Sermon Central
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Why Hope?
Contributed by Todd Catteau on Dec 18, 2008 (message contributor)
Summary: In a world of cynics why should we put our hope in God? Scripture gives us good cause to put our hope in Him!
WhyHope
December 14, 2008
Buying car experience
22 years old
New what monthly payments needed to be
Agreed with salesman
Went to finance office
Payments were over the threshold
I questioned
There are no free lunches
I didn’t want a free car; I just wanted the deal we had agreed on
Bait and switch
Since then Cynical
I get regular emails telling me I have been left a hefty sum of money
NOTIFICATION OF BEQUEST
On behalf of the Trustees and Executor of the estate of Late Dr Jeremy
Lawther , I once again try to notify you as my earlier letter returned
undelivered. Late Dr Jeremy Lawther left the sum of seven million five
hundred thousand United States Dollars ($7,500.000.00 USD) to you in the
codicil and last testament to his WILL.
This may sound unbelievable to you, but it is true. He must have been in
contact with you in the past or you were recommended to him by one of his
numerous friends who wished you good. He was a member of numerous
organizations.
Please give your response to this email via barrthomasmith@gmail.com.
Yours in Service,
Barrister Thomas Smith
Can you really trust anyone?
If it sounds too good to be true _____________
I talk a lot about what God wants to do for you
I’ve been encouraging you to place your hope in God because that hope will eventually pay off
Be faithful, be strong, don’t give up – God will deliver
But on what basis do I have that hope?
Why believe God
Instead of IHOPE, WHYHOPE?
I believe that Scripture gives us some real valid reasons why we can place our hope in God.
God has promised it
And God does not lie
God always keeps his promise
From Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ. I encourage God’s own people to have more faith and to understand the truth about religion. Then they will have the hope of eternal life that God promised long ago. And God never tells a lie!
CEV
These two things cannot change: God cannot lie when he makes a promise, and he cannot lie when he makes an oath. These things encourage us who came to God for safety. They give us strength to hold on to the hope we have been given. We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, sure and strong.
NCV
Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.
We can hardly fathom someone who doesn’t lie, because we don’t know anyone else like that.
Most of us don’t lie intentionally
Insurance application, tax returns
Do you swear to the best of your knowledge?
We lie because we don’t know everything
Circumstances change and we can’t keep our word
You get sick, you get busy, you have unexpected circumstances
God doesn’t get sick or surprised by unexpected circumstances
God has proven it
We are expecting a lot of God
We hope that when we die we will be resurrected and live forever with in heaven
Can we believe that claim?
It’s easy to make a claim, hard to get people to believe it.
I can tell you to come up here and hop on my back and we’re going to fly around the auditorium
Would you believe me? Would you get your hopes up?
But what if you saw me do that?
We can have hope in our own resurrection because God has done it.
The resurrection is so important a doctrine because it buttresses our hope like nothing else
If God could raise Christ from the dead, then I can trust that he can the same thing for me
He has a proven track record.
God is not some guy promising to do something for you that he hasn’t already done
He has proven himself
Past performance does not guarantee future results
With God past performance does guarantee future results.
Praise God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is so good, and by raising Jesus from death, he has given us new life and a hope that lives on.
CEV
Through Christ you have come to trust in God. And you have placed your faith and hope in God because he raised Christ from the dead and gave him great glory.
NLT
If God could raise Christ from the dead he can do the same for you. And if you can raise people from the dead then he can help you with whatever problem you are experiencing. God has proven that he has strength and power beyond our imagination.
God has empowered us
I believe God made a promise
I believe he can do it based on his past performance
