Everlasting Hope

Welcome new people

Next Steps

Easter Weekend Coming up!

Titus 2 ESV

1 But as for you, teach what accords with sound doctrine. 2 Older men are to be sober-minded, dignified, self-controlled, sound in faith, in love, and in steadfastness. 3 Older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers or slaves to much wine. They are to teach what is good, 4 and so train the young women to love their husbands and children, 5 to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind, and submissive to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be reviled. 6 Likewise, urge the younger men to be self-controlled. 7 Show yourself in all respects to be a model of good works, and in your teaching show integrity, dignity, 8 and sound speech that cannot be condemned, so that an opponent may be put to shame, having nothing evil to say about us. 9 Bondservants are to be submissive to their own masters in everything; they are to be well-pleasing, not argumentative, 10 not pilfering, but showing all good faith, so that in everything they may adorn the doctrine of God our Savior. 11 For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, 12 training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, 13 waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, 14 who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works. 15 Declare these things; exhort and rebuke with all authority. Let no one disregard you.

Open your bibles with me to Pauls letter to Titus…. and chapter 3.

Titus 3 ESV

1 Remind them to be submissive to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good work, 2 to speak evil of no one, to avoid quarreling, to be gentle, and to show perfect courtesy toward all people. 3 For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another. 4 But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, 5 he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, 6 whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7 so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life. 8 The saying is trustworthy, and I want you to insist on these things, so that those who have believed in God may be careful to devote themselves to good works. These things are excellent and profitable for people. 9 But avoid foolish controversies, genealogies, dissensions, and quarrels about the law, for they are unprofitable and worthless. 10 As for a person who stirs up division, after warning him once and then twice, have nothing more to do with him, 11 knowing that such a person is warped and sinful; he is self-condemned. 12 When I send Artemas or Tychicus to you, do your best to come to me at Nicopolis, for I have decided to spend the winter there. 13 Do your best to speed Zenas the lawyer and Apollos on their way; see that they lack nothing. 14 And let our people learn to devote themselves to good works, so as to help cases of urgent need, and not be unfruitful. 15 All who are with me send greetings to you. Greet those who love us in the faith. Grace be with you all.

Pray:

Finishing the series today “HOPE IS HERE”

I want to take a minute to walk us back through a bit of a highlight of what

Week 1 Held By Hope: What does it look like to come around this hope we have: Hebrews 6:19

Hebrews 6:19 ESV

19 We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain,

We have this hope. We dont drift with the culture, we dont float with the tide - we are HELD by a hope

What Hope?

Week 2 Hope for today; What is this hope were focusing on, what is the bible based HOPE?

1 Peter 1:3–4 ESV

3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you,

What is the HOPE that the bible talks about? “a confident expectation thats grounded in the nature and character of God” Hope is who God is, and Hope is what He gives.

He doesnt change - He is immutable

He doesnt move the goalposts of HOPE. He is hope &

But its a LIVING HOPE

Is it living?

Week 3, last week: not a brittle hope, but rather a HEAVY DUTY HOPE.

able to endure suffering because of what God produces in us as we walk with a confidence in our HOPE as we journey in LIFE. Hope and Suffering will mix well together because in our suffering our true hope is further revealed to us!

Romans 5:2–5 ESV

2 Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. 3 Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4 and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 5 and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

And we come to our final week: EVERLASTING HOPE.

Titus 3:5–7 ESV

5 he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, 6 whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7 so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

The HOPE of Eternal Life.

or an EVERLASTING HOPE.

Hope, eternal hope, everlasting hope is not about things getting better: Hope is found in the fact that Jesus walked out of the grace- and one day everything else will too.

Imagine standing at a graveside. in that moment every worldview has to say something there at graveside:

Secularism says: well that was nice, thats the end

Optimism says: celebrate that life - find something to celebrate.

Religion says: Maybe something good comes next, because of what they were able to achieve.

But you know what a Christian says?

This is not the end. This is simply temporary. Whats to come, i an be sure of, i can have hope for - Eternal Life. That is an EVERLASTING HOPE.

Hope that does not come to an end. Its everlasting. God is the God of everlasting hope.

The WORLD Says: Try harder, Fix yourself, Escape Reality

The Christian says: A man walked out of a grave 2,000 years ago…. and that changes everything for me. I now have a hope

My hope is now in Him

So We come to Pauls encouragement to to TITUS: HE writes this letter some think Mid Mission or between some major events in pauls journeys and so this is good encouragement for us today because just like it was written to Titus, its also writen THROUGH titus to us also.

context, context, context - Location Location Location

Timothy was in Ephesus, Titus was in Crete

“Crete wasn’t just ancient—it was modern.Truth was fluid. Desire was king.Spirituality was confused.Authority was resisted. Families were struggling.

And into that kind of world… Paul says: Live with hope.”

Crete sounds… familiar.

You could draw parallels like:

Crete then: morally confused, spiritually mixed, truth questioned, appetite-driven, cynical Culture now: same patterns, different packaging

it was to this culture, this pagan world.. that the apostle paul writes to one of his young associates: make much of this HOPE. Hope is here Titus, teach and preach and lead the people in this hope.

so from our passage today…. a few things

Three headings for us today

1.HOPE TRANSFORMS THE PAST

Hope Transforms my past

Oh and man did crete has a past.

the people there had a reputation. it wasnt exactly the kind of place you would send your kids off to for a summer internship, probablt teh opposite really

Titus 1:12 ESV

12 One of the Cretans, a prophet of their own, said, “Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons.”

truth was flexible, people were corrupt, spiritual confusion was rife, gluttony was king - and here we have it

But what Hope does for us, as it did for them… is it takes our past and does something with it.

It makes use of it in a way, where God is honored and glorified by what he has brought us out of. and that is the HOPE APPEARING for you and me….

God has saved us from much.

Titus 3:3 ESV

3 For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another.

We dont need to dig up our past - but we can acknoledge it

Reveals to me the nature of my life outside of Christ, and what i have entered into as a result of being in christ. my past, in the light and context of the Lord Jesus, is a powerful reminder - hope showed up on my doorsetep… and now i am fully alive to that hope

our past can be a very powerful thing when its seen in the light of eternity and hope in Jesus.

Our past is our past, but now God uses our past as something we can look to for ourselves to build faith

but also for others to witness as a result:

***take some time to talk about the power of your testimony.

Everyones got a story, the problem is we rarely talk about it. we move on. but there is so much power in you (not anyone else) sharing yoru testimony, your story, the way God brought you into his family…. Because what your testimony does is it PUTS On the display the POWER OF GOD in the life of the listener!

Do you ever talk about what God has done in your life? Tell the story, retell it to your kids, let peoiple know - this is what God has done by transforming my past

we often don’t want to do this becasue were too afraid or ashamed of it.

but listen to what the apostle paul says when he goes about it to Titus: do this with a sense of fresh obedience, direction, purpose, intention. knowing that God will use this miracle to persuade others: maybe this God, can be my God as well….

Everlasting hope means that while there is breath today, there is hope for whatever life has looked like up until this point!

“The resurrection means that the worst thing is never the last thing.” - Keller

2.HOPE ILLUMINATES THE PRESENT

Hope Transforms my present

Titus 2:11–12 ESV

11 For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, 12 training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age,

paul writes to titus and says this…. We live our lives in a way that displays our desire to be good stewards while we “Wait with a blessed hope”

Live the present day, in the present culture in a way that shows a rough world around you that there is a hope in you that is different.

Crete is no different to what the world is grappling with today

….In Crete….Truth Was Flexible

“Cretans are always liars…” (Titus 1:12) Deception was normalized Truth was negotiable Reputation for dishonesty Today: “My truth” vs objective truth …Misinformation, spin, curated realities Truth often shaped by preference, not reality “In Crete, truth was twisted. In our world, truth is personalized.”

…… Appetite Ruled People

Crete:

“Lazy gluttons” Driven by pleasure….Lack of self-control….Indulgence was normal Today: “If it feels good, do it”…..Addictions (food, porn, substances, dopamine) Instant gratification culture “Crete lived for appetite. We’ve just digitized it.”

……Spiritual Confusion Was Everywhere

Crete: “Jewish myths…” (Titus 1:14) Mixed beliefs, False teaching, Religion without transformation Today: “Spiritual but not religious” Mix-and-match beliefs, TikTok theology, Instagram spirituality “Crete mixed truth with myths. We mix truth with vibes.” this can only be real if its a vibe. hope is not a vibe, its a person

……..Families Were Being Disrupted

Crete: “They are upsetting whole families…” (Titus 1:11) Households destabilized, False teaching affecting homes Today: Family breakdown, Confusion around identity, roles, purposeGenerational tension “What was happening house to house in Crete is happening screen to screen today.”

…..a Spirit of Rebellion Was Normalized

Crete: “Many are rebellious…” (Titus 1:10) Resistance to authority, Pride, independence

Today: Suspicion of authority, “No one tells me what to do” mindset Deconstruction without reconstruction “Crete resisted authority. Our culture redefines it.”

My current day is a hope-filled one.

Romans 15:13 ESV

13 May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.

present day hope - is brought about in our lives in only one way

Not intellectual

Not throgh earning it

Not through lucking out

but only given by the power of the holy spirit

How do we know this everlasting hope is there? well today, in our spirit - we know - how do we know

the Holy Spirit testitfies to our spirit, of this hope we have

The Spirit & the Hope are linked:

Romans 5:5 “5 and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.”

Galatians 5:5 “5 For through the Spirit, by faith, we ourselves eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness.”

Ephesians 4:4 “4 There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call—”

How do we know there was a ressuerection? we believed

How do we know a ressurection is coming? the spirit of God fills us with an anticipation of this hope being finally revealed in our very sight.

THIS IS THE BOASTING THE BIBLE TALKS ABOUT. Its a boasting in God, through the ressurection of Jesus… empowered and carried along by the spirit of God

Hebrews 3:6 ESV

6 but Christ is faithful over God’s house as a son. And we are his house, if indeed we hold fast our confidence and our boasting in our hope.

We can Boast in our hope. We can Hold fast to hope. We are people of the spirit. Who know that God is able to do what He said he would do. Thats HOPE.

“The risen Christ is our hope—not only for the future, but for the transformation of the present.”- Jurgen Moltman

3.HOPE OFFERS ME AN ETERNAL PERSPECTIVE

Hope transforms my perspective of whats to come

that hope prevails.

That the future isnt just an optimistic one

its a ressurection one.

Jesus was always shifting the perspective of the people he would encounter. He wanted them to have a revelation of heaven here on earth. He wanted them to have a HEAVENLY perspective of what is to come. What prevails, What hope does is it RESETS our perspective to heavens perspective

What he said to the woman at the well. He gave her an eternal perspective

“the water i give is living water, and you’ll never thirst again

What he did when he raised lazarus, he gave them an eternal perspective

“this will not end in death”