Help Me Understand – HOPE

Pastor Bryan – HELP ME UNDERSTAND .

^“This hope is a strong and trustworthy anchor for our souls. It leads us through the curtain into God’s inner sanctuary.”

Hebrews 6:19

EVERYDAY HOPE: “Is based on circumstances, rooted in feelings, fragile at best because the future is always uncertain.”

• – “I hope it doesn’t rain.”
• – “I hope things turn out okay.”
• – “I hope I get the job.”

BIBLICAL HOPE: “Is based on the character of God, rooted in Christ, unshakeable in difficulty because the future is guaranteed.”

• God promised it, so I’m waiting for it.
• God said it, so that it.
• God is not against me.

HOW DO WE SPOT A HOPELESS PERSON?

• They more about than .

^“The tongue can bring death or life; those who love to talk will reap the consequences.”

Proverbs 18:21

• They’ve their .

^“To all who mourn in Israel, he will give a crown of beauty for ashes, a joyous blessing instead of mourning, festive praise instead of despair. In their righteousness, they will be like great oaks that the Lord has planted for his own glory.”

Isaiah 61:3

• They from .

^“Two people are better off than one, for they can help each other succeed. ¹⁰ If one person falls, the other can reach out and help. But someone who falls alone is in real trouble.”

Ecclesiastes 4:9-10

• They are cynical of God’s .

^“But the other men who had explored the land with him disagreed. “We can’t go up against them! They are stronger than we are!” ³² So they spread this bad report about the land among the Israelites: “The land we traveled through and explored will devour anyone who goes to live there. All the people we saw were huge. ³³ We even saw giants there, the descendants of Anak. Next to them we felt like grasshoppers, and that’s what they thought, too!”

Numbers 13:31-33

• They stopped .

^“One day Jesus told his disciples a story to show that they should always pray and never give up.”

Luke 18:1

UNCOMMON HOPE (biblical hope)

1. Is in God’s .

^“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

^“Yet I still dare to hope when I remember this: ²² The faithful love of the Lord never ends! His mercies never cease. ²³ Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning.”

Lamentations 3:21-23

“Hope is not optimism— it’s confidence in the unchanging God.”

        2. Is strengthened in .

^“We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. ⁴ And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. ⁵ And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.”

Romans 5:3-5

^“That is why we never give up. Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are being renewed every day. ¹⁷ For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever! ¹⁸ So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever.”

II Corinthians 4:16-18

“Suffering doesn’t destroy hope—it refines it.”

        3. Is in Jesus’ over .

^“All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is by his great mercy that we have been born again, because God raised Jesus Christ from the dead. Now we live with great expectation.”

I Peter 1:3

“Our hope is alive because Jesus is alive.”

        4. Is by the Holy Spirit’s .

^“And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness…

Romans 8:26

“The Spirit is the voice of hope when despair whispers loudest.”

        5. Looks beyond this world into .

^“He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever.”

Revelation 21:4

^“For we know that when this earthly tent we live in is taken down (that is, when we die and leave this earthly body), we will have a house in heaven, an eternal body made for us by God himself and not by human hands.”

II Corinthians 5:1

“Biblical hope is not that this world won’t break us, but that it cannot have the final word.”