Hope

Will what is happening today, lead me to where I want to be tomorrow?

Unprecedented—never done or known before

Does God provide security in unprecedented times?

• I don’t trust what I feel, I trust who I know.
• The danger today is temporary, the relationship I have is eternal.

Does God provide joy in unprecedented times?

• If the joy-producing acts of God are characteristic of our past, we can safely believe the joy-producing acts of God will be characteristic of our future. 

Does God provide comfort in unprecedented times?

• The answer is yes and the comfort we are looking for is found in the obedience of those who have gone before us and the inspiration of where obedience today will take us tomorrow.

Does God provide hope in unprecedented times?

Psalm 130:1

Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord

Psalm 130:1-2 (MSG)

Help, God—the bottom has fallen out of my life!

"Many people suffer because of the false supposition on which they have based their lives. That supposition is that there should be no fear or loneliness, no confusion or doubt."

-- Henri Nouwen

Psalm 130:2-5, 7

O Lord, hear my voice. Let your ears be attentive to my cry for mercy. If you, O Lord, kept a record of sins, O Lord, who could stand? But with you there is forgiveness; therefore you are feared. I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in his word, I put my hope. O Israel, put your hope in the Lord, for with the Lord is unfailing love and with him is full redemption. He himself will redeem Israel from all their sins. 

God is personal and desires intimacy with us.

God is a redeemer and desires to help us.  

Psalm 130:6

My soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen wait for the morning . . .

Waiting and watching = Hope 

"God, I want to confess my sin to you. I know what it is to have the bottom fall out of my life. I want to receive forgiveness, not from trying to be a really good person or my own efforts, but because you are a redeemer who desires to help me. And I desire for Jesus to be my personal Lord, Savior and friend. Jesus be my friend and my guide and my leader. I want to have a new reason to live. I want to have a new identity and a hope to live for."