SERMON # 5 “HOPE, FAITH & LOVE” October 16, 2011
From Sermon series, “You are Important to God.
I Thessalonians 1:1-10
One reason that we know that we are important to God, as our colored insert tells us, is that he gives us good gifts. In fact, I have three which he has decided to give to us today.
HOPE. What a wonderful thing hope can be. Hope is defined by some is a human desire with the reasonable expectation of attainment. Hope, it seems to me, is foundation by which we do anything.
When we make a purchase, or go to work, or get married, or even get out of bed in the morning, are we not all hoping for something?
But of course, that which is packaged as hope by ourselves and others, may ultimately disappoint.
· The item we purchased does not perform the way the manufacturer’s claim.
· Conditions at work change; hours may be cut, & jobs; we might even lose our job.
· The marriage which began with such energy, becomes problematic.
· And getting out of bed becomes a chore, because our bodies ache and/or we have nothing about which to look forward that day.
Of course, some hope is false hope.
· Hope can sometimes be groundless wishful thinking, when we know in our hearts that things will not happen the way we might like. In such cases, hope can be self deception.
· Thomas Hardy, the great English author, says that the disappointment of hopes not fulfilled leaves scars that are never removed.
So, some hope is just wishful thinking, on one hand; But on the other hand, God is continually encouraging us to receive His gift of hope. You can see what I am talking about, if you would take out the You are Important 2 God tri-colored insert.
Look at all the hope that God is offering to us, because we are important to Him (Read a couple)
So, God makes all the encouragement to hope in Him. Therefore, we have a choice to make—to accept the gift of hope by believing, or not. Can God be trusted?
NEXT GIFT IS OPENED: FAITH .
Now the gift of faith is not some vague , cosmic faith. This is not some type of believing in a general sense, but a recognition and acceptance of the truth that Jesus Christ died on the cross and rose from the dead, that we might have relationship and communion with God. Every Sunday, we testify to this faith by walking through the doors, singing God’s praises, and receiving holy communion.
Receiving God’s gift of faith does not mean an absence of doubts.
· Throughout the Bible , there are many faithful men and women of faith who experience doubts and questions in their relationship with God.
· For goodness sake, even Jesus had doubts and questions.
· Jesus , Himself, says that he came to earth not for the righteous, but for regular people like you and me who may have questions, fears, and confusion. Jesus invites you to believe in Him as you freely choose to do so, without compulsion.
Let’s look at our sheet again, this time to the scriptures in yellow. Let’s read the line in blue at the left hand bottom corner, saying together, “You please me by having faith.” How much faith? How about a tiny bit or faith, the faith the side of a mustard seed, like that appearing at the bottom of the page. Jesus says that faith like a mustard seed, which is planted, nurtured, and grows into a beautiful tree. Don’t worry about how someone else’s faith is growing. Just cherish what you have ,and expect it to grow.
LOVE
Okay—one final gift. This should not be s surprise to anybody--The gift of love. Returning to our tricolored sheets, please look at the bottom right corner to the line circled in red, and let us red that together, “I love you with an everlasting love.” You are precious to God, and as the 2nd red circled line tells us, “Nothing can separate you from my love.” The Bible reminds us that greater love has no one person, than to give up one’s own life for his or her friends. And Jesus says, you are my friends.
Actually, God’s love undergirds this whole process, because love is the foundation of faith, which is the foundation of hope. This is what we hear in today’s second reading from the first letter to the Thessalonian Christians. Please take out your inset and let’s look at hat reading.
In speaking to this early church, God is also speaking to us: Look at the sentence which begins the 3rd line down” We always give thanks to our god and father for all of you and mention you in our prayers, and let’s read this next line together, constantly remembering you before our God and Father your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.” Two things I want you to notice about this scripture:
First, it ends by saying that the Hope, faith ,and love inspired by Christ. That’s the divine portion of this,
Secondly, look at what the human contribution is: work, labor, and steadfastness. This is our contribution to make hope, faith, and love grow, not just in our lives, individually, but in our lives as a church. And because this little church preserved in hop[e, faith and love, Paul says that they became examples for churches all around them.
I believe that God is likewise, calling Christ Church to under anew the work of faith, the labor of love, and the steadfastness of hope. We begin, right here , right now, by showing one another that each person is important to God. Each person matters. How can you do this?
· Introduce yourself or greet someone you do not know
· Forgive someone you do know.
· Listen to someone who is tiresome.
· Talk to someone who is shy.
· Encourage someone who is down.
· Pray with someone in trouble.
· Thank someone who has blessed you or done something for the church.
· Greet a child in Jesus’ name.
· Reach out to someone you have not seen in a while.
· Attend a dinner where you can get to know others.
· Participate in a woman’s bible study or the men’s prayer breakfast
· Give thanks, right out loud during the prayers of the people, for a gift that God has given you. Maybe for the gift of hope, or faith, or love.
The possibilities are endless, and so is the hope, faith, and love offered to us by Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.
--The Rev. John A. Donnelly
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