Hope in Jesus

Introduction

1. We kicked this series off, saying that a four-letter word is usually a reference to an expletive, a curse word, or a swear word. Yes, THOSE words. The no-no words. Foul language. The words that can quickly get you in trouble at school with your teachers or at home with your parents.

2. We have been clear from the start that this series is NOT about THOSE kinds of four-letter words, even though our world and our current culture often encourage, promote, and even celebrates their use.

3. However, as we live in a world and within a culture that has such an ever-widening gap between the things it promotes, celebrates, or says are true versus what God’s Word promotes, celebrates, and says is true; there are four particular four-letter words that our world (our culture) considers to be foul or offensive language because they are so counter-cultural.

4. This series is about those four-letter words: VIEW, MORE, LESS, and HOPE.

5. In our past three sessions together, we have been digging into God's Word and seeing what it has to teach us about each of these four-letter words and just how crucial each is to our faith, our worldview, and our following Jesus. Each of these four-letter words will challenge everything we are seeing or hearing concerning what our worldview should be and challenge us to take bold steps in our faith by making more of Jesus and less of ourselves. 

A. In session one, we looked at the four-letter word VIEW.

1. We live in a world and within a culture that teaches us to put ourselves first. We are told often and loudly that it is OUR wants, OUR desires, OUR truth, and OUR happiness in the moment that should be our focus and should take priority over everything else.

2. The Bible, however, teaches a very different way of living life, one that is entirely counter-cultural to this type of thinking. According to the Bible, it is Jesus who should always be our focus and priority.

a) A BIBLICAL WORLDVIEW MEANS THAT THE FRAMEWORK (LENSE) WE USE TO VIEW REALITY AND MAKE SENSE OF LIFE AND THE WORLD IS GOD’S WORD.

2. We ended session one with the thought; JESUS IS ALWAYS THE PRIORITY.

A. In our second session together, we looked at the four-letter word MORE.

1. We opened God’s Word to Luke 19: 1-10, where we explored the story of Zacchaeus who was a short tax collector who climbed into a sycamore tree to get to see Jesus.

2. We said that if we are going to make MORE of Jesus and put Him first in our lives, we have to take a page from the playbook of Zacchaeus.

a) WE HAVE TO SEEK HIM OUT.

b) WE MUST SEEK TO REMOVE EVERY OBSTACLE BETWEEN US AND JESUS.

c) WE HAVE TO SUBMIT TO HIS WILL.

3. We ended session two by saying FOR JESUS TO ALWAYS BE OUR PRIORITY, WE MUST MAKE MORE OF HIM AND LESS OF OURSELVES. A. In our third session together, we looked at the four-letter word LESS.

1. We decided that the best way we can learn about being a follower of Jesus is to read and study Jesus’ own words concerning what it looks like to follow Him. So to learn how to make LESS of ourselves as we make more of Him, we are dug into Scripture to read Jesus’ words in Matthew 16:24-27 about how to do just that. 

2. We said that if we are going to make LESS of ourselves as we make more of Him, we will need to follow what Jesus’ taught His disciples.

a) THE COST OF OUR DISCIPLESHIP IS DENYING OURSELVES.

a) THE WORLD WILL NEVER BE ENOUGH.

a) DENYING YOURSELF IS A DAILY DECISION.

1. We ended session three by saying that MAKING MORE OF JESUS MEANS HE MUST INCREASE, AND WE MUST DECREASE.

A. If we are going to be unapologetic followers of Jesus Christ who are living in a world and within a culture that considers what God’s Word promotes, celebrates, and says is true as foul or offensive language, our VIEW of everything has to be grounded in and driven by a worldview that Jesus is always the priority. And for Jesus to always be the priority, we must seek to live lives that make MORE of Him and less of ourselves. Making more of Jesus means He must increase, and we must decrease. As we make more of Him and LESS of ourselves, we begin to see that our HOPE isn’t found in the things of this world. As Jesus followers, our HOPE is found in Jesus Christ and His Salvation. That brings us to session four.

A. Here in this fourth and final session, where we are going to open God’s Word together and take a look at our last four-letter word: HOPE.

1. We are going to tie a nice, pretty bow on what all of that means for our life. What’s left after we make more of Jesus and less of ourselves? 

2. There’s been a lot to take in over this series. Making more of Jesus and less of ourselves is not an easy switch you can flip in your life. And I’ll admit, it can almost seem a little self-deprecating. It can make following Jesus seem like God doesn’t see us, hear us, care that much about us, and just wants us to be His obedient slaves. The truth is that God very much sees us, hears us, and cares more about us than anyone ever will. He doesn’t want slaves; He wants us to experience true freedom in and through Him. He wants His best for us even when we are trying to settle for something much less.   

3. Hope is something that’s a prevalent theme in movies, in stories, and in life in general because everyone has a built-in desire to hope for the best. We all have it in our nature to hope for better because we were created for better. So this week (our last week in this series), we’re going to talk about hope and where our only hope comes from

I have some Famous Quotes about Hope:

a) “Help me Obi-Wan Kenobi, you’re our only hope.” –  Leia Organa, Star Wars: A New Hope (1977)

b) “Fear can hold you prisoner. Hope can set you free.” – The Shawshank Redemption (1994)

c) “jJust Keep Swimming.” -Finding Nemo

d) “Hope is like your car keys. Easy to lose, but if you dig around, it’s usually close by.” – Superman, Justice League (2017)

e) “"Brothers, what we do in life echoes in eternity” -Gladiator

Words to Live By

A. Scripture Background

1. The book of Romans is one of the books you hope every new follower of Jesus reads. The truth of the Gospel and its life-changing power are so evident within the verses and chapters it contains.  

2. Something important to remember before we look at this Scripture together, Romans was written a man named Paul to a group of new followers of Jesus in Rome. Jesus’ disciples have been commissioned by Him (after His death, resurrection, and assentation to Heaven) to go out and spread the Good News of Jesus. Many new followers of Jesus are being added. Paul is one of them.

1. One thing Paul was having to write over and over was this idea that a greater purpose existed in life than what the world had to offer. Sound familiar? It should! We’ve talked about this for four sessions now! Paul wanted the people in Rome to know what being a Jesus follower was all about. 

Lets look at Romans 14:7-9

Romans 14:7–9 ESV

For none of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself. For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s. For to this end Christ died and lived again, that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living.

a) As with many of the other early churches, there were lots of different ideas floating around about what Christianity was, the way you were supposed live, what commands in Scripture were most important to follow, how you were supposed to engage in the culture, what’s allowed and not allowed, how to hold church meetings, etc.

b) Ironically, the followers of Jesus in Rome had very similar issues to the struggles we see today. Paul is writing this part of his letter to tell the new Christians and churchgoers how to love one another, get along with one another, treat one another, and ultimately what it means to be a Jesus follower.

c) Specifically, Paul is trying to teach Christians to stop judging each other regarding secondary matters of religious practice about food and holy days. Paul is telling these Jesus followers to focus on peace and sharing Jesus instead of fighting each other over who is right/wrong on things that are less important than sharing the Good News of Jesus.

d) Paul is very clear in pointing out to these newer Christians that no one who has given his or her life to Jesus is allowed to be a self-seeker; that is against what it means to be a Jesus follower. The goal of our lives as followers of Jesus is not to please ourselves but to please Him. This is what God has called us to!

Application

A. What does this mean for us? How do we find HOPE in what God calls us to?

1. YOUR LIFE IS NOT YOUR OWN.

a) One of the issues Paul is addressing here is that, just as in our day, people believe mostly that their lives are their own. They get to make their own decisions. It’s my body. It’s my life. It’s my reputation. It’s my truth. After all, it’s my happiness that is the most important thing. These are all phrases we hear on the regular. Paul is saying that if you claim to be a follower of Jesus, this is not the case. As a follower of Jesus, you are not your own. Your life belongs to God. Your life, your body, your everything was bought with the very blood of Jesus.

b) That may sound weird like God owns us. What does that make us? Are we some sort of slave? Well, think of it like this. Everyone is living for one thing or another. Everyone is selling themselves to one thing or another. You belong to one thing or another.

c) Essentially, you are either a slave to your sin that will destroy you, or you are a servant of the God that loves you. If you are living your life apart from God, apart from a relationship with Jesus, your life is a slave to sin. If you have given over your life to Jesus, you are no longer a slave to your sin; you are a child of God. Through Jesus, God adopts us into His family and gives us the hope and freedom we all so desperately need and want. 

2. EVERYONE GOES BEFORE GOD’S JUDGEMENT.

a) Paul then goes on to write that everyone will someday stand before God’s judgment. That’s the point of your life where you either have all the hope you could ever need, or you have the total realization that you’ve completely placed your hope in things that were empty promises. Everyone will account for the choices they made in life. God’s Word is clear that at that given time, every knee will bow, and every tongue will confess that Jesus is Lord. The question at that moment will be, is Jesus your Lord.

b) The key difference is if you acknowledge Jesus as your Lord and Savior before that or will you have chosen to spend forever apart from God.

3. OUR HOPE IS FOUND IN JESUS

a) The dictionary says HOPE is that person or thing in which your expectations are centered. To believe, desire, to place trust, rely on.

b) Some people would say, “My hope depends on what I can get for me because I don’t even know if I believe in this God you keep talking about. I can’t see Him, and from the way things are going with me, He doesn’t appear to care much about my happiness or wellbeing. These people point out the things they dont like in their life. Like their money situation or family dynamics. They live their lives and place their hope in whatever seems to satisfy, for now.

But heres what the Bible says to these doubts:

(1) We know that you are not a mistake. You were created in the very image of God. (Genesis 1:26-27)

(2) We know that you have not been abandoned or given up on. (Acts 17:25)

(3) We know that God never changes. (Romans 5:8)

(4) We know that you can have this hope Jesus offers. (John 10:10)

a) You can have purpose. You can have a life with more meaning than just living for yourself. You can have a Father who won’t walk out on you. You can have a Savior who won’t keep moving the target. But not if you aren’t willing to take a risk and place your hope in Him.

b) Others of you in here would say, “If I’m honest, I’ve gotten distracted. I’ve allowed my hope to drift into other things. I’ve allowed myself to place other people, other plans, other stuff in the place where Jesus belongs. If I’m honest with myself and with God, I’ve bought into the lie that it’s all about me. I’ve stopped chasing after Him and am chasing something else.”

(1) The Good News is called good news for a reason. God’s mercy is real, and His grace is abundant.

(2) Do you really think that a God who loves you so much that He sacrificed His own so that you could have life to the full with Him wouldn’t welcome you back home?

Teacher’s Note: Take a moment here to walk students through the Gospel.

[Bad, Worst, Good, and Best News]

Conclusion

A. God literally sent a part of Himself in Jesus to die a painful death on a cross. He literally conquered all sin that was ever committed and would ever be committed in that moment. And if that wasn’t enough, He conquered death itself and came back to be with us. That is a God who deeply, deeply loves you. That is a God who cares about you.

B. We have hope.

1. We have hope that when we make it less about ourselves and more about Jesus

2. That God Himself will bring us into His presence.

3. He will bring us into way more than we could have ever imagined on our own.

4. He will mold and shape us to be more like Jesus.

5. He brings us into the fullness of Himself.

C. Why have a different VIEW grounded in a biblical worldview? Why make MORE of Jesus? Why make LESS of myself? Especially when we live in a world and within a culture that teaches us to put ourselves first; that it is our wants, our desires, our truth, and our happiness in the moment that should be our focus and should take priority over everything else. Why do any of this when it’s difficult and goes against our own sinful nature as well as constantly putting us at odds with the culture we have to live in?

D. The answer is because we want to be followers of Jesus. We want to do whatever is required to grow in our faith and in our likeness of Him. We want to be more than mere believers in Jesus. The Bible says that even the demons believe Jesus is the Son of God. We want to be people who are saved and who walk in the fullness of life that Jesus promised.

E. The answer is because “There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death. Even in laughter the heart my ache, and the end of joy may be grief.” (Proverbs 14:12-13)

1. There is another translation of this verse that puts it a little more plainly. “There’s a way of life that looks harmless enough; look again—it leads straight to hell. Sure, those people appear to be having a good time, but all that laughter will end in heartbreak.”

F. The answer is because there is way more HOPE and a lot less brokenness in the arms of Jesus and His purpose for your life.

G. So, If we are going to be unapologetic followers of Jesus Christ who are living in a world and within a culture that considers what God’s Word promotes, celebrates, and says is true as foul or offensive language. . .

1. Our VIEW of everything has to be grounded in and driven by a worldview that Jesus is always the priority.

2. And for Jesus to always be the priority, we must seek to live lives that seek MORE of Him and less of ourselves.

3. Making more of Jesus means He must increase, and we must decrease.

4. As we make more of Him and LESS of ourselves, we begin to see that our HOPE isn’t found in the things of this world. As Jesus followers, our HOPE is found in Jesus Christ and His Salvation.

[Close in Prayer]