Random Hope Verses

These are some of the verses used in this past Sunday's sermon on Hope.

We begin the new church year

We begin the new advent season

We begin the walk toward Christmas

We begin in much the same way as we’ve begun most things

We begin in our mess, at our most desperate time

In our hour of deepest need,

In the midst of death indeed

In the minds of those who heed

Hope comes…

When all will say all hope is lost

When days are like a tempest tossed

Jesus Christ comes in as Hope

His Cross proclaims, That’s all she wrote!

There is always hope.

We can’t feel it, but we know it.

We can’t teach it, but we show it.

To strengthen those whose courage is weak

To hold up those whose vision is bleak

There is always hope.

Hope is courage in the face of fear

Hope is strength when the enemy draws near

Hope is food when hunger calls

Hope is shelter when the world falls

Hope is Jesus, the Savior of all.

Hope comes in the light

Hope comes with the light

Hope comes with the Hosanna

Hope comes with Jesus

Hope comes in Jesus!

We put on the armor of light to fight

We put on the robe of Jesus Christ

We stare in the face of darkness and sin

We know the Hope in the end will win

Words

“He trusts in God; let God deliver him now, if he desires him. For he said, ‘I am the Son of God.” The chief priests, scribes and elders at the foot of the Cross Matthew 27:43

I would have this as my prayer…

            I would have this as my last words…

                        I would have this at my funeral…

Words of scoffers

Words of mockers

Words of cynicism

Words of derision

Words of sarcasm

You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. Genesis 50:20

You’re a joke

You’re no good

You’re shameful

You’re a sinner

You’re hopeless

Maybe, but I am a child, a son of God!

How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! 1 John 3:1

I trust in God

            I know He desires me

                        I know He will deliver me

                                    I know I am His forever.

Amen

Forgiving Father

Jeremiah 3:22a, “Return, O faithless sons; I will heal your faithlessness.”

There was some snow on the ground in November and I was helping my grampa chop wood for his stove. He sent me to fetch his hatchet to split some kindling. “It’s on top of the wood pile, behind the fence.” I ran to get it and climbed up the fence. With the hatchet in hand, I jumped down off of the fence. My glove caught and my arm slid down across the metal wire. The metal sliced the back of my wrist and I was bleeding. For some reason that I still don’t understand, I pulled my glove on over my hand and never told anyone that I had been cut.

When we get ourselves into trouble, our first inclination is to hide. When Adam and Eve sinned in the garden, they were ashamed of their sin and also their nakedness and they hid. Jeremiah is recording the conversation that the Lord is having with him regarding the nations of Israel and Judah. Both nations have followed other gods and have disgraced themselves. They have every inclination to hide. Figuratively speaking, they have run away and tried to hide from God. But God does not want them to hide, nor is he seeking revenge and destruction for them. He wants to forgive them and help them to heal. “Return…and I will heal your faithlessness.”

Healing comes from God. The call to Israel is a call to repentance and healing. That healing comes from forgiveness. That’s why we have confession and absolution as a part of each worship time. It’s a time of healing. We have been unfaithful to God. He calls us to return to Him. We know that we can’t heal our own unfaithful hearts, but that doesn’t stop us from trying or from trying to hide it. God knows what is on our hearts. He knows the unfaithfulness and sin that we try to hide. He knows it and still sent His son Jesus to die for it. Jesus died so that you and I don’t have to hide our sin anymore.

My arm still bears the scar of that snowy day. It’s what my Dad once referred to as a “distinguishing characteristic.” Jesus bears the scars for our sin, even still in His hands and feet. His resurrected body bears the marks of the cross. They are one of His distinguishing characteristics.

Father, forgive us for our unfaithfulness. In Jesus’ name, amen.