Lee Street Church
Notes of Meeting – 30th January 2022
Worship led by Sue Ckarke and the worship team.
Often in the Psalms the writer says “My hope is in You” It is a hope rooted in the love and faithfulness of God.
Psalm 25:1 “To You O Lord, I lift up my soul; in You I trust, O my God.”
Psalm 33:18 and 20-22 “But the eyes of the Lord are on those who fear Him, on those whose hope is in His unfailing love. We wait in hope for the Lord; He is our help and our shield. In Him our hearts rejoice, for we trust in His Holy Name. May Your unfailing love rest upon us, O Lord, as we put our hope in You.”
Psalm 95:1-2 “Come let us sing for joy to the Lord; let us shout aloud to the rock of our salvation. Let us come before Him with thanksgiving and extol Him with music and song”
SONG : Come people of the risen King
Man can live about 40 days without food; about 3 days without water; about 8 minutes without air, but only 1 second without hope!
The word hope means: a feeling of expectation and desire for a certain thing to happen, and it is one of the most precious human emotions.
Most people understand hope as wishful thinking, as in: I hope something will happen; I hope you have a nice day; I hope you have a relaxing holiday; I hope I get the job; I hope she says yes; I hope I get the promotion; I hope it doesn’t rain; I hope I don't get sick. I hope I win the lottery. There are many things we hope for in this life, some more probable to happen than others. However, the biblical concept of hope goes far beyond these earthly hopes. It is not mere wishful thinking, but something we have confidence will happen.
Hebrews 11:1“Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.”
The Christian's hope is grounded in the belief that there is more to life than what we can wish for in this world. The Christian hope is based on the resurrection of Jesus Christ and in God's promise to resurrect all who believe in Jesus.
1 Corinthians 15:19–23”If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men. Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead also comes through a man. For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive.”
SONG 1385: Jesus Hope of the nations
SONG 936: My Life is in You Lord
It is the hope of forgiveness of sins
Colossians 1:13–14“For He has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son He loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.”
It is the hope of a heavenly home
Hebrews 11:16“Instead they were longing for a better country, a heavenly one. Therefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them.”
It is the hope of a glorified body in which to live
Philippians 3:20–21 “But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Saviour from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables Him to bring everything under His control, will transform our lowly bodies, so that they will be like His glorious body
It is the hope of a new earth on which to live
2 Peter 3:13 “In keeping with His promise, we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness.”
Most importantly, it is the hope to live in these new glorified bodies on a new earth in the very presence of God Himself for all eternity
Revelation 21:2–4”I saw the Holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride, beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Now the dwelling of God is with men, and He will live with them. They will be His people, and God Himself will be with them and be their God.””
There will be eternal life and joy in the presence of God
Psalm 16:11 “You have made known to me the path of life; You will fill me with joy in Your presence, with eternal pleasures at Your right hand.”
This is the hope of all true believers.
SONG: 1542 There is a hope so sure
SONG: 44 Blessed assurance
The Christian's hope is founded in God's character.
1 John 4:8 “God is love”
Exodus 34:6“He is gracious and compassionate. Slow to anger and abounding in love and faithfulness.”
When a Christian reads the Bible, they can hear God speaking to them—they are like sheep who hear and recognize the voice of their Shepherd. And what we read in the Bible gives us hope.
God sent Jesus to live among us, to die for us, and to forgive our sins.
John 10:27-28” My sheep listen to My voice; I know them and they follow Me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no-one can snatch them out of my hand.”
What does the Bible say about putting our hope in God?
The righteous who trust or put their hope in God will be helped
Psalm 28:7” The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trust in Him, and I am helped. My heart leaps for joy and I will give thanks to Him in song.”
SONG: 26 Ascribe greatness
SONG: 1241 Give thanks to the Lord
If we put our Hope in God, we will not be confounded [confused], put to shame, or disappointed. We can have confidence in God’s protection and help, and can have peace from fear and anxiety.
Psalm 46:1-3
“God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore, we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the hearth of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging.”
Isaiah 49:23” Those who hope in Me will not be disappointed.”
Jeremiah 29:11” For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”
The Bible has much to say about hope, but this is what it says about our greatest hope. The ultimate Christian hope is that one day Christ will return and we who are looking forward to that return will go to be with Him forever. Because of Christ, we will triumph over sin, guilt, death, and hell itself. We will inherit eternal life to be enjoyed in the presence of our most loving and gracious God. We will even receive rewards for what we have done for Christ and we will reign with Him in a new world—a perfect world of love and righteousness. In this we hope and because God has promised it we know it will certainly happen
All God's promises find their fulfilment in Christ, our Lord and Saviour. He is our hope.
SONG: 89 Faithful One
SONG: 147 Great is Thy faithfulness
As further assurance, God has given His Holy Spirit to believers in Christ
2 Corinthians 1:21–22”Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, set His seal of ownership on us, and put His Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.”
The Holy Spirit testifies to our hearts, minds, and spirits that the promises of God are true. The Holy Spirit confirms the truth of God's promises to us and assures us by His very presence in us that we belong to Christ and confirms our adoption into God’s family, therefore assuring us that our hoped-for inheritance is certain.
Romans 8:16-17” The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. Now if we are children, then we are heirs-heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in His sufferings in order that we may also share in His glory.”
In fact, the Holy Spirit is God's pledge to us.
SONG: 544 There is a Redeemer
The feeling of hope is central to every good story—we want a happy ending, and even through the worst circumstances, our desire to see that ending occur is what keeps us reading. The same is true of life. A person who has hope can live through terrible circumstances by keeping their focus on that desired outcome. But when hope is gone, grief is complete
1 Thessalonians 4:13” Brothers we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep, or to grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope.
Dante, writer of the Divine Comedy, imagined a sign over the gates of hell which reads "Abandon Hope All Ye Who Enter Here." This fictional depiction of hell hits frighteningly near the mark. Hell is a place where there is no hope of anything better. There is no salvation possible anymore, there is nothing to look forward to. While we still live, God's free gift of salvation is still offered us in Jesus Christ
John 3:16–17” For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send His son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him.
But once we die, that gift is no longer available, and hope disappears
Matthew 25:1–13 reminds us of this is the parable of the ten virgins.
The Christian's hope, on the other hand, is eternal.
1 Peter 1:3-5 “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. In His great mercy He has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade, kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God's power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.”
We have been promised that we who believe will be forgiven our sins because of the death of Christ and will inherit eternal life, because of the righteousness and resurrection of Christ. The resurrection is no myth. It was a historical event witnessed by hundreds of people. Jesus Christ rose from the dead and appeared to His disciples and at least 500 other people. After forty days, Jesus ascended to heaven where He reigns at God's right hand. He will come again to judge the living and the dead. In this we hope, and we have good reason to hope, for God has said it will be and God accomplishes everything He says. He has done so throughout history and will continue to do so in the future.
This is the Christian's hope—a "living hope" that looks forward to a glorious happy ending to the story.
Poem- Face to face
Won’t it be lovely to see face to face this wonderful Saviour of ours!
We’re getting to know Him and love Him so much,
But soon we shall see Him and feel His close touch
This wonderful Saviour of ours!
Won’t it be lovely to live side by side with a wonderful Saviour like ours!
He is our bridegroom, we are His bride
Dressed in pure white, that He alone could provide.
Such a wonderful Saviour is ours!
Meanwhile we’ll live for Him, day after day, This wonderful Saviour of ours!
Willing to do what He says, where He sends
He’ll help us right now through the time that He lends
What a wonderful Saviour is ours!
Romans 15:13 ”May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”
SONG: My hope is built on nothing less (Cornerstone)
Prayer:
Lord Jesus Christ, we thank You that You meet us day by day, just as You met Your disciples in the days following your resurrection. We thank You that Your victory of good over evil, of love over hate, or life over death continues to make a difference to our lives, just as it did to theirs. We thank You that for us too, you turn weaknesses into strength, fear into confidence, and doubt into faith. And we praise You that for each of us there is always the assurance of a new beginning when it seems like the end, new hope where there seems only despair.
Notices
- Wednesday 7.30pm Zoom bible study
- Next Sunday – speaker will be Euan Menzies.