Sermon Outline

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- God’s Pain, Sufferings and Circumstances

- God’s pain and sufferings gives us the ability to choose, free will is a good thing.

- In order to love, we must be able to choose love. Forced love is not love.

- So to have a universe that included love, God had to make us with choice, which includes the choice not to love – and that makes sin, evil, pain and suffering possible

- God puts us thru pain for whatever reason must of them we don’t understand.

- Through those times we must trust him with all our hearts and not our comprehension of the circumstances.

- Our acknowledge and acceptance of the pain we face is for our good

and the development of our hope as we wait patiently for our eternal home in glory.

- God’s comfort and strength

- God is there to comfort and strengthen us in our hardships.

- He gives us hope, a hope that is not bottled or taken as a pill.

- It is the supernatural hope that God gives his heirs, his children.

- It is Christian hope and it is not for the few “mature” believers but for everyone who believes.

- Christian Hope

- Is a settled assurance of what will be regardless of what is now.

- The conviction of the “Best Life is not now, but is to come.” This is Christian hope.

- Keeps us from being crushed by life, giving up and it sustains us in difficult times.

- Christian hope is real, church it relieves stress and gives us peace now.

- Our Hope

- Is in Christ

- It is enemy proof because no one, nor anything can separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Transition-Although life may be tough, Hope is teaching us patience while we wait because “The Best Is Yet To Come.”

Point 1- “The Best Is Yet To Come”

- Life is tough. We will suffer physically, emotionally, and psychologically (mentally).

- The Apostle for the sank of the Gospel suffered, just as Christ suffered for the sin of mankind.

- We suffer as we war against sin

- But no matter how hard or whatever we go through, it is worth it.

- Paul had a wealth of knowledge that brought about a change in his psychological and emotional status toward sufferings. Do you?

- Paul had the embedded knowledge of his

- Paul says “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is “To Be” revealed to us.

- Paul eyes were open from blindness to the anticipated, expectation of his eternal life in glory.

- Paul contends that because of who will be ours for eternity, I am talking about J E S U S, Jesus!

- God has given us sunshine or rain, storms or peace, joy or hardship, riches or poverty.

- No matter what He determines for us, we have Hope because of who our eternal future is in.

- Whatever happen in life whether it be ease or suffering, our future makes them all as nothing in comparison what we set our minds on and in. (Col 3:2-4)

- Paul developed patience through his hope in Christ.

Transition –For in this tent we groan, longing to put on our heavenly dwelling. “Paul knew his best was yet to come. That is Christian hope.

Point II – The Pull of Heaven

- Because we have Hope in Christ, there is a pull of heaven

- We know who awaits us so we are drawn to where he is

- We are like kids asking our parents, “Are we there yet?” and we keep wondering how long it will be before we get home.

- We wonder where Jesus Is?

- Hope pulls us toward our home with Christ! Until that time, we ache to see Jesus

- Patience sustains us until the cares, worries and heartaches of this life. will cease in Glory.

Transition

As we endure the suffering of life we wait patiently the power of hope; our hope, Christian hope sustains us.

Point III. The Power of Hope

- Jesus told Thomas he believed that he had seen him and blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe.”

- We know that one day in the distant future that we too will see Christ which is our sure hope.

- Paul hope was and our hope is that we are tightly tied to faith and hope in Christ.

- Until then we serve faithfully in knowing that our best life is yet to come!

- Our faith in Christ who saved us

- Hope is our assurance through the working of our faith in all things hoped for the absolute conviction of all things not seen.

- Finally, hope has the power to give you a sense of patience that you can’t famine with all that is going on around you.

- That is the eternal hope that comes from and is given by God.

Transition- Our eternal hope is being with Jesus in heaven. Our assurance (Hope) is that we are certain of being with Jesus in heaven. That has a profound effect on our view of and how we live each day of our life. Our hope is the Gospel of Jesus as the way of salvation. Consider what Paul had endured when he wrote about hope in this text. (Romans 8:18-25)

- Hope in the Unseen

Paul