CERRO GORDO CHURCH OF THE BRETHREN
September 1, 2024
The Lord Promises to Give Us Hope
Isaiah 40:31
Depending on the version of the Bible you use, the word "hope" can be
found 130 times in the King James version and as often as 167 times in
the New International version. There are different reasons in scripture
the word hope is used. The most common reason has to do with God’s
peoples’ trust and belief in God. This sentence most accurately states
the reason this word is used so often in scripture. Simply stated. In the
Bible, hope is often used to mean a confident expectation of what God
has promised. That gets back to our sermon title. Our hope is based on
God’s promises to His people.
Almost all of us use the word hope on a regular basis. Whether
someone is a Christian or not, in many of the situations we all face in
life, hope will enter our discussions. When we see someone we haven’t
seen for a while we often times will try to catch up on what has been
going on in their life. If a difficulty becomes part of the conversation
many of us may end our conversation with that person with, “I will be
praying for you and I hope everything works out for you.” Whether it
has to do with health, finances, relationships, a change of jobs or a
move, we will often say to one another, “I hope everything will be
okay.”
Let’s look at just a few places in scripture where the Lord used God’s
people to build up those in despair with hope. Job was the most
devastated person in scripture. Virtually everything was taken from
him. We have talked of his trials before. To begin with some of his
“friends” were not any help. But the Lord brought others into his life to
encourage him to continue to trust in the Lord. At one point a man by
the name of Zophar said this to Job, “You will be secure because there
is hope; you will look about you and take your rest in safety.” Job was a
long way from believing this would ever happen again for him, but the
Lord reminded Job there is hope if you trust and believe.
In Psalms King David says, this, “Love the Lord, all you saints; the Lord
preserves the faithful but the proud he pays back in full. Be strong and
take heart, all you who hope in the Lord.”
In the midst of Israels captivity, Jeremiah says this in chapter 17, verse
7. “Blessed is the man that trusts in the Lord, and whose hope the Lord
is.” In that particular verse, the NIV translates hope in an even stronger
way by using the word confidence. The Living Bible covers all the bases
by saying whose hope and confidence is in the Lord.
These are just a few examples of the hope mentioned in the Old
Testament. Jesus did not use the word hope much at all while he was
teaching the people, because God was there in the flesh with the
people. However, after Jesus’ death and resurrection the apostles
spoke of our hope many, many times. After Jesus ascended back to the
Father, the message of hope is what the apostles shared with the
people. It was a positive message assuring the people you can put your
trust, your hope in Christ.
In Romans 5:1—2 Paul is encouraging the believers in Rome this way.
He says, “Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we
have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ through whom we
have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And
we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.”
The last verses I will share with you today is found in Hebrews 6. These
verses talk of the certainty of God’s promises to us. Beginning with the
17 th verse we see this promise to God’s people. “Because God wanted
to make the unchanging nature of His purpose very clear to the heirs of
what was promised, He confirmed it with an oath. God did this so that,
by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we
who have fled to take hold of the hope offered to us may be greatly
encouraged. We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and
secure.” The hope being mentioned is salvation through Jesus Christ
our Lord. All throughout scripture we are told we can trust in the Lord
for our future is in Him and in Him alone.
I hope you have been encouraged by the promise of God’s hope for all
who believe. In some ways I should have begun our look at God’s
promises with the promise that God gives us about hope because hope
is the starting point for believing and receiving all the other promises of
God.
In closing I would like to go back to the scripture we started with today.
However, I am going to go back 2 more verses and beginning with verse
29. “He gives strength to the weary, and increases the power of the
weak.” Have you ever been there, felt like that? Let us go on. “Even
youths grow tired and weary and young men stumble and fall; but
those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on
wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary; they will walk and
not be faint. Amen.”
Pastor Larry
Announcements:
Sunday School 9:00
Tuesday 9:30 Bible Study
Thursday, September 5 6:00 Commissions and Board
KYB is on-going at the Brethren Church on Wednesdays after
school for 3rd through 5th graders.
Hard copies of the September/October newsletter are in the
back.
We need volunteers for the children’s message during worship
and for story lessons in the nursery. Please sign up.
Pastor Larry Traxler (217) 454-2362
Donation Box for September: utilities
First Sundays: Food Bank donations
Keep in Your Prayers
Ruth Siburt; Sharon Traughber; Dorthea Wood; Mike and Kathy
Gentry; Steve Needham; Larry Traxler; Nancy Fansler; Stacie
Warren; Nancy Gorrell; Nora Hanaver; Ron and Kathleen
Petersen; Doug Larrick; Shirley Clarkson; David and Jan Bower;
Debbie Garvey Leibrock; Mike and Carol Seidenstricker; Adiline
Young; Mayo and Darlene Hanaver; many unspoken requests;
victims of shootings and of natural disasters; shut-ins; the
Nigerian church; the Haitian church; those in the middle of war
and violence; military and other services and their families;
Brethren Volunteer Service workers; Disaster project workers
District Prayer Calendar: Pray for the Rock Community
congregation in Fairfield, and for the Church of the Brethren in
Rwanda, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Uganda.
No comments:
Post a Comment