All right, well, as Pastor Casey said, my name is Chris, and it's my great honor and privilege and responsibility to be the lead pastor here at Grace City, Eugene. And it's my great privilege also to bring the second message in our Ephesians Confident Hope series to y'all here this morning. I'm excited that we get to go through this book. It's almost like we planned it this way, that we get to go through the book of Ephesians, which...
It talks about establishing ourselves in the truth of who Jesus is, what he did for us, that Paul calls us to unity in all of these other things, in the midst of a season societally, that there is a lot of potential for conflict and tension. Amen? I'm not going to get into that today, but there's a lot of potential, if you didn't know, for conflict and tension in our world. And we need to be rooted and grounded in who Jesus has called us to be and how that good news applies to our lives and our relationships.
So that's why we are digging into this book this fall. So, the Apostle Paul wrote this series, or sorry, he didn't write this series, Casey and I did, but he wrote the book of Ephesians to this group of Christians that were living in or near Ephesus, and he wrote it in order to strengthen their faith, to promote their unity, and to exhort them to holiness. That was the intention of this letter.
And it's in that that we find this thread of confident hope that we kind of unpacked for y'all in the intro last week, that the follower of Jesus is deepened in their understanding through this letter to the church in Ephesus. Now, in the first three chapters of Ephesians, Paul really lays out a theological understanding as to why we should have confident hope, and that that confident hope should be strengthened, or should be fueled by a strengthened faith. It should be fueled by unity, and it should be fueled by a life of holiness, or living set apart because of how Jesus has called us to live.
And in the later three chapters, which will be coming in a few weeks, he really seeks to help those following Jesus to apply these theological truths in our lives. So chapters one through three is like, hey, here's all the things you need to know. And then the next three chapters is here's how this should impact your life. But I'm not going to make you wait until then to see.
how this word applies to your life, I believe that there's enough in here that we can give you each week, each Sunday, something that needs applied. So today we're going to be in Ephesians chapter 1. You can go ahead and turn there. The words will also be on the screen behind me. But we're going to start in verse 15. But when we start reading today's scripture, we need to note that it starts off saying, for this reason. Now, have you ever started to read a section of scripture and it's like, and because of this, or for that reason.
And you're like, for what reason? Well, I got a hack for you. Go read the verses right before it.
It'll tell you for a reason or tell you what, because of so many times we get so locked into, oh, this assignment, or maybe this devotionals tell me to read this chunk of scripture. But when it says for this reason, this like demands that we would go and read a couple verses before to know what is following applies to what's being. connected. So let's briefly rewind and see what the reason that what is coming is referred to.
I hope you're following that. So you could make a case that the entire verses of 3 through 14, since it's all one long sentence, applies, which was last week's message. But all scholars agree that all of this is summarized, in essence, in verses 13 and 14. And so I'm going to read that, and then we're going to stand and get into today's scripture.
So verse 13 and 14 from last week says, In Him, being Jesus, you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, that is the good news of your salvation, and you believed in Him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of His glory. So it's for that reason that we hop in to verse 15 today. So if you're able, would you please stand as we read? the word of the Lord today. So starting in verse 15, it says, for this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers that the God of our Lord.
Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your heart enlightened that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you. What are the riches of his glory? And what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe according to the working of his great might.
That he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at the right hand in the heavenly places. Far above all rule and authority and power and dominion and above every name that is named. Not only in this age, but also in the one to come.
And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is the body, the fullness of him who fills all in all. This is the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God. Go ahead and have a seat. Father, I thank you for your word.
I thank you for what you are even already speaking to us and showing us in our minds, our hearts, our spirits as we. Receive this word. Father, I pray right now that you would inspire every word out of my mouth, that you would open hearts and minds and ears to fully receive what you have for my family here today, God, and that we would leave forever changed because we acknowledge just a step more of who you are and how you've called us to live. Please, Lord, don't let us come in here and just hear something.
Let us learn something. Let us know something out of a proximity and an intimacy with you. Would you change our lives through your inspired word today and through this message that you've given us? We pray these things in Jesus'name.
Everybody said, Amen. Amen. So you'll see that our sermon series is called Confident Hope.
And you'll see as we read through that, there is this addressing of hope. And when we read through this, and as I'm preparing this message and to speak with you all, Honestly, about this idea of hope, I have to admit that I personally have a hope problem. I have a hope problem. Now, I'm not going to get into all the details of maybe what that looks like now and how that's been challenging over the last few years because how many of you know when you walk in community, some of your illustrations are sitting listening to you, okay?
And so, but I am going to share one with you to help illustrate how I have had a hope problem. in the past. So there was a season in our church where I was like frequently leading worship and preaching on the same Sundays. And because of how frequently I was playing guitar, I became extremely aware of how dissatisfied with my guitar playing I was. It's like, man, I wish I was better.
I feel like I've been on a plateau. Like ever since I'd been playing for a year till now, like I just every week I'd listen to the stream. I'm like, oh, my gosh, that guy is horrible. But I'm that guy.
What are you going to do about it? And so this frequency at which I was leading made me very dissatisfied with my guitar playing skills. Just put it at that. So what I did is I got some side work, made a little money on the side and so that I could get better gear.
Can anybody resonate with thinking they just need better toys to better their skills? It usually doesn't work with, like, anything, but I thought it was going to work with guitar, so it's like, okay, in order to get better at guitar and to add something more to our sound on Sundays, I'm going to buy, like, a nice electric guitar, I'm going to buy all these pedals. and this amp and stuff. And I'm going to watch YouTube videos like all the time so that I can learn about how to use them. Has anybody tried to learn things on YouTube before?
Works out pretty great, right? So I was hoping that... that this would help me conquer my dissatisfaction with a particular skill set that arguably I did or did not have.
And that was playing the guitar. It's kind of like this idea of getting better stuff to better your skills is like, I equate it to in that moment, I was like, man, I'm a really bad driver, so I'm going to buy a Ferrari. Like, have you ever seen those ones where like somebody that's like, you have no business driving this, but oh, it's a nicer car, so like it doesn't work out so well, right?
They end up like spinning into the ditch and hitting. other things. More power doesn't mean more skills. It's kind of like getting in a romantic relationship because of your character lust or relational health issues.
It's not really the answer to your relational health issues, is it? That like, you know what I need? I just need a boyfriend or girlfriend.
Everything will get better. Anybody ever tried to do that? It doesn't work.
Better stuff, better like upgrades in certain areas don't make the things that need worked on actually better. Or one of my favorites, it's like having kids to save your marriage. Not my favorite action, okay, but one of my favorite excuses, like our marriage is really struggling, Pastor, and so we're just really trying hard to have kids, because we think that'll fix everything.
And what happens is those things that we think we're putting our hope in to fix something, they just amplify the problem. They don't correct it, right? And so I have all this nice gear coming. I watch enough videos that I can put this pedal board together, and I plug it all in, and I did. did the whole roulette thing where you hit power and you just hope sound comes out.
It reminded me of when I was in high school and I installed my own car stereo and it's like, please Jesus, please Jesus. And then you hit the button and all the music comes out. So it did, a sound came out.
I wouldn't call it music, but sounds came out. And I quickly realized that this very nice equipment that I now had didn't actually cover up or correct any of my issues. It just amplified them.
Which should make sense because you've got a bunch of pedals with preamps in them that make things louder. And you have an amp that makes things louder. And you have a guitar that has pickups that make things louder. And so now, every time that I couldn't play a chord right, every time that I would hit the strings too hard, every time that I didn't know how to adjust a pedal, It didn't correct my dissatisfaction.
It just amplified it. And now I'm just like, oh, dear Lord. So thank God for a dose of humility in Facebook Marketplace.
I got myself out of that mess. But I was putting my hope in something to cover up or correct for a skill set or an issue that just needed time, practice, and devotion. You see what I'm saying here?
I have a hope problem. Now, I'm sharing that one with you because it's funny and it's lighthearted. to start out our time together. But that is not my only hope problem. And I bet if we were to actually consider our own lives, there are some hope problems represented in this room.
Things that we hope will cover up or correct the issues in our lives, the deeper flaws and character issues or distrust that we have, but they simply amplify it and expose more things than correct them. So yes, I have a hope problem, but can I be so bold as to say that we also have a hope problem. It's not just your pastor that has a hope problem today.
Us, the church, people in general, society, if you will, has a hope problem. It shows itself in many ways, but I just want to highlight a couple, hoping that this will resonate with you and that we can all identify with this problem together here this morning. So there is this one idea or observation, I'll say, in society that I see.
of conditional hope. Conditional hope. As long as XYZ happens, then ABC is where I will put my trust, right?
It's like, as long as I get this, then I'll get this. It's like holding our hope hostage for an outcome that we desire or demand. A conditional hope. As long as Jesus is providing for my needs, and of course I'm going to place my trust in him.
My bank account's in the black. I'm driving the nicest car on the block. everything's going well, my heater doesn't break down, washer and dryer and appliances stay working. Yeah, I'm going to trust in Jesus because favor ain't fair, and he's just got favor on me right now, right? Like, it's that conditional hope.
But the moment that he doesn't provide for us in the way that we think is best is where we shift our hope and place it in something that we think will actually save us or correct or fix us or our situation in any given moment. we end up putting our faith where we think something will meet our needs, rather than having a faithful, ongoing, long-suffering faith and hope in Jesus Christ. We often put our hope in what we think will fix our problems. And so if we're putting it elsewhere, then we're not trusting in Jesus to handle our problems. Or maybe we're saying, you know what, Jesus, you're cool and all, and thank you for the cross.
Thank you for the cross. But... I really need you to do this this way, and you're not right now, so I'm going to go find someone or something to put my hope in to handle this circumstance right now.
So, conditional hope. The other one that I think is pervasive right now is this idea of felt hope or feelings-based hope. That our feelings dictate what we see as the presence of hope or at least the potency of that hope.
Like, okay, how strong... is my hope and my feelings that waver and change with circumstances and quite frankly the weather any given day dictate where our hope is placed and how strong our hope is. Have any of you wrestled with that before? No? Awesome.
Well I'll just share from my own experience. When November comes and we got six months of rain y'all, felt hope is not the thing. It's not going to help you out.
Like let's be honest there's plenty of great things. about certain times of year in this lovely place we live. And there's plenty of things that make it challenging on the flip side. When the sun's out, man, we can feel happy.
We can feel happy. And when people are being nice to me and people are interacting with me in a way that I feel is warranted and they think I'm doing a good job, I will put my hope in Jesus because clearly he's shining his face upon me in those seasons. We can have this idea that when all feels good, all is good, and therefore Jesus is good. But when the rainy season hits, when somebody's too direct with you for your standards, when you're feeling low, then you will put your hope in whatever you decide can make you happy. And happiness is fleeting and, I'll argue, tied to this conditional hope as well.
And so we, as a society, as a people, have a hope problem. We can often make our hope conditional and based on feelings. And when our hope can be hijacked...
or directed based on temporal things, rather than it staying rooted in Jesus for eternal purposes, we have a hope problem. It's not just that, oh, it's just a season. It's like, no, we have a hope problem.
Let's get down to what is actually going on, and let's address it. See what God says about it. See what we should do about it.
Because the reality is we all put our hope in something or someone. And if we're honest, we probably put our hope in... some people and some things.
It's probably more plural, right? Like our hope is not necessarily just unidirectional. As much as we'd like to be like, that's right, I put my hope in Jesus, right?
Like we want to sing some worship song about my hope's only in Jesus, but at the end of the day, we're showing that our hope is quite misdirected and it's scattered into a lot of areas. And so I'm hoping that we will all understand that we have a hope problem here this morning. We may allot our hope in different categories or different things or different people, depending on where we think we can maybe maneuver our circumstances to yield the best outcome for us.
And I'm here to tell you today that you don't have to allot your hope based on how the circumstances of today work out or what the outcome of today is in your life. Because the outcome of what happens when Jesus comes back... and makes all things new and all things perfect.
That's already decided, and that's where we put our hope. That is the outcome that we base our hope on, not did I make the traffic light or did I get through the Costco parking lot without a fight today. Those are not the things that we're trying to.
We already know there's security in the eternal outcome, and that's where our hope should be based. Rather than our own dictated conditions, our own felt happiness in any given moment or day, defining or dictating our hope. There's got to be a better way.
And I wonder, I wonder, does God in the Bible have anything to say about this? Hmm. Yes. What if there was a sturdy, rooted, eternal place to direct our hope?
And I already spoiled that for you because I got a little passionate. But yes, there is a better place to put our hope. What if it's not supposed to be fickle? ever-changing placement in our lives, depending on our day and our circumstances, but rooted in a person and a promise that never changes? What if that's where our hope is supposed to be, and that's where it is secure, where it never wavers?
So to answer my question, yes, God has something to say about hope. God has something to say about hope. Now starting in verse 15, Paul gives thanks for the belief in the Lord that the believers in and around Ephesus have, and he prays for them. He's giving thanks and praying for them in our scripture today.
And he prays specifically that they would take hold of the things that would follow and that God would set forth certain realities in these folks that Paul knows will contribute to the strengthening of their faith and confidence in their hope. He's praying like, God, would they take hold of these things? Because I know it will.
strengthen their confident hope. It will strengthen their knowledge and their understanding of what they are a part of in this kingdom of God. Now, Paul is praying to God.
In a way, he is addressing hope and where it should be rooted here. And in verse 16, he says, I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. Now, we can think about that and we read it like, I do not cease to give thanks for you. That doesn't mean that Paul, every waking moment, is giving thanks for Pete or Martha, or like just he's giving thanks for you every waking minute.
No, it means that whenever he prays, whenever he is contending to the Lord, he is continuing to pray for you. Unceasingly in his time of prayer and fellowship with the Lord, he doesn't cease to give thanks for this church in Ephesus, and he remembers them in his prayers. And then in verse 17 it says, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him.
Now, I'll admit, I used to read this a different way before I studied it this time to preach. I used to read it and say, may God give you the spirit of wisdom and revelation. I was like, oh man, that's great.
Yeah, God, would you give me an attitude of wisdom and revelation? Would you give me a disposition, if you will, of wisdom and revelation? But getting into the original language, this is more of a, Paul is praying, God, would you give them an indwelling in a whole new way of your Holy Spirit that he may reveal the spirit of God would reveal wisdom and revelation to them. This is about the Holy Spirit filling you and giving you wisdom and revelation, not about you having some disposition or attitude or certain smile on your face. Okay, I'll take the wisdom now.
No, it's about the Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit himself, indwelling in you and giving you these things, working this out in you. Now, although we read last week that all believers are sealed with the Spirit, there is still a need. to be filled in an ongoing way with the Spirit and walk according to him. It's not just a one time, like, okay, I repented and I put my faith in Jesus, and now my inheritance is sealed by the Holy Spirit.
But there is also this second and ongoing filling or baptism of the Spirit where we receive the Holy Ghost and he dwells in us. He empowers us with his presence to be able to actually live an empowered life on mission for him. That's what this is talking about.
indwelling in an ongoing way, receiving all of him and his gifts that he would have for us so that we can walk in wisdom and revelation and mission. And Paul specifically prays that the work of the Spirit would produce this wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of God. Now this knowledge is not some hard to understand concept, but rather a type of intimate knowledge that a family member might possess. Somebody living under the same roof, sitting around a dinner table together, that sees you how you are when you wake up, and in stressful times, and when you go, like, really knows somebody. This is the kind of knowledge that Paul is praying we would have of Jesus.
That it would be an intimate knowledge from proximity and experience of living life with him and obedient to him. A true knowledge of who he is. A true knowledge. And then in verse 18, it says, Having the eyes of your heart enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints.
Now, I don't know about you guys, but when I read this, and I know there's worship songs that use this language, but the eyes of your heart enlightened. Interesting. I haven't seen my heart's eyes before, nor have I seen out of them.
Anybody relate? It's kind of weird verbiage, right, if we don't understand what Paul is telling us here. Paul prays that God would grant his readers spiritual insight. That he would grant them spiritual insight.
A capacity to discern spiritual realities related to the purpose and the plans of God. Would you open my heart, the innermost of my being, to be able to see what you are doing in this world? If our heart is the core of who we are, Paul wants our heart to see and be saturated and understand all that God has for us and has called us to do.
That's the essence of this. It's not like literally like, oh, do I need an eye transplant? Because I didn't know I had those.
Like, no, it's about our heart, our innermost being, who we are, who God wove us to be in that being exposed to or understanding all of who he is in an intimate way so that. we can walk a life of fruitfulness following him and being on mission with him. Paul prays that they would be enlightened by God's spirit in order to comprehend the mysteries of God. To see with one's heart is to perceive not with physical eyes, but with eyes of faith.
He's praying, would you, would my people, brothers and sisters, would you perceive all that is happening around you with eyes of faith? Not just with physical eyes. Would all that you are know who God is, what he has for you, and what he is doing in the world around you.
Amen? So Paul then prays that those whom he's addressing would comprehend three spiritual realities that will contribute to this confident hope that we are to have. And the first one is, he wants us to understand the hope of our calling. that we have hope in this calling we have.
He called them through preaching the gospel. And through that gospel, he's extending that hope to all who would embrace it. Like, that's what's happening here.
These people are coming to him because he preached the gospel to them. And now he's saying, I pray that you would get the big picture. And that because of you responding to me in this message of the gospel that was preached, that you would embrace it and that you would perpetuate it, that you would share it. You see, Colossians and Ephesians, there's a lot of overlap thematically in them.
And we know from Colossians 1-5 that before hearing the gospel, Paul's readers had no hope and were without God in the world. That's where they were before they received this gospel. But now through Christ's work on the cross, those who once had no hope have been called to a confident hope.
Not just because of what they do or who they are, but because of who their faith can be and what Jesus has done on the cross and how that's good news for them. There's hope in their calling to embrace who Jesus is and live out of that. And it's Paul's prayer here that his readers would come to understand and experience this reality in their lives. Not just like take notes and be like, oh, that's really good, and then put it in their file, and the next time they see it is when they clean out their filing cabinet, right?
Not like that kind of thing, but that they would come to understand and experience this reality in their lives. That there is... Glorious riches and inheritance. That's the second point. That they would comprehend the riches of his glorious inheritance.
That they would comprehend it. You see, although one could view this concept of inheritance here as God's possession of his people, which is a concept in the Old Testament and the New Testament, here it's best to view this idea of inheritance as that which God gives his people. Just a few verses earlier, Paul states that those who believe in the gospel were sealed with the Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it.
And Paul is praying here that the believers would understand the riches of his glorious inheritance. Would you understand and comprehend the fullness of what that inheritance as a child adopted into his family is? And Paul understands that it's unfathomable for the finite... human mind to comprehend the riches of his glorious inheritance of what we do and will receive as children of God so he prays that the Holy Spirit would reveal it to us he knows like there there's no way like he was probably sitting there I can't I can't even figure this out yet and like Jesus met me and like in a real way so I'm praying that the Holy Spirit would reveal that to the believers to the church and that the truth of our inheritance would contribute you to a confident hope. We need to understand that as followers of Jesus, as his children, we have this guarantee of our inheritance now, the word tells us.
So like we are walking in it, we're walking in the midst of it, but the fullness of it doesn't come until the book of Revelation, when Jesus comes back for a final time, conquering finally all sin, Satan, hell, death, all of that, being done with and fully instituting his kingdom on earth as it is in heaven. But in the meantime, we still walk in some of that inheritance. Like the Spirit is still in us.
We're still walking out mission. We still can hear from God through the power of His Spirit. He gives us gifts. We can have prayer languages.
We can prophesy over people. We can pray for healing. We can believe for miracles in our midst.
Because that's just some of the inheritance that we get to walk in now. But we'll be fully instituted later. You don't have to walk as a Christian just waiting for Christmas in Revelation 19. that you can get your gifts.
He gives them to you now. You get to walk in some of that inheritance, maybe not complete and perfect yet, but you're still walking in it. Will you walk in boldness and faith, knowing that he's gifted you, that he is in you, that he has given you some of this inheritance now? He's sealed it as a guarantee for what is to come, but family, could we walk boldly, believing that God is alive now and doing something in us now? Will you comprehend the riches, the unfathomable riches of his glorious inheritance?
That's what Paul is praying that the Holy Spirit would reveal to them because he knows our minds can't even comprehend it. And finally, he's praying that we would understand the greatness of God's power. The greatness of God's power. Paul wants the Ephesians to know the greatness of God's power, the same power that raised Jesus, seated him at God's side and gave him authority over all things. That's pretty powerful, yeah?
I don't know anybody else who's done that, so I'm going to say that's a pretty supreme power. That's pretty awesome. Now this prayer or request of Paul is expanded in verses 20 through 23, emphasizing that it's especially important to Paul. Now why might this be?
Why do you think Paul is focusing all of this effort in communicating to the church, to the followers of Jesus, that God's power and in Jesus is mighty? It has authority over all things, all powers, dominions, all thrones and positions, right? If you know the song, like over all.
Things, not just like this little JV player over here, but like the best of the best. Everything that the world has to throw at us, God's power has authority and dominion over all of those things. Why is it so important that Paul prays that the Holy Spirit would reveal that to us and make that known to us?
It's because Paul is aware that such power is needed as God's people engage in the world and the spiritual warfare around us. He knows the reality of the battle that we are in, and he is praying that we would know our source of power and who has ultimate power and where the victory is at the end. That's why he wants us to know this, because our hope can't be in the conditional outcomes along the way or the outcome of how good our week at work was, but it needs to be in understanding what the final outcome is and what Jesus brought about through his death on the cross and his resurrection.
That's why he wants us to understand that, so that when we engage in battle, It's from a posture of victory, not of victimhood. That we know that like, no, the victory is yours. And maybe this battle is, maybe we lose this little battle right now.
Maybe sickness and death are still doing their thing in this world. Yeah, sure. But at the end of the day, Jesus won. Which means we win. So finish the race well.
Finish the race strong. Know that he has power over all principalities and all of the fleshly things of man. this world, and that's where your hope gains confidence. Not in your temporal outcomes, but in an eternal victory that's already secured. That's where the hope is. That's what he wants us to grab a hold of.
So what this tells us then is there is actually a hope solution, right? We're on a little journey here. I have a hope problem. We have a hope problem. God says something about hope.
So what's the solution? There's a hope solution. The gospel that inaugurated confident hope that we see here, that brought it into place, is still true and at work and powerful today.
It's not watered down, it's not for last season or only for the upcoming season. That same gospel and gospel power is true and powerful today. Verses 22 and 23 say this, and he put all things, everybody say all, all things, not just some. or the easy ones, all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is the body, the fullness of him who fills all in all. God has placed Jesus above all things, all powers, all positions, all authorities, all dominions.
He has placed him under his feet and then he's given himself as head over all things to the church. So he is powerful. mighty over all things.
And then he's given himself as the head of the church, which is, it says his body. So do you see that there is a, there is a solution in us being the body of the head of the church that has authority over all power, all positions, all of these things. And now we just get to walk out what God has demonstrated to us through Jesus in his life and walk that out in confident hope.
and trust in him as we do that. We're not on some independent mission trying to figure out how to navigate our days and our ways through life, but we are part of the body of Christ who has all power over all positions, and we walk out his mission and his life now and in the days to come. That's the solution. The solution isn't how do I fortify myself in my house and prep really well in case things go bad.
Guess what? Read your Bible. Things aren't always going to get better. There is going to be a time when things get worse, but that's okay because that means Jesus is coming back is closer.
Being a Christian isn't about getting yourself in a socially advantageous position so that you can have more flourishing and more wealth in life. Being a Christian is about laying down your life for others and trusting that Jesus paid the price so that there would be ultimate victory over all things and walking that out faithfully with your hope in Him, not your circumstances. That's how we're called to live.
So we are the body of Christ who is head over all and who is powerful over all things. And that's the solution. Now for some of us, it's like, oh, I was hoping the solution would be 10 steps to your best life or whatever else that I can actually have a little control over.
And it's like, no, the solution's not about you and it never has been. It's about Jesus, what he's done in his call for us to follow and obey and carry out his mission on earth as it is in heaven. So the solution's not about us, but we are involved in it.
We get to partner with it. We do have a place in it, but it's not dependent on any one individual's shoulders and what they can bear. It's about our yeses.
It's about our steps heading towards him. It's not about you having a perfect week. It's about you heading in the direction of Jesus Christ and walking out your faith in him and how you engage the world around you. That is the solution. The solution to hope is where you place it and what you do with it and from it.
It's where you place it and what you do with it and from it or out of it. We have a hope solution. Its name is Jesus. So, inherent in that, as I've kind of already alluded to, is we also have a hope calling. We have a hope calling.
The hope to which we have received is to be expressed in community and on mission. Worship team, you can come back up. This hope we've received is meant to be expressed in community and on mission.
The true measure of our confidence is if we express it outside of the safety of our own homes and our own minds. That's like the true measure of our confidence, right? I can have what I think is the best outfit in the world, but the measure of my confidence in that outfit is whether or not I'll leave my house dressed in it, right? Like, I can sit in front of my full-length mirror in my bedroom like, ah, that's good, yeah, I'm looking good, which just I don't do, but say if I did, right? Oh man, that's a great outfit.
But will you leave your house dressed like that? That's how you know if you're confident in it. You following me here?
So when it comes to the confidence level of our hope, are you willing to put on confident hope that's confident because of your intimate knowledge of who Jesus is, what he's done, and that he has power and authority over all things, and that he's called you to express that confident hope just not by wearing it and looking in the mirror and thinking how good you look in it for yourself, but are you willing to leave your house and express that confidence in the world around you and in the relationships that he has gifted you with? Are you willing to express that confidence and trust in him as you step out in faith saying, God, will you use this confident hope to bring about more of your kingdom and your flourishing here on earth as it is in heaven? Will you leave your house with it?
Will the words about it leave your mouth? Or are they going to be held captive in your mind and in the confines of your own home because ultimately you're not confident? Now, if you're there and you're not confident right now, that's okay. We've all been there, but we need to then ask ourselves, God, Would you reveal yourself to me in a new way? Would you give me courage to be confident in the person of Jesus and what he's done in my life so that I can walk with a confident hope outside of the confines of my own spaces?
So that I can talk with a confident hope outside of the confines and the echo chamber of my own mind? Would you be placing that in Jesus so that you can express it outside of your own privatized life? Would you put on that confident hope and would you step out the door and reveal it to the world around you? That's confidence. It's easy to talk a certain game when it's just you and whoever lives with you.
By expressing that hope in and to the world through professing the very same gospel that gave us that hope in the first place, we get to walk in that confidence. We get to walk with purpose. We get to see. the very things that will boost up our hope and our faith happen around us as we partner with it, as we partner with it.
Now, sometimes I will agree wholeheartedly with people that there are certain sayings that we say in the church, or you may hear that are kind of cheesy, okay? But certain sayings can be cheesy and profoundly impactful. And so there's your disclaimer.
But I don't want us to be just Hope receivers, I want us to be hope dealers. we deal, will we peddle hope? Will we be trying to give that away everywhere we can go? Like, come on, you need some of this hope.
Let me tell you about where my hope comes from, because you need some of this. Let me tell you about what I've received in Christ Jesus. Come on, get yourself some.
Like, out there being a hope dealer. Not just like, oh, I love that hope. I'm glad I got it for me.
I'm saved. Praise God. Now I'm just going to hang out in my house and watch a few, you know, hundred sermons a week and just make it be about me and Jesus.
Like, no, that's not actually the gospel. The gospel has an inherent part of it that is about multiplication, which means we should be dealing this hope wherever God would lead us. We should be sharing it, peddling it, trying to help other people understand it, receive it, and then express it in their own lives. Around here, we call that discipleship. You call it whatever you want.
Maybe you just want to be a hope dealer, and that feels better than being a disciple who makes disciples. Nevertheless, this is something that's not to be contained in ourselves. It's to be expressed out of faith and confidence. and that's how the world changes.
We can have some amazing Sundays with amazing worship in here. I tell you guys, we have one of the best worship leaders that I've ever been in the room with. Melissa is phenomenal, but that stuff's not meant to be contained in here.
That's not meant to be contained in here. Church is not about just coming in and receiving and like, oh, this is such an awesome thing and then you go live the rest of your life. This is meant to empower you to go out and be the church and be a hope dealer outside of these walls.
So is... is worship impactful? Absolutely.
Do you feel like God is meeting you in a tangible way in this place? I hope so. I do. But what are you going to do with it?
Are you going to receive it or are you going to share it? Are you going to deal with it? Are you going to go out and share that with other people?
That's how the world around us changes. Not by us just being in the moment and receiving it, but by taking that and sharing it. everywhere that God would lead us. So as we close, I just want to give you an opportunity to respond. I believe there's two potential places that we might be that God's calling us to a next step in today.
And one of those is, I just don't even know what it looks like to put my hope in Jesus. because my life's been a wreck. I don't even know if I've put my faith in him, much less that I have confident hope in him.
Then I wanna invite you this morning to make that decision, say, I'm done doing this myself. I'm spent. I'm finished chasing my tail. I need Jesus to be my hero.
I need him to come into my situation and to save me and to lead me because I am incapable of leading my life in a way that honors him effectively. Around here we say you need Jesus as your Lord and Savior. That's the response to the gospel.
If that's you this morning, I want to encourage you, stay after, go back to the connect table and have somebody talk to you and help you in that journey. But don't leave here today without saying, yes, I need that in my life. And then the other place you may be this morning is you're just like, okay. I want to put my full hope in Him, but what does that practically look like in the midst of your circumstances? And here's what I want to tell you.
It looks like making a choice to not name hope by your circumstance or the outcome you want. but to give it the name of Jesus. Jesus is where your hope is. We're not giving it names of solutions and things of this world, but we're putting the hope in the one person that gave his life for us so that we could have confidence eternally. And so it's making a choice, not based on the name of Jesus.
and our feelings or conditions, but God, I know you're good. I know this thing tells me a lot about who you are. I know it's inspired.
I know it's true. I know this has authority in life and for the people around me. And maybe I want to take it to be a new authority in my life, that this is what I'm going to base my life around. This is what I'm going to place my hope in.
The person of Jesus, what he's done and how God has aligned all of those things so that I can live my life with purpose, so that I can live my life confident in where I will be spending eternity. and who it will be with. So it's not about, well, if God makes this happen this week, then I, no, we're just going back to the first five minutes of the sermon. It's just about conditions.
Again, it's about making a choice to trust he is who he says he is and live your life out of that. Grow in that relationship, grow in your knowledge, applied knowledge of who he is through that. So as we close, I'm just gonna pray for those two things, for those of you in the room who are like, yeah, that resonates with me. So.
Some weeks we raise hands, close our eyes. Some weeks, I just believe that there's some of you in this room that really want to respond. I want to pray for you. Then we're going to get back into a closing song. So God, I thank you.
I thank you, Lord, for those that are in here that maybe they came in today and they haven't put their faith and their trust and their hope in you yet. Maybe they've been trying to figure out who is in charge of my life and what is good news about my life. And right now, God, I pray that you would convict their heart.
hearts to a place of repentance and putting their faith in you, recognizing that they are unqualified to lead their own lives, that they need saving, and that you gave your life to save them from their current conditions. So would they receive you this morning? And that good news, not just for the people over there, but for the people in the room, not just for the people in the room, around them, but for them. Would you give them the boldness and courage to talk to somebody after the service so they don't have to walk that out on their own. But God, I praise you for salvations in this place happening, for people coming into your saving grace.
And this morning, Father, I pray that you would help those of us that maybe we don't have confident hope. Would you help us to make a choice not based on conditions or feelings, but on the truth of who you are and your word to call confident hope by the name of Jesus, to place our confidence in you. confident hope in you and to trust you for what comes out of that and what happens through that.
Would you work in our hearts? Would you work in our lives? We thank you for what you've already done and we wait with eager anticipation of the things that you are going to do. So we thank you and we praise you in Jesus'name.
And everybody said, amen. Let's rise to our feet if you're able and close with a song of praise.