WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.200 --> 00:00:04.200 Did you know you can't have faith without hope. Most 2 00:00:04.240 --> 00:00:07.440 people don't realize this. You have to have hope in 3 00:00:07.519 --> 00:00:09.800 order to have faith. If there's nothing to hope for, 4 00:00:10.000 --> 00:00:12.800 there's nothing to believe for. If you didn't have the 5 00:00:12.800 --> 00:00:15.400 hope of heaven, then you don't need to believe in heaven. 6 00:00:17.120 --> 00:00:20.280 So faith and hope actually go together. You can't have 7 00:00:20.440 --> 00:00:23.440 faith without hope. Now, we know a lot about faith, 8 00:00:23.559 --> 00:00:26.359 but most people don't know a lot about hope. And 9 00:00:26.440 --> 00:00:28.640 so that's why when the Bible says the three greatest 10 00:00:28.719 --> 00:00:32.719 virtues are faith, hope, and love. Well that we know 11 00:00:32.759 --> 00:00:34.679 about love and we know about faith, but we're not 12 00:00:34.719 --> 00:00:38.200 so sure about this hope thing. And that's why next 13 00:00:38.240 --> 00:00:40.479 year in a series we're going to go into it 14 00:00:40.679 --> 00:00:44.479 in detail. But a certain hope is Christian hope. Let 15 00:00:44.520 --> 00:00:46.479 me show you verse Look here on the screen, are 16 00:00:46.640 --> 00:00:51.759 there on your outline? Hebrews six, verse nineteen. Here's one 17 00:00:51.799 --> 00:00:56.240 example the certain hope circle that the certain hope of 18 00:00:56.320 --> 00:00:59.240 being saved, that if you've trusted Christ, you're going to 19 00:00:59.240 --> 00:01:04.799 be saved, is a strong and trustworthy anchor for our souls. Now, 20 00:01:04.840 --> 00:01:08.439 in certain hope, there's no doubt, there's no doubt. In 21 00:01:08.480 --> 00:01:12.280 certain hope, there's no hesitation, there's no reservation, there's no uncertainty, 22 00:01:12.560 --> 00:01:16.040 there's no well, I'm hoping, But what if you don't? 23 00:01:16.079 --> 00:01:18.799 What if in certain hope, I don't say, what if 24 00:01:18.840 --> 00:01:21.920 I don't go to heaven? That's doesn't even enter my mind. 25 00:01:22.079 --> 00:01:25.640 Because my entrance into heaven is a certain hope. It 26 00:01:25.680 --> 00:01:27.599 doesn't enter my mind. What if I don't make it. 27 00:01:29.480 --> 00:01:33.319 Certain hope means it's sure, it's confident, it's sure, it's guaranteed. 28 00:01:33.519 --> 00:01:36.959 You can count on it. Now, the Bible says, this 29 00:01:37.040 --> 00:01:39.040 is the kind of hope. God wants you to build 30 00:01:39.079 --> 00:01:42.719 your life on. This real hope, not phony hope. This 31 00:01:42.840 --> 00:01:46.519 real hope. This certain hope has three characteristics and they're 32 00:01:46.519 --> 00:01:49.680 all mentioned in that verse. It says it's strong. First, 33 00:01:49.760 --> 00:01:53.079 it's strong. This certain hope of being saved is strong. 34 00:01:53.719 --> 00:01:58.400 That means it's solid. It's sturdy, it's stable, it's firm, 35 00:01:58.640 --> 00:02:02.439 it's unchanging. It's strong, it's not a week hope. And 36 00:02:02.480 --> 00:02:05.400 then it says it's trustworthy. Circle that word circle strong 37 00:02:05.439 --> 00:02:10.360 and trustworthy means it's dependable, it's reliable. You can bet 38 00:02:10.400 --> 00:02:13.680 your life on it, on certain hope. And then it 39 00:02:13.719 --> 00:02:18.599 says it's an anchor. Circle the word anchor. Now, what 40 00:02:18.840 --> 00:02:22.120 is the purpose of an anchor? You see, the Bible says, 41 00:02:22.199 --> 00:02:24.840 hope is the anchor for your soul. 42 00:02:25.919 --> 00:02:28.240 So what is that? So why do I need hope? 43 00:02:29.599 --> 00:02:32.759 It's often said that you can go weeks without food. 44 00:02:33.159 --> 00:02:34.599 Some of us could go a little longer than that. 45 00:02:36.560 --> 00:02:42.360 You can go days without water, you can go minutes 46 00:02:42.400 --> 00:02:46.039 without air, but you can't go five seconds without hope. 47 00:02:47.159 --> 00:02:50.439 You have to have hope to live. When you lose 48 00:02:50.479 --> 00:02:53.960 all hope, you die. You've got to have hope. So 49 00:02:54.240 --> 00:02:56.719 he says, hope is the anchor of the soul. What 50 00:02:56.840 --> 00:02:59.439 is the purpose of an anchor in a ship or 51 00:02:59.439 --> 00:03:02.400 in a boat, Well, that's two purposes. The first purpose 52 00:03:02.479 --> 00:03:05.599 is to keep the ship from drifting, and the second 53 00:03:05.680 --> 00:03:09.280 is to add stability in a storm. These are the 54 00:03:09.439 --> 00:03:12.639 very two things you need in your life. This is 55 00:03:12.680 --> 00:03:15.800 why we need to study hope, because you need it 56 00:03:15.840 --> 00:03:18.719 for an anchor for the same two reasons. The ship 57 00:03:18.800 --> 00:03:22.199 needs an anchor, And the Bible says, the anchor of 58 00:03:22.240 --> 00:03:23.039 your soul. 59 00:03:23.199 --> 00:03:26.360 Is not money, it's not fame, it's not all these 60 00:03:26.400 --> 00:03:26.800 other things. 61 00:03:26.840 --> 00:03:29.879 The anchor of your soul is hope when you've got hope, 62 00:03:29.879 --> 00:03:32.080 and the stronger your hope, the stronger you be anchored 63 00:03:33.000 --> 00:03:35.639 of Hope is like an anchor because it keeps the 64 00:03:35.680 --> 00:03:39.919 boat from drifting. And there's a chain obviously on that anchor. 65 00:03:40.240 --> 00:03:42.960 And so if the boat starts to drift, it only 66 00:03:43.000 --> 00:03:45.960 drifts in a certain circle, can't go any further fixedirfule, 67 00:03:46.280 --> 00:03:48.800 you know, if you don't have an anchor, a boat 68 00:03:48.800 --> 00:03:53.960 can drift into unsafe water. And what's interesting is, and 69 00:03:54.000 --> 00:03:56.159 if you've ever been on boats for an extended period times, 70 00:03:56.400 --> 00:04:00.479 it's easy to drift. Have you noticed this in your life. 71 00:04:02.520 --> 00:04:06.919 It's easy to drift. It's easy to drift away from God. 72 00:04:07.719 --> 00:04:11.159 It's easy to drift away from your goals. It's easy 73 00:04:11.199 --> 00:04:14.439 to drift away from the person you love. It's easy 74 00:04:14.479 --> 00:04:17.759 to drift away from your dream. We are constantly drifting 75 00:04:18.120 --> 00:04:21.920 if we are not anchored. And he says, hope is 76 00:04:21.920 --> 00:04:24.519 the anchor of your soul, and you can drift without 77 00:04:24.560 --> 00:04:25.279 even knowing it. 78 00:04:25.759 --> 00:04:26.079 He said. 79 00:04:26.160 --> 00:04:29.439 The other purpose, as I said, of an anchor, is 80 00:04:29.560 --> 00:04:33.279 it gives you stability in a storm. And when you 81 00:04:33.360 --> 00:04:35.480 let down an anchor in the middle of a storm 82 00:04:35.519 --> 00:04:37.120 and you're out in the middle of an ocean. It 83 00:04:37.160 --> 00:04:42.560 reduces pitch and roll in bad weather. Now, the oldest 84 00:04:42.600 --> 00:04:45.680 anchors actually were just rocks and then they drill a 85 00:04:45.720 --> 00:04:47.480 hole in them and put a little chain on them, 86 00:04:48.000 --> 00:04:51.040 or they wear a basket of stones and things like that. 87 00:04:51.720 --> 00:04:54.240 But the best designed anchors actually have hooks. Let me 88 00:04:54.240 --> 00:04:55.600 show you a couple. Let me show you up here. 89 00:04:55.639 --> 00:04:58.240 Here's an example. You've seen this kind of anchor. It's 90 00:04:58.279 --> 00:05:01.240 got a hook in it, so it hooks itself into 91 00:05:01.240 --> 00:05:04.000 the bedrock of the ocean floor. Let me show you 92 00:05:04.079 --> 00:05:07.000 some big anchors. Here's a chain. 93 00:05:08.199 --> 00:05:08.959 That is a. 94 00:05:09.000 --> 00:05:12.439 Chain for a typical like an oil tanker. Each of 95 00:05:12.480 --> 00:05:16.240 those links weighs five hundred pounds. Okay, I mean it 96 00:05:16.279 --> 00:05:20.800 makes that man look like a mini figure from Legos. Okay, okay, 97 00:05:21.319 --> 00:05:24.720 everything is awesome as he walks through those chains. All right, 98 00:05:24.759 --> 00:05:29.040 but that's just the chain. Let me show you a 99 00:05:29.079 --> 00:05:31.000 picture of the largest anchor in the world. There it 100 00:05:31.079 --> 00:05:33.160 is right there. Now, look how these people see how 101 00:05:33.199 --> 00:05:36.600 it's like almost got like a saw tooth in it says, 102 00:05:36.639 --> 00:05:41.319 that's seventy five tons that anchor. You can imagine what 103 00:05:41.399 --> 00:05:44.279 it takes to lift and lower that in the ocean. 104 00:05:44.319 --> 00:05:48.199 Now here's the point. The bigger your ship, the bigger 105 00:05:48.240 --> 00:05:52.079 your anchor. Now, if you want to live a little, tiny, 106 00:05:52.399 --> 00:05:54.199 puny life, you don't need. 107 00:05:54.079 --> 00:05:54.959 A very big anchor. 108 00:05:57.079 --> 00:06:00.800 But if you want to live a big life, a 109 00:06:00.879 --> 00:06:06.079 full life, what Jesus called an abundant life, a life 110 00:06:06.120 --> 00:06:09.160 to the fullest, you're going to need an anchor. Because 111 00:06:09.199 --> 00:06:13.160 you are going to have storms in your life. You 112 00:06:13.240 --> 00:06:17.279 are going to go through rogue winds and tidal waves 113 00:06:18.319 --> 00:06:22.439 in every area, financial, moral, ethical, every area. You're going 114 00:06:22.480 --> 00:06:25.240 to have these mental physical tidal waves in your life. 115 00:06:25.399 --> 00:06:28.639 You better have an anchor to keep you from drifting, 116 00:06:30.279 --> 00:06:33.199 and you better have an anchor to keep you from 117 00:06:33.439 --> 00:06:36.519 the pitch and roll and the instability that happens when 118 00:06:36.519 --> 00:06:40.680 the waves come. You need an anchor for your souls. Now, 119 00:06:40.680 --> 00:06:44.360 the question is where do you get it. Well, the 120 00:06:44.399 --> 00:06:47.560 fact is, when people are in a storm, they typically 121 00:06:47.600 --> 00:06:51.120 look to everything else except God for their anchor. 122 00:06:51.120 --> 00:06:52.000 They don't look the hope. 123 00:06:52.879 --> 00:06:56.240 When people are in deep pain or in deep discouragement 124 00:06:56.319 --> 00:06:58.360 or deep despair, they often look at the bottom of 125 00:06:58.399 --> 00:07:05.360 a bottle for their hope, or some medicines for their hope, 126 00:07:06.560 --> 00:07:11.040 or entertainment or an affair or vacation, or it could 127 00:07:11.120 --> 00:07:16.480 be good or bad, and they're looking for somebody to 128 00:07:16.600 --> 00:07:19.040 anchor their lives. If I could just get a boyfriend, 129 00:07:19.040 --> 00:07:21.000 if I could just get a job, if I could 130 00:07:21.079 --> 00:07:25.240 just whatever, And they're looking outside of themselves for something 131 00:07:25.240 --> 00:07:28.160 to anchor them when God says, no, really, what you need. 132 00:07:28.879 --> 00:07:33.319 What you need is hope. Now, what makes the difference 133 00:07:33.319 --> 00:07:39.759 between wishful hope and expectant hope and certain hope? When 134 00:07:39.759 --> 00:07:41.160 you know you can bet your life on it, it's 135 00:07:41.199 --> 00:07:43.720 going to happen, you can count on it. It's solid, 136 00:07:44.120 --> 00:07:47.639 it's strong, it's trustworthy, and it's an anchor. 137 00:07:48.360 --> 00:07:51.720 How do you get that kind of hope? Well, write 138 00:07:51.720 --> 00:07:52.199 this down. 139 00:07:52.560 --> 00:07:57.839 Real hope is based on God's word, not my wishes. 140 00:07:58.839 --> 00:08:05.839 Real hope is based on God's word, not my wishes. 141 00:08:06.120 --> 00:08:10.040 In other words, it's not based on what I sense. Well, 142 00:08:10.160 --> 00:08:12.240 I think this is gonna happen. I hope this is 143 00:08:12.240 --> 00:08:14.759 gonna happen. I want this to happen. It's not based 144 00:08:14.800 --> 00:08:17.519 on what I sense. It's based on what God has said. 145 00:08:19.319 --> 00:08:22.000 It's not based on my emotion. It's based on what 146 00:08:22.079 --> 00:08:27.199 God has spoken. It's not based on my imagination. 147 00:08:28.759 --> 00:08:29.480 It's based on. 148 00:08:29.480 --> 00:08:33.039 God's obligation to do what he says. You see in 149 00:08:33.120 --> 00:08:38.480 the Bible, God has said over seven thousand promises to you. 150 00:08:39.320 --> 00:08:44.120 If I want to count over seven thousand promises. Now, 151 00:08:44.559 --> 00:08:49.200 certain hope is based on the fact that God cannot lie. 152 00:08:50.240 --> 00:08:53.960 People often ask me, is there anything God can't do? 153 00:08:54.840 --> 00:08:57.279 Of course, there are things God can't do. God cannot die, 154 00:08:57.399 --> 00:09:01.919 deny himself, he wouldn't be God. God cannot do evil, 155 00:09:02.080 --> 00:09:04.799 he would not be God. There are certain things. Obviously, 156 00:09:04.960 --> 00:09:08.480 God is self limiting by his own character. And one 157 00:09:08.519 --> 00:09:11.039 of the things that the Bible says over and over 158 00:09:11.120 --> 00:09:18.120 and over and over and over is this God cannot lie. 159 00:09:18.159 --> 00:09:21.279 All truth comes from God. All lies or from the devil. 160 00:09:21.320 --> 00:09:23.080 If you ever hear the devil talk of you, you 161 00:09:23.159 --> 00:09:25.879 know it's a lie. He never, never, never speaks the truth. 162 00:09:26.080 --> 00:09:30.440 And God never, never, never, never lies. God cannot lie. 163 00:09:30.799 --> 00:09:34.679 And He's given in this book over seven thousand promises. 164 00:09:35.240 --> 00:09:39.159 When we put our hope in these promises, that's going 165 00:09:39.200 --> 00:09:41.360 to give a certain hope. When I put my hope 166 00:09:41.360 --> 00:09:48.919 in my emotion, my talent, my friends, my circumstances, my intelligence, 167 00:09:49.240 --> 00:09:51.720 or anything else. When I put my hope in anything else, 168 00:09:52.039 --> 00:09:55.600 it's wishful thinking, or it's expectant hope, but it certainly 169 00:09:55.679 --> 00:09:59.159 isn't certain. It can't be counted on all the time. 170 00:09:59.600 --> 00:10:01.879 But God, God cannot lie. So if he said seven 171 00:10:01.960 --> 00:10:05.000 thousand promises in here, then I base my hope on 172 00:10:05.039 --> 00:10:08.039 God's word, not my wishes. I base my hope not 173 00:10:08.080 --> 00:10:10.960 on my feelings, what I feel like doing, but on 174 00:10:11.000 --> 00:10:15.919 God's promises. And he said, well, what about the promises 175 00:10:15.919 --> 00:10:19.039 that haven't been realized yet? Well, God has all of 176 00:10:19.080 --> 00:10:22.440 eternity to fulfill his promises. God doesn't have to fulfill 177 00:10:22.480 --> 00:10:24.960 his promise just here on earth. Have you ever thought 178 00:10:24.960 --> 00:10:27.639 about that? When God makes a promise to you, he 179 00:10:27.679 --> 00:10:30.039 doesn't just have your sixty years on earth to fulfill it. 180 00:10:31.679 --> 00:10:33.399 There are some promises that God has. 181 00:10:33.240 --> 00:10:35.919 Made to you. He's got all of eternity to fulfill. 182 00:10:36.759 --> 00:10:39.399 He's not limited to simply the space and time of 183 00:10:39.440 --> 00:10:42.440 a ball that spits around space and has a twenty 184 00:10:42.480 --> 00:10:45.919 four our day. God has all of eternity to fulfill 185 00:10:45.960 --> 00:10:48.879 his promises in you. Let me give you an example 186 00:10:49.159 --> 00:10:52.480 of what it means to have a certain faith, and 187 00:10:52.519 --> 00:10:56.039 by putting your faith not in what you feel, but 188 00:10:56.159 --> 00:11:00.120 in what God has revealed not in your wishes, but 189 00:11:00.200 --> 00:11:04.720 in his word. Here's an example. Hebrews chapter six, verse 190 00:11:04.759 --> 00:11:09.120 thirteen to seventeen talks about Abraham. So God made a 191 00:11:09.159 --> 00:11:15.720 promise to Abraham, and Abraham waited patiently for it to happen. 192 00:11:15.759 --> 00:11:17.240 Because God is not a vending machine. 193 00:11:17.279 --> 00:11:19.240 God doesn't give you promise and fulfill it the next 194 00:11:19.320 --> 00:11:22.440 day because God is more interested in growing your faith 195 00:11:22.440 --> 00:11:27.639 than he is even actually meeting your timeline. So there 196 00:11:27.679 --> 00:11:29.759 will always be a timeline. When God gives your promise, 197 00:11:29.799 --> 00:11:32.120 there's always a delay because he's going to see if 198 00:11:32.159 --> 00:11:32.919 you're going to trust him. 199 00:11:32.960 --> 00:11:34.759 That's what God wants to do, wants to build your faith. 200 00:11:35.679 --> 00:11:38.960 So God made a promise to Abraham, and Abraham waited 201 00:11:39.039 --> 00:11:42.559 patiently for it to happen. Actually was ninety nine years 202 00:11:42.559 --> 00:11:48.000 old when it happened, so he received what God promised. Now, 203 00:11:48.879 --> 00:11:53.360 people always use the name of someone greater than themselves 204 00:11:53.600 --> 00:11:54.919 when they make an oath. 205 00:11:55.360 --> 00:11:56.600 Let me stop and explain that. 206 00:11:57.679 --> 00:11:59.639 Have you ever noticed that people who don't believe in 207 00:11:59.679 --> 00:12:01.320 Jesus use his name more than you do? 208 00:12:04.440 --> 00:12:05.480 What's that all about? 209 00:12:06.639 --> 00:12:11.200 Okay, when somebody gets mad and they start saying blankety 210 00:12:11.240 --> 00:12:14.200 blankety blank and Jesus Christ blankety blank and oh God, 211 00:12:14.240 --> 00:12:15.120 blank blank blank. 212 00:12:15.360 --> 00:12:17.960 What in the world, Why are they bringing Jesus into this? 213 00:12:18.559 --> 00:12:22.279 They just hit their thumb, you know, they just had 214 00:12:22.320 --> 00:12:23.639 a you know, they had an accident. 215 00:12:23.960 --> 00:12:26.039 Why are they bringing God in Jesus name? It is? 216 00:12:26.919 --> 00:12:28.159 I'll tell you why, he says. 217 00:12:28.279 --> 00:12:31.480 Right here, people always use the name of someone greater 218 00:12:31.519 --> 00:12:34.759 than themselves when they make an oath, okay, and swearing 219 00:12:34.879 --> 00:12:39.000 is like an oath. They're trying to make themselves more powerful. 220 00:12:40.120 --> 00:12:42.120 If somebody's mad at you and they come up to 221 00:12:42.159 --> 00:12:43.879 you and they talk to you in a reasonable tone, 222 00:12:44.080 --> 00:12:46.000 you're not threatened to frighten by all. But if they 223 00:12:46.039 --> 00:12:48.279 come out and they start cussing you out and swearing, 224 00:12:48.399 --> 00:12:52.720 use Jesus name, you get intimidated. Why Because there's power 225 00:12:52.960 --> 00:12:55.919 in the name of Jesus and the name of God. 226 00:12:56.639 --> 00:12:57.159 Now, it said. 227 00:12:57.879 --> 00:12:59.519 People, when they want to make a promise, they say, 228 00:12:59.519 --> 00:13:01.919 you know, I swe where by the name of Jesus 229 00:13:02.000 --> 00:13:04.519 or God. And he says, God wanted to prove that 230 00:13:04.600 --> 00:13:08.840 his promise was true to those who'd get what he promised, 231 00:13:09.080 --> 00:13:18.159 and he wanted them to understand that his purposes never change. 232 00:13:16.919 --> 00:13:17.720 His purposes never. 233 00:13:17.960 --> 00:13:20.200 That's why we call ourselves a purpose driven church because 234 00:13:20.200 --> 00:13:23.639 we build on unchanging purposes of God. So God made 235 00:13:23.679 --> 00:13:28.720 an oath. Now there are two things that are unchangeable. 236 00:13:28.720 --> 00:13:32.120 In other words, they're never going to change. God cannot 237 00:13:32.240 --> 00:13:36.279 lie when he makes a promise, and he cannot lie 238 00:13:36.840 --> 00:13:37.720 when he makes an oath. 239 00:13:39.159 --> 00:13:41.240 These things encourage us. 240 00:13:42.399 --> 00:13:45.639 They give us strength to hold on, which is what 241 00:13:45.720 --> 00:13:47.960 an anchor does. They give us strength to hold on 242 00:13:48.399 --> 00:13:53.279 to the hope we've been given. We have this hope 243 00:13:53.559 --> 00:13:56.159 as an anchor for our souls. 244 00:13:57.039 --> 00:13:59.320 It is sure and it is strong. 245 00:13:59.679 --> 00:14:02.679 Now that whole passage there says what I've just been 246 00:14:02.720 --> 00:14:05.799 explaining to you for the last ten minutes. Certain hope 247 00:14:05.840 --> 00:14:09.559 isn't based on feelings. It's based on what God has said. 248 00:14:10.600 --> 00:14:14.000 It's based on God's promises. It's based on God's statements. 249 00:14:14.120 --> 00:14:16.679 It's not based on what you think. It's based on 250 00:14:16.720 --> 00:14:20.159 what God teaches. And he says, the reason why you 251 00:14:20.240 --> 00:14:23.320 build your life on those things because they're certain, is 252 00:14:23.320 --> 00:14:26.720 because God can't lie. Other people tell you stuff and 253 00:14:26.720 --> 00:14:30.679 they'll lie to you, but God cannot lie. So he says, 254 00:14:30.720 --> 00:14:33.679 this hope is something we can hold on to. We 255 00:14:33.720 --> 00:14:35.720 can have it as an anchor for our souls. And 256 00:14:35.799 --> 00:14:40.720 it's strong, and it's true, and it's trustworthy. Now one 257 00:14:40.799 --> 00:14:44.480 day Jesus gave the key to hopelessness, and he says 258 00:14:44.480 --> 00:14:48.000 it in Luke chapter eighteen, Verse one. Jesus taught his 259 00:14:48.200 --> 00:14:52.960 followers that they should read it with me aloud. Always 260 00:14:53.120 --> 00:14:57.399 pray and never lose hope. And I want you to circle, 261 00:14:57.480 --> 00:15:00.879 always pray, and I want you to circle never lose hope. Those, 262 00:15:01.000 --> 00:15:08.159 my friends, are the two alternatives in life. Every single 263 00:15:08.440 --> 00:15:12.360 moment of your life, you're choosing one of those two alternatives. 264 00:15:13.600 --> 00:15:19.320 And when stuff bad happens, you'll either panic or you'll pray. 265 00:15:19.360 --> 00:15:22.519 It's your alternative. If you pray, you don't panic. If 266 00:15:22.519 --> 00:15:25.879 you panic, you don't pray. You will either worship or 267 00:15:25.879 --> 00:15:29.120 you will worry. Those are the two alternatives in life. 268 00:15:29.279 --> 00:15:34.600 Jesus said that we should always pray and never lose hope. 269 00:15:35.919 --> 00:15:38.960 God wants you to never lose hope. And how do 270 00:15:39.000 --> 00:15:43.200 you never lose hope by praying? By the way, As 271 00:15:43.240 --> 00:15:48.840 part of my writing, I surveyed people and I did 272 00:15:48.879 --> 00:15:53.360 research to discover what are the most common causes of hopelessness, 273 00:15:53.600 --> 00:15:57.080 What caused people to give up, what caused people to 274 00:15:57.080 --> 00:15:59.519 give up on their marriage. What costs people to give 275 00:15:59.559 --> 00:16:02.039 up on their What causes people to give up on 276 00:16:02.120 --> 00:16:05.600 their life? What causes people to take their life? What 277 00:16:05.720 --> 00:16:10.480 causes people to have hopelessness. I want to give you 278 00:16:11.440 --> 00:16:13.759 the results of my research right now. These are the 279 00:16:13.799 --> 00:16:17.720 top ten causes of hopelessness. They're not on your outline. 280 00:16:17.720 --> 00:16:19.360 You don't have to write them down. We'll look at 281 00:16:19.360 --> 00:16:21.759 the antidotes to them in forty days. But look up 282 00:16:21.759 --> 00:16:24.919 here on the screen. These are top ten and they're 283 00:16:25.039 --> 00:16:27.320 not in any order, but they're the ten most common. 284 00:16:28.080 --> 00:16:33.120 When you feel alone or when you feel abandoned, and 285 00:16:33.200 --> 00:16:35.279 you feel that for a long period of time, that 286 00:16:35.320 --> 00:16:37.679 causes you to feel hopelessly. And you can be in 287 00:16:37.679 --> 00:16:39.240 a crowd and feel all alone. 288 00:16:39.279 --> 00:16:41.039 Isn't that true? 289 00:16:41.159 --> 00:16:43.000 I mean you have people all around you. You could 290 00:16:43.039 --> 00:16:46.559 be sitting here right now in one of our campuses 291 00:16:46.600 --> 00:16:49.559 and feel very lonely. When you feel all alone, when 292 00:16:49.600 --> 00:16:54.480 you feel abandoned, that causes hopeless Here's another one. When 293 00:16:54.559 --> 00:16:59.600 life seems out of control. Here's a common phrase. When 294 00:16:59.600 --> 00:17:05.160 life is out of control. It's never going to change. 295 00:17:05.319 --> 00:17:07.680 I have no power to change it. It's never going 296 00:17:07.759 --> 00:17:12.720 to change. And I feel hopeless about this in my relationship, 297 00:17:13.000 --> 00:17:17.079 in my life, in my habits, that feeling of hopeless 298 00:17:17.119 --> 00:17:18.880 Number three, let's leave these up there. 299 00:17:19.759 --> 00:17:21.240 You don't see a purpose. 300 00:17:21.839 --> 00:17:26.200 People can handle enormous amount of pain as long as 301 00:17:26.200 --> 00:17:29.640 they realize there's a purpose behind it. What we cannot 302 00:17:29.759 --> 00:17:33.799 handle is purposeless pain. And when you don't see a 303 00:17:33.880 --> 00:17:37.759 reason or rhyme or a plan, that causes hopelessness. 304 00:17:37.839 --> 00:17:40.960 Number four. Grieving a loss. 305 00:17:41.839 --> 00:17:44.440 When you've had a major loss or a series of 306 00:17:44.480 --> 00:17:48.200 major losses in your life, that can cause a sense 307 00:17:48.200 --> 00:17:53.440 of hopelessness. Number five when you don't have what you need. 308 00:17:54.119 --> 00:17:56.359 You need more money and you can't get it. You 309 00:17:56.440 --> 00:17:58.599 need more energy and you can't get it. You need 310 00:17:58.680 --> 00:18:01.319 to be smarter and you're not. You need more talent 311 00:18:01.440 --> 00:18:04.160 you don't have. You just feel like I'm always behind. 312 00:18:04.720 --> 00:18:07.200 I'm always a day late and a dollar short. I 313 00:18:07.319 --> 00:18:10.640 don't have what I need. And many people go through 314 00:18:10.640 --> 00:18:13.079 life feeling that their entire lives, I don't know what 315 00:18:13.160 --> 00:18:14.720 I need and they feel hopeless. 316 00:18:14.799 --> 00:18:15.480 I'm stuck. 317 00:18:16.440 --> 00:18:18.920 I'm stuck in a dead end job. I'm stuck in poverty. 318 00:18:18.960 --> 00:18:23.160 I'm stuck in my situation. I can't get out of it, 319 00:18:23.200 --> 00:18:24.079 and I can't get. 320 00:18:23.880 --> 00:18:24.400 On with it. 321 00:18:24.799 --> 00:18:31.079 You don't have what you need. Number six, when you've 322 00:18:31.079 --> 00:18:35.599 done something wrong. There's a big one. Guilt causes hopelessness. 323 00:18:36.759 --> 00:18:43.759 Shame causes hopelessness, Regret causes hopelessness. Remorse causes hopelessness. When 324 00:18:43.799 --> 00:18:48.519 I cannot forgive myself for something that I did and 325 00:18:48.559 --> 00:18:49.599 it just eats away. 326 00:18:49.680 --> 00:18:50.720 It's not what you're. 327 00:18:50.559 --> 00:18:53.960 Eating, it's what's eating you that causes hopelessness over the 328 00:18:54.000 --> 00:18:54.400 long haul. 329 00:18:54.640 --> 00:18:55.240 Number seven. 330 00:18:56.960 --> 00:19:03.640 When you've been deeply wounded by somebody, maybe abuse, physical, sexual, 331 00:19:03.720 --> 00:19:06.799 or some other way. When you've been really hurt by somebody, 332 00:19:07.000 --> 00:19:10.599 and that hurt is so bad and that wedge was 333 00:19:10.680 --> 00:19:15.319 driven so deep and that thorn is so far into 334 00:19:15.359 --> 00:19:19.279 your flesh you can't think of anything else, and bitterness 335 00:19:19.559 --> 00:19:23.920 and resentment and holding onto that will cause ultimately hopelessness 336 00:19:23.960 --> 00:19:24.519 in your life. 337 00:19:24.680 --> 00:19:25.160 Number eight. 338 00:19:26.480 --> 00:19:29.319 When you're pulled in the wrong direction. There's a word 339 00:19:29.319 --> 00:19:33.640 for this. It's called temptation. And when you're constantly being 340 00:19:33.680 --> 00:19:36.119 pulled in the wrong direction, and you go, I really 341 00:19:36.160 --> 00:19:37.519 don't want to live this way, but why do I 342 00:19:37.559 --> 00:19:42.920 keep giving into it? I know this is wrong, I 343 00:19:42.960 --> 00:19:45.200 know this is not good for me. I know this 344 00:19:45.279 --> 00:19:48.720 is not healthy. I know this relationship is self destructive. 345 00:19:49.079 --> 00:19:51.480 I know this habit is taking me in the wrong way. 346 00:19:51.559 --> 00:19:54.680 Why do I keep doing it? There's an entire chapter 347 00:19:54.759 --> 00:19:57.359 in the Bible about this, it's Roman seven. But Paul says, 348 00:19:57.400 --> 00:19:58.720 the things that I know are right and I want 349 00:19:58.720 --> 00:20:01.079 to do, I end up not doing. And the stuff 350 00:20:01.119 --> 00:20:02.680 that I don't want to do and I know it's wrong, 351 00:20:02.720 --> 00:20:06.200 it's bad for me, I end up doing that sense 352 00:20:06.799 --> 00:20:10.279 of pulled in the wrong direction by temptations. 353 00:20:10.559 --> 00:20:12.240 Number nine is hounded by fear. 354 00:20:12.759 --> 00:20:17.960 When you're frightened, when you're scared, when you live in anxiety. 355 00:20:18.079 --> 00:20:23.079 It leads to hopelessness and people from when people are terrorised, 356 00:20:23.200 --> 00:20:26.400 I'm talking about physical terrorism around the world, it causes 357 00:20:26.400 --> 00:20:29.440 a sense of hopelessness. Isis is on the way to 358 00:20:29.519 --> 00:20:31.480 our village, and there's nothing we can do about it. 359 00:20:32.720 --> 00:20:37.440 That causes hopelessness. And then number ten is this when 360 00:20:37.480 --> 00:20:41.519 it looks like defeat, when you feel like I'm not 361 00:20:41.599 --> 00:20:46.119 on the winning side, I'm on the losing side. We're 362 00:20:46.240 --> 00:20:51.279 defeat is sure, there's no way the enemy is overwhelming, 363 00:20:51.599 --> 00:20:56.000 we can't handle the onslaught. We're gone er, this is 364 00:20:56.039 --> 00:20:59.000 our last stand, but we're all gonna die when it 365 00:20:59.079 --> 00:21:04.160 looks like now. These are the ten I believe most 366 00:21:04.240 --> 00:21:07.640 common causes of hopelessness in the world. 367 00:21:08.160 --> 00:21:09.519 Here's an amazing little truth. 368 00:21:10.880 --> 00:21:13.640 Over the months and even years I've been thinking about this, 369 00:21:15.480 --> 00:21:19.720 what I discovered is that the ten greatest causes of 370 00:21:20.000 --> 00:21:25.799 hopelessness find their antidotes in the ten phrases of the 371 00:21:25.799 --> 00:21:33.160 Lord's Prayer. The Lord's Prayer is a deceptively simple prayer. 372 00:21:33.400 --> 00:21:38.279 You've got it memorized. It's less than seventy words. A 373 00:21:38.359 --> 00:21:41.880 lot of people say the Lord's Prayer and don't pray 374 00:21:41.960 --> 00:21:46.319 the Lord's prayer. You may have never prayed it. You've 375 00:21:46.359 --> 00:21:49.079 said it, you say it, but you. 376 00:21:49.039 --> 00:21:54.079 Don't pray it. And to understand the. 377 00:21:54.119 --> 00:21:57.240 Depth of each of the phrases of the Lord's Prayer 378 00:21:58.319 --> 00:22:01.599 is to see the antide to every one of the 379 00:22:01.640 --> 00:22:06.160 ten biggest causes of hopelessness on our planet. Ten reasons 380 00:22:06.200 --> 00:22:09.240 for hope that we get from the phrases of the 381 00:22:09.240 --> 00:22:13.480 Lord's Prayer. Number one, When I'm feeling all alone, I 382 00:22:13.519 --> 00:22:17.279 remember Number one. My loving Father will never abandon me. 383 00:22:19.240 --> 00:22:23.480 My loving Father will never abandon me, Our Father in heaven. 384 00:22:23.519 --> 00:22:26.599 You are not an orphan. Jesus broke the mold. You 385 00:22:26.640 --> 00:22:29.319 don't realize how radical it was when Jesus used the 386 00:22:29.319 --> 00:22:33.960 phrase our Father. Nobody had ever talked to God that way. 387 00:22:34.079 --> 00:22:36.920 We do it all the time today, but it's because 388 00:22:36.960 --> 00:22:41.440 of this prayer. It was so radical when he said, 389 00:22:41.640 --> 00:22:43.880 you have a father who is caring and comforting, and 390 00:22:44.880 --> 00:22:47.400 you know, consistent, and he's close and all of those things. 391 00:22:47.519 --> 00:22:50.319 My father will never abandon me. That gives me hope. 392 00:22:50.440 --> 00:22:54.720 Number Two, when life seems out of control, I need 393 00:22:54.720 --> 00:22:58.359 to remember and I'm feeling powers, that God's power is 394 00:22:58.480 --> 00:23:03.640 greater than any price problem. God's power is greater than 395 00:23:03.720 --> 00:23:06.039 any problem. I don't have time to go into the 396 00:23:06.079 --> 00:23:09.119 meaning of Hallowed be your Name, but the Bible teaches 397 00:23:09.359 --> 00:23:11.799 that there is power in the name of God and 398 00:23:11.920 --> 00:23:15.240 power in the name of Jesus, and when we hollow 399 00:23:15.279 --> 00:23:19.359 his name, it brings power in our life. Jesus even 400 00:23:19.559 --> 00:23:22.839 himself prayed, keep them safe by the power of your name. 401 00:23:23.839 --> 00:23:26.319