Sermons on Hope aims to equip ordinary Christians, bible study leaders, ministers, and pastors, preaching ideas that educate both the general population and followers of Christ about the hope found in the Bible and our Lord Jesus Christ.
When disciples asked Jesus in the Mount of Olives about the signs of the last days, Jesus answered with this:
4 Jesus answered: “Watch out that no one deceives you. 5 For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Messiah,’ and will deceive many. 6 You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. 7 Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. 8 All these are the beginning of birth pains. – Matthew 24:4-6
The response that Jesus gave depicts what has to come in the last days. And as we are aware right now, the events stated in Matthew 24:4-6 are already happening.
There’s an arising conflict between Israel and Palestine, earthquakes and tsunami in Japan, China’s conflict against other nations in the West Philippine Sea, and a pandemic devastating the lives of everyone on the planet. But despite all of these, notice how Jesus said in verse 6 that “… the end is still to come.”
With all of these happening right now all over the world, we might ask, is there still any hope for humanity? Well, the answer to that question is yes! That is in having hope in the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. But what does the Bible say about hope? And by defining hope, how does it affect our lives amidst trying times? So, sit back, relax, and enjoy this Sermons on Hope article.
Sermons on Hope: The Bible’s definition of Hope
To fully understand the true meaning of hope, we need to go back and look at its original Hebrew word and what that word translate’s to in our modern language.
Hope comes from two Hebrew words “Yakhal” which means “ to wait for”, and “Qavah”, meaning “to wait”. Both these words have the same meaning but they have different usage.
The word Yakhal simply means what it translates –– to wait. Just like how Noah waited for the waters to recede in Genesis 8:12 “Then he Yakhal another seven days and sent forth the dove, and she did not return to him anymore.”.
On the other hand, the Hebrew word Qavah comes from the root word Qav which means cord. Qavah is defined as a feeling of tension and expectation while waiting for something to happen –– just like how you pull a cord so tight to produce a state of tension. Just like what prophet Isaiah said in Isaiah 8:17 “At this moment, the Lord is hiding His face from Israel, so I will Qavah for Him.”
With these, we can conclude that hope in the old testament means waiting for something with expectation. But this “waiting” in the Bible is not based on circumstances but based on a Person. And that person is none other than our Lord Jesus Christ.
“Through Him, we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.” – Romans 5:25
“Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.” – 1 John 3:2-3
These passages mean that our hope should be in Christ that no matter what circumstance we are in, we will still choose to follow God. Because all circumstance can be seen, and basing our hope to what can be seen is no hope at all just like what Romans 8:24 states “For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have?”.
Therefore, now that we fully understand what hope is, we should set our eyes on our Lord Jesus Christ no matter what our situation is. And as you try to gather preaching ideas for your sermons on hope, don’t get carried away with what’s happening to the world right now. Instead, fix your eyes on Jesus and the things to come.
Bible-based Facts about Hope
- Hope comes from God
“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.” – Romans 15:13
Sometimes, people thought that the things that they own or have will bring hope in case something bad will happen to them in the future. But truth be told, true hope comes by trusting God in every situation –– including difficult situations. Just like what this verse is saying, true hope comes from the One who created hope, and that is the God of hope Himself. So, gone are the days that we hope based on our achievements or status in life and let us start having hope from the source of hope Himself –– which is God.
- Hope helps us endure
“There is surely a future hope for you, and your hope will not be cut off.” Proverbs 23:18
“For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.” – Jeremiah 29:11
If we look into the Bible, every prominent Bible character remained hopeful in God despite their situation. Why is that? That is because God always has a plan for those who hope in Him. He will set a future full of hope and will never lead us into despair.
- Hope is a gift from God
“And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.” – Romans 5:5
God gives us the power to hope through the Holy Spirit. And through the Holy Spirit, God poured out His love into our hearts. This means that the hope given by God works together to give us confidence, peace, joy, and love.
- Hope purifies
“See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. 2 Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be, has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears,[a] we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. 3 All who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure.” – 1 John 3:1-3
Whatever persecution we experience in this world, the day is coming when we will not be just called sons of God, we will be like the children of God. And as persevere in holiness and remain hopeful into our Lord, this hope that we have will purify us just as it has been stated in this passage.
- Hope defends
“4 But you, brothers and sisters, are not in darkness so that this day should surprise you like a thief. 5 You are all children of the light and children of the day. We do not belong to the night or the darkness. 6 So then, let us not be like others, who are asleep but let us be awake and sober. 7 For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, get drunk at night. 8 But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet.” – 1 Thessalonians 5:4-8
Notice how the hope of salvation is described as a helmet. That is because the helmet points to the area of greatest vulnerability in our entire body –– our mind. That is why the apostle Paul depicts hope as a defensive helmet that must not be taken off. It is because Satan works to present reasons to doubt, despair, and will usually attack our minds first. With this, we need our minds to be renewed daily by the power of hope.
Conclusion
God is the only source of hope and we must put all our hope in Him no matter what our circumstances in life are. So, you don’t need to focus on things of the earth, but we need to set our eyes to our Lord Jesus Christ. Because our hope is that after we have lived this life for Jesus we will be like Him and we will be with Him eternally. We hope that this Sermons on Hope helped you in any way for your ministry! God bless!