DEFINE HOPE AS EARNEST DESIRE PLUS HONEST EXPECTATION.
What does it mean to be human?
What difference does it make?
Who am I?
Your answer to these questions will determine your life
And revive your hope. Rom. 10:17.
Your faith will grow
as you immerse yourself in God's word.
In order to have faith we must diligently seek God. Heb. 11:6.
For example: our minister, while in the Air Force
carried a New Testament and read it through every week.
In Luke 15:11-24 we read about the Prodigal Son and the Waiting Father.
Our Father, God, gives us much.
He desires association with us,
But He holds us accountable.
God loves us, but He does not compromise with us.
God cares.
When we turn to Him, God runs.
Jesus is real.
He enjoyed fellowship,
He suffered rejection,
He hurt,
He was humiliated, beaten and died,
He paid the price of sin for the entire human race.
Think how much he suffered,
Think how much He cares.
Christ offers a brand new ending.
Paul said that what you have been and done doesn't matter. 1 Cor. 6:9-11.
In Christ you can be a new creature. 2 Cor. 5:17.
The choice is yours.
You can immerge victorious.
If you believe, acknowledge, repent and obey. Acts 2:38-39
You can be Jesus’ fellow worker, 2 Cor. 5:18-21.
In Revelation He tells us the future
A war with evil and grotesque Halloween-like characters,
but God is King of Kings and in the end,
God wins.
We have two choices, two Worldviews:
To explain what it means to be human, the skeptic says that:
we are the result of a chance succession of Monte Carlo random events;
The skeptic’s materialism says that there is nothing beyond this life;
that DNA good or bad, determines our actions.
To explain what it means to be human, The Christian says:
that we are unique - Created by God in His image for his glory.
We are God's children, not evolved goo.
How to explain our intellects?
Humans have complex minds, we can think.
The skeptic can't explain intellect.
The Bible deals with Intellect
God gave us intellects so we could seek Him, Acts 17:24-28.
Repentance requires the ability to think. All men must repent. Acts 17:30,31
Adam gave names to the animals, this took intelligence.
God gives us the ability to make and produce wealth. Deut. 8:18
God gives everything that we have to us. Isaiah 26:12
How do I deal with other people?
The skeptic says that we humans have a selfish gene,
that it doesn't matter what we do.
The Bible recognizes human needs and feelings.
We need to treat everyone as God's children.
Simon's wife's mother was sick. Jesus healed her.
Jesus had compassion on the hungry and he fed them.
He yearned to comfort the Jews, "Jerusalem, Jerusalem", Matt. 23:37
Jesus was saddened, they were like sheep without a shepherd.
He tells us not to worry in Matt. 6:25-26
How to deal with individualism?
We all want to belong yet
We all want to be recognized as an individual.
We need to learn how to be an individual and not be obnoxious.
We need to know how can I belong, without going along with the crowd.
Some do wrong to be popular. They give in to Peer pressure.
The Bible deals with Individualism
The greatest is the servant Matt 20:26
To belong, yet be an individual, we must learn to serve.
Think of three people who mean the most to you.
Are they selfish and greedy or have they made your life better?
Have they cared and even sacrificed for you?
Other people's sacrifices have enriched our lives.
Let us enrich other people's lives.
This takes maturity, toughness, think of Mother Teresa.
What is the Purpose of life?
What's the purpose of all this? Why go to school? Why work?
Man's life is but a breath. He bustles about, but only in vain;
he heaps up wealth, not knowing who will get it. Ps. 39:5-6
The skeptic with his materialism can't answer such questions. He says:
Purpose is meaningless - darkness without
Soon there will be darkness within.
The Christian with his faith can explain life's purpose:
The Bible prepares us for life and shows us our purpose.
Glorify God by your deeds.
Whatever we do glorifies God if we do it for the right purpose.
Winston Churchill slept soundly, prepared to do his job.
He laid a good foundation, not idle dreams.
We can sleep soundly, God is in control.
We are in His service.
God fills us with joy so that we can say:
YES, I WANT TO LIVE THIS IS MY FATHER'S WORLD!
What to do about Guilt?
Easy to look good in a crowd and yet to be selfish and self centered.
Leads to Missed opportunities, pain, punishment.
What to do about it? How to deal with guilt?.
The skeptic with his materialism can't explain guilt.
His answer is to blame others,
to be blind to the truth,
or to turn to alcohol or drugs.
The Bible deals with Guilt
While we were yet sinners Christ died for us.
In Christ we are new creatures. 2 Cor. 5:17
What to do about Death?
Death is a a reality. Eventually we realize that I'm going to die. What to do?
The skeptic with his materialism can't answer these questions. He says:
Death - I don't want to hear about it. I don't want to be reminded of it.
The Bible deals with Death
As in Adam, all die, so in Christ all are made alive.
I am not afraid to die.
LIFE IS NOT A CUP TO BE DRAINED, IT IS A MEASURE TO BE FILLED.
CLOSING PRAYER,
Dear God,
Please help us to realize that in You, in your Son and in your Word we can find:
Hope, Power and Purpose
We can confront life.
We can confront death.
All because of you.
Please give us courage, imagination, zest for life and joy.
Help the older to keep going,
Help us all to get going,
to fight the good fight of faith
and to finish the course.
I do not lose heart.
My Hope is in the Lord. Ps. 39:7
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