Today we begin a SERIES of Messages that I believe are NEEDED by everyone here. They are needed b/c of the ISSUES and the STRUGGLES in LIFE that you and I are facing. These messages are laid out in such a way as to CAUSE us to stop and think about LIFE and ALL the things that are going on.

We begin the Series— Hope Found, where we will END, with Jesus; b/c HONESTLY it is ALL about Him!

I am a FIRM Believer that our ATTITUDES, WORDS, BEHAVIOR, ACTIONS, DEEDS, THOUGHTS and ALL THINGS RELATED TO these THINGS would be different when we GET a GLANCE, FOCUS of Who He Is.

So over the next few weeks we are going to Look at where HOPE can be FOUND

In His Only Son, In the Cross of Calvary, In the Empty Tomb and In A Risen Savior. Each shows a different VEIN or TRIBUTARY to the whole; each is NEEDED to see the whole picture that ONE-HOPE is there! TWO-It is found in JESUS alone!

So STICK with me for a few weeks!

Sermons are GOOD, but you and I need to not only DIGEST them in this setting but we need to CHEW on them with other believers and seek God’s TRUTH out with others.

Each week our Connect Groups are Going through these same texts and asking some questions of the text to SEE not just the meaning of the text, but also how it IMPACTS daily life. You and I need to be in those discussions. You and I need what Solomon said, “Iron Sharpening Iron.” You and I need ENCOURAGEMENT b/c you and I live in a WORLD that loves to PRESS HARD on you; to come up against you and SNARE, DISCOURAGE, ENTANGLE and even TRAP you. You and I need to know we are not alone and CONNECT with others who are seeking God’s direction.

So I encourage you , IMPLORE you, Invite you to find a Connect group this week.

Ok, that was free of charge, but I must get to this passage!

Hope Found- In His Only Son

Colossians 1:15-23

Colossians 1:15–23 ESV

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross. And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him, if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a minister.

Hope Is Found Because Of Who He Is.

Colossians 1:15–20 ESV

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.

Explanation:

The World left to its own Ways and Devices is DOOMED. The end is TOTAL DOMINATION and DESTRUCTION, b/c the mind of man is DEPRAVED. The MIND of MAN Seeks HOPE out of the DESPERATION.

Hope Found Brings Footing In Unstable Times

Hope Found Is Good News For Our Community