Grow as Stewards through Faith, Love and Hope! Bible Study

Transcription

1 Grow as Stewards through Faith, Love and Hope! Bible Study Prayer: Gracious Lord, you are the same yesterday, today, and forever. You are our anchor. Our hope is built on Jesus blood and righteousness; there is no other foundation for our faith. Keep our eyes focused on you, so that, as we hope in you, we may be inspired to continue in faith unto the day of Christ Jesus. In his name we pray. Amen. Theme Verse: We continually remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. 1 Thessalonians 1:3 Objectives To understand that hope in Christ is not wishful thinking, but a sure reality. To understand that the hope we have is not for this life alone, but for eternity. To understand that our hope rests not on ourselves or our circumstances but on Christ alone. To understand that we are stewards of this hope and have been gifted to share it with others. Introduction The Apostle Peter writes, But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have (1 Peter 3:15). Too many of us have not given enough thought to Peter s admonition here. Often, when people are asked about Heaven, they remark with a nervous chuckle, Well, I hope I m going there! For many, thoughts of life after death are quickly dismissed from the mind because they bring anxiety and fearfulness. This is not the case for the believer, as Scripture tells us plainly that, because of what Christ has done for us, we know we ll spend eternity with him. What a wonderful opportunity we have, then, to share the reason for the hope that [we] have! What an obligation we have to be prepared to give an answer! And what a challenge lies before us as we live out our faith with the endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. 1

2 What Does Hope Really Mean? I really hope it won t rain the day of the wedding, we remark. What do we mean by saying I hope? We mean that this is something we desire, but we really can t count on it. There s the hope that the dictionary defines as desire accompanied by expectation of or belief in fulfillment. That statement comes closer but still doesn t capture the hope of Scripture. In Scripture, hope means a sure confidence so sure that the thing we hope for is actually a thing we possess. 1. Read Hebrews 6:19. a. Hope is pictured here for us as an. What is the purpose of such a device? b. How does hope function for the believer in the same way as this device? 2. Read Romans 8: a. What is hope? b. How do we get it? 3. Read Colossians 1:3-6. a. For what does Paul always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ? b. Paul writes that these two graces spring from the. c. How do we learn about this hope? Where Does Our Hope Come From? Where does our security lie? For some, wealth is their security. If I have enough to live comfortably (whatever comfortable is) and retire with enough income (who sets that amount?), I ll be secure. For others, it s status. If I hold the highest position in my company or wield great influence in my community, I ll be secure. Any discerning person sees immediately how fleeting these accomplishments are. Those who have attained such goals are most often left with feelings of dissatisfaction and lack of fulfillment anyway. Ages ago, the psalmist wrote about this subject: Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord, O my soul. I will praise the Lord all my life; I will sing praise to my God as long as I live. Do not put your trust in princes, in mortal men, who cannot save. When their spirit departs, they return to the ground; on that very day their plans come to nothing. (Psalm 146:1-4). How different it is for us, God s children for we have a sure hope! Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord his God, the Maker of heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them the Lord, who remains faithful forever. He upholds the cause of the oppressed and gives food to the hungry. The Lord sets prisoners free, the Lord gives sight to the blind, the Lord lifts up those who are bowed down, and the Lord loves the righteous. The Lord watches over the alien and sustains the fatherless and the widow, but he frustrates the ways of the wicked. The Lord reigns forever, your God, O Zion, for all generations (Psalm 146:5-10). 2

3 4. Read 1 Timothy 4:10. Where does our hope come from? Yes, God is our Rock (Psalm 92:15b)! He is our Savior (1 Timothy 4:10)! We put our hope in him alone! 5. Read 2 Timothy 2:13. Why can we be secure in our hope in God? 6. Read Titus 1:1-2. a. What characteristic of God makes ours a sure hope? b. What did God promise us? 7. Read 2 Corinthians 1: a. How does God fulfill his promises to us? b. What did God do to enable us to stand firm in hope? i. ii. iii. Our source of hope is God, for no matter how many promises God has made, they are Yes in Christ. What is left for us to do but to speak the Amen... to the glory of God (2 Corinthians 1:20)! Therefore, in response to God s faithfulness, the Church breaks out in praise, thanks, and adoration to Christ who fulfilled all his Father s promises and is our only source of hope. What Are We Hoping For? The gifts God gives us on this Earth are too abundant for us to comprehend. As Jeremiah writes: his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness (Lamentations 3:22b-23). Yet, Paul writes that these Earthly blessings cannot compare to the hope that is stored up for [us] in Heaven (Colossians 1:5). 8. In fact, what does St. Paul write in 1 Corinthians 15:19 about hope for this life alone? 9. Read Galatians 5:4-5. b. How will we receive it? 10. Read 1 Peter 1:3-9. b. How will we receive it? c. What about the meantime? d. What results from waiting in hope (Verses 7-9)? 11. Read 1 John 3: When you get to your wit s end, you ll find God lives there. Anon b. Because of this hope, we are to purify ourselves, even as Christ is pure. What does this mean and how is it accomplished? In Romans 5:1-5, the Apostle Paul writes about the blessings that are ours because we have been justified by faith. We have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ who has also given us

4 access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. In addition, we who now enjoy those blessings also rejoice in the hope of the glory of God, a blessing we will enjoy to its full extent in Heaven. Neither is this a hope, a trust, a confidence, that is misplaced. This is a hope [that] does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us. God brings no man into the conflicts of life to desert him. Every man has a friend in Heaven whose resources are unlimited; and on him he may call at any hour and find sympathy and assistance. Robert Hugh Morris Application for the Steward We learn more about the hope of the glory of God from Paul s description in 1 Corinthians 15:50-58 of what will occur at the last trumpet. 12. Read 1 Corinthians 15: What will happen to us at the time of Christ s return? 13. Read 1 Corinthians 15: What follows this change to our mortal bodies? 14. But Paul is not one who is so Heavenly minded that he is of no Earthly good, so he offers us stewards three directives in 1 Corinthians 15:58. What three things does he tell us to do? a. b. c. As stewards called to carry out Christ s mission on Earth, we must first stand firm. We must not allow our belief in the truth of the Gospel to be shaken, and we must preach it, teach it, and live it. We must let nothing move [us]. We must remain steadfast in the hope of our resurrection and witness to this hope with winsomeness, confidence, and joy. And we must always give [ourselves] fully to the work of the Lord. 15. We know what the work is. How do we give ourselves fully to it? Read 1 Corinthians 16:1-2 for part of the answer to this question. 16. Read 1 Peter 4:7-11. In what ways are we challenged by this apostle to give ourselves fully to the work of the Lord? 17. Read Matthew 25: In what ways does our Lord command us to give ourselves fully to the work of the Lord? The Scriptures spell out for us our hope our confidence that God in Christ fulfills all his promises to us. God s Word encourages and enables us to endure until we reach the full attainment of that hope. In Hebrews 6:10, we read, God is not unjust; he will not forget [our] work and the love [we] have shown him as [we] have helped his people and continue to help them. Inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, let us endure in faith. Let us show this same diligence to the very end, in order to make [our] hope sure. Let us not become lazy, but... imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised (Hebrews 6:11-12). 4

5 Prayer: Our gracious Father, you call us to endure through faith, to live lives worthy of our calling, to encourage fellow believers to do works of service to you by serving others, and to focus on Christ who lived the perfect life in our place. We confess that we fail, that we grow discouraged and give up, that we get bogged down in the temporal and neglect the eternal. But you, O Lord, are faithful, for no matter how many promises [you have] made, they are Yes in Christ, for it is [you] who makes us... stand firm in Christ. [You] anointed us, set [your] seal of ownership on us, and put [your] Spirit in our hearts guaranteeing what is to come (2 Corinthians 1:20-22). Therefore, together with the saints above and the saints below we shout Amen! 5 Copyright Parish Publishing, LLC May not be copied without permission.