This Sunday was the first Sunday of Advent as I spoke on being Fueled by Hope. I was very excited about this message, as it was birthed out of struggling with the topic and allowing God to speak into my life on what hope is, how it differs from faith, and what practically it means to us. I preached on the fact that hope makes me stronger in 4 ways:
1) Hope motivates me to keep looking forward-expectantly.
2) Hope encourages me with the fact that God isn't done working yet.
3) Hope frees me from always trying to make things happen.
4) Hope forces me to honestly evaluate my walk.
We had a great day as we also celebrated communion in the middle of the message and read from Isaiah 52-53 before we took of the bread and juice. We also sang a few Advent songs (Come Thou Long Expected Jesus and O Come O Come Emmanuel).
Our attendance has been steadily in the 140's and 150's over the past two months, and we had 148 today. We have had some wonderful new people that have either joined us or are seriously thinking about it, including Jennifer Ryan and Veronica (last name?), Matthew Reed, Jon & Kim Lash, Brent Williams, Jamie, Kevin, and Hope. It is a wonderful thing to see people grow in their relationship with the Lord, and then in relationships with others.
May God continue to grow us into the church He wants us to be.
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The message below was from an email by Jim Bonneau - posted with his permission:
What a great service this Sunday about Hope. But it was more than just the message. The hymns were awesome, communion was perfectly timed with the reading from Isaiah 53 and the message was pure truth that flowed into my soul like living water. Praise be to God!
I’d like to share a couple of thoughts I had during the message on Hope. When comparing how we use the word, we usually use hope as a verb. To us hoping is something we do. We hope it will not rain. We hope for good health, good weather, safe travel, etc. It’s something of a mental exercise but we still see it as doing something. But this type of hope is grounded on nothing more than wishful thinking. What system or person or thing are you putting your hope in that could make it happen? What ever IT is, is really your Hope. (a noun) The act of hoping is powerless to encourage us or change us.
In the Greek the word hope is a noun. Also in the Webster’s dictionary the second usage listed is noun. That means hope is not necessarily an action, but an object. A thing, a system, or a person.
During the Revolutionary war, colonies put the hope of a new nation in the trusted hands of George Washington. The people didn’t just “hope” to win their freedom; they trusted a person in whom they had confidence. George Washington was the hope.
So if we begin thinking of hope as an object, system, or person, how will that change the way we view God?
Consider when Pastor Rob demonstrates faith by sitting in a chair, he is saying that he has confidence in the chair. He trusts the chair’s construction and integrity to perform its function of supporting him. Putting his whole weight on the chair is faith. Hope is the object of his faith which is the chair. So hope IS the chair and not the action of sitting on it and not even the mental confidence we are demonstrating, but the chair itself is Hope.
Consider also the story Lee tells about crossing a suspension foot bridge. It took a great deal of demonstrated faith for Lee and his son to walk across the ravine on the bridge. But as Lee puts it on their return trip they had to cross the same bridge again. This time it was much easier because they knew the bridge was trustworthy. Lee goes on to explain the metaphor, saying if you see the bridge as Christ then taking a step of faith can be done with great confidence. In Lee’s story the bridge was their Hope.
Now consider our walk with Christ. While we are moving and performing our actions of faith, we are making different things our Hope. Objects, persons, systems, and beliefs become our Hope. When we put our confidence in flawed objects and systems we get flawed results. If we have confidence in money, the lottery, the government, family, food, or health, then they become our hope and it won’t be long before we are disappointed and discouraged. So we have this choice we can perform our actions, (have faith), in imperfect and flawed systems or things, or we can perform our actions (have faith) in a perfect loving God and the things he has said and done. If we have confidence in Christ, He becomes our Hope When your Hope IS Christ, you will have ultimate confidence in performing your acts of faith. You will be able to say like Paul that you are an apostle of Christ Jesus according to the commandment of God our Savior, and of Christ Jesus, [who is] our hope. (1Tim 1:1 NAS)
So I ask not “What Are you Hoping for?”, but “What or Who IS your hope?”
jimb
Great stuff Jim !!
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