Don't Cancel Hope

It feels like everything is canceled. Sprig break got canceled. Sports have been canceled . School is canceled. Graduations are being canceled. Plans for birthdays have been canceled. Hair appointments....movie production…(name a few) And, the more things cancel the more we are faced with the fact that this thing is not getting better at the pace we want. With every change of plans we learn just how powerless we are against something we can’t control. And the more I hear of cancellations the more I see people lose hope. We’ve gone from, “oh it will pass” to “this ain’t going nowhere”. We’ve gone from, “Things will get back to normal” to “this is the new normal”. All across the globe people are canceling things for the safety of their lives and that is all right, but we are also canceling the one thing COVID-19 can’t touch and that is hope. We are canceling hope. But I wan’t to tell somebody today, “Don’t Cancel Hope”.

You might say pastor that’s easier said than done. And I get it, because events and events aren't the only thing being canceled. Somebody got up for work and work had been canceled…relationships…dreams…lives. Don’t cancel hope.

Romans 8:24-25 “For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.”

(Tell the story)

1. Just because you can’t see past the circumstance

their eyes were kept from recognizing him. Just because you can’t see God doesn’t mean he isn’t present. (elaborate)

They were talking and discussion the problem with each other.

They knew the report of the good news but because they couldn’t see Jesus or what the women had saw the didn’t believe.

2. Jesus is there with you

God is present. Jesus is present. With you. He is Emmanuel.

(Jesus was there....Run)

3. Revisit what you lost

we had hoped it was he who would redeem Israel.

They had lost hope because they didn’t understand, but the very thing that they thought they had lost was the very thing that had happened (break it down)

foolish ones. showed them in the scriptures.

My hope is built on nothing less Than Jesus' blood and righteousness I dare not trust the sweetest frame But wholly lean on Jesus name

On Christ the solid rock I stand All other ground is sinking sand All other ground is sinking sand