(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.)

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Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] Good morning. We want to welcome you to Verity Baptist Church this morning. We're glad you're with us. Let's begin the service with a word of prayer, and let's bow our heads together. Heavenly Father, Lord, we do thank you for allowing us to gather together today. Lord, we pray that you'd bless everything that goes on today. Lord, we pray that you'd bless the preaching and, of course, the music and the children's choir today as they sing for us. And Lord, we pray that we would learn from your word and draw close to you. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. We're going to song 433. 433. Away in a manger, 433, all in the first. Away in a manger, no crib for a bed. The little Lord Jesus, laid down his sweet bed. The stars in the sky looked down where he lay. The little Lord Jesus, the sleep of the day. The cattle are lowing, the baby away. The river of Jesus, your crying we page. I love you, Lord Jesus, look down from the sky. And stay by my beginning, your morning on the last. Be near me, Lord Jesus, they ask me to stay. Close by me forever and love me, I pray. Bless all the dear children in my tender air. And take us to heaven to live in inequity. Amen. All right, well, let's take our bulletins this morning and we'll look at some announcements. If you do not have a bulletin, just raise your hand and one of our ushers can get one for you. If you need a bulletin, just put your hand up and we will get one for you. The verse this week, Jeremiah 17, seven, blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord and whose hope the Lord is. And that's a good verse there. We like that. If you open up your bulletin, you'll see our service time Sunday morning service 10 30 a.m. And we are glad that you are with us on Sunday morning on the Lord's Day, of course, for church Sunday evening service tonight at 6 p.m. And we invite you to be back with us on the at 6 p.m. for the evening service. And the evening service is different than the morning service. There are songs that are sung, different sermon that's preached. Just another opportunity in God's house of God's people under preaching of the word of God. And of course, this morning we have the children's choir singing for us. And tonight we have the adult choir singing for us. So we hope that you'll come back for the evening service at 6 p.m. And then, of course, our Wednesday evening Bible study at 7 p.m. And this Wednesday we have a very special service. And we'll talk about that here in a minute. If you look at our sowing times, our main sowing times on Saturday mornings at 10 a.m. And then we have additional sowing times on Thursdays, Fridays and Sundays at 2 p.m. So if you'd like to go sowing, we'll have an opportunity for you to do that today at 2 p.m. And we, of course, are a family integrated church. What that means is that children and infants are always welcome in the church service. We do not separate children from their parents for any reason. However, we do have mother baby rooms and daddy rooms available for your convenience. All of the rooms have comfortable seating. They have monitors set up so you can watch the service and listen to it. So if you have a child that's been distracting during the service or if you need some privacy, we would encourage you to use the mother baby rooms and the daddy rooms as needed. If you're not sure where those rooms are at, you can look at the back of the bulletin and you'll see a layout of our church building. It'll show you where the restrooms are, where the mother baby rooms are, where the daddy room is. So we encourage you to please use those rooms as needed. If you need to be baptized, please let us know. We'd love to baptize you. The water is warm and we've got everything you need to be baptized. You can go about it a couple of ways. If you'd like to speak to somebody about baptism, on your communication card on the back, there's a place for you to check off that you'd like information about baptism and we will follow up with you and talk to you about that. Or if you've already spoken to somebody, you know you need to be baptized and all you need to do is at the end of the service, while we're singing the last song after the preaching, if you step out that door, one of our staff guys will meet you there and we will get you situated for baptisms this morning. If you are a first-time guest, if it's your first time here at Verity Baptist Church, or maybe your second time at Verity Baptist Church, we're glad you're with us. We have a gift we'd like to give you. As you walk out of the church building this morning, as you go through the foyer, through our main entrance or our secondary entrance, you'll see a little table set up and on that table you'll see these little gift bags. Please grab one on your way out as a gift from us to you for being our guest this morning. There are several resources in this bag that we'd like you to have, but the one I'd like to highlight is this documentary that our church made. It's called Being Baptists, and it's very interesting, entertaining, educational. We think you'll enjoy it. We want to give this to you as a gift, so please make sure you don't leave here this morning without grabbing one of these gift bags on your way out. And if you are a guest, we'd ask that you please take a moment and fill out the communication card which is inserted in your bulletin. If you need a pen, just raise your hand and one of our ushers will bring you by a Verity Baptist Church pen. And we're not going to do anything odd with your information. We would just like a record of your attendance. We actually would like to send you a little gift, but we need your information to do that, so please take a moment to fill the card out. When we're done with the announcements, we're going to sing a song. When we're done singing, we're going to receive the offering, and as the offering plate goes by, you can drop this card in the offering plate. If you look at the announcements and upcoming events, of course, we are going through a series called The Christmas Spirit. We're going to continue that this morning and tonight. And then this Wednesday night is our Christmas Cookies and Hot Chocolate Fellowship, so we want to invite you to be with us on Wednesday night for the Christmas Cookies and Hot Chocolate Fellowship. That will be in our fellowship hall, and that's this Wednesday night after the evening service. There is a sign-up sheet in the foyer. If you would like to sign up to bring cookies or desserts for that fellowship, then that would be great. We want you to be aware of our New Year's Eve service on Saturday, December 31st at 7 p.m. If you're looking for something Christian to do on New Year's Eve, we'd love for you to join us. And it's a New Year's Eve service, but it's not a preaching service. There will be no church service that night. It will just be a fellowship time. So we'll have a potluck, and then we'll also have a popcorn machine, and we'll watch a film. And then if you stay until midnight, we'll bring in the New Year together. We'll pray as we bring in the New Year like we do every year. So we'd love for you to join us for the New Year's Eve service. And there will be games, I'm sure, lots of fun. So we'd love for you to join us for the New Year's Eve service. Nine chapters a day challenge. I hope that you are getting ready for the nine chapters a day challenge. You should have one of these charts in your bulletin. And of course, January is Bible month here at Verde Baptist Church. And every January, we challenge our church family to read nine chapters a day every day in the month of January. Now, if you take the challenge and you accomplish it, what you'll do is you'll read the entire New Testament in the month of January. And this chart will help you with that. You'll notice that you have two grace period days. So if you get behind, you don't have to quit. You can stay with it. You have two options. You can do the straight through reading, which is just nine chapters every day until you get through the New Testament. Or the split up reading where it's split up between a couple of different books. And it just makes it a little more balanced. So every year we have, I don't know, 80, 90 people do the nine chapters a day challenge. And we hope that you'll do it this year. Of course, if you complete the challenge, we have a plaque that we make every year. You can go into our foyer. You see all the plaques for all of the years and we'll put your name on there. And we hope that you will start the new year reading the word of God. I've always said that January, you know, it's interesting to me, but January is the best year, the best month of the year here at Verity Baptist Church. I mean, people are sweet to each other. Everybody's growing. I mean, it's just it really is amazing. You'd be shocked what would happen in a church if people read nine chapters of the Bible or just read the Bible every day. So we hope that you'll get into it. We're trying to get you to read your Bible and get into the word of God. So get excited about nine chapters a day. Choir practice, the last practice for the adult is today at 5 p.m. They are singing for us tonight. Holiday schedule, we want you to be aware of that. That is starting this coming Sunday, which is Christmas Day, Sunday, December 25th. We just want you to be aware of the fact that we are not canceling church because of the birth of Christ. That doesn't make any sense to me at all. But anyway, it's what people do and it seems odd to me, but we are trying to help you out. So we're going to move the service back a half hour. So instead of starting at 10 30, it'll start at 11 a.m. So next week, instead of starting at 10 30 a.m., we'll start at 11 a.m. So you have a little extra time on Christmas Day. For some of you, if you don't change anything, it just means you'll be here on time. And that'll be good too. And then after the service, we'll have a quick lunch in the fellowship hall. And anyone that's staying for the second service, we want to provide lunch for you. It's not a Christmas dinner or anything like that. It's just a quick lunch that we will have in the fellowship immediately after the morning service. And then instead of having an evening service at 6 p.m., we're going to have a short afternoon service at 1 15 p.m. Pretty much just right after lunch. We'll have a short afternoon service. The goal is to get you out of here by 2 p.m. And that way we've not canceled church. We just rearranged the schedule a little bit. But you can have the evening off so that you can have a Christmas dinner or whatever you'd like to do on that day. So please be aware of that upcoming cleaning crew. You can check for your name there. There's other things there for you to look at. Please don't forget to turn your cell phones off or place them on silent during the service. They're not a distraction to anybody. You should have one of these Christmas gifts for Jesus inserts in your bulletin as well. Don't forget about that. If you go to our foyer, you see the Christmas gifts for Jesus drop off. You see that lots of people are purchasing things and we appreciate your generosity and help with that. If you would like to purchase a gift for the church while you're out and about purchasing gifts for everyone else, if you'd like to purchase a gift, I should say, for the Lord Jesus Christ, you can give it through the local church. And there's a list here of things that the church could use that we use on a regular basis. If you'd like to pick something up and drop it off at the drop off there in the foyer, we would appreciate that. If you look at the back of the bulletin, birthdays and anniversaries for the month of December, this week we have Samuel Vokulcik's birthday on December 19th, Chadwick Pompa's birthday on December 21st, and then my parents have an anniversary, Felix Ingreni-Simonis, on December 23rd. I don't ask most people's anniversary this, but there are a few couples in our church that I ask this and my parents are one of them. How many years? Who knows? What? 43 years of marriage. Let's give them a round of applause. Once you get past 40, you deserve somebody clapping for you. So praise the Lord for that. Praise Report, Money Matters, all those things are there for you to look at and I think that's it for all of the announcements. We're going to go ahead and sing the chorus of the week, but I want to just announce real quickly, if you are in the children's choir, you can go ahead and get up and get ready and prepare to sing. The children's choir will be singing for us after the offering. So we're going to sing the chorus of the week, we'll receive the offering, and then the children will be singing for us. So go ahead and get up children during this time and go to your places and get ready. And while the kids do that, we're going to take the chorus of the week and we're going to sing O Holy Night as we prepare to receive the offering this morning. O Holy Night, this is the kind of song that you have to sing on purpose and with passion. Alright, so let's go ahead and sing it out. O Holy Night, the stars are brightly shining, sing it out on the first. O Holy Night, the stars are brightly shining, it is the night of our dear Savior's birth. Long lay the world in sin and error pining, till He appeared and the soul felt its worth. A thrill of hope the weary world rejoices, for yonder breaks a new and glorious morn. All on your knees, O hear the angel voices, O night. O night when Christ was born, O night divine, O night divine. Good singing, sing it out on the second. All oppression shall cease, sweet hymns of joy. In grateful chorus raise we, let all with us praise His holy name. Christ is the Lord, O praise His name forever. There's nowhere than hope or proclaim, His love and love in heaven were more proclaimed. Amen. Good singing. We'll have the guys come up and help us with the offering at this time. And let's go ahead and bow our heads and have a word of prayer. Heavenly Father, Lord, we do thank you for allowing us to gather together today. Lord, we pray that you'd bless the offering, the gift, and the giver. Lord, we pray that you'd bless the kids as they minister to us through music. Lord, we pray that you'd bless them for their willingness to sing. And Lord, we pray that you would bless the rest of the service as well. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. All right. Well, at this time, we'll have the children's choir come sing for us. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Turn your Bibles to Titus chapter 2. Titus chapter 2. If you do not have a Bible, raise your hand and I shall bring you one. Titus chapter 2. We will read the entire chapter as is our custom. Titus chapter 2. Just keep your hands up and I shall bring you a Bible. Titus chapter 2. The Bible reads, But speak thou the things which become sound doctrine, that the aged men be sober, grave, temperate, sound in faith, in charity, in patience, the aged women likewise, that they be in behavior as becometh holiness, not false accusers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things, that they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children, to be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed. Young men likewise exhort to be sober-minded. In all things showing thyself a pattern of good works, in doctrine showing uncorruptness, gravity, sincerity, sound speech that cannot be condemned, that he that is of the contrary part may be ashamed, having no evil thing to say of you. Exhort servants to be obedient unto their own masters and to please them well in all things. Not answering again, not prolonging, but showing all good fidelity, that they may adorn the doctrine of God our Savior in all things. For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, teaching us that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world, looking for that blessed hope and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works. These things speak and exhort and rebuke with all authority. Let no man despise thee. Let's pray. Lord God Almighty, thank you for this day. Thank you for this opportunity to come together. Please bless, Pastor, bless the message. Let it bring glory and honor to you. In the name of Jesus Christ, I pray, amen. Amen. All right, we're there in Titus, chapter number 2, and of course we've been going through a series on the Christmas spirit. We've been going through this series during the Christmas season, and the children's choir, they did a great job as kids, so praise the Lord for that. And pray for the adult choir, they do just as well. It's a hard act to follow up, you know, but I'm sure they'll be great. We hope you'll come back tonight for the evening service. We've been going through this series on the Christmas spirit, and we've been focusing on the themes of Christmas and the spirit of Christmas, and we began by talking about joy and, of course, last week we talked about peace. And this morning I want to speak on the subject of hope. When you think about Christmas and you think about the spirit of Christmas and the theme of Christmas, these are words that commonly come up, joy, peace, hope, and today I'd like us to look at this idea of hope, and of course hope is a theme of Christmas, and it's a theme that you see a lot of as you are decorating your home for Christmas or as you're out and about seeing Christmas decorations, you'll see this word often used throughout the Christmas decorations, and that is the word of hope because of the fact that hope is a theme of Christmas. In fact, we sang about it this morning in our chorus of the week. We sang the words, long lay the world in sin and error pining till he appeared and the soul felt its worth. A thrill of hope, the weary world rejoices, for yonder breaks a new and glorious morn. Fall on your knees or hear the angel voices, O night divine, O night when Christ was born. And of course when Christ was born, there was a thrill of hope because God sent his son into this dark and sinful world, a world which was pining in error and sin, and of course he sent the son that he might die for our sins, and we know that the Christmas story is a Christmas story of hope because of the fact that it is the hope of our salvation. As we begin this morning, I want to begin by helping you understand biblically the definition of the word hope. There is a modern or contemporary definition of the word hope, meaning the way in which you and I would use the word hope, and then there is a biblical definition for the word hope. The way the Bible uses the word hope and the way we use the word hope are two different ways and really completely opposite of each other. The contemporary definition of the word hope is this, the feeling that what was wanted can be had or may be had, that events will turn out for the best. So when we use the word hope, we are saying that we think it's possible that maybe things will work out in the way we want it, and the attitude that we have when we think of the word hope or when we use the word hope is we'll say this phrase, right? We'll say, well, I hope so. I hope this will happen. And when you're talking about whatever it is you're talking about, maybe it's you're applying for a new job. Maybe it's a relationship. Maybe it's your health, whatever it might be. The attitude when we use the word hope is this idea that it's up in the air. We're not sure if it's going to happen, but we feel like there's a good chance or an opportunity or we would like for it to happen, and we'll say something along these lines. I hope this happens. Do you think this will happen? I hope so. Do you think it'll turn out well? I hope so. And it's this idea of uncertainty. I don't know if it'll turn out well, but I hope it will. I want you to understand that that is the exact opposite of how the Bible uses the word hope. The biblical definition of the word hope is this, something in which we have assurance, confidence, expectation, something that is promised, that we know will happen. The opposite of our attitude, I hope so, is the biblical attitude for hope, which is I know so. It's something I have confidence that will happen. It's just interesting to me how the devil will cause us in our society to just take a biblical word and use the exact opposite and give it the exact opposite meaning. In the Bible, when you read the word hope, it is a confidence, it is an assurance. I know this will happen and that is my hope. When we use it, it's a possibility. We're not sure. It's uncertain and we are hoping that it will turn out right. Let me just give you, just by way of introduction, just some examples of biblical hope. Just to show you how it is that the Bible uses this terminology and how the Bible uses the word hope as an assurance, a confidence, an expectation that something we know will happen that has been promised to us, we know it will come to pass. There in Titus chapter 2, this is not a Christmas passage, but I just want you to see it because this is probably one of the most famous passages in which the word hope is used in our Bible. Titus chapter 2 and verse 13, the Bible says this, Titus 2, 13, looking for that blessed hope. This term is a very well-known term in our Bible, a reference to the blessed hope. You say, what is the blessed hope? The Bible says there, looking for that blessed hope and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ. By the way, I'm not preaching on this this morning, but that's a great verse right there on the deity of the Lord Jesus Christ. He is our great God and our Savior Jesus Christ. But I want you to notice that here the word hope is used in reference to the second coming of Christ. We are looking for that blessed hope and glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ. And when it comes to the second coming, this is not something that you and I are hoping it'll happen, right? We don't know if Jesus is going to come back, but we sure hope he does. It's possible he might. We're not sure. It's up in the air. No, no, no, that's not the way the Bible uses this word. When the Bible says that we are looking for that blessed hope, what we are saying is that we have an assurance, a confidence, an expectation that Jesus will return to this earth, that he will set up his millennial kingdom on this earth. It's not a hope so, but it is our blessed hope because we know so. We know that he is coming. So we see there the hope of the second coming. Let me give you another example. You're there in Titus. Go to 1 Thessalonians, chapter number 4, if you would. 1 Thessalonians, if you're there in Titus, if you just go backwards, past the books of 2 and 1 Timothy, past the book of 2 Thessalonians into 1 Thessalonians, 1 Thessalonians, chapter 4, you're there in Titus if you just go backwards, 2 Timothy, 1 Timothy, 2 Thessalonians, 1 Thessalonians, 1 Thessalonians, chapter 4, look at verse 13, 1 Thessalonians, chapter 4 and verse 13. Notice what the Bible says, but I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep. Here the apostle Paul is speaking to the Thessalonians and he is talking to them about people that have passed away, people that have passed on. When the Bible talks about believers dying, it uses the word sleep. It doesn't often use the word dead, it uses the word sleep and the reason for that is because when a believer dies, their body really is asleep because we have a hope in the resurrection and one day that body is going to wake up and it's going to resurrect. So here Paul says, but I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep. That sorrow, notice what he says there, that ye sorrow not, so he's telling them, I know you've got loved ones that have passed, but I want you to sorrow not even as others which have no hope. And I want you to notice that here Paul is referring to the hope of being reunited one day with our loved ones in heaven and he's telling them, look, I know you've had people that have passed on, but you do not need to sorrow as those which have no hope. And what he's saying is this, that when unbelievers have unbeliever family members and friends die, for them there is no hope, but for us who believe and have confidence in Christ, we have a hope that we will be reunited one day. And I want you again to just notice the fact that when the word hope is used here, it is not this hope so, like I hope to see you one day. No, if I'm saved and you're saved and one of us passes, I know I will see you one day. So therefore, we do sorrow obviously when our loved ones die, but we do not have to sorrow as those which have no hope. You're there in 1 Thessalonians 4, look at 1 Thessalonians chapter 5, let me give you another example. 1 Thessalonians 5, I'm just giving you some examples to show you how the word hope is used in the Bible and it is this confidence, this assurance, this expectation, it's used in regards to the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, our blessed hope. It's used in regards to our reunion with loved ones in heaven. We're told that we do not have to sorrow as those which have no hope. But the word hope is also used in regards to our salvation. 1 Thessalonians 5 and verse 8, notice what the Bible says, but let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love and for in helmet, notice these words, the hope of salvation. The salvation is a hope in the Bible and remember that the Biblical definition of the word hope is an assurance, an expectation. These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God that ye may know that ye have eternal life. For most so-called Christians out there who are trusting in their works to save them, their salvation is a modern hope. I hope so. We will often times ask people, we're not going to notice, we ask them, do you know for sure if you died today, are you on your way to heaven? Oh I sure hope so. I hope I'm good enough. I hope I make it. Well listen to me, you can get rid of that modern hope and get a Biblical hope and know that you're saved when your faith is in Jesus Christ. The Bible calls salvation a hope and it's not a hope so. It is an assurance, a confidence, an expectation that we know, that we know that we're saved. Go with me if you would to the book of Ephesians, Ephesians chapter number 2. If you go backwards, just keep going backwards in your Bible, you have 1 Thessalonians, you go past Colossians, past Philippians, into the book of Ephesians, Ephesians chapter 2. Let me just show this to you and again this is all by way of introduction, this idea of hope. I just want you to understand how the Bible uses it, it uses it in regards to salvation, it uses it in regards to our reunion in heaven with loved ones, it uses it in regards to the second coming. Notice here Ephesians 2.11, continuing with this idea of hope regarding salvation. Notice what the Bible says about unbelievers, Ephesians chapter 2 and verse 11, wherefore remember, this is Paul speaking to the church at Ephesus, he's talking to believers but he says I want you to remember that ye being in time past, he says I want you to remember before that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh who are called uncircumcision by that which is called the circumcision in the flesh made by hands. Notice verse 12, that at the time ye were without Christ, he's talking about before you were saved and look this is true of the Ephesian believers and it is true of you and I today, that at the time you were without Christ being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promises, he's referring to the time before you were saved. Notice what he says, he says having no hope and without God in the world. Isn't that a true statement? Those that are without God really have no hope. Having no hope and again, the idea here is not of having no hope like I hope, so it's having no hope like no confidence, no assurance, not knowing, having no hope and without God in the world. Go with me if you would to the Old Testament book of Proverbs. Proverbs chapter number 13, if you open your Bible just right in the center, you'll more than likely fall in the book of Psalms. Right after Psalms you have the book of Proverbs, Proverbs chapter 13. And that at the time ye were without Christ being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenant of promises, having no hope and without God in the world. I was raised in a Christian home this week, we announced during the announcement time my parents will be celebrating 43 years of marriage and that is an amazing feat, it is something that is extremely uncommon in our culture today. And because my parents have been married for 43 years, I think it's obvious that I grew up in a Christian home and as a result by God's grace I was saved at a young age. My wife was saved when she was 17 years old and one thing that my wife has communicated to me is that right around the age of 15, 16 years old she was just a normal, worldly young teenage girl living her life and she would have these, and my wife is not the type of person that gets depressed or discouraged or anything like that, but she would have this deep sadness in her heart and she would think to herself, is this all that life is about? I mean, is this it? I think it's an interesting thought, a 16 year old girl, to have this thought, like is this it? We just get up, we go to school or go to work and do fun things on the weekend and we just go to sleep and we just do it again, is this it? And that is the expression that maybe, many people don't communicate in those words but they feel it and that is the idea of having no hope and without God in the world. And I would submit to you this morning that there are many people who are living with an absence of hope. There's many unsaved people that are living with an absence of hope but unfortunately there's many even saved people that are living without hope and we began this morning by looking at really a theology of hope, what the Bible teaches about hope and the definition of the word hope. I don't understand that now. But what I want to do for the rest of our time is as quickly as possible give you some practical thoughts regarding this idea of hope. I'd like to give you three different headings and I'd encourage you to write these down on the back of your course this week. There's a place for you to maybe jot down some notes. And we looked at the theology of hope. Theologically speaking, hope is a confidence, it is an assurance, it is an expectation. Our hope is in things that we know are going to happen. They've not yet happened but we know they're going to happen. Our blessed hope of the second coming of Christ, our hope of being reunited with believers in heaven, our hope of salvation itself. We are not as those which have no hope that are without God in this world. But while living in this world, hope plays a very practical role in our lives. And I'd like to just give you three thoughts this morning on the subject of hope. The first point or heading if you'd like to jot it down in your notes is this and I've already referenced it but it is the absence of hope. The absence of hope. There are many people living today with an absence or a lack of hope. And here's what I want you to understand. The lack of hope is discouraging. The lack of hope is depressing. Proverbs 13 and verse 12, notice what the Bible says. Proverbs 13, 12, the Bible says, hope deferred maketh the heart sick. Hope deferred, that word deferred means to be postponed, to be put off, to be set aside. Hope deferred, the Bible says, maketh the heart sick. You say what does that mean? That means when you feel as though you've lost hope, when you feel like there was hope for a situation, whatever it might be, there was this hope and then you realize or you come to the understanding that that hope has been deferred. That there is actually no hope. That there's hopelessness. Hope deferred, the Bible says, maketh the heart sick. Notice the rest of the verse. But when the desire cometh, it is a tree of life. The word desire there is referring to the thing you wanted. So here the Bible is telling us something and the Bible is getting into a little bit of psychology, if we could use that word, and it is telling us something about our emotions and our feelings. Whenever we feel like we've lost hope, there is no hope or there's not any hope coming for a while, whenever we feel like hope has been deferred, that makes our heart sick. It makes our heart hurt. It makes us hurt inwardly. But when desire, when the thing that we were hoping for actually cometh, when the desire cometh, it is a tree of life. And here's what the Bible is telling you. Whenever you lack hope, it is a discouraging thing. It is a depressing thing. You're there in Proverbs, go backwards to the book of Psalms, Psalm 42. Here's why this is important, especially during this holiday season, is because we've talked about it when we began this series and we began with the subject of joy. And it is this, that during the holidays, people will often get very sad. They'll get discouraged. Some of it has to do with being away from family. Some of it has to do with the fact that maybe they've moved away and they miss home or whatever it might be. But sometimes it's more than that. Sometimes it is a missing of family, missing of family that has passed. Sometimes as we come to the end of the year and as we prepare for Christmas and we prepare for New Year, we begin to have this mental inventory of our lives as we close one year and we begin another year. And this is a good thing. I'm not saying this is a negative thing, but it can bring negative thoughts when we close one year and we begin a new year. The realization that we have not made it to where we thought we would make it. We didn't accomplish what we thought we'd accomplish. We thought that life would play out better. We thought that life would play out different. We thought that we would be further along maybe. And whatever it might be, financially or your health or relationship. And there's this hopelessness that sometimes is felt during this time. And there's this Christmas blues that are felt, why? Because hope deferred, may get the heart saved. The lack of hope is discouraging. Psalm 42, are you there? Look at verse 5. Notice what the psalmist says, Psalm 42 and verse 5. Why art thou cast down? The word cast down is a reference there. When somebody is cast down it means they feel low. They've fallen. Literally the phrase in Are Your Kingly Days Bible Cast Down simply means to be depressed. We use the word depressed. Oh I'm depressed, this person is depressed, they're discouraged. That's the word, that's the idea being communicated here. Why art thou cast down? Notice the question being asked by the psalmist, oh my soul. The psalmist is speaking to himself, speaking to his soul and saying to his soul, why are you so cast down? Why are you so low? Why do you feel so bad? Why are you so depressed? Why art thou cast down, oh my soul? And why art thou disquieted? I want you to notice that word disquieted. To be disquieted means to have a lack of calm, a lack of peace. The word that you and I would use in our modern vernacular would be anxiety. He says, why art thou cast down, oh my soul? And why art thou disquieted in me? And literally the psalmist is saying, why are you depressed and anxious? And then he says these words to his own soul. He says, hope thou in God, for I shall yet praise him for the help of his countenance. Notice there verse 11, the same Psalm, Psalm 42 verse 11. The verse is quoted again, I just want you to notice it for emphasis. Why art thou cast down, oh my soul? And why art thou disquieted within me? Hope thou in God, for I shall yet praise him who is health of my countenance and my God. Hopelessness means to have despair, to feel despair, to feel as though things are unraveling and there's no hope of it being fixed. It means having despair, not seeing how things can get better. And here's what I'm telling you, the lack of hope is discouraging. Hope deferred maketh the heart saved. The opposite of that truth is this, the presence of hope is encouraging. You're there in Psalm, look at Psalm 16. I want you to notice these, I want you to compare and contrast these verses we're looking at. Psalm 16 verse 9, we just got done looking at the bad side. Hope deferred maketh the heart saved. Why art thou cast down, oh my soul? Now notice Psalm 16 and verse 9, and what was the reason? Because of lack of hope. Psalm 16 and verse 9 says this, therefore my heart is glad. That's the opposite of your soul being cast down. He says, therefore my heart is glad and my glory rejoiceth. My flesh also shall, notice these words, rest in hope. You say, pastor, I am discouraged this morning. I am depressed this morning. I am not feeling cast down and low this morning. And I would say to you, it is a lack of hope in your life that is causing you to feel that way. Because the lack of hope is discouraging and the presence of hope is encouraging. Therefore my heart is glad and my glory rejoiceth. My flesh also shall rest in hope. Go to Psalm 31, look at verse 24, Psalm 31 and verse 24. Notice what the Bible says, Psalm 31, 24, be of good courage. See that word courage there? Usually when we think of the word courage, we think of someone being brave. And that is definitely true. The word courage means to be brave, to face your fears. But I want you to notice how the word courage is very close to this word, encourage. Or to be encouraged, why? Because when somebody is discouraged, that means that they are without strength. It means that they feel weak, their soul is cast out. When they are encouraged, it means they are given strength. It means they are raised up. And here the psalmist says, be of good courage and he shall, notice, strengthen your heart. Why? Because your soul is cast down. He says, be of good courage and he shall strengthen your heart. All ye that, don't miss it, hope in the Lord. Notice the connection between hope and courage, hope and strength, and lack of hope and discouraged. Lack of hope and being disquieted. Lack of hope and being cast down. Go to Psalm 146. We're in Psalms, so it should be easy to find. Psalm 146, look at verse 5. Psalm 146 and verse 5, I just want you to notice this. Psalm 146 and verse 5, notice what the Bible says, happy is he. Isn't that what we want? Is that why you want your life to be described? Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help. Notice these words, whose hope is in the Lord his God. The Bible is clear when we talk about this idea of the absence of hope. The Bible is clear about the fact that the lack of hope is discouraging and the presence of hope is encouraging. You're there in Psalms, go with me if you would to the book of Job. If you go backwards, just pass the book of Psalms into the book of Job, Job 31. While you turn there, let me just read to you a couple of passages from the New Testament. I'd like you to go to Job, but I'll read to you from Acts and then from Romans. Acts 2, 26, therefore did my heart rejoice and my tongue was glad, moreover also my flesh shall rest in hope. Romans 12, 12, rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continue an instant in prayer. You say, I'd like to rejoice this holiday season. You need hope. The Bible says, therefore did my heart rejoice and my tongue was glad, moreover also my flesh shall rest in hope. So we begin this morning by talking about the absence of hope. The lack of hope is discouraging and the presence of hope is encouraging. Maybe you're sitting here this morning and you're listening to me and you're saying yes, I understand. I'm living what you're saying. But though you are telling me something that I already know and maybe I've not communicated that in my own mind and my heart, I understand that it is the lack of hope that brings discouragement. It is the lack of hope that makes my soul cast out. It is the lack of hope that makes me anxious and disquieted in my heart. I understand that. Thank you, pastor, but you've not yet helped me. What am I supposed to do about it? For that reason, the second heading in the sermon, we began with the first heading or thought, the absence of hope, because we need to understand the role that hope plays, practically speaking, in our lives. A lack of hope is discouraging, the presence of hope is encouraging. Here's the second heading or the second point and it is this. Let's talk about the acquiring of hope. Because if the lack of hope is discouraging and the presence of hope is encouraging, then the next question should be, well then how do I get some hope? How do I acquire hope? How can I get hope so that I will be encouraged and not discouraged? Well let's begin with this. A lack of hope comes from having hope. Please don't. I realize this is not deep, but it's just something we need to hear. A lack of hope comes from having hope in the wrong things. See if you hear this one and you say, my soul is cast down and my heart is disquieted, I'm depressed and discouraged because I have no hope. That's true. You have no true hope. But let's just make something clear and it is this. It's not that you don't have hope, it's that you had hope in the wrong thing. Having hope in the wrong thing has left you hopeless. Lack of hope comes from having hope in the wrong things. Let's just talk about a couple of those. Job 31 verse 24, are you there? Job 31, 24. Job 31, 24. Notice what Job says here. And remember Job has gone through a difficult time in his life here in the book of Job. Job 31, 24. If I have made gold my, don't miss it, look at it, hope. If I have made gold my hope, or I have said to the fine gold, thou art my confidence. And notice how Job uses the words hope and confidence interchangeably, why? Because the biblical definition of the word hope is confidence, assurance, expectation. Job says, look, I understand why I would be discouraged if I have made gold my hope. When I have said to the fine gold, thou art my confidence, he said, look, if I have put my hope in gold, what is he talking about? He's talking about money. He said, if I put my hope in gold, if I put my confidence in silver, if I put my hope in the dollar, some of you are really cast down. Let me put it this way, some of us, let me include myself. It's easy to get really cast down when you start thinking about the economy. Start thinking about inflation. Start thinking about the stock market. Start thinking about the economy and the possibility of things not going well in this coming year. And here's what I'm telling you, there's lots of people that are feeling hopeless about their financial situation, hopeless about their career situation, hopeless about their housing situation. They're not feeling very hopeful, but let me tell you something, those things were never meant to give you hope. You're not supposed to find your hope in the stock market. You're not supposed to find your hope in the real estate. You're not supposed to find your hope in your investments. Hey, if you put your hope in those things, you're putting your hope in the wrong place. The hope of things will leave you hopeless. Let me say this, you're there in Job, go back to Psalms if you would, because remember the biblical term for the word hope, the biblical definition of the word hope is the assurance, the confidence, the expectation of something that is promised, something that will happen. We know so. That's why Job said, I've made gold my hope, find gold, thou art my confidence. Use the word hope and confidence synonymously because that's what the word hope in the Bible means. Confidence, assurance, expectation. And I'm here to tell you that the lack of hope comes from really not a lack of hope, but it is a having hope in the wrong things. If you put your hope in things, they will leave you hopeless. If your hope isn't what you drive and you buy some new vehicle to drive, you'll feel good for like a day or depending on how shallow you are, a month, I don't know, a year, but I'm here to tell you something, eventually it will get old. No brand, no clothes, no real estate, no toy, nothing you can own in this world is meant to make you happy. Having hope in things will leave you hopeless. Let me say this as well. Having hope in people will leave you hopeless. Psalm 118 and verse 8, notice what the Bible says. It is better to trust, you see that word trust? Psalm 118 verse 8, it is better to trust. The word trust is, can be used synonymously with the word hope because the biblical term for the word hope is something we trust in, something we put our confidence in, something we have our assurance in. It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man. You may be feeling hopeless because of people. People have hurt you, people have let you down, people have stabbed you in the back. Look, I'm not minimizing that, I understand how difficult that can be. But if you're feeling hopeless because of what people have done to you, I'm not alleviating responsibility from what they've done. They should take responsibility for what they've done. But let me help you take a little responsibility for what you've done. Your hope should have never been in those people to begin with. That doesn't mean you shouldn't love people. We'll talk about that tonight. The Bible commands us to love. The Bible commands us to care. The Bible commands us to invest in people. It's interesting to me that the Bible tells us in the book of John that though Jesus loved and invested all of his disciples, the Bible says that he did not put his confidence in man because he knew what was in man. And I'm just here to tell you that the Christian life is this life in which we love people, we care for people, we invest in people, we give to people, and we do everything we can for people. And then when those people let us down, and they eventually will, we say my hope was not in those people anyway. I wasn't doing it for those people anyway. See, a lack of hope comes from actually having hope. You've had hope just in the wrong things. Hope in things. Hope in people. And to make it even worse, in Psalm 118 and verse 8 he says, it is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man. That's just in general, man. Your husband, your wife, your boss, your pastor. Then he says, and you're really going to be depressed, you Fox News Baptist out there. It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in princess. You say, what's a prince? It's a political position. Some of you are like, ah, the midterm elections, they were so bad, I'm so depressed. Why? Why is your hope in those princes anyway? You're putting your hope in the wrong thing. You listen to the news all day and then you wonder why you're depressed. All they give you is bad news. When it comes to acquiring hope, here's what we need to understand, that the lack of hope comes from having hope in the wrong things. Your problem is not, you say, I feel hopeless about my situation. I feel hopeless about my finances. I feel hopeless about my housing situation. I feel hopeless about my career. I feel hopeless about the economy. I feel hopeless about these things. But the truth is, it's not that you feel hopeless about those things, it's that you put your hope in those things. And when those things let you down, when those people let you down, it brought this feeling of unrest. You're there in Psalm 118, go to Psalm 71. We talked about the lack of hope, let's talk about the presence of hope. The lack of hope comes from having hope in the wrong things. Let's talk about the presence of hope. The presence of hope comes, I'm sure you know this, you're a smart group. The presence of hope comes from the God of hope. Psalm 71 verse 5, for thou art my hope, don't miss it. I think sometimes we just read these verses and we're so trite about it. Put yourself in the frame of mind, I just got laid off. And look, if that's you, and I don't know if anybody's been laid off, but I know that during this season, oftentimes people get laid off. It's kind of sad, it happens usually around Christmas time, which is really like the worst time to lay people off, but it happens because the year's about getting ready to end and the businesses are looking at their books and realizing that they've overspent and they can't afford this and that. And I'm just saying, maybe that's you and you're looking at your financial situation and you're saying, this is a hopeless situation. Here's what the psalmist says, he says, for thou art my hope, O Lord God. Thou art my trust from my youth. Go to Psalm 78, look at verse 7. Psalm 78 verse 7. Notice what the Bible says, that they might set their hope in God and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments. So see, your hope should have never been in gold, and your hope should have never been in him, or her, or them. Your hope should have always been in the Lord God, that they might set their hope in God and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments. See, the source of hope comes from the God of hope. Keep your finger right there in Psalms. We're going to come back to it. If you can just keep your place right there in Psalms. Go with me to the book of Romans, Romans chapter 15. In the New Testament, you have Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts, Romans. Romans chapter 15. Keep your place in Psalms. We're going to come right back to it and then go with me to the book of Romans. And I'm going to ask you to keep your place in Romans as well because we're going to leave it and we're going to come back to it. Romans chapter 15. Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts, Romans. Notice what the Bible says, Romans 15, 13. The Bible says, now the God of hope. See the word of there? The word of speaks to source. It's where it comes from. He's the God of hope because he's the source of hope. Hope comes from God. Now the God of hope, notice, doesn't this sound like our Christmas series that we've been going through? Now the God of hope fill you with all joy. The first word we talked about in this series. And peace. The second word we talked about in this series. In believing that ye may abound in hope. The third word we've talked about in this series. Through the power of the Holy Ghost. The source of hope comes from the God of hope. So how do I get hope from God? Let's talk about the transmission of hope. Keep your finger there in Romans. We're going to come back to it. We're going to go back to Psalm 119. Please listen to me very carefully. I try to outline these sermons in such a way where I can deliver truth to you in a succinct way, a memorable way, a way for you to remember. I realize that you probably don't even notice the outline and that's okay. That's fine. It's there for me, not necessarily for you. As long as you're getting the word of God, that's what you need. But I want you to understand something. The source of hope is the God of hope. The transmission of hope comes from the word of God. Psalm 119.49. Because look, I never like to just leave you with this theological, spiritualizing, God is hope. And I'm not mocking that. God is hope. But how do I get that? How do I get the God of hope to put hope in my heart? How do I get the God of hope to transmit hope into my life? Psalm 119.49. Remember the word unto thy servant. Notice these words. Upon which thou hast caused me to hope. So how do I get hope? You get it through the word of God. When you remember the word, what word? The word which thou hast caused me to hope. The word in which you've caused me to hope. Psalm 119. You're there. Look at verse 81. Same Psalm. Psalm 119.81. Notice what the Bible says. Psalm 119.81. My soul fainteth for thy salvation, but I hope in thy word. Psalm 119. 114. Verse 114. Same Psalm. Psalm 119. Verse 114. Notice what the Bible says. Thou art my hiding place and my shield. Notice these words. I hope in thy word. The God of hope is the source of hope. The transmission of hope is the word of God. You need the God of hope, but you also need the word of God. It is the word of God that will transmit hope into your life. Go back to Romans. Romans 15. You say, okay. Look, you understand what we're doing? We're starting with the theological principle. God is the God of hope. But that doesn't do any. I mean that sounds good and I appreciate it, but that doesn't help you. We need to make that really practical. We need to bring it down into our levels, into our lives. We need to take it from Sunday into Monday. From Wednesday into Thursday. So I want you to understand this. God is the God of hope. We need the hope of God. There's a mode in which this hope should be transmitted to us. The way that God reaches down to us. The way that God has always reached down to us is through the word of God. Both the living word, the Lord Jesus Christ. And the written word, the Bible that you have in your hand. If you're holding a King James Bible. If you're holding a King James Bible. The way that we have hope transmitted. The way we have anything transmitted into us by God is through the word of God. Romans 15, 4. Notice what the Bible says. Romans 15, 4. For whatsoever things were written aforetime. Referring to the Old Testament and referring to the Bible. Were written for our learning. That we through patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have, don't miss it, hope. How do we get hope? Through patience and comfort of the Scriptures. That through patience and comfort of the Scriptures we might have hope. For we are saved by hope. But hope that is seen is not hope. For what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for? But if we hope for that we see not, then do we patience, wait for it. See, it is the God of hope that transmits to us the hope of God through the word of God. You say still too theological, still too spiritual. We need to take it a step further. This is why we want you to read nine chapters a day. I mean, let's just talk about it. You say, pastor, why are you always trying to get us to read the Bible? Give us this chart, then you tell us you're going to put our name on this plaque over there. And I kind of feel like you're pressuring us. I kind of feel like you're pressuring us to read the Bible. Well, let me let you in on a little secret. I am. I'm pressuring you. I'm peer pressuring you to read the Bible. You didn't care when they were peer pressuring you to smoke pot. But for some reason when somebody peer pressures you to do something good, all of a sudden, you know, I'm a bad guy. Hey, if that makes me a bad guy, the equivalent of a jerk on the street corner, let me pressure you into doing something. Read your Bible. Put your name on this thing. You say, well, pastor, you know, because my name was there one year and my name was within one year, but then there was that one year I got backslidden, my name's not there, now I'm embarrassed. Well, don't get backslidden. Read the Bible. You know, now everybody's going to go, what names are missing here? It tells you the story of their lives. Look, I'm telling you, you say, why do you read the Bible? Here's why. Because some of you are so discouraged about the economy and so discouraged about the president and so discouraged about this and that and your wife and your husband and that relationship and this relationship and all these things going on, and here's how it's supposed to work. Those things are discouraging. They're depressing. They make us down. Our soul is cast down. Our heart is disquieting. And then you open your Bible, you read the Bible, and you realize, I wasn't supposed to be hoping in that anyway. You open your Bible and you read your Bible, and when you close your Bible, nothing has changed. The economy is still bad, but you're reminded that you're on your way to heaven. You're reminded that there are some things more important than gold and silver and people. There are things that are worth powerful things in the Word of God. The way that God transmits his hope to us is the Word of God. So you say, I'm discouraged. Come back tonight. You say, why? For more Word of God. You say, I'm discouraged. Pick one of these charts up and decide you're going to read the Bible. Why? For the Word of God. Because as you read the Word, as you study the Word, as you learn the Word, as you apply the Word, it begins to create hope in you. And some of those other things may or may not change, but it doesn't matter because you changed. Because your heart changed. We talked about the absence of hope. We talked about the acquiring of hope. But very quickly, go back to Romans, if you would, Romans chapter 4. Very quickly, just as we finish up this morning, let me use this phrase. Let me use the phrase and then I'll excuse the phrase. Let's talk about the audacity of hope. We'll talk about the absence of hope, the acquiring of hope. Let's talk about the audacity of hope. Now some of you might be thinking to yourselves, that sounds familiar to me. I've heard that. In 2006, Barack Obama released a book entitled The Audacity of Hope. It was basically a book outlining his political views. I've never read it and I'm not planning on it. I'm not endorsing his book and I'm not endorsing him in any way, shape, or form. He claims to have stolen the title for his book from a sermon that his pastor preached, Jeremiah Wright. His pastor in Chicago preached a sermon called The Audacity of Hope. Obama liked that phrase so much that he stole that phrase and used it for his political book. Now again, I'm not endorsing Jeremiah Wright in any way, shape, or form. But I do want to say this, though I do not like Barack Obama, and if that offends you, I don't like Donald Trump either. So quit being such a stinking respecter of persons and putting your hope in Princess. Though I do not like Barack Obama and though I do not endorse Jeremiah Wright, I do like this little phrase, the audacity of hope. Because it's a biblical concept. Remember, hope is not the hope you and I think of. It's not a hope so. Things are going to get better? I hope so. The economy is going to recover? I hope so. Inflation is going to go down? I hope so. That's not the biblical hope. The biblical hope is I know so. Is Jesus coming back? I know so. Am I on my way to heaven? I know so. Not by works of righteousness, which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us. Will I be reunited with Christians that have passed away? I know I will. I know so. That's the biblical term of hope. In Romans 4 and verse 18, we see the audacity of hope. Just for sake of clarity, I actually went back and listened to Jeremiah Wright's sermon after I wrote my sermon just to see if there was any overlap, and there was not. He did not even go to this verse, which is the verse he should have gone to, if he's going to preach on the audacity of hope, which makes no sense to me, but whatever. Romans chapter 4 and verse 18. This is talking about Abraham. Notice what the Bible says. Who against hope believed in hope. I don't know. I realize I'm a pastor, which makes me a little bit of a wordsmith. I like how words are phrased, and I like to play with words, and I like it when words are memorable. I just love that little phrase there. Who against hope believed in hope. So what is this talking about? It's talking about Abraham. That he might become the father of many nations according to that which was spoken, so shall thy seed be. The Bible is referring to the fact that when Abraham was told by God as a 75 year old man that you're going to give birth, I'm going to give you a son. You've never had a son, but I'm going to give you a son. And then Abraham believed God and continued on in his life, and it wasn't until he was 100 years old that God gave him his son Isaac. For those years and decades, from the moment he was told about Isaac until Isaac was given, the Bible tells us that Abraham had hope. Now notice, I want you to notice how both types of hope are used in that verse. The biblical hope and the humanistic hope. The Bible says, who against hope believed in hope. Who against the natural, mental, humanistic hope. Because no 100 year old man, no 99 year old man, no one who's 98, 97, 99 years old and is asked, you're going to have a son this year? No one says, well I sure hope so. There's no possibility of that. There's no chance that will happen. There's no hope there, but the Bible says about Abraham, who against hope believed in hope. Against the human hope, he believed in God's hope. It was an expectation, it was an assurance, it was a promise he had been given. Who against hope believed in hope. I'm just here to tell you something. I don't like Obama and I don't like Jeremiah Wright, but I do like this little phrase, the audacity of hope. Because hope is audacious. When you have real biblical hope, it's ludicrous. It'll make you do crazy things. I mean the Bible says in Genesis 21 5, and Abraham was 100 years old when his son Isaac was born unto him. The audacity of hope will cause a 100 year old man to believe and to live his life as though God is going to give him a son. That's the audacity of hope. You know what the audacity of hope is? It's Moses, a lowly servant, a shepherd who's lived the last 40 years of his life on the backside of the desert, the Bible tells us. For that man Moses, who's a shepherd living on the backside of the desert and also a convict running from Egypt for murder. That Moses would then show up at Pharaoh's doorstep and would say, thus saith the Lord God, let my people go. You know what that is? That is the audacity of hope. That Moses would sow hope in God and sow believe in God and sow trust in God. That it would cause him to go to Pharaoh and say, let my people go. You know what the audacity of hope is? It's Joshua. Taking a group of people that had been enslaved for hundreds of years, having them cross the Jordan River and then finding the biggest city that they've fought, Jericho with massive walls. We're told that the walls of Jericho were not just walls like you and I think. They were these fortresses really. The walls themselves had lanes in them for them to be able to drive carriages up through the walls and into different parts of the city. And for Joshua to take his group of ex-slaves, walk up to those walls, walk around that wall, not once but twice and thrice and four times and five times and six times and seven times and on the seventh time, walk around it seven times and then shout and the walls come tumbling down. That's the audacity of hope. The audacity of hope is Gideon taking 300 men and going to battle against an innumerable number of Midianites. With no swords and no weapons, the audacity of hope is a little boy named David grabbing five stones and going to battle against a great giant Goliath. That is the audacity of hope. When your hope is in God, your expectation is in God. When your belief is in God, there's an audacity of hope. But you won't get that when your hope is in politicians. You won't get that when your hope is in the economy. You won't get that when your hope is in your favorite sports team or your favorite sports car. You won't get that. You can only get that from God. Go to Hebrews chapter 6. We'll finish up. We're done. We're done right here. Hebrews chapter 6 if you would. You start at the end of Revelation and go backwards. You have Jude, 3 John, 2 Peter, James, Hebrews. Hebrews chapter 6. Sometimes I ask the question. I ask this question in my own mind because I look at these great men of God and I think to myself, how were they able to keep going? Because I'll be honest with you, sometimes it feels like everyone's against you. I'm not talking about our church family. I'm talking about us against the world. I mean everyone's against us. Everyone's not for us. Everyone's canceling us and everything. And I look at these men in the Bible and I think, they were going through those same things. How did they keep going? How did they keep fighting? How were they able, like Paul who was stoned and who was imprisoned and who was beaten and who was stabbed in the back and had all these terrible things happen in his life. How did he get to the end of his life and say, I've finished my course. I've kept the faith. And he says, I've done it with joy. How could you do that? And it has to be this word hope. Looking for that blessed hope. My confidence, my trust is in hope, not man but God. Hebrews 6 and verse 18. Notice these words. We'll finish up. We'll be done. That by two immutable things. Brother RJ actually used these verses in our soul winning rally yesterday. They spoke to me. That by two immutable things in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation. That's what brother RJ was preaching about, comfort. Who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us. Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast and which enters not into that within the veil. You say, who's that hope? Hebrews 6, 20. Whether the forerunner is for us entered. Notice these words. Even Jesus made an high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. You know that our hope is Jesus. Our hope is Jesus, the high priest. I love the words of the hymn. 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 hope is sinking sand. All other hope is sinking sand. Our hope is Jesus. I'm just here to tell you, I'm not minimizing whatever you're going through. I get it. Life's hard sometimes. Sometimes you feel like it's just an uphill battle and everyone's against you and nothing's going well and everything's going wrong. But when we feel that hopelessness, when we like the psalmist say, why is my soul cast down? Why is my heart disquieted? The Bible says that we can lay hold upon the hope set before us, which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast. So if you're feeling hopeless, let me tell you, maybe it's just your hope's in the wrong thing. And if you get the hope that God offers, it's sure and steadfast. You say, how do I get it? Well, I'm glad you asked. You ever heard of our nine chapters a day? You ought to read the Bible. The God of hope will transmit His hope to you through His Word. Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer. Heavenly Father, Lord, we love you. And Lord, I have not gone in my life through some of the things that people in this room have gone through. My wife and I have definitely gone through our battles in ministry and I'm not here to compare. But I know this, life can feel hopeless sometimes. It can feel like nothing's going right, everyone's against you. And when we feel like that, help us to put our hope in God. Blessed is the man who trusted in the Lord, whose hope the Lord is. I pray, Lord, you'd help us to have the right hope. Not a hope so hope, but a know so hope in the God of hope. We love you. In the matchless name of Christ, we pray. Amen. We're going to have Brother Matt come up and lead us in a final song. Just want to give you a couple of reminders. First of all, don't forget that we have the Christmas gifts for Jesus program going on. And if you'd like to purchase something on that list and give it as a gift to the Lord Jesus Christ through the local church, we would appreciate that. You can drop off your gifts at the Christmas gift for Jesus drop off in our main foyer. I also want to remind you that this Wednesday night, this coming Wednesday, is our cookies and hot chocolate fellowship. So don't miss it. Even if you don't normally come on Wednesday night, we'd love for you to come this Wednesday night. From here on, we're going to be in this Christmas series. So I'm going to be preaching about Christmas tonight and on Wednesday night and on Sunday on Christmas day. So we encourage you to be with us on Wednesday night for the cookies and hot chocolate fellowship. Next week, Christmas day, church starts at 11 a.m. Don't forget about that. 11 a.m. If you stay for our second service, we'll have lunch for you in the fellowship hall. And of course, I want to encourage you to be back tonight, 6 p.m. The adult choir is singing for us tonight, so you're not going to want to miss it. And tonight we're going to continue our Christmas spirit series. We've talked about joy. We've talked about peace. We've talked about hope. Tonight we're going to talk about goodwill. So I encourage you to join us as we look at this idea of goodwill. It's more than just a thrift store. We'd love for you to join us for the evening service. If there's anything else that we can do for you, please let us know. We'll have Brother Matt come up and lead us in a final song. We're going to start with 434. 434. Get a little help from the Children's Choir, okay? On the first. O little town of Bethlehem, Now still we see thee cry, Above thy deep and dreamless sleep, The silent stars go by, Yet in thy dark streets shineth, The ever-lasting light, The hopes and fears above thy years, Are blowing deep tonight, For Christ is born of melody, And the Word of the Lord, One more to sleep the angels do, The watch of morning light, O morning stars together, O blake the holy air, And praises sing to the King, And praise to heaven and earth, The silent rain, the silent thing, The wondrous gift is here, So God abides to the wind, But the blessings of his hand, No ear may hear his coming, The aim is full of sin, There meets those who will receive him, Still not of God's plan to save. Good, sing it out, all the last. O holy Child of Bethlehem, He said to us, we pray, Cast out our sin and answer him, Be born in us today, We hear thy Christmas angels, O keep thy tidings still, O come to us, abide with us, Our Lord in Bethlehem. Amen, good singing before we leave here. If anybody has questions about salvation, church membership, or baptism, Pastor will be at the door. He'd love to talk to you or direct you to someone who's trained to talk to you about that. That's Brother George. Would you close a prayer for us? Amen. Amen.