Life is tough, and when it gets overwhelming, we lose hope that the future will ever get better. How do we restore a positive expectation of the future that’s based on reality? And is Christian hope anything more than secular hope, and in the end, is all hope essentially just “wishing”?
Have a listen, and see the sermon outline below. And if you want to know why the squirrel is looking at you, you’ll have to listen to find out, sorry!
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A. our hope in the life to come
- No more (Isaiah 2:3-4)
- Nature (Isaiah 11:6-9)
- No more or sickness (Rev. 21:1-4)
- No more (1 Corinthians 15:51-54)
B. our inner life with God
“He who has so little knowledge of human nature as to seek happiness by changing anything but his own disposition will waste his life in fruitless efforts and multiply the grief which he purposes to remove.” ~ Samuel Johnson
- Trials are an opportunity to (James 1:2-4)
- God’s primary goal is spiritual not merely outward success (Galatians 5:22-23)
- We will be like (1 John 3:2, Rom. 8:19)
- The root of our peace will be in our
with Him (Lam. 3:21-22)
C. our faith
Ask and it will be given to you, seek and you will find, knock and the door will be opened to you.
For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.
“Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake?
If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him! (Matt 7:7-11)
- Ask
- Seek
- Knock