1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:12,600 Welcome to the Potter's House Salmon Arm podcast. We are a Bible-Believing Church located in 2 00:00:12,600 --> 00:00:17,120 beautiful British Columbia, Canada. We are proudly part of the Christian Fellowship Ministries 3 00:00:17,120 --> 00:00:22,800 with 3,000 churches around the world. We are a church focused on world evangelism, discipleship 4 00:00:22,800 --> 00:00:28,160 and church planting. Here we will share recent sermons from P.H.S.A. Church and other sermons 5 00:00:28,160 --> 00:00:32,480 from throughout our fellowship. I am Pastor David Bickford and I will be your host for this 6 00:00:32,480 --> 00:00:37,040 podcast. I thank you for listening today and we hope these messages are a blessing to you and 7 00:00:37,040 --> 00:00:52,720 bring you closer to God. Welcome back to the Salmon Arm Potter's House podcast. My name again 8 00:00:52,720 --> 00:00:58,480 is David Bickford. I am the pastor of the Potter's House here in Salmon Arm. Today I have a message 9 00:00:58,480 --> 00:01:07,600 entitled, What Hope Do We Have? Our Hope is in and Through Christ. The text we will be using today 10 00:01:07,600 --> 00:01:14,400 is going to be 1 Peter 1, verses 3-9. That will be our jumping off point. If you have your Bibles 11 00:01:14,400 --> 00:01:20,960 or you are following along, you can turn there. Before we jump into that, though, I wanted to 12 00:01:20,960 --> 00:01:27,120 go through an illustration I found from a guy named Halford E. Lecoq. It is titled, Unfinished 13 00:01:27,120 --> 00:01:33,520 Business. One night at dinner, a man who had spent many summers in Maine fascinated his 14 00:01:33,520 --> 00:01:39,520 companions by telling them of an experience in a little town named Flagstaff. The town was to be 15 00:01:39,520 --> 00:01:46,960 flooded as part of a large lake for which a dam was being built. In the months before, it was to 16 00:01:46,960 --> 00:01:54,320 be flooded. All the improvements and repairs in the whole town stopped. What was the use of painting 17 00:01:54,320 --> 00:02:00,080 a house if it was going to be covered in water in the next six months? Why repair anything? The 18 00:02:00,080 --> 00:02:06,960 whole village was going to be wiped out anyway. So week by week, the whole town became more and more 19 00:02:06,960 --> 00:02:15,120 bedraggled, more gone to seed, more wobble gone. Then he added by way of explanation, where there 20 00:02:15,120 --> 00:02:22,560 is no faith in the future, there is no power in the present. So let's just quickly pray. Dear Lord 21 00:02:22,560 --> 00:02:28,880 God, I pray that you'd use this message to reach the lost, Lord God, to work into people's hearts, 22 00:02:28,880 --> 00:02:33,520 Lord God, to bring them closer to Christ. And we give all the glory and praise and honor to you in 23 00:02:33,520 --> 00:02:40,720 Jesus' name. Amen. So George Bernard Shaw is perhaps one of the most renowned freethinkers, 24 00:02:40,720 --> 00:02:46,640 liberal philosophers, and atheists. And this is another excerpt from one of his plays. 25 00:02:48,000 --> 00:02:53,680 In the play, it says, the science to which I pinned my faith is bankrupt. It counsels, 26 00:02:54,560 --> 00:02:59,840 which should have established the millennium, led instead directly to the suicide of Europe. 27 00:03:00,640 --> 00:03:05,680 I believed them once in their name. I helped to destroy the faith of millions of worshipers 28 00:03:05,680 --> 00:03:11,040 in temples and 1,000 creeds. And now they look at me and witness the great tragedy of an atheist 29 00:03:11,040 --> 00:03:16,320 who has lost his faith. I find it interesting that he would write this, even in a play, 30 00:03:16,880 --> 00:03:23,280 considering that he was an avid atheist. Some have even used this to presume his turning away from 31 00:03:23,280 --> 00:03:28,400 atheistic beliefs. And we can only hope that he found Christ in his last days. But I don't believe 32 00:03:28,400 --> 00:03:36,320 that's what this actual piece of his play is saying. But when we start to think about this, 33 00:03:36,320 --> 00:03:44,960 we have to understand that there's some truth in the core of this heartbreak that's in this play. 34 00:03:45,680 --> 00:03:48,640 The fact that life is built upon the very essence of hope. 35 00:03:50,240 --> 00:03:55,200 Life depends on hope. It doesn't matter where you are from or how you were raised 36 00:03:55,200 --> 00:04:00,240 or what you believe. Everyone needs hope in order to survive. If you wake up without any hope, 37 00:04:00,240 --> 00:04:05,840 then you will likely wither away in despair. This is true for both the believer and the unbeliever. 38 00:04:06,480 --> 00:04:10,880 A man or a woman that has nothing to hope for will also have nothing to live for. 39 00:04:11,520 --> 00:04:16,000 And we can see this clearly in our own society. There are many instances that we could see today 40 00:04:16,000 --> 00:04:21,920 that give people an out when they have lost hope. The debate for assisted suicide is just another 41 00:04:21,920 --> 00:04:29,200 example of society losing hope. In times past, it was the growing drug epidemic. These attempts to 42 00:04:29,200 --> 00:04:34,480 escape from a life without hope hastens our society's decline. And I believe that the further 43 00:04:34,480 --> 00:04:41,600 we remove ourselves from the living God, the more hopeless our society is becoming. We are not meant 44 00:04:41,600 --> 00:04:46,880 to rely on our own understanding of hope. We are not meant to be filled with hope from distractions 45 00:04:46,880 --> 00:04:53,680 of this world. That is why all of the entertainment world does not satiate our soul's desire for hope. 46 00:04:55,120 --> 00:04:59,840 So let's look at our text this morning. And again, 1 Peter 1 verses 3 through 9. 47 00:05:02,560 --> 00:05:11,280 The subheading of this text is praise to God for living hope. Praise be to God and Father of our 48 00:05:11,280 --> 00:05:17,360 Lord Jesus Christ. In his great mercy, he has given us new birth into a living hope through the 49 00:05:17,360 --> 00:05:23,200 resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead and into the inheritance that can never perish, 50 00:05:23,200 --> 00:05:30,400 spoiler faith. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you who through faith are shielded by God's 51 00:05:30,400 --> 00:05:34,880 power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. 52 00:05:36,000 --> 00:05:40,880 In all this, you greatly rejoice. And though now for a little while, you may have had to suffer 53 00:05:40,880 --> 00:05:47,280 grief and all kinds of trials. These have come so that the proven genuineness of our of your faith 54 00:05:47,840 --> 00:05:54,160 of greater worth than gold, which perishes even through the though refined by fire 55 00:05:56,160 --> 00:06:01,920 may result in praise, glory, honor. When Jesus Christ is revealed, though you have not seen him, 56 00:06:01,920 --> 00:06:06,320 you love him. And even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled 57 00:06:06,320 --> 00:06:11,120 with an inexpressible and glorious joy for you receiving the end result of your faith, 58 00:06:11,120 --> 00:06:19,360 the salvation of your souls. Amen. So then let's let's look at, you know, firstly, 59 00:06:20,080 --> 00:06:27,600 at what is hope. Right. We'll look into that. And then we're going to look at sustaining hope as 60 00:06:27,600 --> 00:06:34,320 the second point in our third. My third point this morning will be our hope being in Christ. 61 00:06:34,320 --> 00:06:41,840 But let's look first at defining hope. You know, what is hope? What does that mean to us? Well, 62 00:06:41,840 --> 00:06:47,440 to define it, the definition, the dictionary definition is that it's a noun, the feeling 63 00:06:47,840 --> 00:06:53,280 that what is wanted can be had or that events will turn out for the best. When used as a verb, 64 00:06:53,280 --> 00:06:59,440 it can be it can be defined as to look forward to with the desire and reasonable confidence 65 00:06:59,440 --> 00:07:06,480 to believe, desire, trust, or to feel something desired may happen. We hope for an early spring 66 00:07:07,040 --> 00:07:13,440 to place trust, rely. Some other words that are similar to hope are anticipation, belief, 67 00:07:13,440 --> 00:07:23,120 confidence, expectation, faith, goal, optimism, promise. What is the opposite of hope? Hope, 68 00:07:23,120 --> 00:07:29,920 the opposite of the word hope is abandon or disbelief, distrust, doubt, forsake, despair, 69 00:07:29,920 --> 00:07:35,600 or fear. So I have another story here that I'd like to talk about. So there was a, I read this 70 00:07:35,600 --> 00:07:42,080 article and it's a very moving story about a Nigerian cook who survived a shipwreck, but it 71 00:07:42,080 --> 00:07:49,520 wasn't any just regular shipwreck. This was a very interesting story. So Kenny, I believe that's how 72 00:07:49,520 --> 00:07:55,680 I pronounce his name, was the only survivor in a crew of 12 when the boat capsized in May. It's 73 00:07:55,680 --> 00:08:01,280 still haunting. In addition with being saddled with survivors' guilt, some Nigerians believe he 74 00:08:01,280 --> 00:08:08,240 saved himself through black magic. The Jaskon 4 was resting on the seabed upside down at a depth 75 00:08:08,240 --> 00:08:16,480 of a hundred feet or 30 meters. The chubby cook survived on only one bottle of Coke. Two flashlights 76 00:08:16,480 --> 00:08:21,600 that he had found gave up after less than one day. In the dark, he had almost given up hope after 77 00:08:21,600 --> 00:08:26,640 three days when he suddenly heard the sound of a boat, a hammering on the side of the vessel. And 78 00:08:26,640 --> 00:08:35,760 then after a while saw lights rising around the waters near him and then bubbling. He said he knew 79 00:08:35,760 --> 00:08:41,680 it had to be a diver, but he was on the wrong end of the cabin. He came in, but he was so fast, I 80 00:08:41,680 --> 00:08:46,560 saw the light, but before I could get to him, he was already out. I tried to follow him in the pitch 81 00:08:46,560 --> 00:08:53,600 darkness, but I couldn't trace him, so I went back. His rescuers from the Dutch company DCN Diving 82 00:08:53,600 --> 00:08:58,480 were looking only for bodies and had already recovered four corpses when they came upon Okeni. 83 00:08:59,200 --> 00:09:04,720 When the diver returned Okeni had to swim again to reach him and still he did not see him. 84 00:09:04,720 --> 00:09:11,680 So Okeni tapped him on the back of his neck and of course the diver was afraid. When the diver saw 85 00:09:11,680 --> 00:09:16,960 his hand he said, corpse, corpse, corpse, into the microphone reporting up to the rescue vessel. 86 00:09:17,760 --> 00:09:23,520 When he brought his hand close to me, I pulled on his hand, Okeni said. He's alive, he's alive, 87 00:09:23,520 --> 00:09:29,760 he's alive. Okeni remembers hearing. Okeni described a surreal scene after the diver emerged 88 00:09:29,760 --> 00:09:37,120 into the air pocket. I knew when he gave me water he was observing me to see if I'm really human 89 00:09:37,120 --> 00:09:45,760 because he was afraid, he told the AP last Thursday. Okeni said he made a pact with God when he was at 90 00:09:45,760 --> 00:09:50,800 the bottom of the ocean. When I was under the water I told God if he rescued me I will never go back 91 00:09:50,800 --> 00:09:57,600 to the sea again. He had hope. Okeni was so happy. He was so happy. He was so happy. 92 00:09:57,600 --> 00:10:10,640 So Okeni in his darkness was looking for something to cling onto. He turned to God in the darkness, 93 00:10:10,640 --> 00:10:17,120 his belly of the whale kind of situation at the bottom of this ocean floor and just a small pocket 94 00:10:17,120 --> 00:10:24,720 of air clinging to hope, clinging to hope that God would bring him through this ordeal. And eventually 95 00:10:24,720 --> 00:10:32,240 thankfully his faith was rewarded and he was saved out of that darkness. 96 00:10:33,520 --> 00:10:40,880 But he had to work at sustaining his hope. He had to work at building, at not allowing himself to 97 00:10:40,880 --> 00:10:48,240 fall into despair so that when the divers did come he was able to act quickly, promptly and help 98 00:10:48,240 --> 00:10:55,760 expedite his own rescue in that situation. For he could have withered away in those three days 99 00:10:57,040 --> 00:10:59,920 and then when the divers come he could have missed his opportunity. 100 00:11:01,440 --> 00:11:07,840 But no, he was able to maintain his hope in the darkness and ready to act at a moment's 101 00:11:07,840 --> 00:11:13,200 notice when he saw the light. So that brings me to my next point which is sustaining hope. 102 00:11:13,200 --> 00:11:19,360 How do we sustain hope in our life? The unbeliever will fill his days with entertainment, 103 00:11:19,360 --> 00:11:28,320 pleasure, friends, family or maybe career goals. These are all things, career goals are things that 104 00:11:28,320 --> 00:11:34,320 we battle with. I've battled with that in my life wanting to get to the next level of an organization 105 00:11:34,320 --> 00:11:42,240 or the next level of corporate life. And for those of you who might not know I've done 106 00:11:42,240 --> 00:11:50,240 I've worked for some pretty big companies. I've worked for large oil companies. I've worked for 107 00:11:50,800 --> 00:11:56,480 large distributorships and industrial distributorships. I've worked for a lot of 108 00:11:56,480 --> 00:12:02,880 pretty neat organizations. I've worked for the United States Navy in a very critical capacity 109 00:12:02,880 --> 00:12:10,160 for being a sub-safe hydraulics mechanic, aircraft mechanic. And those career goals, 110 00:12:10,160 --> 00:12:18,560 they grab you because they give you the immediate hope of money, power, authority. 111 00:12:19,920 --> 00:12:24,160 But these things are not wrong in themselves. In fact, these examples can help us to better 112 00:12:24,160 --> 00:12:31,840 understand the foundations of hope. In Hebrews 11 verse 1 it says, 113 00:12:31,840 --> 00:12:36,480 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. 114 00:12:36,480 --> 00:12:45,360 So here are the foundations for hope. You have to have belief, faith, confidence, expectation. 115 00:12:46,480 --> 00:12:51,680 The beginnings of hope are rooted in your belief that today will pass and that tomorrow will bring 116 00:12:51,680 --> 00:12:58,320 new opportunities. The sun might be setting today but it will rise in the morning. When you look at 117 00:12:58,320 --> 00:13:04,400 Genesis the first day starts at night then the sun rise and when it sets that is the beginning of 118 00:13:04,400 --> 00:13:09,600 the second day. That is why the Jewish Sabbath starts on a Friday evening and lasts until a 119 00:13:09,600 --> 00:13:15,920 Saturday evening. The day of rest is the Sabbath. I find it intriguing that the beginning is the 120 00:13:15,920 --> 00:13:22,000 darkness with the belief that the day will grow in the light. In our culture we typically start our 121 00:13:22,000 --> 00:13:27,680 day in the light and end it in darkness but really it's the other way around. The day starts in 122 00:13:27,680 --> 00:13:36,400 darkness and ends in light. The new day doesn't dawn but rather it sets. In Genesis 1 1 through 5 123 00:13:36,400 --> 00:13:42,000 it says, In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth, now the earth was formless and 124 00:13:42,000 --> 00:13:46,720 empty. Darkness was over the surface of the deep. The Spirit of God was hovering over the waters and 125 00:13:46,720 --> 00:13:52,240 God said, Let there be light. And there was light. God saw the light was good and separated the light 126 00:13:52,240 --> 00:13:58,480 from the darkness. God called the light day and the darkness night. And there was evening and there 127 00:13:58,480 --> 00:14:05,840 was morning on the first day. That means every day has to start with the belief that the sun will 128 00:14:05,840 --> 00:14:11,440 rise. Belief is the very beginning of hope. If we use simple examples in our lives most of us wake 129 00:14:11,440 --> 00:14:15,520 up and believe that we will get dressed and have something to eat for breakfast. That belief is 130 00:14:15,520 --> 00:14:20,240 solid because we have faith that the food in the fridge is not spoiled and the cereal in the pantry 131 00:14:20,240 --> 00:14:28,480 is not too stale. So now in that simple example our belief has moved over to faith. We have faith 132 00:14:28,480 --> 00:14:33,040 that nothing has changed from the time we went to bed until now when we are up and hungry for the 133 00:14:33,040 --> 00:14:40,400 new day. The root of belief and faith is often our experiences. Every day the sun rises, every day 134 00:14:40,400 --> 00:14:47,280 we have breakfast. These experiences give us confidence in our belief. Then faith is supported 135 00:14:47,280 --> 00:14:52,560 by our experiences and builds a foundation of confidence. Once we have gotten to the stage we 136 00:14:52,560 --> 00:14:58,880 begin to have expectations of certain outcomes. We expect that the sun will rise and set. We expect 137 00:14:58,880 --> 00:15:04,000 that the cereal we are looking to eat will be there and there will be enough milk for our breakfast. 138 00:15:04,640 --> 00:15:09,680 So the foundations of hope are belief, faith, confidence, expectation. What happens when the 139 00:15:09,680 --> 00:15:15,920 cereal is not there? What happens when the expectations are not met? Your confidence is 140 00:15:15,920 --> 00:15:22,400 shaken, your faith is tested. Do you lose faith and throw out your beliefs? Our beliefs are 141 00:15:22,400 --> 00:15:28,640 challenged all the time. Our experiences can change our level of faith, can shake our confidence and 142 00:15:28,640 --> 00:15:34,720 dash our expectations. There's another seafaring story. There was a passenger who fell from a cruise 143 00:15:34,720 --> 00:15:42,800 ship who was treading water for 20 hours to survive. So the passenger from a cruise ship in the Gulf of 144 00:15:42,800 --> 00:15:48,800 Mexico late last month says he has no recollection of how he ended up in the water. We'll touch on 145 00:15:48,800 --> 00:15:55,520 that in a minute too. James Michael Grimes, 28, said he spent a harrowing 15 to 20 hours treading 146 00:15:55,520 --> 00:16:01,920 water before he was rescued the day before American Thanksgiving. Grimes spoke with several news 147 00:16:01,920 --> 00:16:07,920 outlets last week sharing the details of his ordeal and told ABC News that he and 18 other 148 00:16:07,920 --> 00:16:15,120 family members were on a cruise to Cozumel, Mexico aboard the Carnival ship Valor. They were having 149 00:16:15,120 --> 00:16:21,440 some drinks on the evening of November 23 celebrating his win of an onboard air guitar contest 150 00:16:21,440 --> 00:16:26,480 when he told his sister he was going to the washroom. So right now, you know, I don't know how it 151 00:16:26,480 --> 00:16:32,960 fell off. Well, maybe it had to do a little bit too much of the spirits other than the Holy Spirit. 152 00:16:32,960 --> 00:16:42,320 But I digress. Grimes credited his survival to his faith telling CNN he feels blessed to be here. 153 00:16:43,680 --> 00:16:48,320 The Lord gave me the will to live. It's a miracle, he told the outlet. I wasn't going to give up at 154 00:16:48,320 --> 00:16:54,560 any point in time just saying this is it. This is the end. It never came to that. I was determined 155 00:16:54,560 --> 00:17:00,400 to swim until my arms and legs could not hold my body up anymore. It was like a 20-hour baptism. 156 00:17:00,400 --> 00:17:06,560 This is a pretty crazy story. And for anybody who's spent any time at sea, I haven't spent a 157 00:17:06,560 --> 00:17:11,440 ton of time at sea even though I was in the Marine Corps. I think the longest period of time I spent 158 00:17:11,440 --> 00:17:16,720 out on the water was about two weeks for a training op. And I can tell you, it's not my favorite 159 00:17:16,720 --> 00:17:24,560 place to be. Especially on a helicopter carrier, everything's smelling like diesel fuel and the 160 00:17:24,560 --> 00:17:30,320 flight pattern that we had to fly when we were out there. And I think that's the most important 161 00:17:30,320 --> 00:17:35,360 thing to remember is what they call starboard D. So you're just flying in circles and circles 162 00:17:35,360 --> 00:17:42,720 and circles endlessly all day long. It wasn't something I considered to be a fun adventure 163 00:17:42,720 --> 00:17:48,080 time. But the thought of being in what we call, we used to joke, it's like being in the drink. 164 00:17:48,080 --> 00:17:54,160 You drop off into the drink, the ocean. We do a lot of training in the military for just that 165 00:17:54,160 --> 00:17:58,880 kind of idea like in helicopters. Because if a helicopter goes, you got to be able to get out, 166 00:17:58,880 --> 00:18:04,320 from the helicopter and be able to tread water just like this guy did. Luckily, we would have, 167 00:18:04,320 --> 00:18:08,880 if you survived the actual impact, we would have like flotation to help us. But the thought, 168 00:18:10,880 --> 00:18:19,760 that terrifying thought of being in the dark in the ocean is incomprehensible at times, even 169 00:18:19,760 --> 00:18:28,480 for me. So the imagination runs wild with this. Here's a guy who maybe was a little bit tipsy, 170 00:18:28,480 --> 00:18:33,680 a little bit, you know, you know, lit from drinking after his celebration, he falls into the ocean. 171 00:18:34,320 --> 00:18:41,120 And somehow he was able to immediately start treading water. You know, thank God, because 172 00:18:41,120 --> 00:18:48,000 he's in this position now where his life depends on his action. But one of the other key things in 173 00:18:48,000 --> 00:18:53,920 situations like this is not falling into despair. You have to be able to, like he said, just keep 174 00:18:53,920 --> 00:19:00,960 treading water. You don't look at, well, I'm tired, I'm exhausted. You have to keep treading water. 175 00:19:00,960 --> 00:19:07,520 But eventually, you know, what we see from his story is he turns to God to just cry out. And, 176 00:19:07,520 --> 00:19:14,800 and, you know, in hope that he will be saved. And he says it in his own words, it was like a 20 hour 177 00:19:14,800 --> 00:19:19,920 baptism, because I guarantee you, treading water, not in the ocean, you're going in and out of the 178 00:19:19,920 --> 00:19:24,240 water, your head is coming in and out of the water all the time as you're trying to tread water, 179 00:19:24,240 --> 00:19:31,200 because the ocean moves. So he was constantly, yeah, like a 20 hour baptism going down to death 180 00:19:31,200 --> 00:19:37,040 and back to life, down to death and back to life. But what did he find his hope in? He didn't find 181 00:19:37,040 --> 00:19:43,040 his hope in his strength. He didn't find his hope in the liquor that he was drinking. He didn't find 182 00:19:43,040 --> 00:19:47,440 his hope in the friends that were left on the boat. He didn't find his hope in anything other than 183 00:19:47,440 --> 00:19:54,960 his God. And that brings me to my final point, which is our hope is in Christ. Our hope is in 184 00:19:54,960 --> 00:20:01,120 Christ. The world today is constantly trying to steal our joy and our hope. And an era of constant 185 00:20:01,120 --> 00:20:05,600 entertainment, we are bombarded with the most horrible of sins on a nearly constant basis. 186 00:20:06,640 --> 00:20:11,920 There are wars and rumors of wars. In fact, everything is a war, a battle, a struggle for 187 00:20:11,920 --> 00:20:18,000 justice, whether it is someone's opinions or beliefs. If it goes against the truth that you 188 00:20:18,000 --> 00:20:25,920 hold, then it is an attack. Gone are the days, bygones be bygones, live and let live. Now it is 189 00:20:25,920 --> 00:20:32,160 all destruction, doxing, cancel culture, you name it. On the world page, it is Russia's evil, 190 00:20:32,160 --> 00:20:37,440 Ukraine is evil, no America's evil, no China's evil, or is it the UK monarchy is evil, or the 191 00:20:37,440 --> 00:20:43,520 WEF is evil, world economic forum. Everything that is considered good by one group is automatically 192 00:20:43,520 --> 00:20:49,680 considered evil by another group. Even if a fast food chain decides to remain closed on a Sunday 193 00:20:49,680 --> 00:20:54,720 for Christian religious reasons of the ownership, well then that is evil and bigoted to people who 194 00:20:54,720 --> 00:21:01,200 think they should remain open so they can get their fast food fix. In this era of constant 195 00:21:01,200 --> 00:21:06,240 battle, it's understandable that we would be tired. Fatigue is a real thing when you are 196 00:21:06,240 --> 00:21:12,080 constantly at war. So how do we keep going? What hope do we have? Where can we seek refuge? Where 197 00:21:12,080 --> 00:21:19,200 can we find joy, peace, and rest? The world would have you believe that there is no hope. No joy, 198 00:21:19,200 --> 00:21:26,240 no peace, no rest. The very idea of evolution, atheism, and many of the other world religions 199 00:21:26,240 --> 00:21:34,000 is that there is no hope. That life, that this is all that life is. And that there is nothing to 200 00:21:34,000 --> 00:21:40,240 look forward to beyond this very temporary existence. That once you're gone, you're gone. 201 00:21:40,240 --> 00:21:45,200 A lot of people will use this freedom of nothingness to allow them to act however they want in life. 202 00:21:46,320 --> 00:21:52,880 As if there's no justice for the wrongs committed in life. So again, I ask, what hope do we have? 203 00:21:53,680 --> 00:21:59,440 As Christians and believers in Jesus Christ, our hope is in and through Christ Jesus. 204 00:21:59,440 --> 00:22:05,200 First Peter 1 verses 3 through 9 again, praise be to God, the father of our Lord Jesus Christ, 205 00:22:05,200 --> 00:22:10,320 in his great mercies. He has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of 206 00:22:10,320 --> 00:22:15,120 Jesus Christ from the dead and into the inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. 207 00:22:15,120 --> 00:22:21,040 This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God's power until 208 00:22:21,040 --> 00:22:25,840 the coming of salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. In all of this, 209 00:22:25,840 --> 00:22:30,800 you are greatly rejoiced, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds 210 00:22:30,800 --> 00:22:35,840 of trials. These have come so that proven genuineness of your faith or the great, 211 00:22:35,840 --> 00:22:41,840 of a greater worth than gold, which perishes even through refined by fire, may result in praise, 212 00:22:41,840 --> 00:22:47,120 glory, honor, when Jesus Christ is revealed. Though you've not seen him, you loved him. 213 00:22:47,120 --> 00:22:52,560 And even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible, 214 00:22:52,560 --> 00:22:58,240 glorious joy. For you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your soul. 215 00:22:58,240 --> 00:23:04,800 2 Corinthians 3, 4-6, and verse 12. Such confidence we have through Christ before God, 216 00:23:04,800 --> 00:23:09,600 not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our confidence comes 217 00:23:09,600 --> 00:23:14,720 from God. He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter, but of the 218 00:23:14,720 --> 00:23:20,720 Spirit, for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. Therefore, since we have such confidence, 219 00:23:20,720 --> 00:23:27,680 therefore, since we have such hope, we are very bold. Our hope is in Christ. Our belief is in 220 00:23:27,680 --> 00:23:33,440 salvation through Christ. Our faith is in the power of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. 221 00:23:33,440 --> 00:23:38,320 Our confidence comes from our own salvation and the miracles that we have experienced. 222 00:23:40,880 --> 00:23:47,680 Our expectation is the fulfillment of the future promises spoken in the Bible. We have a glorious 223 00:23:47,680 --> 00:23:52,160 future Christ. If I could have every head bowed, every eye closed real quick, unless you're driving, 224 00:23:52,160 --> 00:24:00,320 of course. Jesus Christ saved us and set us free from the bondage. The bondage is he continues to 225 00:24:00,320 --> 00:24:06,080 work in our hearts every day through the Holy Spirit. God the Father sacrificed his Son so that 226 00:24:06,080 --> 00:24:12,400 we can have hope of life eternal. And it comes through the belief in Christ, the faith in his 227 00:24:12,400 --> 00:24:17,760 promises, the confidence is to proclaim his gospel, and the expectation of the kingdom to come. If 228 00:24:17,760 --> 00:24:22,800 this message resonates with you, but you don't know where you stand with Jesus Christ, that can 229 00:24:22,800 --> 00:24:28,320 change in an instant. All you have to do is repent of your sin and accept him as your Lord and Savior, 230 00:24:28,320 --> 00:24:33,360 and then through grace you will have salvation. And you can do that simply by repeating after me, 231 00:24:33,360 --> 00:24:38,640 Dear Lord God, I know that I'm a sinner, but I know that you sent your Son Jesus Christ to die for me. 232 00:24:38,640 --> 00:24:44,880 I accept him as my Lord and my Savior. I thank you for the gift of salvation through grace, 233 00:24:44,880 --> 00:24:51,360 in Jesus name, amen. Thank you for joining with me this morning for this message. I hope that 234 00:24:51,360 --> 00:24:56,560 that it's resonated with you, that it's helped you. If it has, let me know. I'd love to hear about it. 235 00:24:56,560 --> 00:25:01,040 And I will talk to you all again next time. Thank you. 236 00:25:01,040 --> 00:25:05,680 Thank you for listening to the P.H.S.A. Potter's House Salmon Arm podcast. Be sure to follow us on 237 00:25:05,680 --> 00:25:10,400 Instagram at pottershouse underscore salmon arm to keep up to date on what we are doing, 238 00:25:10,400 --> 00:25:31,760 join the conversation and discover how Jesus Christ can revolutionize your life.