Another post of sermon notes I took while in attendance at church. Today’s message is from Edwin Shepperdson, This message was delivered in multiple parts at Grace Church over successive weeks (1/3/2010-5/2/2010). This is part 1, titled “The Foundations of Hope”, delivered January 3^rd, 2010. From the series “Facing Life with Hope”.

Our core text is 1 Thessalonians 1:1-3

1”Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy,

To the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ:

Grace and peace to you.

2 We always thank God for all of you, remembering you in our prayers 3 and continually recalling before our God and Father your work of faith, your labor of love, and your enduring hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Part 1

1. Hope begins with a thankful attitude, vs. 2a.

Strong’s Greek 2168 eucharisteó: To give thanks, to be thankful is used here, and like our author Paul we should maintain a thankful heart as often as possible. It’s interesting to me that being thankful can have a wonderful impact on times when we’re anxious or stressed. The mandate to “count our blessings” is for our good, and I cannot count the times it’s helped me.

Watch your self-talk. It can filter our hopeful thoughts, keeping us on the “human” track, and away from the abundant life that Christ calls us to (John 10:10b).

Some of the ways it can filter:

It personalizes: “it’s my fault”

it promotes “catastrophe thinking”: “it’s hopeless”

It polarizes: it’s black or white, no grace to cover the issue being mentally chewed on.

Don’t let any of this destructive self-talk have a foothold in your thinking. Don’t let it kill your hope. A grateful attitude is good for us. Negativity is deadly.

2. Hope is strengthened with a prayerful attitude. vs. 2b

We can be confident in His control of everything. There are so many verses that illustrate this; let’s look at Psalms 68:7-10:

7 “O God, when You went forth before Your people,
When You marched through the wasteland, Selah.
8 The earth quaked; The heavens also dripped rain at the presence of God;
Sinai itself quaked at the presence of God, the God of Israel.
9 You caused abundant rain to sprinkle down, O God;
You established Your inheritance when it was parched.
10 Your creatures inhabited it;
You established it in Your goodness for the poor, O God.”

[This is an especially applicable verse as I type this up, it’s been raining since last night and it’s the morning after, still raining here in the desert of New Mexico.]

In our daily time with Him, our hope is renewed. I cannot repeat this enough, spending time with Him, in His Word, in prayer, daily, it’s worth it. Days that start with the Lord are better than days that don’t.

3. Hope is cultivated with a reflective attitude. vs. 3

Faith, hope, and love. These three words are used 244 times in the Old Testament

Strong’s Greek 4102: Pistis, From G3982; persuasion, that is, credence; moral conviction (of religious truth, or the truthfulness of God or a religious teacher), especially reliance upon Christ for salvation; abstractly constancy in such profession; by extension the system of religious (Gospel) truth itself: – assurance, belief, believe, faith, fidelity.

Being fully persuaded, Romans 8:33-39

Romans 8:33-39

33 Who will bring a charge against God’s elect? God is the one who justifies; 34 who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us. 35 Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? 36 Just as it is written,

“For Your sake we are being put to death all day long;
We were considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”

37 But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

He’s with you, He’s with Me every moment of every day.

What we believe: FAITH

Filled with the Holy Spirit with His fruit on display, always ready to give a reason for the hope in our hearts

What we do: LOVE

Love is not just a feeling or emotion, love is a verb, serving one another and all the more as we see the day approaching. (*Hebrews 10:24-25)

What we expect: HOPE

We expect Him to reveal Himself to us, and through us to others. He is our provider (Jehovah Jireh).

*Hebrews 10:24-25

24 “and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, 25 not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near.”