December 1, 2019 · 1 John 3:2–3

Advent: Hope Mountain

“Those who hope in Jesus have a hope inside us that is threefold we are told. First, we believe and hope that Jesus is coming back. Secondly, we hope and trust that we will see him like he really is, and thirdly, our hope is that we will be like him. And just like the hope that kept my two friends alive like the hope that drove them onwards to keep going despite their exhaustion and their experience of failure after failure our hope keeps us alive. Our hope drives us forward. Hope purifies us. Hope makes us holy, and we gotta remember, it matters what you hope for. Be careful what you hope for because there's one danger with hope and that's misplacing it. If we are hoping the wrong thing or the wrong person, hope itself can end up being destroyed. Think about all the people who put their hope in humanity. Where's that hope now? You can turn on the TV and see people being killed every day. You see how corrupt the governments are. How much people are hurting other people? It's easy to lose hope. It's not easy to hope in humanity. It's not smart to hope in humanity itself. Humanity is senseless and selfish and wicked and violent. If all I had to do was hope in humanity I'd have no hope at all. That's why we're to hope not just in any hope. Nope. Hope in Jesus. If we hope in Jesus, our other hopes have an anchor. Be careful what you hope for. But hopelessness is actually the greatest tragedy on earth. Hopelessness occurs when sometimes we hope for something that doesn't materialize and we start to lose all our hope.”