Let Us Hold Fast the Confession of Our Hope

This morning we're going to be speaking about the subject of hope. The reason why we'll be doing that is because I've talked with a number of you and it's clear that there's a lot of hopelessness in many of your lives and hearts and there's some struggles and various trials and tribulations that many of you are experiencing. And so one of the roles of a pastor, is to feed a proper diet to the recipients of that diet. And so if you need more carrots in your diet, well then it would be appropriate for your mother or your father to feed you carrots. If you need to go out for ice cream, and there's a time to go out for ice cream, then there's ice cream. This is a time that we need to know hope.

reorient ourselves around Christian hope. We need to reorient ourselves away from the circumstances that are in our midst, that are uncomfortable, that we don't like, that make us exhausted and worn out spiritually. And we need to come back to Christian faith in Jesus Christ. We need to come back to the confession of our hope. And so this morning we'll be looking together at Scripture's teaching on the theme of hope, and more specifically, we will be tackling this question, how do I maintain hope in the midst of adversity? When so many things in life seem to be working against me, how do I keep from shrieking back? How do I remain hopeful as a Christian in the midst of trials and tribulations? That's what we'll be dealing with today.

And so we'll be looking in the book of Hebrews, chapter 10, verses 19 through 25. So please stand as we hear the word of the Lord. Therefore, brethren, since we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way, which he inaugurated for us through the veil, that is his flesh, and since we have a great high priest over the house of God, let us draw near. with a sincere heart and full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another. And all the more as you see the day drawing near. This is the word of the Lord. Please be seated. Now we're going to focus our time particularly on verse 23. There's a lot going on in verses 19 to 22. Hebrews is written to Jews who were Christians, but they were wanting to go back to...

the old ways, back to the ceremonial law that God had done away with through Jesus Christ because He fulfilled it. And so, Jesus is our High Priest. He's our sacrifice. It's an amazing set of truths that we see is that in the Old Testament, under the Old Testament, to have access to God, to have any hope that you could be accepted by God, you had to have a priest make sacrifices on your behalf. And Jesus, when He came, He became the priest who went in to the Holy of Holies, went in all the way to the place in the tabernacle where God's presence was, and He became that high priest. Only the high priest could go in, and He could only go in once a year. And He offered that sacrifice to God on your and my behalf.

And that sacrifice was himself. So he's the high priest and he's also the sacrifice. It's amazing. And we could go on and on and on about that and your head would just explode because the Bible is filled with rich truths that never get old. You always learn something new. We're not going to deal with all of that. What we're going to deal with is this particular verse in verse 23. Let us hold fast. The confession of our hope without wavering. So the question is this. How do we maintain hope in the midst of adversity? Well, before we can answer this, we must begin with a much more basic question. What is hope? Before we can answer how to maintain it, we need to know what it is. Right? So what is hope? Well, there are two different kinds of hope that I'm going to...

break down for us. The first kind is what I'll call ordinary hope. And then there's a second kind that we'll call biblical hope or Christian hope, okay? And so here's the difference. I want to make a distinction between both of these. The first is ordinary hope. Now, there are a few different ways in which people use the word. Can you turn that down? That's fine. There are a few different ways that people use the word hope. Number one is this. We use hope as it is the desire for something good in the future. I hope that I'll get that job. I hope that I get married sometime in the near future. I hope that I'll get that raise. I hope that my children will be obedient today. Hope, in this case, is the desire. You're hoping. It's what you want. It's the desire itself. That's how oftentimes we use hope. Another way that we use The word hope is that it is the thing itself that we desire. This job that I desire is my hope. If I don't get married by the time I reach such and such an age, my whole world will crash down. Because that is my hope. You see the difference? One kind of hope is to desire and hope that something will work out.

The other kind is that it's the thing you place everything on the line for, emotionally, spiritually. Now, the way Scripture uses the word hope is almost the opposite of our ordinary uses. It's the opposite in this sense. Ordinarily, when we use the word hope, we are communicating uncertainty rather than certainty. I hope I get... What I want, I hope, you name it, fill in the blank. I hope I get married soon. I hope I get the raise I want. I hope that we have a healthy winter and we don't get the stomach bug as a family. All of that means I don't have any certainty that I will get what I'm after. I only desire that I do.

I don't know what's going to happen, but I hope it happens. You see, ordinarily, when we express hope, we are expressing uncertainty because we have no guarantee that what we want will actually come to pass. But this is not the biblical meaning of hope. This is not Christian hope. Christian hope isn't merely a desire. for something good in the future. Christian hope is a confident expectation and desire for something good in the future. Christian hope doesn't simply desire something good. It expects it to happen. It is confident that it will happen. Now where does Scripture teach us this about hope? Well, if you look in Romans 5, verse 5, we find this statement. It's just a very small statement, but it's very powerful.

in our understanding of Christian hope. It's this. Hope does not disappoint. Hope does not disappoint. Ordinary hope is wishful thinking of the future. Biblical hope is confident expectation of the future. To be a Christian, and here's the first point, here's the main thing that I want to drive home for all of us. To be a Christian is to be hopeful. Look at what our text says in verse 19. Listen to this. We have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus. We have confidence. Jesus Christ came to earth and offered up His own body as a substitute punishment for our sins. He died a bloody death on the cross.

in order to secure and guarantee our redemption. Freeing us from the power of sin, giving us new life, and the future hope of heaven. And then there's something in between. It's not only that we have a future hope of heaven, but it is also that we have a confident expectation on our way there. We actually have something to look forward to. Not simply at the destination, which we do, but we actually, therefore, can be hopeful on our journey there. And so our hope as Christians is not found in ourselves because there's nothing really that flattering about you or I. Those who know you best know your flaws, they know your failures.

And if you are so good as to not let anybody see any of that, God does. And He knows who you are. Our hope is not found in ourselves. It's not found in a seven-step program to becoming a better you. Our hope is found not in ourselves. It is not found in the things of this world. Why? Because this world is passing away as it is in its current state. The world is not where we place our hope. It's not in getting more stuff. It's not in projecting the image of the American dream fulfilled in our families. Ultimately, the hope we have is the hope of eternal salvation. It is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. This is what it means when it says we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus.

Let us hold fast. The confession. Confession is a doctrinal truth that you don't negotiate on and you cling to tightly and it becomes the thing that you orient your life around. Everything in life is oriented around that thing. The confession. The confession of our hope. What? The hope of Jesus Christ. Hope is to have your sins forgiven. It's to have your feet put on the path towards heaven. If you've read Pilgrim's Progress, you remember Christian is on his journey and he's fleeing the city of destruction. He cries out, life, life, life eternal. And he's on his way towards the celestial city. The heavenly city. And there's a long journey that he travels in order to reach that destination. Romans 8, verse 24 and 25 says this, For in hope we have been saved. But hope that is seen is what? It's not hope. But hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he already sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, with perseverance we wait eagerly for it. Perseverance we wait eagerly for it. And so our hope is a future hope.

of the new heavens and new earth, where all things will be made right. It is believing the promise that one day Jesus Christ, the King of kings and Lord of lords, will return in glory. And every injustice He will do away with. Every evil thing He will expel. Every enemy He will destroy. All things will be made right. He will wipe away every tear from our eyes and there will no longer be any death. There will no longer be any mourning or crying or pain. There will be perfection. There will be eternal bliss. There will be eternal happiness. The problem is we are so short-sighted in our understanding of the Christian life and everything is so much about now, now, now, now. We don't have any vision.

further than the hour of the day that we're currently living in. We're very short-sighted. And yet, the Christian life is built around playing the long game. It's built around a long view. This is why we raise our children in the fear of God and that we believe that children are a blessing and we should receive them in to the marriage bed. Why? Is it just because we think the more the merrier? We actually don't think it's harder. We think it's easier. No, it's actually harder to have children and family and to build a future. It's more expensive. But why do we do that? Because we believe that the kingdom of God will go forth. And what we're doing is we're setting up future generations to take what belongs to Jesus Christ.

I don't have any idea what that's going to look like specifically for my grandchildren or my great-grandchildren. But I have faith and hope that God will use this little bit of faithfulness and the hardship and the trials to produce a fruit that will bless the nation of America. We need to take the long view. How is it that this heavenly hope is certain and sure? When we haven't even reached the destination or experienced the outcome yet. Ask yourself that question. How is it certain and sure when we haven't reached the destination or experienced the outcome yet? Because Christian hope rests not on things seen, but on things unseen. It rests on God's promise. And God cannot lie. Christian hope ultimately is the...

It comes with it, the eternal reward of heaven. And why do we need this kind of hope? Well, because the Christian life is hard. The Christian life is hard. Our lives as Christians are filled with trials and tribulations and one step forward and two steps back and dangers and persecutions and toil and hardship and suffering. Much of the suffering is brought on by our own Sins and weaknesses and shortcomings. And because the road to heaven is the most difficult road to travel. And I tell this to everyone who I meet who is either exploring Christianity or says that they're ready to become a Christian. I say this, and I'll say it to you. If you're looking for the easiest and most comfortable life, do not become a Christian.

Don't do it. You'll be so disappointed. You will be so disappointed because there is nothing easy about being a Christian. There is blessing. There is joy unspeakable in Christ. But there is nothing easy about it. There is nothing easy about saying no to your lust. There's nothing easy about living a life of faith and repentance. Because to be a Christian, it is to be honest about who you are and your needs. It's to be vulnerable. It's to lean on others. And yet, it's also not to sit there and have everybody allow you to remain the same. You notice where Scripture says in Galatians 6, the command, bear one another's burdens. Right? And by doing so, fulfill the law of Christ.

And it's like, okay, great. I get to just continue to stay the way I am. But then it says what? Each man must carry his own load. And that's the Christian life. The Christian life is us carrying our own load and yet depending and leaning on others, leaning on the body of Christ to help us do that work. This is why we need hope. The Christian life is hard. And our hope always has a context. Hope always has a context. And that context is our suffering. Which brings me to the next point. True and lasting Christian hope is always born out of adversity. It's not when things go well that you are stirred up to trust God. It's when things go badly. It's when things are difficult and the opposition is strong. When all the odds...

in your life appear at that moment to be stacked against you. It is especially then that our hope comes alive. We look beyond what is seen to that which is unseen. What is the confession of our hope? Well, listen to these confident words of faith in Romans 5. Paul says this, he says, Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand. And, what? We exalt in hope of the glory of God. We rejoice. Exalt is a rejoicing that, for me to do it, would be ridiculous. All the kids would be laughing. We exalt in hope. We just relish in it. We go crazy in hope.

of the glory of God. And not only this, but we also exalt. Here's where it gets crazy. We exalt in our tribulations. Why? Because of this. Knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance. When things get hard and you are set like flint to hold fast to Jesus Christ, it brings perseverance. Think of times in your life where you had faced an obstacle and the odds were such that you knew it was easier for you to choose the world, you to choose to disobey and turn away from God, and you, by God's grace, chose to continue. Chose to hold on to Jesus Christ. And what happened? You grew in perseverance.

If you're a Christian, you can think of one time when that happened. You grew in perseverance. And what? And perseverance brings what? Proven character. You form godly character. God is forming Christ in you. And proven character. Hope. And hope, here it is again, does not disappoint. Because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us. Brothers and sisters, if you are in Christ, you have a reason to be hopeful. Right now, in the midst of your trials and hardships and things that aren't going right and job uncertainty and children who are not bearing fruit even though you're disciplining them, family members who are not walking with the Lord despite all of the effort and energy and tears that you shed on their behalf, You have reason to be hopeful right now. Why? Well, because we know that our suffering has a purpose. It has a purpose. And let me tell you, the world cannot comprehend this kind of hope. The world has no idea what this hope is. The world offers a completely different set of hope. It's a false hope. It's a hope that is built on getting what I want.

right now, or I will make someone else pay for it. I will punish someone else. And many of you operate that way in your marriages and with your children, is if you don't get what you want right now, by golly, someone is going to pay for it. And it will either be you will give your wife or husband the silent treatment, you'll get angry with your children, you will give yourself to various lusts, because You have been operating under the world's standard for what brings hope. You've been desiring the wrong thing as the ultimate thing, and you have also found that that becomes your hope, and you've been let down. The world cannot comprehend this kind of hope. And so my question to you is this. Where is your hope? Where is your hope? What are you looking to?

satisfaction and freedom and joy in your life right now. What is it? Is it your marriage? Is it your children? Is it your job? Is it your income? Is it your savings account? Is it a relationship that you're in? What are you looking for to give you the ultimate freedom and enjoyment? If it is anything other than the Lord Jesus Christ, it is a false hope. And it will let you down. It will let you down. You know, I was thinking of C.S. Lewis, and many of you have heard this quote, but C.S. Lewis said this. He said, he talks about a, compares where we put our hope in to a child who decides that he wants to play in this mud pit and make mud pies.

When right over here, he has a chance to have a holiday at the sea. He has a chance to actually have real fun, real joy, real satisfaction. And yet that child is just standing there, stuck in, playing with the mud. And then he says after that, he says, we are far too easily pleased. And isn't that the truth? Aren't we far too easily pleased with the things of this world? Aren't we far too easily pleased with even the things that are good things that God has given us? But we look to those things and raise them up to a status, a God-like status that says, this will give me what I want. This will fill my heart with lasting joy, lasting pleasures. And guess what? It becomes an idol.

And if you know what Scripture says about idolatry, you know what happens is it will fail you. And it will destroy you. It will destroy you. If you look to your marriage as the ultimate thing that will give you satisfaction and hope, instead of the Lord Jesus Christ, if it's built on one another as the ultimate thing, and it's not built on Jesus Christ, that marriage will fall apart because what you're going to do is you're going to make that person the ultimate and they're not giving me what I want. They don't have the perfections that I'm looking for. And so then you despise. What happens in idolatry when you make something that's even good an ultimate thing is you look at that thing and you put your hope in it and when it lets you down, you despise it.

Because it's not God. If our hope is in anything other than the Lord Jesus Christ, if it's in our children, if it's in our money, whatever it is, search your heart. You have things that entice you away from the Lord Jesus Christ. I have things that entice me. What are those things? What are those things? It's a false hope and it will let you down. Scripture says this about how we're to respond. We do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, our inner man is being renewed day by day. Momentary light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison. While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are unseen. For the things which are seen are temporal.

But the things which are unseen are eternal. And so, the command here to us, brothers and sisters, is don't lose heart. Don't lose heart. Hold fast the confession of your hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful. Hold fast to it. Don't hold on to the hope of the world. Don't hold on to anything else. your wife or your husband drop dead today, if your children drop dead tomorrow, if you lost your job, if whatever the thing is that you say, this is what keeps me up at night, if that went away, as a Christian, you have all that you need in Jesus Christ. That's what makes a Christian a Christian. That's what it means to be in Christ. It means that...

The whole world could go to hell in a handbasket. Your marriage could fall apart. Your kids could reject the faith. I'm not saying these things would be easy to deal with. They would be difficult. But you would have a sure foundation because your hope is built on Jesus Christ. And you would still have reason to have joy. You would still have reason to have happiness. That's Christian hope. Because when you make that confession, I believe Jesus Christ is Lord. You're not paying lip service. You're binding your heart and affections to the One who you confessed to. And are your affections bound to Jesus Christ right now? The final point is this.

Christian hope cannot be maintained apart from Christian fellowship in the body of Christ. Look at what verse 24 says on the screen here. It says, let us consider how to stimulate one another. So right before it, the Apostle says, let us hold fast to the confession of our hope. Hold tightly to it. So you go, well, how do I do that? He tells us how. He says, let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds. And so hope has a purpose. It's not just so that you can feel good. It's so that you can serve others and give them hope. Let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another and all the more as you see the day drawing near. There is a direct correlation.

Between the spiritual vitality of your soul and your commitment to the fellowship of the church. If you begin to withdraw yourself from the fellowship of believers, you begin to waver in your Christian hope. You will spiral downward spiritually. Now listen, there are exceptions to rules. I understand that. If you're sick, you can't be here. If you live an hour or two hours away, it hampers your ability to engage in the fellowship of the church fully. If you have health issues such that don't allow you to be with God's people regularly, there are exceptions. But that's not what we're talking about. We are talking about the very thing that God gives us as a tool to give us and strengthen our Christian hope.

Listen, there are a number of you here I know who are living hopelessly right now. I can see it in your eyes. You know the Bible says the eyes are the window to the soul. You can tell things by looking in someone's eyes. Just try it sometime. Look in someone's eyes and actually it will tell you a lot about who they are, what's going on with them. Many of you are living hopelessly right now. You're discontent. In a mode of constant complaining about your life. You're discontent with your husband, with your children, with your job, with the people you work with, with this church. You keep hitting the same obstacles. You're discontent that you can't make progress in your walk with the Lord. You're not getting traction. You try to lead your wife, but every time you do, she tries to fight you on it. She makes it difficult for you to lead her.

You try submitting to your husband and following your husband, but he doesn't take responsibility. You try to discipline your kids, but they put up a fight and you realize they have a will too. You try to give yourself to being a good steward at your job, but it doesn't seem like things are getting done. It seems like you're always playing catch up. You're behind the eight ball. You try to say no to your lusts, but it continues to get the better of you. You try to open up to others in this church and other women, but you feel like you constantly are being watched. You aren't making progress in the kingdom of God. And here's what I want to say to you. Give yourself to the church. Give yourself to the church. And I mean give yourself to the fellowship. You cannot hold fast to the confession of your hope the fellowship of the church. Now why do I say despise fellowship? Why would I say that? Because fellowship is messy. Fellowship involves drama. The church is a family. It's a household. Which means there's family fights, there's family failures, there's family struggles. This is why people don't go near the church.

Or they will go to a church that allows them to remain anonymous. It's because I can't deal with that. I can't have hope in the midst of that. And yet God designed the fellowship of the church, the fellowship of the church to be the very thing that builds and sustains your hope in Jesus Christ. That's what it says. He says, let us hold fast to the confession of our hope. And right after, He tells us not to forsake the gathering and assembly together. And you say, well, I'll kind of show up here and there. He says encouraging one another to love and good deeds. That means we need to be engaged with one another such to the degree that God allows us to. And when we can't, when we are sick, when things prevent us from it, what we should feel in our spirit is not, oh, I'm so relieved that we don't have to go to small group. Oh, man.

It's such a pain to be around so-and-so again. Oh, there's such a drag. Oh, man. This is like the one day a week I get off. Dude, is that a heart that has hope? Is that a heart that loves the body of Christ? You know, I got more important things to do. This is my heart. You think I always want to be around everybody on Sundays after it's the longest, most draining day for me? Your paycheck's in the mail. My wife's here, so I can't say yes. No, I complain. I get exhausted. I don't want to see people sometimes. I'm a sinner, okay? And that's wicked. That's wicked to have that kind of heart. And God is merciful. And God knows. He knows what I need.

Do you know that fellowship is a means of grace? I said this last week. What is a means of grace? Means is a tool. So you think of your tool belt. You've got means of grace. Tools of grace. These are the things that God designed and wrote into the world. These are the tools that will cause you to grow. It will cause your marriage to grow and flourish. It will cause... The discipline and instruction of your kids to bear fruit. It will cause you to grow in happiness and joy and get somewhere. The tools of grace. And there's four of them. The first is the apostles' teaching. The Word. The preaching of the Word. Lord's Supper. Communion. We grow in grace. We grow in our strength. Because God uses the symbols to communicate a spiritual reality.

Feeding on Christ by faith. Prayer. We grow in grace by the tool of prayer. You pull prayer out. How many times have you gone to God and prayed and you received greater help, greater perseverance? What about fellowship? What about fellowship? If you reject the fellowship of believers and all of the encouragement and love and rebuke and warning and admonishment, That means the whole spectrum of love. You've got the soft love, you have the tough love, you have, hey brother, listen, the way you've been talking about such and such, that doesn't honor God. All that, everything, from hey, wonderful, to this is a hard conversation. If you reject that, guess what? Your life will be miserable.

Because you will be saying to God, I know I need hope. I know I need Christian hope. I know this is what you've called me to. I know I'm on a journey. I want to get there. I want to get to heaven. I want to get to the place of eternal life. But I actually know a better way to get there than the church. And this is the habit of what we always want to do with God's commands and the way God has set. things up is we want to go around the path that he's laid out for us and carve a shortcut to get to the destination and say, look, see, I'm here. I got here. They're not shortcuts. God set things up a particular way and the church is your mother. If you want to grow, you cannot reject the fellowship of the church.

You cannot despise it. You cannot despise the fact that it's hard and there's drama and sometimes things are difficult with relationships. Get over yourself. You are a really difficult person to be around too. Okay? You are really difficult for people to deal with too. That's what my wife tells me when I say, oh my goodness, so and so is just... Right? She says, well, you're actually really hard to live with too. And she loves me. And it's sweet. And you know what? If you reject the church, what you're going to do is you will put up walls so that no one will ever see your weaknesses and failures and fears. Do people know your weaknesses? Do they know your failures? Do they know what you're afraid of? Does anybody know that? Does anybody? That's where the church, that's what the church is for.

It doesn't mean we don't make progress in the faith. It means that gets us there all the more quicker. That allows us to make progress is when we have the church stirring us up, spurring us on, pointing out blind spots. You won't experience the joy and sweetness of having others bear your burdens. Don't you want that? Have you experienced the joy of the church bearing your burdens? I have. It has been sweet. It's been good. Don't you want to be happy? Because I'm happy, happy, oh. What's that song? Hop along if you feel like. What is it? Happiness is the truth, right? That's like, there's a video that has like, I think it runs for 24 hours or something. Where they did, you can watch it for 24 hours and it just goes. Don't you want that?

That guy in that video looks really happy. Everybody's dancing. The Christian life is supposed to be hopeful. It's supposed to be cheerful. The fact that we understand our sin doesn't mean that we go around, hey guys, we're the serious church. No, we should be the most joyful, spirit-filled, happy church. Because we know what the grace of God looks like. We've tasted it. Marriages get restored. Parents and their children, relationships get restored. Men who are lazy start to hold a job for once. Right? Adulterers become faithful. Right? Gossips stop slandering and become tellers of truth and encouragers. Right? This is what the church is. It transforms us. So will you please just humble yourself and invest in the people of God.

Will you do that? Invest yourself in the fellowship of this church to the degree that God allows you. We're not talking about living in communes, but we're talking about having a desire to grow in grace, to grow in Jesus Christ, to become mature men and women of God, to become people of hope. Invest yourself in the fellowship of this church and you will grow in faith and joy and in hope. And I will grow in that because you will be helpful to me. Fix your eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith. The Christian life is worth it because the Christian life is life. And some of you may be sitting here and you might have consciences that are weighed down with guilt. And you think you're beyond hope. And you think there's no hope for me because I've tried it.

and it doesn't work, but I promise you, there is. The Lord Jesus said to His disciples this, He who wishes to save his life will lose it, but he who loses his life for my sake will find it. And so for a Christian, sanctification and suffering is the process of you losing your life now for Jesus so that you will find eternal life. And so be hopeful. It's for a purpose. Let people help you be hopeful. Help other people be hopeful. Build your life. Build your family. Build your work. Build everything around Jesus Christ and therefore his bride, the church. And you will grow in hope. You will grow in happiness. You will see progress. And God will be pleased. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you.

That you are a God of hope. That you are a God of joy. You are a God that never leaves us or forsakes us. Right now, Lord, we think of our lives and we think of the ways in which we have failed to trust you as we ought. We think of the hopelessness that we have basked ourselves in. And Lord, we know, Lord, that this is faithless. We have seen you work hope in our lives, God. So we ask, God, that you would help us to turn to you now by faith, trusting in Jesus as the author and perfecter of faith. We pray, Lord, that those of us who have never experienced this hope, that you would give us the first taste of Christian hope, that you would cause us to cling to Jesus Christ, to trust in his mercy as our only hope.

for salvation. We pray that you would use our hope, Lord, to strengthen our marriages, to make us godly husbands and godly wives, to make the children here obedient and that they would become men and women of truth and live for the sacrifice of others, Lord. We pray for this church, Lord, that you would cause us to radiate hope to those who we come into contact with, that people would see the hope that is within us and ask us to give a reason for it. We pray, Lord, that you'd bring many, many souls, Lord, who need this hope into our homes. We pray that our homes would become hospitals, that we would begin to go to the highways and byways and grab the...

take hold of any opportunity, Lord, you put in our path, that we build relationships with the lost, our neighbors, that we'd invite them into the place of hope, the church of Jesus Christ, and that they would find it and that we would become a more hopeful congregation as a result of the life you work in us. In Jesus' name, amen.