The Church - Christian Hope in a Dark World

Christian Hope in a Dark World 1 PETER 3:15 (NIV) But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, HOPE What is Hope? • Dictionary: to want something to happen or to be true, and usually have a good reason to think that it might: • Biblical: of hope is "confident expectation." Hope is a firm assurance regarding things that are unclear and unknown • Psychological: To be hopeful is to look on the future positively, to see opportunity in challenges (rather than challenges in opportunities), to “look on the bright side of life.” Hope According to 20 years of scientific research conducted by positive psychology founder Martin Seligman, hope reduces feelings of helplessness, boosts happiness, reduces stress, and improves our quality of life Hope has been shown to: • • • • • • Make you wake up feeling positive. Hope helps you control your emotions Boosts your immune system Improves general health Reduces stress Reduces joint pain (pessimism causes stress which makes us hold the body in the ways that produce pressure, worsening joint pain) • Improves respiration • Hope is essential for creating self worth • Reduces anxiety • Motivates positive action that leads to real life success. • Hope motivates positive actions that will lead to positive results • Hope helps strengthen the immune system • Hope improves social relationships (you’ll get more friends being an optimist) • Hope makes you happy • Hope broadens and builds your mind Where is your Hope? POINT 1 Christian Hope 1 Peter 3:15 NIV • but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect, 1 Peter 1:20-21 NIV • He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you 21 who through him are believers in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God. 1 Peter 2:24 NIV • “He himself bore our sins” in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; “by his wounds you have been healed.” 1 Peter 1:3 NIV • Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, Christian Hope 1 Peter 3:22 • who has gone into heaven and is at God’s right hand—with angels, authorities and powers in submission to him. 1 Peter 1:13 • Therefore, with minds that are alert and fully sober, set your hope on the grace to be brought to you when Jesus Christ is revealed at his coming. 1 Peter 3:18 • For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive in the Spirit. 1 Peter 1:7 • These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold —though your faith is far more precious than mere gold. So when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world. Christian Hope Christian Hope For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. - John 3:16 For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. - Jeremiah 29:11 What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? - Romans 8:31 If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him! - Matthew 7:11 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? - Matthew 6:26 Summary Place your “Confident expectation” correctly HE came, HE died, HE rose, HE reigns, HE returns For You and Me Reflect and Share Questions 1. Do you find yourself placing your Hope in the wrong places and wrong things? What are they? 2. Are you still struggling with where you place your hope and why? 3. Do you know many others who are placing their hope in similar things or ways? How can you help them (be specific)? 4. What verses in 1 Peter or elsewhere in the Bible help you to remember your Hope in Christ? 5. What was one of the most powerful testimonies you’ve heard or had shared with you? Why was it powerful and impactful to you? 6. Anyone willing to share their testimony today?