The Church Always Has Hope!
Notes
Transcript
Big Idea:
Big Idea:
The church always has hope!
Intro:
Intro:
Good morning everyone! Welcome to Church Online.
So far, this has been a tough year. It’s been crazy! It’s been likened to the plot of Hunger Games or Jumanji - just waves after waves of difficulties and unexpected circumstances.
Starting in March all of us experienced the serious and sad reality of quarantines, shutdowns, sickness, and deaths. Additionally...
It’s shut down business.
It’s impacted travel.
It’s taken down schools.
And this is not to mention the smaller - but still meaningful - personal things affected - like canceled vacations, sports, and celebrations (like birthdays, weddings, and anniversaries).
And while numbers are improving, we have no idea what will happen next, and there’s not an end in sight!
Considering all these things, it’s easy to lose hope!
2000 years ago, the Thessalonians experienced this feeling too. They began to lose hope. And this morning, we’re going to read about Paul’s response to this. After instructing on...
Their need to be a holy church.
And their need to be a loving church.
… Paul instructs them on their need to be a hopeful church! And I believe this is an important message for us in 2020. So, if you have your Bible/app, turn to 1 Thess 4 and read with me starting in verse 13...
But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. Therefore encourage one another with these words.
Like with us today, things were getting crazy for this new, but healthy church.
Paul - their first pastor - was forced out of their city. He didn’t even get a chance to teach them everything they needed to know as a new church. They were now all alone with no leader.
Nevertheless, God was faithful to take care of them. They were a strong church, full of faith and love. And their transformation was seen by everyone!
But, the same people who violently forced Paul out of the city, now turned their attention towards the young church. Almost immediately, they suffered for their faith - persecuted for following Jesus.
At the same time, some of the family and friends they loved dearly began to die. Possibly due to persecutions, possibly for natural causes. However they died, it hurt. And it caused them to start to lose hope!
Like us, they were asking, “What else could go wrong?!?!” or, “When will this end? I’m ready for this to be over!”
And when Timothy told Paul about this, his reply was...
But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope.
Remember, Paul likely got 3-4 weeks with this church. And most of the church was starting from square 1. Meaning, they didn’t have any previous experience with biblical faith. Unlike us...
They didn’t live in a country that had laws and values influenced by biblical principles.
They didn’t have a history of faith demonstrated by church buildings on Main Street in every town.
They didn’t have Christmas and Easter every year, which regardless of people’s beliefs, presents the gospel story and creates some level of cultural familiarity with the God of the Bible.
They knew NOTHING. And Paul did his best to teach them as much as he could, but his time got cut short. Now, for the most part, He was able to give them a solid foundation. This church was doing great! But there were some things he could’ve used more time on. Things needing more clarification. One of those things being, the future return of Christ!
I think we can understand how you need more than a couple of weeks to teach such an important and complex subject! It’s typically not a subject you understand right away. The book of Revelation, which speaks a lot about the return of Jesus, is one of the toughest books to understand!
Paul had taught them what Jesus promised. He said...
“Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.
Although Jesus ascended into heaven, He promises to one day return. This event should give us hope!
Now, I should take a moment to define hope. You’ve probably heard me say this before… but in our modern world, we use “hope” like “wish.”
I hope there is a second stimulus check.
I hope there is football this fall.
I hope my kids go back to school!
Even when there’s a high probability, there’s still an element of chance. It’s still wishful. There’s no guarantee.
...That’s not like biblical hope.
Hope in the Bible IS a guarantee! It’s a guarantee because God always does what He says. When God makes a future promise, we know it’s coming! And when Jesus promises to come back to take us to heaven forever, we can have biblical hope! We can say, “I KNOW this is my GOOD FUTURE!”
… but, this new church had some questions on this hopeful, but complex event.
On Sept. 1st, a hopeful event is happening in my life: My kids are going back to school! Hallelujah! But… I have some questions too...
Like, if my kids go back to school, and someone in their class gets stick, who has to do the 14-day quarantine? Just my kids? To the entire family? Because life is going to be really difficult if Janelle and I have to quarantine too!
I mean, are we rolling the dice every day hoping we don’t get slapped with a quarantine? By the way, that use “hope” is more like “wish.”
And I have other questions!
All of a sudden, a hopeful event, that is complex, causes me to LOSE HOPE because I have unanswered questions. And my assumptions are for the worse!
…that’s what was happening to the Thessalonians.
They heard about the hope of Jesus’ return! He was coming back to take them home.
But then, people started dying (which is what Paul is referring to when he uses the phrase, “sleep”).
And they had a question, “If someone dies before Jesus comes back, do they miss out on heaven? Do only the people alive at the return get to go with Him?”
That sounds silly to us, but we have to remember, this church was starting at square 1! They didn’t have thousands of years of church history and doctrine to answer questions like this. They didn’t even have a pastor or veteran Christian to ask!
And because of this, they started to lose hope, assuming the worst: That their loved ones who died before Jesus’ return will miss out on heaven.
And so, Paul instructs them, “Don’t lose hope! You have no reason to!” And he does so by reminding them of this important fact:
We who believe in Jesus are different.
We who believe in Jesus are different.
For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep.
Paul begins to supplement his previous teaching. He starts by reminding them of what Jesus did for them - what makes them different...
Before Jesus, the entire world was without hope. Doomed because of sin. Fearing our moment of death, knowing we’d lose everything precious to us. And all that remained in our future was eternal judgment.
But God so loved the world that He was unwilling to let sin and death have the final say over his most prized creation. Therefore, Jesus came to earth, lived a perfect life, and died on a Cross, in our place and for our sins. He substituted His perfect life for our sinful one. He was the perfect sacrifice to save us from the judgment we deserved! And because His sacrifice WAS PERFECT - meaning it completely paid for the sins of the world - God raised Him from the dead, showing both sin and death had been defeated. And from that moment on, there was REAL HOPE for the world!
And the promise to all mankind is, if we are willing to turn away from our sin, and put our faith in Jesus (the One who died in our place), God will forgive us our sins and give us eternal life! We won’t have to fear death anymore!
Paul said it this way, “Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” (1 Cor. 15:54-55).
And it’s this event, the Cross and Resurrection, that makes us different. It changes everything. It destroys the fear of death. And it gives us ETERNAL hope!
And so, Paul clarifies, “Don’t lose hope. You have NO REASON to because you are NOT a people who live without hope. We ARE a people of HOPE.
Because of what Jesus did on the Cross...
The Church always has hope!
The Church always has hope!
And knowing they were worried about their family and friends who had already died, He assures them, “Your loved ones who died putting their faith in what Jesus did on the Cross, when Jesus comes back… they will actually come with Him!”
He says...
For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.
So, what happens to those who die before Jesus returns to earth?
Until Jesus comes back, their souls will be with the Lord in heaven. So, they GOOD! Don’t worry about them!
Paul taught the Corinthians...
We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord.
When someone in Christ dies, our physical bodies are “asleep,” meaning there will be a temporary season of non-participation. They go temporarily go into the grave.
But... when Jesus FINALLY comes back, those who died in Christ will “rise,” meaning that physical body that was “sleeping,” will now be reunited with their souls. And even better… this physical body will be glorified… meaning it will be perfect, without sin, decay, or fault!
So, in regards to the hope found in Jesus’ return, their death is no reason to lose hope! In fact, when Jesus returns, they get front row seats! And they get glorified bodies first! THEY GOOD! (say that!)
And after that, those who are still alive, will meet the Lord in the air… and here’s the greatest HOPE:
… we will always be with the Lord.
Let’s break that short statement down...
“We” - Meaning the Christians who are alive AND those who have already passed away. Jesus is able to preserve both for this glorious moment of hope!
“will always” - There’s a day coming when all the brokenness and pain will be over. No more emotional or circumstantial rollercoasters. We will ALWAYS be in perfection.
CS Lewis creatively wrote it this way in the Chronicles of Narnia… “All their life in this world and their adventures in Narnia had only been the cover and the title page; now at last they were beginning Chapter One of the Great Story which no one on earth has read; which goes on forever; in which every chapter is better than the one before.”
“be with the Lord.” - One day, we will “be with the Lord.” Forever with our Savior, Created, and King. Living in perfect love.
This is the unshakeable HOPE every Christian has. This is the HOPE of the CHURCH. It is OUR HOPE.
It is not impacted by emotions.
It is not impacted by circumstances.
It is a guaranteed future.
It is a promise that gives us HOPE no matter what we face in this life.
One day, Jesus is coming back for us. And we will be reunited with our beloved family of faith. And will enter into eternal paradise to forever be with the Lord.
This is the greatest news ever. And its something we need to intentionally hang onto as the church! The church should always have HOPE because of this future event!
Which is why Paul finishes by saying...
Therefore encourage one another with these words.
We should cheer one another up with these words. We should...
Give one another hope... because of this promise.
Give one another hope... because of this promise.
Response:
Response:
As we close, let me encourage a few responses:
First, to the church… to all of us who follow Jesus. I know we are living in hard times. Scary times. But let encourage you, “Don’t lose hope! As Christians, we ALWAYS have hope!”
Let me cheer you up by reminding you that this life is not all we have! We have a promised future. One day, Jesus will come back for us and we will enter eternal perfection, peace, and paradise!
And even when face death, we have hope. Because that just means we are about to forever be in the presence of the Lord… AND! We get priority seating at the return of Christ!
Don’t let anything in this world cause you to lose hope or give up. The church always has hope!
But here’s another response...
The CDC just released an article saying 40% of people are struggling with mental health or substance abuse because of COVID. 11 % have seriously considered suicide in the last 30 days. 25% of the people who considered that were under the age of 24. The season we are living in is causing people to lose hope!
Let me put it another way: Our community NEEDS HOPE!
Church, we have the hope the world needs. And I believe God has a purpose for bringing this message before us during this season. He wants us to:
Be a church that lives in hope.
Be a church that gives others hope.
So here’s two practical steps to process:
First, Jesus has not just given us personal hope, but a mission of hope. He has sent His people (the church; us!) into a world that needs hope. We have a message they need - the gospel! But… we got to be in a position to give it to them. What I mean is we must be around people who need hope in order to give them hope! And at a time where we have quarantine orders in place, we have to REALLY be INTENTIONAL about this.
Like...
I want my kids to be in a places where their faith makes a difference. So, for me, I send them to school because there are kids who need hope. I let them play community sports, because there are families there who need hope!
I like to make friends and hang out with people who don’t go to church. I love my Christian brothers and sisters, but I need to be in places where my faith makes a difference. Where I can share hope.
As we’re all making decisions in this tough season, I believe we need to ask: God, where do you want me to go? What do you want me to do? How can I share hope?
And then, when we’re there, be prepared to share HOPE!
Instead, you must worship Christ as Lord of your life. And if someone asks about your hope as a believer, always be ready to explain it.
You don’t need to go to Bible College or Seminary to share hope. All you need to do is point people to Jesus.
Share how God has helped you have hope.
Invite someone to church or Life Group.
Or, intentionally share hope on your social media pages!
Finally, if you’ve never put your trust in Jesus - if you feel like you’ve been living without hope - and are ready to receive the hope Jesus promises, you can do that today. Turn away from your sin. Tell God you’re sorry. And put your faith in Jesus. And God promises, you will receive forgiveness, new life, and the hope of heaven!
Let’s pray:
Father, thank you for the hope you give us. Help us to live in that hope. Help us to share that hope. Tell us where to go and what to share. We thank you in advance for all you do! And we pray this in Jesus name, amen!
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Have a great day - God bless you!