something troubling you that only you and God know about? o That s what we are going to be talking about today HOPE

Size: px

Start display at page:

Download "something troubling you that only you and God know about? o That s what we are going to be talking about today HOPE"

Erica Griffin
5 years ago
Views:

1 Summer of Love: A Series through 1 Corinthians 13 9/24/17 Love HOPES all things 1 Corinthians 13:7 (ESV) 13 If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3 If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing. 4 Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant 5 or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; 6 it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. 7 Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love Hopes all things Intro o If you watch the news on TV, read the newspaper or if you stay informed via some online feed, you ve got to agree, it s crazy out there. o 2 Earthquakes in Mexico, 3 Hurricanes, Fires all over the western US, Global conflicts, Political strife, Division, Scandals of various flavors. o Looking at what is happening around us is creating fear, confusion, discouragement o Lots of people that I talk to tell me they can t watch the news anymore o Then I talk to people inside and outside the church and hear about the life challenges: People who want to find someone and get married but can t, people who are estranged from their parents or kids, marriages that are struggling Work places with difficult bosses or unfulfilling jobs People with strongholds in their lives that can t be been broken, pornography, drug & alcohol addictions, idols.. o There is a huge amount of uncertainty people are really skeptical, thinking the worst, not the best of things...its seems like hope is in short supply o Ponder about this for a moment..are there areas in your life where you are struggling to find hope? It could be one of these big issues facing the entire world or it could be something troubling you that only you and God know about? o That s what we are going to be talking about today HOPE

2 The Text- Let s go back to verse 7 of Chapter 13 we are going to take a few minutes and dissect the 4 words.starting with Love: o Love- Agape love Hopes- Its sacrificial, it expects nothing in return, it is unconditional, the KJV of the bible calls it charity This Love is most clearly depicted in how Jesus himself lived..and we are called to imitate him.to model the love he gives us back to him and others Hope is translated from the Greek word Elpizo - and is totally different that the way the word hope is used in common everyday language..in common language we think of Hope as something that is uncertain but the biblical definition is something totally different.it is the confident expectation of what is to come, it does not despair, it expects the best, it is optimistic, it doesn t give up ALL Things This is everything includes the craziness in the world and the brokenness in our loves.it extends from today to our promise of salvation Putting it all together Paul is telling us that: Pt 1-God promises us Hope in all circumstances The very Nature of our God is to be sacrificially loving toward us, he is never willing to give up on us, always looking for the best in us So why aren t we feeling more hopeful? Why is our hope meter running low right now? I believe that while most of you in the room who are Christians may be confident putting your Hope on God for the eternal..but I believe we often struggle to remain hopeful in our present day circumstances. Why can t we stand firmly with the same confident hope we have for our future salvation? Think about the list from intro Perhaps you think God doesn t care about the small stuff, maybe you think he ll be disappointed or mad at you NOT TRUE- remember the definition of HOPE The answer for me is my pride.i want the end result I want we want and perhaps we are worried that God will mess it up

3 I have experience personally putting my hope in my circumstances and not the Love of God. For me it was easy to see what was going well and what wasn t.and put my Hope in my circumstances improving. What Paul is talking about in vs 7 is not a Hope based on the foundation of our circumstances, rather he is describing a biblical Hope that is based on, anchored in the foundation of God s love. Almost 10 years ago our family entered into a battle involving drug addiction, child custody court battles, financial stress, personal attacks and the loss of our son-in law to an overdose. During her 2 nd year in college our daughter opened herself up to experimenting with drugs. This one decision started a slide that had a snow ball effect on her life and everyone around her. So many of our hopes & dreams were shattered and our circumstances became overwhelming. I tried with everything I had to personally fix the situation, I tried and tried to save her and change the circumstances we were in. My prayer to God was CHANGE our circumstances, make things right, get us out of this mess. but God didn t change our circumstances. He didn t change our circumstances, but he wanted to change me. I had anchored my hopes in the success of my family (I had a pride issue). I wanted to have a good Christian marriage, family, business white picket fence kind of hopes..not bad things mind you.just not a solid thing to put your hope into we were desperate this was bad.eventually my despair and brokenness led me to totally lay this situation in God s lap. I remember a specific night..we were praying and God Deuteronomy 20..This act of submitting the situation didn t change our circumstances quickly, but what God did was show his love for us by giving us peace, endurance, strength and hope in the midst of the continuous battle. He used this situation to teach me how to trust him and have hope in and to see a bigger picture for how God uses circumstances in my life to change me for the better. He kept his promise.he proved to me in this situation that he always keeps his promises So I don t leave you hanging, fast forwarding to now, my daughter has been clean for several years, she has re-married, has 4 beautiful girls and relationships that were hopeless have been restored, financial restitution made and many other things have happened that could only be called miraculous. As for me, as strange as it sounds I would do it all over again God used this situation in a radical was to draw me closer to him, to show me he really does keep his promises & wants me to hope in him Pt 2-Difficult circumstances produce Hope and Transformation These 2 verses from Romans explain exactly what God took me through in my family s situation.for my own good he allowed me to go through the challenge of my life

4 Romans 5:3-5 3 Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4 and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 5 and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. Romans 8:28 28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good for those who are called according to his purpose. Accepting hard times as a potentially good thing is a hard truth to come to grips with. But it is a major opportunity to experience of Hope Paul is talking about in verse 7. God has hope for you in anything you are going through.he hasn t thrown in the towel, he hasn t given up, he see s the best this is a sure thing.we wants the best for us. We just need to remember that the best might sometimes be hard and trust that what we are going through may have a bigger purpose Pt 3.-Hope is for eternal life AND today The Hope Paul is talking about is a Hope in the assurance of Salvation but also provide assurance of God s presence and power for those who Hope today. See how the Psalmist in Psalm 33 highlights both Hope for the immediate and the eternal. Psalm 33: The king is not saved by his great army; a warrior is not delivered by his great strength. 17 The war horse is a false hope for salvation, and by its great might it cannot rescue. 18 Behold, the eye of the LORD is on those who fear him, on those who hope in his steadfast love, 19 that he may deliver their soul from death and keep them alive in famine. 20 Our soul waits for the LORD; he is our help and our shield. 21 For our heart is glad in him, because we trust in his holy name. 22 Let your steadfast love, O LORD, be upon us, even as we hope in you.

5 Pt 4- You play a part and God plays a part- Trust and Turn over Hope isn t passive.its active, we have a part and God has a part by the power of the Holy Spirit Romans 15:13 13 May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope. You have a part: Believe To believe in Jesus and the promises in his Word God has a part: the Holy Spirit Allow the Holy Spirit to move in your life to fill you up with joy, peace and abounding hope This confident hope gives us the encouragement and enablement we need for daily living. It does not put us in a rocking chair where we complacently await the return of Jesus Christ. Instead, it puts us in the marketplace, on the battlefield, where we keep on going when the burdens are heavy and the battles are hard. Hope is not a sedative; it is a shot of adrenaline, a spiritual blood transfusion. John Piper (Desiring God) I love this John Piper quote because it brings me back to the reality of my families situation and the battle we were in.how by the Love of God he gave us the gift of Hope Believe me, God does not shy away from the battles you are in.he steps right in beside you Conclusion The Love of God produces Hope that is bigger than your circumstances. It is a Hope that gives us assurance of our salvation and his presence & power in our daily lives. As I close and we get ready to go into worship I d like you to join me in doing what the Psalmist did in Psalm 43- Ask yourself why are you lacking hope today, have a conversation with God about it, he wants you to put your Hope in him this morning.for today s worries and for the salvation of your soul Trust him Turn it over to him Close your eyes and take a deep breath as I read Psalm 43:5 Psalm 43:5 Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God.

Forgotten God. a study of the holy spirit

Forgotten God. a study of the holy spirit ` Forgotten God a study of the holy spirit How does God provide His spirit? baptism with the holy spirit gift of the holy spirit (indwelling) Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed? And they