Each service included a message of truth to give hope in the face of the various emotions we experience. What emotion has you overwhelmed today? What truth from God’s Word will give you hope to rightly focus that emotion for good?
Michael West – Hope in the Certainty of God’s Promises
It is dangerous for us to not recognize that God is at work. But we must remember that our adversary is also at work. God promises to give us strong consolation, which guarantees we will have trouble. We know we have an adversary, but often forget his aggression, determination, and unwillingness to quit. We have a personal adversary. We need armor to stand against his attacks. Our enemy is not the people around us, but he is good at using people to divert our focus. We must not be ignorant of his devices. He is not omniscient, but he knows how to attack us because we let him know by our words and actions where our greatest temptations lie. Our enemy seeks to bring us to a place of discouragement and inability to do what God wants. But hope lies in the Word of God and we must flee to that place of consolation, encouragement, peace, and joy. What promise of God has ahold of you and will not let you go?
Anthony Hipps – Hope in Loneliness
Loneliness has many causes and cures. Four main causes are transitions in life, separation, opposition, and rejection. There is a temptation to withdraw into self to care for self, but this only makes us lonelier. When faced with loneliness we must realize there is a God. He hears, listens, and cares! We must maximize God’s strength. He has the power to help and is more powerful than your problem. We must utilize our time. Paul in his loneliness didn’t stop ministering, even in prison. We must sympathize with others in need. Those around us need the gospel! We must glorify God’s deliveries. Testify of His goodness in your life! When we remember that we have a God who cares, we realize we are never truly alone.
Danny Whetstone – Hope in Whom We Believe
We must not allow ourselves to become so tunnel-visioned on our ministry that we forget why we are ministering. What brought you to this calling? In his letter to the Ephesians, God commended their work. They carried out their duties. He praised their labor to the point of exhaustion. He noticed their separation from the world and recognized that they had not fainted. He loved what they were doing and how they were doing it, but was disappointed that their work had become more important to them than he was. His message was that they must remember what brought them there and repent for not loving him, or he would remove their candlestick. We must concentrate on loving Him who gave us these responsibilities and believe He is more interested in their success than we are.
Keith Klaus – Hope in Frustration
We don’t like to talk about emotions, but if you take emotion and feeling out of the Bible you would lose most of the Psalms. Things in our heart sometimes need to be closer to the surface so God can deal with them. Not many passages use the word frustration, but we can see how different characters dealt with it. Moses was frustrated for the right reasons when Israel refused to follow his leadership, but his response was wrong and had long-lasting consequences. Jonah was frustrated for all the wrong reasons, and his disobedience led him to the point of wanting to die rather than do God’s will. Frustration always starts small and then snowballs into something bigger. Martha and Mary were very similar in their words, but their actions showed that they dealt with emotions differently. Martha was motivated to work because nobody else was doing so. She made her problems worse by not speaking directly to Mary about the issue. Joseph too faced frustrating circumstances, yet his response was such that we don’t see his frustration. Martha accused the Lord because nobody helped her; Joseph glorified God as a slave. Martha went to the one with the authority to solve her problem; Joseph patiently waited for God’s timing. Joseph saw others who needed help. His lack of giving in to self led to a lack of bitterness in his life.
Fred Daniel, Jr. – Hope in Times of Hurt
If you are in the army you expect to be shot at. When serving in God’s army we should expect nothing less. Too often we desire to know God and the power of the resurrection, but we don’t want to also know the fellowship of suffering. Christ’s prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane shows us that He was fully man who suffered and was touched by all the feelings we face. He was a man of purpose. He came to minister and do the Father’s will. He was a man of prayer who gives us the example of fervent ongoing petitions. He was a man of preparation. He prepared His disciples for what was coming and prepared Himself for what the future held. He was a man of patience Who did not force the conflict, yet did not avoid it when it came. He was a man of prophecy as He interceded for those yet to be born. Since Jesus was successful against personal human hurts, it is possible for us to be as well.
David Price – Hope in Fear
We don’t want to admit fear, but it is something we all face. Real courage is facing fear with God’s help. Fear alone is not a sin. Allowing it to control you and keep you from doing God’s will is. The Old Testament is full of fear. Adam feared and hid from God. Jacob feared Esau and it led him to pray. The answer to paralyzing fear is the fear of the Lord. We must claim God as our refuge and hide not from the situation but in his strength. In Psalm 46, we see that we can overcome fear when we focus on the truth. We must be still and know that God is our hope and refuge. God is present, and He is good. He is peace. He is able.
John O’Malley – Hope in the Harvest
Psalm 126 gives us a glimpse at the greatest metaphor in scripture, that of the harvest for souls. We see the owner of the harvest. The guarantee of the harvest is that sowing works, the seed works, and the sowers will return. We see hinderances to the harvest. But we also see the hope of the harvest. We have hope that God will bless His seed. We have hope that God will save the lost. We have hope that God will bless our labor in our sowing, sending, and seeing God at work. The hope of the sower is that when we sow He grows, when we pray He answers, and when they believe they are saved.