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Sunday Service Heart Highlight

October 6th, 2024

Scripture & Service Highlight:

1 Timothy 1:1 NIV

"Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the command of God our Savior and of Christ Jesus our hope,"

Take all of my hope and put it in Jesus, He supplies, He is my hope, my blessed assurance.

Jesus is my expectation.

Jesus is my source, my waymaker

Trust Jesus with everything

His promises are my hope/expectation

What people cannot do, God does

~~~~~

Some background information. This sermon was about our hope (aka confident expectation) being found in Jesus.

In The Bible, the word "Hope," sourced back to the root word in Greek is ἐλπίς. This word means expectation, hope. In The Bible it's commonly used as: hope, expectation, trust, and confidence. Which is how we come to know that our hope in Jesus isn't something flimsy, but rather its a confident expectation in who Jesus is! It's our confident expectation that what He promised to us will come to fruition because that's who He is. He is faithful to His word.

So, when we come to believe in Jesus, we are standing in the confident expectation of who He is. He is our Messiah, our Good Shephard, our Jehovah Jireh, our Savior, our Lord, our King of kings and Lord of lords. He is our Prince of Peace, He is the lamb slain, He is risen, He is the waymaker, He is the only way, He is our source, He is love! Jesus has so many names, and He has not failed in measuring up in any of them. He is our hope, in Him we don't have to be afraid or worried. When we keep our eyes on Him, when we continue to stand on what He says in His Word and in His conversations with us, we can stand confidently knowing that what He says will come to pass.

There is a great temptation from the enemy to allow our hope to be something flimsy and something to be left in our own hands or in the "it is what it is". That our hope is something we have to earn. Trust me, I know, growing up I believed I had to earn everything, that I couldn't rely on anyone else but myself if I truly wish to have it. I'm still growing to let go of the "hustle culture," and by no means am I perfect. But man, do I serve such a faithful and merciful God who patiently and lovingly draws me back to Him. Who reminds me that this is a relationship with Him, and that ultimately He is the one in whom I should place my hope in. Not in my own works, but in what He says about it. Beloved, God will show you the way if you'll bring to Him all your hopes and dreams. He'll even outdo them (Ephesians 3:20)! But we have to let Him be the source as we walk with Him. We have to let the work we do, not become something in which we honor ourselves in, but that we honor Him in (Colossians 3:23), knowing that in it He is bringing us all that we have need and want of. There is a balance, I'm not saying to lay your desires at His feet and just stand there waiting. Nor am I saying talk to Jesus about it then go off and do your own thing. It's a balance of putting your hand to the things at which He has called you to do. Knowing that this work that you do in His honor is moving you to what He is preparing you for. When we work with Him in where He is leading us, we are positioning ourselves to see the fruits of that confident expectation in Him. There are things that only God can do, and when we have the right mindset and position we are opening ourselves to see it. We will see Him bring that better job, that healing, that new home, that new level of relationship with Him. God is our source and we can trust and rely on Him. So as you bring Him your hopes and desires, allow Him to bring you the scriptures in which will set you in the right position to receive what He alone has planned for you.

(Definition and usage of ἐλπίς comes from blueletterbible.org)

Wednesday Service Heart Highlight:

October 9th, 2024

Scripture & Service Highlight:

Hebrews 11:1 AMP

"Now faith is the assurance (title deed, confirmation) of things hoped for (divinely guaranteed), and the evidence of things not seen [the conviction of their reality—faith comprehends as fact what cannot be experienced by the physical senses]."

By Faith Abraham chose to refuse and choose

We can do the same, by Faith we have the right to choose:

Abundance, life, health, how we respond, what we think, what feelings remain

~~~~~~~ By faith we choose. We can choose to get up again when we've fallen short. Because Faith tells us that we can repent, ask for God's forgiveness, and ask Him to lead us into the change that will bring us closer to Him and away from the old. By faith we can look at the circumstances and tell them that they have no control over us, because Jesus has already healed us. By His stripes we are healed (Isaiah 53:5), even when it looks bad. I have a friend battling cancer right now, at one point his skin got so pale that it looked like the cancer was winning. But no matter what, we all prayed and continuously spoke the word over him. Even more important, he spoke the word over himself. Even as he went to his appointments, had surgeries, took his medication, we all (including him) spoke FAITH. He is still fighting the good fight, and now his skin is back to normal, he's getting stronger, he's getting better! Praise God! All because he chose to refuse and choose. He is refusing to accept death and choosing to believe in the God who says that he is more than a conqueror, and that he is healed by the stripes of Jesus. I had another friend who passed away from cancer years ago. We also prayed with her, believed and chose to refuse, and choose to say what God says. Eventually she did pass, but with victory. She didn't surrender to fear, she didn't surrender to thinking that it was God's will. Instead she passed with peace knowing that God would continue to take care of her family and that soon she would be dancing with Jesus. She stood in faith and received her healing in heaven.

We have the right to choose by faith. To choose to believe God and what He says even when everything else looks the opposite. To choose life instead of speaking death, even in the face of death. The scripture says that faith comprehends as fact what cannot be experienced by physical senses. Faith is the evidence of things we cannot see. Fear and worry show up on the daily now, and it's our choice on how we will respond. Will we come to the Holy Spirit asking Him to bring us the scriptures that will bring us the faith that we need? Whether it be to grow in a relationship with Him or to face the current/upcoming situation. Or will we allow ourselves to be caught up in the storm, too panicked to hear Jesus saying, "Take My hand." Beloved, we must choose to walk by faith in both the highs and lows, because we serve a faithful God. God will not fail you when you choose to put your trust and hope (aka confident expectation) in Him. Choose to refuse the darkness that threatens to overtake you and choose to seek God for His guidance. For the faith that you need in order to continue walking in peace, joy, love, and victory in your relationship with Him.