Sermon Central
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Finding Hope At Rope’s End Series
Contributed by Dennis Lee on Aug 23, 2020 (message contributor)
Summary: Today's sermon is about finding our hope when we're at the end of our rope, and how vital hope is, and what we can do to regain our hope as seen in what King David wrote in Psalm 62.
Finding Hope
“Finding Hope at Rope’s End”
*** Watch today’s message at: https://youtu.be/mvqczomZc5U
*** Listen to message at: https://mega.nz/file/aVUz0K7J#OF9hqFyc_79hR7V7m1lDNKJdusr7u5teRMzWliQ1ioI
This message is something the Lord gave me over 20 years ago, and I have spoken on it several times and through several different Scriptures as God has ministered to my life and into the lives of those I have interacted with since then.
In fact, in our little study we had for the Cancer Help Society called, “Surviving Life Through Faith,” I used it as a base for several of our studies.
And so, I can’t think of a better study to begin our new series on finding hope, especially in this present environment, as I receive, almost on a daily basis, people’s concerns and fears over what they see and hear that is going on in our world today.
And so to get this message across, and to give you something to hold onto to remember to have hope when everything looks so glum, I had our ushers pass out pieces of rope.
Now, when we think of rope, for those of us who have been around the block a couple of times, we think about Mohammad Ali’s famous “Rope a Dope” and his victory over George Forman in the Heavy Weight boxing match held in Zaire. Or then there’s the infamous soap on the rope, but that’s a little bit too slimy of a subject in my opinion.
When we look at the Statue of Liberty, we’re reminded that our nation was founded on hope. People immigrate from all over the world because they hope to find a better life in America.
• In one 2nd grade class, a teacher was teaching on the liberty and freedom we have here in America, and how people come from around the world just to live in America, the land of the free and the home of the brave.
• She then talked about how one of our country’s greatest symbols represents this freedom, the Statue of Liberty, and how it was a gift from France to commemorate the 100-year anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. She then asked how many of them have seen the statue, and everyone raised their hand.
• Hoping to teach them what is written on its base, which is a poem written by Emma Lazarus that begins, “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breath free …,” she asked if anyone knew the answer. Finally one brave young lad spoke up, “Made in France.”
Hope, however, cannot be confined to a place. We also have to have hope in this life if we ever want to live successfully. In other words, we can’t live life without hope. And usually the last thing to die in a person is hope.
Dr. Harold Wolf, a professor of Cornell University School of Medicine did a study on those who were prisoners of war in Japan during World War II. In this study he found that in spite of terrible situation, mistreatment, and living conditions, some men seemed unaffected. When he went back and studied them he found the one common thread, and that was a high degree of hope they each had. He concluded that a person can handle almost anything when they have hope.
This is how essential hope is.
The problem today is that most people seem to have lost their hope. Most no longer hope for the best; but rather that the worst won’t happen. They’re feeling like there are at the end of their rope.
How then can we find hope when we’re at the end of our rope?
I believe that part of that answer is what God designed the church to be in our gathering together to worship Him and to hear His word. That is, during these times of gathering He provides a spiritual filling that is necessary for our souls that have been emptied through the trials and tribulations of this life. This is part of the reason why God told us not to stop our gathering together.
“And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near.” (Hebrews 10:25 NLT)
To put this promise into practice and receive God’s encouragement, I’d like to look at Psalm 62 with you, because it gives us some practical advice when we get to the end of our rope.
But before we get there, the key to it all is found in verse five.
“Yes, my soul, find rest in God; my hope comes from Him.” (Psalm 62:5 NIV)
It is vital that we put our hope in something that’s reliable. Nothing’s worst than putting our hope in something that’s going to let us down, which is what we see when we put our hope in anything or anyone else other than God.
