ⁴ The judge ignored her for a while, but finally he said to himself, ‘I don’t fear God or care about people, ⁵ but this woman is driving me crazy. I’m going to see that she gets justice, because she is wearing me out with her constant requests!’”

⁶ Then the Lord said, “Learn a lesson from this unjust judge. ⁷ Even he rendered a just decision in the end. So don’t you think God will surely give justice to his chosen people who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? ⁸ I tell you, he will grant justice to them quickly! But when the Son of Man returns, how many will he find on the earth who have faith?”

Luke 18:1-8

HOW HOPE IS LOST

• Fear of the .
• Loss of .
• Isolated from .
• Lack of .
• faith.

“Three things will last forever—faith, hope, and love—and the greatest of these is love.

I Corinthians 13:13

WHAT’S THE POINT: Hope has huge

“I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit.”

Romans 15:13

FOUR THINGS ONLY HOPE CAN DO

1. Releases you from your .

“This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!”

II Corinthians 5:17

2. Gives you the ability to BOUNCE BACK.

“The godly may trip seven times, but they will get up again.”

Proverbs 24:16

“Only Luke is with me. Bring Mark with you when you come, for he will be helpful to me in my ministry.”

II Timothy 4:11

3. Sets you free to DREAM AGAIN.

“No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.”

Philippians 4:13-14

4. Fuels you to take ACTION.

“Let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm, for God can be trusted to keep his promise.”

Hebrews 10:23

“Be strong and take heart, all you who hope in the Lord.”

Psalm 31:24

COMMUNION

“As they were eating, Jesus took some bread and blessed it. Then he broke it in pieces and gave it to the disciples, saying, “Take this and eat it, for this is my body.”

²⁷ And he took a cup of wine and gave thanks to God for it. He gave it to them and said, “Each of you drink from it, ²⁸ for this is my blood, which confirms the covenant between God and his people. It is poured out as a sacrifice to forgive the sins of many.”

Matthew 26:26-28