“How can I live with hope?” is one of the most important questions a person can ask. It is the difference between looking forward to the future and being resigned to playing out the string. It is the difference between trusting that hard times will pass and believing that nothing ever works out. Followers of Jesus are people who live with hope. They always have hope because that their hope is confidence in a person, not the expectation of a particular outcome.
Followers of Jesus have hope for two reasons. The first reason is the resurrection of Jesus Christ. The resurrection proves that God is a God of second chances, that God can make a way where there is no way, that God creates a future where we cannot imagine. We have hope because of the resurrection.
The second reason we have hope is because of grace. In a world without grace, there would be no escaping the consequences of our bad decisions. In a world without grace, we would be victims of the bad things that happen to us. The grace of God permits us to recover from our misfortunes and turn around when we have headed down the wrong road.
In the Bible it says, “Always be ready to give a reason to anyone who asks you for an explanation of the hope that is within you.” Now we know the reasons. In our sermon this Sunday, we will talk about how we can live with hope.