Finding True Hope (Resurection)

Good morning everyone, I trust you are all having a great morning so far. What a great time of worship we have had so far this morning. It is such a blessing to be a part of a church that loves to worship the Lord. You know, normally right now we would be inviting the kids out to go to a special class for them where they could learn about the Lord in a way that makes sense to them. But this morning we are going to all just hang out together because its Easter and its a great day to worship together, isn’t it.

Welcome those of you that are online and are joining us as part of our extended family this Easter, we wish you were here with us, but I know there has been quite a bit of illness going around right now, so we are grateful for the technology that allows you to join us here this morning.

You know we have had some pretty cool things happen so far this morning. We had an early service where we were encouraged as believers through the resurrection of Christ. We had a wonderful full service breakfast together and then we got to just hang out and and enjoy each others company for the last little bit while the praise team got ready for us to have an amazing time together this morning. We even had a time for the kids to learn a little about the resurrection on their level…I hope all you guys enjoyed Mrs Beth and her story using the resurrection eggs.

Why do we do all of this though? I mean, why ware we celebrating like this and why are were people out here at 630am this morning to start making breakfast for everyone? Why would we all torture ourselves to do all of this on a day that most of the country is actually sleeping in and getting ready to go to their relatives for a fancy dinner together? We do we come here when we are tired and struggling with various personal issues and stress and everything else that is going on in life…Why do we do that? Well, I believe we do that because we are searching for hope, aren’t we? I mean, we are searching for hope to know that this stress we are experiencing will be for a reason and that somehow everything we all be ok. We are searching for hope for the strength to make it through another day and the hope of having the finances to pay necessary bills, aren’t we? Really, I think whether we are here every week, or every once and a while, I think we are all searching for hope of some kind...

That’s actually what we have been looking at over the last few weeks. We have been in a series called, “Searching for Hope” We have spent some time over the last few weeks looking at different people and how they were searching for hope in different ways. We also defined Hope: a feeling of expectation and desire for a certain thing to happen.We saw that when you search for hope in people that people we fail you…We saw that when you search for hope in knowledge that knowledge will fail you…and last week we saw that when you search for hope in money, that money will fail you… If all of these things fail us, then where can we find true hope? That is what we are going to look at this morning. This morning we are going to see how to go about

Finding True Hope

You see, we know that when we look for hope in the wrong places we are left disappointed and frustrated…so what do we do, how do we know where to look so that we are hopeful and not hopeless. Listen, this morning Im talking to people that have made the decision to follow Jesus and Im talking to people who have not made the decision to follow Jesus…We all find ourselves searching for hope and needing to cling to something. Listen, I want to share a story with you all because I want you to know that I truly do understand what it is to search for hope…

About 6 years ago I was serving as the associate pastor at a 200 person church in Lafayette, IN. We had purchased a building and it needed to be remodeled into a church. Well, I spent countless hours finding this location and then countless hours securing financing for this remodel and then I was placed as the general contractor and construction superintendent based on my experience in the trades. This led to me spending up to 100 hours a week basically living at the new church building because we were on a pretty tight timeframe of when we needed to be out of our old rental. I set up a desk there at the building and I worked with the trades, and I worked with volunteers and I worked on finances, and I worked on my normal full time job as pastor all from there. I’ll tell you what....you can do that for a little while, but that is not sustainable and I came to a point that I began to cry out to God because I felt completely hopeless during this time. I felt like nothing was working and I felt like I was alone in this million dollar project…I felt abandoned and I can remember crying out to God for help…Then I heard a song that really spoke to me. There is a song by a band called Sidewalk Prophets I remember hearing that song and breaking down in the car one morning. The second verse of this song says

“Im the pastor at your church, For all these years you've listened to my words, You think I know all the answers, But I've got doubts and questions too, Behind this smile I'm really just like you, Afraid and tired and insecure”

That just really did me in. You see, I was searching for hope and I didn’t realize that I was searching in the wrong place. I was searching for hope in those around me to lift me up when I was feeling down. I was searching for hope in the friendships that were beginning to unravel…I was searching for hope in the idea that if I could just get through this then everything will be better…The problem is that I had been telling myself that for far to long, and there was always something else. I was searching for hope in myself and in my ability to just deal with it and keep going. The problem is that all of those things I had been searching for hope in were continuing to fail me over and over again, and I don’t think Im the only one that ever feels that way...

Here’s the deal....just like we have seen over the last few weeks and just like you know to be true in your own life…Every-time we search for hope outside of Christ, it fails us miserably. Every-time…not sometimes, not occasionally…every-time we search for hope away from Jesus that hope lets us down at some point…So today we are going to look at how to find for hope and where to look when we are feeling hopeless… Now, many of you already know a-lot of what we are goin to talk about this morning, and thats ok…If you have already heard this stuff, then let me ask you this morning to listen to the truth of Scripture as I share it and see how this truth impacts your life and your situation. This morning let’s…

Meet Jesus

Jesus is a man that came on the scene in an amazing way, right.

Now, in case you don’t remember, Mary, Jesus’ mother, was a virgin when she gave birth to Jesus. She and Joseph traveled to Bethlehem and they were looking for a place to stay the night and the only place they could find was the place the animals would have stayed in. Basically…the barn. Jesus was born in the middle of where the animals would have been and his first crib was a feeding trough…Now, thats a story for another day…But, this is how Jesus came onto the scene and started his life. Then when he was 12 he was making waves in the temple as he was teaching everyone the truths of Scripture. Then as Jesus was older around 30 years old he begins traveling and healing and teaching everywhere he went. He even gathered some people with him to follow him and see the things that he was going to do. Jesus went through and turned water into wine, he drove evil spirits out of people, he healed sicknesses, he took the disease of leprosy away from people, he did all of these things and so much more. Look over at

Matthew 9:32–33 (ESV)

As they were going away, behold, a demon-oppressed man who was mute was brought to him. And when the demon had been cast out, the mute man spoke. And the crowds marveled, saying, “Never was anything like this seen in Israel.”

He both cleared the demon and open the mouth of a person who could not speak. I mean this is the type of thing that Jesus is doing. Then he also spends a tremendous amount of time teaching people. Check this out in

Matthew 5:1–2 (ESV)

Seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and when he sat down, his disciples came to him. And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying:

Then after this Jesus started in on the most famous sermon that has ever been preached. This is what is called the “Sermon on the Mount” and this sermon takes up 3 entire chapters of the book of Matthew and it ends like this,

Matthew 7:28–29 (ESV)

And when Jesus finished these sayings, the crowds were astonished at his teaching, for he was teaching them as one who had authority, and not as their scribes.

You see, Jesus was different than anyone else that had ever existed…Jesus started in a manger, in a feeding trough and now has an extremely large following from teaching and miracles. Well, thats not all Jesus did…check this out

Matthew 16:21–23 (ESV)

From that time Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, “Far be it from you, Lord! This shall never happen to you.” But he turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me. For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.”

Jesus is a man that told people he would suffer at the hands of the elders and scribes and chief priest. Jesus predicted his own death…but then he said 3 days later he would be raised from the dead…That is a pretty big claim isn’t it? Jesus has taught us about love and care and about sending the help of the Holy Spirit to comfort us and guide us, thats all really good…but now he has predicted his death and resurrection...

Well last week we saw what happened with Judas, one of Jesus’ followers. we saw that Judas betrayed Jesus and caused him to be arrested and beaten.

John 19:1–3 (ESV)

Then Pilate took Jesus and flogged him. And the soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his head and arrayed him in a purple robe. They came up to him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” and struck him with their hands.

Ok, so we have a man that was born in a manger, lived a sinless life even though he was very tempted…which is a whole other story…But he lived a sinless life, then was beaten and disregarded as a criminal…Why....why did he do all of this?

Well, because you and are are not perfect and we have sinned, we see that in

Romans 3:23 (ESV)

for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

and there are consequences to our sin.

Romans 6:23 (ESV)

For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

That is real…there is a real price that must be paid for our very real sin. Jesus paid that price with his death

Romans 5:8 (ESV)

but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

The price has been paid…However, how do we know that this man is able to pay that price? Remember Jesus predicted his death and resurrection. Well, if he doesn’t pull it off, then his death is meaningless…So, where do we place our hope? Our hope comes from

Luke 24:1–5 (ESV)

But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they went to the tomb, taking the spices they had prepared. And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they went in they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were perplexed about this, behold, two men stood by them in dazzling apparel. And as they were frightened and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, “Why do you seek the living among the dead?

That, that right there is where we look for hope…

We find True Hope in the Resurrection

Listen, Jesus is a man who lived a perfectly sinless life and then died for you and me and then raised from the dead…that means something. I know this is something that has been said before and is said maybe too frequently, but anyone that predicts their own betrayal, trial, torture, death, and resurrection AND gets it all 100% right…that guys has my attention. And that guy, meaning Jesus, also said this in

John 14:27 (ESV)

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.

Jesus’ peace is available to you today…The hope of Jesus is available to you today. The peace that we get from Jesus is not a fleeting peace like we experience on our own…The peace of Jesus is a peace isn't a peace that comes with strings attached, the peace of Jesus is a peace that doesn’t make any sense at all…So where do you find true hope? Only through the power of the resurrection…it is there that you can realize the peace that Jesus has promised you.

Listen, do you remember the story I shared with you earlier about being broken and feeling hopeless…Even as a believer, I was not placing my hope in the power of the resurrection and I felt hopeless…So what happened? Well, one day I had a real conversation with God and I was not happy with what was going on and shared with God about what the better path would be and how God needed to work on and fix everyone else around me. Then, as I was going on and on about everything and everyone else and how they are all failing me, God interrupted me. God spoke to me, through other Godly friends and mentors, God spoke to me and showed me that I was placing my hope on hopeless things, and I needed to place my hope back in him.

Hey, this morning I don’t know your specific situation, but I do know that the power of the resurrection is not situation based. I don’t know about your work, marriage, finances, car, whatever, but I do know that hope in Christ is not item specific. I don’t know what your future holds…but I know the one who holds the future…So my question for you to answer this morning is Where is my hope?

Listen, it is one thing to know your hope is in Christ…it is another thing to know the heart of Christ. This Easter you are all in for an amazing treat…On your way out the door there will be a copy of “Gentle and Lowly” this book will help you to understand the heart of Christ and how Christ truly understands the struggles of sinners and sufferers, which means how he truly understands each and every one of us. This book will be the basis of the short term Wednesday night study that will be starting in May. Please take your copy and read this as this book has already helped countless people recognize where their hope truly lies…many right here in Ogle County…

This morning the band is going to come back up and play and remind us about the love of Christ that picks us up when we are down…that love of Christ is what we can place our hope in…that love of Christ is what never has failed and never will fail…That love of Christ gives us hope for a future and peace for today.

— Lets pray