hpc 3

Here is Where God is taking you

B. We often ask, “Why are we doing this?” What is the point? Whether it is the doctor’s recent diagnosis, or the argument you just had with your spouse, or the disobedience of your children you worry will ultimately destroy them. We want to make sense of our world and particularly what God is doing.

We are Meaning Makers

C. “The answers we give ourselves, the meanings we give to our thoughts, circumstances, relationships, and actions, move us in specific directions.”

D. Stories

We are Dreamers

2. Frank—he worked hard for the church, volunteering in multiple ways. He was just snubbed from a elder position, and he leaves the church.

3. Nikki—she is depressed. She looks in the mirror and what she sees gets her down. She doesn’t feel like the house is every presentable the way she wants. So she gets back in bed

4. Bo—he inherited a large fortune and while he seemed like a responsible person, he began spending recklessly—buying a sports car, a bigger house, a boat, etc.

II. Dreams

The problem is that when we think of that better life, we often think of the circumstantial problems that stand in the way: “ We think, How much better life would be if a certain situation or a relationship were different! Meanwhile, God says that what needs change most is us! He does not just work to fix situations and relationships; he is intent on rescuing us from ourselves. We are the focus of his loving, lifelong work of change.

B. We all have a dream of a better life—what could be.

C. The problem is that when we think of that better life, we often think of the circumstantial problems that stand in the way: “ We think, How much better life would be if a certain situation or a relationship were different! Meanwhile, God says that what needs change most is us! He does not just work to fix situations and relationships; he is intent on rescuing us from ourselves. We are the focus of his loving, lifelong work of change.

III. Conflicting Dreams

A. We can all imagine a life we want to live. Such dreams reveal a lot about what we think and who we are.

“Our ability to dream is easily kidnapped by our sin. While our dreams can reveal our faith, they also expose the lust, greed, selfishness, fear, anger, doubt, hopelessness, and materialism of our hearts.”

The problem is that “Two realities exist within each Christian: (1) We all have our own instinctive ways of thinking, feeling, acting, and wanting in response to life; (2) Our ultimate purpose is to become like Christ and live with him forever.”

“This book is written to help you understand how God meets you and changes you in the middle of life’s joys and sorrows. We want you to know how to make God’s ultimate dream your purpose for living.”

IV. Something Worth Dreaming About

A. Your prayers reveal your dreams.

C. Consider

1. Here Paul’s confidence is not in the readers ability, but in God’s goodness to lead these people: “he who began a good work will complete it.”

2. This hope is the basis for his prayer, which speaks of:

b. That they would know God’s will

c. That they would be pure and blameless

d. That they would be filled with the fruit of righteousness (or the fruits of the Spirit)

D. If you are a believer, then what Paul says is true of you as well:

1. No matter what is happening in your life, you can know that God is at work in you

2. When you are working through marital strife, you can say, “We can do this, because we know God is working through this to complete what He began in us.”

3. When you are facing a health crisis, you can say, “I can do this, because God is good and is using this in my life, and he will finish what he began in us.”

4. When you are struggling with a sin habit, you can lean on the Lord and say, I have hope because you have given me all that is necessary, and you are not done with me yet!

5. Can you say with Paul, who is in prison as he writes, “I know I can make it through this, because Christ is at work in me, and He is sovereign.”

V. Seeing with the Eyes of Christ

F. The question is, how will we respond to these challenges? Will we trust, believe, and act in hope? Or will we doubt, distrust, and pursue our own dreams?

V. Seeing with the Eyes of Christ

“ What you see when you look at yourself will condition your hope and shape your actions.”

“The Handyman’s Special.”

2. Another will see the possibilities once the place is rehabbed. The jungle backyard can be a place where the family can gather. The kitchen can be a place with sumptuous meals, and the bedrooms can be places where children grow into adulthood.

3. The different is one of perspective—can we see what is in store?

C. We are all “handyman specials!”

VI. Living with the Destination in View

A. The biblical story starts in the most envious of places, yet it is quickly corrupted by sin.

B. God has a plan to redeem it, but there are many turns and twists in the path. Nevertheless, the end is clear. Death, the last enemy, will itself be defeated and all mankind will be raised to life. Those who have trusted in Christ will be transformed into the image of Christ and live eternally in joy.

Three reasons this is important to remember: 1. You need to know the final destination to go the right direction. 2. The details of life only make sense in light of eternity 3. Eternity teaches what is really important in life

1. You need to know the final destination to go the right direction.

2. The details of life only make sense in light of eternity

3. Eternity teaches what is really important in life

1. Why forgive those who hurt you if there is no eternity?

1. Why forgive those who hurt you if there is no eternity?

2. Why love others if this is all there is?

3. Why sacrifice my own desires for others (love) if this is it?

VII. Viewing the Future

A.

B. Picture yourself there, because in God’s story you are there! These are saints just like you.

C. God will wipe away the tears, and there will be no more scorching heat of trial, hunger or thirst, or anything difficult in these ways.

VIII. Destination Clarifies Values

A. What are those around the throne celebrating? Not physical health, good neighbors, or the myriad of things that consume our thoughts today.

B. They are celebrating the redemption they have in Christ.

C. Think about your life right now, the dreams you have; the fears you have. What do they suggest about your focus of hope? Is it on this world and its satisfactions, or are they on the next and permanent world and its satisfactions?

“Christianity’s change process does not revolve around a system of redemption but around a person who redeems. . . . Christ is our hope. He links the forgiveness of the past to the growth of the present to the hope of the future. Hope for the present is rooted in the hope of eternity. It rests on him. The hope of eternity is Christ, and because I have him in my life now, I know he will empower me to complete the journey so that I can see him face-to-face.”

IX. Conclusion

“Christian joy is not about avoiding life while dreaming about heaven. It is about taking an utterly honest look at all earthly life through heaven’s lens. There we find real hope.”

X. Questions

A. The authors say, “Christian joy is not about avoiding life while dreaming about heaven. It is about taking an utterly honest look at all earthly life through heaven’s lens.” How would you say this in your words?

B. How do we “take an utterly honest look at all earthly life though heaven’s lens”?

C. The authors say that “Our ability to dream is easily kidnapped by our sin. While our dreams can reveal our faith, they also expose the lust, greed, selfishness, fear, anger, doubt, hopelessness, and materialism of our hearts.” How have you seen this in your own life or the lives of other Christians?

I always pray with joy 5 because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, 6 being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

D. Why is Paul confident that “he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus”?

E. How should Paul’s confidence influence the way we view our life trials and challenges?