Power of Infinite Hope

Introduction

name, kids, podcast, kylie Jo music

Thank for inviting us

Life is hard

Amen?

This world is filled with heartache, pain, war, desolation, destruction, isolation, despair, bills, relational difficulties, personal emotional and mental hurts habits and hang-ups

I mean to be honest… life is tough

Any thinking person who takes the time to evaluate the state of the world can see that things are crazy

And we are continually fed through the mass media the understanding that we should live in a state of fear because doom is eminant

What do we have to offer this world?

Now, I haven’t been in the ministry long… but I’ve been around people long enough to know that people are hurting and lost and in need

People are out there searching for something

I know because I was once out there searching for something

I was looking for meaning I was looking for purpose. I was looking for something to put my trust in that could carry me beyond the momentary issues in my life that seem larger than I could ever surmount

Did you know that this feeling of existential angst that says nothing matters

Right that fear, that doubt that hovers over the heads of every college student who has ever taken intro to philosophy....

RIght the fear that pops up when you fall down the rabbit hole of youtube videos that talk about the latest conspiracy theory

That feeling that nothing matters and everything is worthless… That feeling is prevelant in our world

It’s nothing new…heck you could read the book of he preacher… ecclesiastes and read that all things are hevel - right… Meaningless meaningless.

like grasping at smoke

Look at our world, look at our community and see the results of this hevel

opioid crisis is huge, meth is an epidemic, depression among every age range has shot up, anti-anxiety and anti-depression medication prescriptions have been written at a higher percentage than earlier eras,

The rate of suicide and suicide attempts across the board have been rising steadily in this country for at least the past 20 years.

What we are experiencing in this world, in this country, in our communities is the effects of hopelessness

See hopelessness is the void inside that says there is nothing beyond your current situation

That where you are is where you will be

Hopelessness is the driving factor that leads to trying to cover up and hide your brokenness because you see know way to heal

We are suffering from an epidemic of hopelessness

Hopelessness that causes us to separate ourselves from our fellow man and woman

See hopelessness causes us to revert to tribalism

The world tells us that you find your hope in your group

You find your hope in your political party, in your skin color

Finding your hope in this life alone means that your only goal is to make your life better for yourself and those who look like you

THis has lead to us as a comm

So I ask again what do we, people of faith, have to offer

WE have to offer the answer to the world’s problem of hopelessness

because we have a hope that will never fail

And I’m not speaking in platitudes.

Our hope isn’t a vague concept or good vibes

The hope that we profess isn’t in the ability of man to help one another or the ability for the systems of government to manage world crisis

Our hope isn’t well wishing… it isn’t completely abstract

Our hope is found in the finished work of the real life person of Jesus Christ

See I know the hope that I have because my hope isn’t found in hypothetics… my hope is found in the second person of the trinity in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ

And that third part is of most importance

Because if he didn’t rise… if there was no resurrection

As Paul says in

If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied. BUt in fact Christ has been raised from the dead

What we have to offer this world is not a way to live your best life now…

We don’t have the 5 best tips to happiness

We can’t offer a get rich quick scheme

We don’t have bandaids to help you get through this life, healthy and happy

What we do have is the power of infinite hope found in the eternal life of Jesus Christ

Peter tells us to always be ready to have an answer for the hope that we have

If the hope that you have is not in the eternal goodness of God found in the finished work of Jesus Christ that is able to sustain you in the worst that this life has to offer and even more keep you beyond death… then your hope will not the true hope that my Bible talks about

See the power of infinite hope is not in the sentiment of hope but it is in the object of your hope

Where is your hope truly placed...

THe world, those who struggle with substance abuse, those who have dealt or are dealing with physical and sexual abuse, those who see no light in this world

They don’t need another bandaid… they need the people of God living by the power of God bringing the hope of God to them in meaningful and tangible ways

The hope that you have in Jesus Christ should propell you as a believer to act

To do something that brings that same hope to people who don’t look like you, who don’t act like you, world forbid… who don’t vote like you!

Dr. King said “We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope.”

How do we do this?

Today’s world is un abashedly marked by hopelessness

We

As the church we have to live into the image of unity that Christ calls his people to live into

Even if you have never put those words to the problem before… you can see the results of hopelessness

He tells us that they will know that I am from the father if you all are one

Teen depression and suicide rates have risen

If you can unite in the hope found in my sacrificial death and resurrection… if you can live in that Acts state of unity then you will see the church grow because people will identify the hope of God in an otherwise fear-filled and hopeless world

We have to be the ones who pioneer racial reconciliation.

WE have to be the ones who pioneer non-partisan conversations that point to a hope beyond political powers

We have to be the ones who unify with Christians on the other side of the boarder, on the other side of the world

Because the truth is that if you are a Christian, you should have more in common with another christian on the other side of the world than you do with a non believer who looks like you

THis unity. The church standing up and saying that we are the body of Christ… this is what the world needs.

Anxiety rates among both young and old alike has risen

THis is the power of infinte Hope

People are looking for some assemblance of stability or constancy by turning to whoever is going to promise them what they feel they’re missing

This is what sustained Dr. King in the midst of being spit on and stabbed and degraded as a human being and having his God-given worth as an image bearer of the creator demeaned

We see people turning to political parties and extremism as the source of their courage for the future

The infinite power that through Christ, all wrongs will be righted. That one day… maybe not soon… but one day the creator of the universe who lovs us and chose to die for our sins us will step in and wipe every tear from our eyes

Dr. King was a prophetic voice that was calling for unity among the people. He called on the bothers and sisters of the body of Christ to stand up and unify. To speak out against injustice. To fight for those who bear the image of God. To bring the hope of Jesus Christ into the lives of those who feel forgotten, overlooked, and discarded.

I know that this country has come a long way… but I know that we still have a long way to go

Christians it is your role to continue to unify to show this world that there is a hope that passes political party lines

there is a hope that transcends race… doesn’t eliminate ethnicities… God loves diversity. But our hope encompasses the beauty of diversity that God blessed us with so that in one body we can proclaim the goodness of the one who called us each out of our darkness and into his marvelous light.

Some people turning to self-suffeciency

That there is something beyond today to hold onto

No matter where they turn, what develops is separation between people and distrust and the underlying sense of “what really matters”

We have to live out this unity in Hope

Actually the rise of nihilism among generation Z crazy

There will be setbacks. There will be disappointments… but as long as we hold on to the infinite hope found in Jesus Christ we will continue to shine his light into the darkness in our world.

This is something that we have to come to terms with as communities

Nihilism is this belief that nothing matters. That there is nothing beyond this life and therefore no good matters no bad matters… Just living this life for yourself

The problem is that, as scripture tells us in Ecclesiasties, God placed eternity in the heart of man

Each of us has been given a longing in our soul that nothing can fill. We