Hope

every now and then we get the chance to Can provide the perfect answer to a question when the Jonathan and Leslie were traveling with Missoula, Children's Theater. They were doing a week somewhere in Minnesota and now this little town has been built where it fit naturally. With all the roads have been made, kind of laid out the way they were supposed to be at. So getting from the main roads to the little town could be kind of tricky and there were some weird little ways that you had to go and they pulled up to this one place and it had a sign there with us. We go on it and so they were like that. I think we ought to do this. Well, they did that and they were wrong. There was a police person sitting over there and they quickly Rose to the ticket and Johnny's like Stephanie Soo. And the police just as well. Tell it to the judge and John's like a while. I will even be here for that. I do, you know, cuz it's 6 weeks from now what all you need to go down to the court clerk and pay the ticket. So that's what they did. They went downtown and Johnny's just fussing all the way. It's like, so you get up there to pay the ticket then. And so, is there anybody here? Now it looks County. The prosecuting attorney is the only person who can cancel the ticket and Donald's, dad, both got to make an appointment to see him. And she said, well, he's here now but he won't talk to you. And so she said,

are you all the folks with the little red trucks and Johnny said that's us and y'all are doing the show downtown in the auditorium on Friday. Yeah, that's a season. What are y'all do for the show? Johnston will wear the co directors and the guy said, so y'all would be the folks who cast my daughter. The starring role

Johnny said, yeah.

He said hand me that ticket so that we'll see you at the 2 one of those exact right answer to this situation. Jesus was really big on questions and one of the things that you see if you go through the gospel, is it Jesus always thoughtfully answered honest questions. Now there are other times when he answers answers questions in what could be view, does harsher, manipulative, or various kinds of things to give this to Cesar Solis. A, Coney, whose pictures on it. That's Caesars. I can just see Jesus sake of the coin, flip in the back of the guy going. The god, what belongs to God? Jesus is constantly coming up with perfect answers, right, answers? That's because he's Jesus. And he not only has all of that ability but he understands the heart of the person who's doing the asking. So sometimes we get like, well, I think that was part of the cancer or two. You know, is what it sounds like happening in. Jesus understands exactly what that person needs. And we unfortunately don't have that The Texas morning is for 1st Peter 3:15, and see about a question. Just put in your hearts. Revere Christ, as lord, always be prepared to give an answer to anyone who ask you, the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect

I can imagine that sometimes Peter would have a question. Do people about spiritual things? How do I get into those heavy things? And the Practical answer, this provided here is every Christian needs to be in a position where they can say why they have this that lives inside of them. Now, very rarely is that going to be somebody's going to come to you. Why you think it's going to be what do you make the choices you make a? Why do you live a lifestyle that you live or why did you handle this a certain way or that a certain way? And those are really the same questions. The same interest is there, why are you a Christian? What is it that motivates you? Or what is it? That drives you? And what is if it causes you to be successful, people see things and they like to have those with your things in their lives and so they begin to ask these questions.

We've been talking all year about Victorious, living. And as we moved it to the last 3 months, starting in September or September, I talk to about face in October. We're going to focus on hold and then we're going to move in in November with love, which is, of course, from 1st Corinthians chapter 13. These three things about faith, hope and love, but the greatest of these is love. So this morning as we start into this new month,

It is wonderful to have hope. It can drive us, it can make us motivated, it can Inspire us. It can do all kinds of things for us. And yet there are these times and they're these moments will be feel like maybe Escaping or getting away from us. That's what we'll focus on exactly next week. The passageways a couple things out. First of all, it says, Revere Christ. It's done any good.

I know what to change it. We make a mistake when we try to be this skilled person who has all of the answers in terms of technically, and I have a good friend who for years and years and years has wanted to be a personal evangelism person. They constantly want to study the Bible with people and and yet his attitude is one of I'm going to stab you with scriptures. You know, the men. I talk to you. I'm just going to say this in a. Why aren't you? And when you try to say,

No, no, no, no, that's it. That's the way that you do. And sometimes if we don't have the position with Christ, in our heart, we can we can lose our perspective. There is about winning, if it's about debating and certainly we see those things in religion and they've been quite counterproductive from time to time. He also says, do it with gentleness and respect. And so when somebody ask us a question, we realize that they're putting themselves.

If somebody ask you a question, they're looking for an answer they're taking information back from you. It's important that we do that gently lovingly respectful of their position and their situation and their dignity and that give us a great deal more opportunity to have those interactions. Faith and Hope. What's the difference between Faith and Hope? Bristled at that for a long time. I finally gotten to the point where, I think I understand a little better face, is what we use on a daily basis to drive what we do and what we say in, who we are, we walk by face So hope comes along and what you're looking at Hope is taking that face that you already have and projecting it into the future. Okay, I'm doing what God wants me to do. I'm living this got one for you, live on, trying to do that, but they're going to be things that come up, that are going to challenge that. What about next year? But about next week. What about next month? we don't have our faith to handle those situations yet but we work on our faith to the point that when those things do happen, we have the resources and we have the preparation to move forward into

capitalize on that situation. When we lived in Houston with the last 7 years, we were there, we lived out on the northeast part of town in the little master planned communities in Kingwood. And one of the guys from the church there was in charge was operational director for the whole thing and he would talk about how hard it was to sell those initial customers. You know. It's one thing to walk out there and you know among the trees and go buy some days. I don't you want to buy a lot and most people were like, what

Trail Blazers. Just got to be sales people that make the initial sales. How do you how do you get past that? Well, for him this company, did he work for a friend with Friendswood development had already done this before in the Clear Lake area? And they could say

The way we did Clearlake, it's the way we're going to do Kingwood. And a lot of times I think that's exactly what we're looking for. When it comes to Ho is God says, trust me on this and you say think so hard. So difficult. I haven't been down this road before. And God can save us and could say to us. Yeah. But there are other people who have there are other places that I've worked. There's other things that I've done and all you have to do is move out of yourself, and look at the way I've intervened in a lot of other people's lives and you start to develop that place where you see what to be here. It's happened before, You can happen again, unless we look to our Bibles. We see these great examples of hope these places where God meets the needs of his people frequently in very dramatic, kind of circumstances, and it makes us feel more positive about the future.

Hebrews 11:1 talks about faith being the substance of things hoped for the evidence of Things Not Seen. And you can look in your version of the Bible and will be different words for that. But basically, whole book is this crossover place where we actually start to look at the substance and the experience. But what's the substance look at God's world and God invites, you and every other person who was interested in him to look at his word. You want to know what I've done. Let me show. Psalms 19 verse 1. Does the heavens declare the glory of God, the skies proclaim, the work of his hands. And if you look into the book of Joe, it's Joe chapter 12 vs, it starts at 47 and it goes through verse done and I left it over there.

The great passes. I don't know why we don't use this passage more than we do. Do 12 or 7, but ask the animals and they will teach you or the birds in the sky and they will tell you or speak to the Earth and it will teach you, or let the fish in the sea inform. You Which of these things does not know that the hand of the Lord has done this. Even the birds of the Skies, the fish in the sea, the feels they are led by God. They understand, they are testimony to the substance that God has in the substance that he makes available to us. And the other side, the evidence that the experience and that's what we can be. A lot of help to each other when we talk to each other, about the things were experiencing. The things were going through the things that we're handling. Then other people can be encouraged about that as well. Really does make a huge difference. When you run into somebody, who's having the same kind of struggle you're having and they can say this is the strategy on music for these are the resources that I find available and those things can be really useful and beneficial to us. Joshua 23:14, this may be the I may have put the wrong person. Does that. I'm about to go the way of the earth is Joshua? Yeah, the one I'm reading is too. It's the real one. I put the wrong one again. My fault. Now, I'm about to go the way of the earth, that's Joshua, you know, with all your heart and soul that not one of all the good promises, the lord gave you has failed. Every promise has been fulfilled, not one has failed. And they're people, we can sit and talk with their people who swim with us a spiritual support group. That says, yeah, when it gets really hard and it gets really tough. These are the kind of things you can expect. This is a network, you could work. And this is a resource that the spirit will lead and direct at this point in time and it's that experience that other people have. Give us the confidence that we need to deal with. Carrie going to face into the future. I don't know what the future holds. Just here. Recently, there was a memorial service here at the building for Lila Gilmore. One of the songs that she wanted. See, if you wanted something at that service, was I don't know about tomorrow. And there's a point in time in the song versus but I Know Who Holds Tomorrow and I know I hold out and I don't know what's going to happen to you next week. You don't know next year, we don't know, but we have to face today and that faith can be extrapolated into the future and we can prepare to be ready for whatever comes our way so that we can use the power that God gives us overcome that. Now life is hard life. Hard for Joe and Joe got so pressed that he finally said to God.

I got a few questions for you. And God said, back to job, who is this? That obscures my plans with words without knowledge. Brace yourself like a man, I will question you and you will answer me. Where were you? When I leave the Earth soundation tell me understand.

Explain it to me. If you'll just explain it to me, I'll stay with you and got this. Don't wait a minute. Who are you to question me? Where were you? When I laid the foundation of the earth and often we get frustrated, when we get disappointed, and when we were tempted to go, right down, dobes pass. And ask that question, we need to be prepared for that same kind of answer because God does have a point in and he does have the wisdom and he is Sovereign and all those things fit together. And when we work with God and for God and true God, Let me get to the places where we really do want to be.

Where did in your life? Do you need hope? Little things you're wrestling with right now. Well, I hope I could handle this. Remember that hope is behavioral. It's not the we're not helping to win the lottery. We're not hoping to get this or hoping to get that without helping to find a Lamborghini in her driveway, or are those kind of things that's fantasy? But there are things out there that do have evidence and they do have substance. And when those things start together weeks, we can see that God is really working here. God is really opening doors. God is really clearing the path and there's nothing. If any more encouraging than the move into the future, and to see that God has opened the door that places in the places where we need to be so that we can make this happen.

Wednesday night in the class in the fellowship room, we were talking about

Those passages that Paul writes in the first part of Philippians, this amazing passage where he says for me to live is Christ and to die is gain. And you can explain that and we can talk about that and we can debate that. But can you imagine really having come to the place in your life where you could manage that? Whatever happens to me is okay. It's alright. My life is for Christ. My death would be a positive game. Laughter that class. I was reading some stuff in the I just came across a little story that would have fit. So well there this lady's on an airplane and she's flying to Cleveland and they have terrible problems with the plane to have a storm eye. Things are really just very hectic and takes a long time to get it under control. I even have to do a, a landing where they are. Don't have a front wheel would like when I get to Cleveland and this lady is just kind of the answer of calm. She's just as calm as she can be. Other people are crying, and they're upset if she's trying to help others when they're all going to be okay. They say to her. How did you stay? So calm. If he says, well, I have two daughters, one of them wasn't Cleveland and the other lives in heaven and it really didn't matter to me which one I see first. Well, that's the confidence that we get through, turn it over to God.

I hope that they get to do certain things. It would be wonderful if I had this blessing, but the reality is, what I signed up for through faith is to do it God's way, and whatever God brings to me, whatever God puts upon me, you also give me the resources to negotiate it, so that it can be a faithful experience, not just for me but the other people see it as well. Would you go out with me?

The God, we understand that faith. Hope and love abide. Father, we know that as we move it to the future, we apply the things that we have our passive. We use our relationship with you to Enlighten and 2 to give us the the leadership that we need, father, help us to use that face, help it to be an active faith. Help us not to be afraid. Help us to have confidence in you and your strength to know, that whatever comes we're going to be in your hand. We pray this for your precious son. Amen. We extend God's invitation, if you need to respond to God, invites you to do that while we're in this thing together.