Introduction
- As Vice President, George Bush represented the U.S. at the funeral of former Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev in 1982.
- Bush was deeply moved by a silent protest carried out by Brezhnev's widow.
- She stood motionless by the coffin until seconds before it was closed. Then, just as the soldiers touched the lid, Brezhnev's wife performed an act of great courage: She reached down and made the sign of the cross on her husband's chest.
- There in the citadel of secular, atheistic power, the wife of the man who had run it all hoped that her husband was wrong.
- She hoped that there was another life, and that that life was best represented by Jesus who died on the cross, and that the same Jesus might yet have mercy on her husband.
- When faced by death, people hope that there is a better life beyond
- Today is the second week of advent, and we are going to talk about hope – the hope that Jesus brought to the world
1. The hope of the gospel
- The hope of the gospel is referring to the good news of the kingdom of God
- Mark 1:15 And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel. (yoo-en-gelion)
- The gospel is the good news that our sins can be forgiven, and we can be restored to a relationship with God
- This is refered to in the Bible as salvation
- It comes from the greek word “sozo”
- 1 Thes 5:8 But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation
- This same word sozo, is also used for healing
- Mat 4:23 And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people.
- Mat 9:35 And Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people.
2. The hope of eternal life
- We hope that this life is not all there is
- We have hope in eternal life
- John 3:16
- Titus 3:5-7
- Mankind has always sought to know about eternal life
- Greeks talked about man having an immortal soul
- The Druids believed in the transmigration of souls
- People want to believe in reincarnation e.g. hindus
- Satan started it all off by telling eve, you shall not surely die
- God says, he gives us eternal life
- But man has an emptiness inside, and knows when something is missing
- That element that is missing is God, he is the giver of life
3. The hope of the resurrection
- We look forward and hope for a day when we will meet Jesus and all our loved ones who have preceded us in death
- 1 Thes 4:13
- This will be a glorious reunion!
- It will be the greatest family gathering of all time
- Paul says, if we don't believe in the hope of the resurrection, we are to be pitied
- 1 Cor 15:12-21
- Jesus died for our sins, but then he was raised to glory to be with the father
- Each of us too, has thois same hope within us, looking forward to the resurrection when the body of this death will be clothed with glory
- Without the resurrectrion we cannot inherrit the kingdom of God
- 1 Cor 15:50-54
Invitation
Communion
- As Vice President, George Bush represented the U.S. at the funeral of former Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev in 1982.
- Bush was deeply moved by a silent protest carried out by Brezhnev's widow.
- She stood motionless by the coffin until seconds before it was closed. Then, just as the soldiers touched the lid, Brezhnev's wife performed an act of great courage: She reached down and made the sign of the cross on her husband's chest.
- There in the citadel of secular, atheistic power, the wife of the man who had run it all hoped that her husband was wrong.
- She hoped that there was another life, and that that life was best represented by Jesus who died on the cross, and that the same Jesus might yet have mercy on her husband.
- When faced by death, people hope that there is a better life beyond
- Today is the second week of advent, and we are going to talk about hope – the hope that Jesus brought to the world
1. The hope of the gospel
- The hope of the gospel is referring to the good news of the kingdom of God
- Mark 1:15 And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel. (yoo-en-gelion)
- The gospel is the good news that our sins can be forgiven, and we can be restored to a relationship with God
- This is refered to in the Bible as salvation
- It comes from the greek word “sozo”
- 1 Thes 5:8 But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation
- This same word sozo, is also used for healing
- Mat 4:23 And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people.
- Mat 9:35 And Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people.
2. The hope of eternal life
- We hope that this life is not all there is
- We have hope in eternal life
- John 3:16
- Titus 3:5-7
- Mankind has always sought to know about eternal life
- Greeks talked about man having an immortal soul
- The Druids believed in the transmigration of souls
- People want to believe in reincarnation e.g. hindus
- Satan started it all off by telling eve, you shall not surely die
- God says, he gives us eternal life
- But man has an emptiness inside, and knows when something is missing
- That element that is missing is God, he is the giver of life
3. The hope of the resurrection
- We look forward and hope for a day when we will meet Jesus and all our loved ones who have preceded us in death
- 1 Thes 4:13
- This will be a glorious reunion!
- It will be the greatest family gathering of all time
- Paul says, if we don't believe in the hope of the resurrection, we are to be pitied
- 1 Cor 15:12-21
- Jesus died for our sins, but then he was raised to glory to be with the father
- Each of us too, has thois same hope within us, looking forward to the resurrection when the body of this death will be clothed with glory
- Without the resurrectrion we cannot inherrit the kingdom of God
- 1 Cor 15:50-54
Invitation
Communion
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