2009…For some of us it was a year of Hope -- at first in the sense of "I feel hopeful!'" and later in the sense of "I hope this year ends soon!"

2010 and the next decade…Is there Hope? That's really one of the most profound and common questions in life.

It's asked thousands of times a day in a thousand different circumstances.  People sitting in a doctor's office reading tests and asking if there’s hope.  People standing at the side of a freshly dug grave asking if there’s hope. You may be sitting with a pile of bills in front of you and you’re asking if there’s hope. You may have been laid off and you are waiting for you’re wondering is there hope. Maybe you’ve questioned in your mind, “Am I ever going to get married? Am I ever going to have a child or a family?” There are all kinds of questions that make us wonder if there’s hope.

One of the reasons why people face so much discouragement in life is and so much disappointment in life is because we put our hope in the wrong thing. And then those false hopes disappoint us. If you put your hope in money, you’re going to be disappointed.  If you put your hope in the government, you’re going to be disappointed. If you put it in yourself or another person, you’ll always be let down because people are flawed. Nobody can possibly meet all your needs…your husband can't, wife can't, parents can't, friends can’t and pastor can’t. So, you’re setting yourself up for disappointment. There’s only one source of legitimate, ongoing, never-ceasing hope and that’s our hope in God.

There’s a difference between hope and optimism. Hope is not wishful thinking. Hope is not day dreaming. Hope is not positive thinking. Hope is not optimism. Optimism is not bad and it’s better than the alternative (i.e.- positive thinking better than negative thinking, optimism better that long negativism/pessimism/despair), but it won’t actually change your circumstance. Our hope is our confident assurance in who Jesus says He is, what He has done for us, and what He will continue to do. Click Here for more info.

If you're feeling a little discouraged, a little sluggish, a little apathetic, a little down and you need a reinfusion, a reinjection of hope…let me tell you how to do it…share the hope you have with others. If you start sharing Jesus with others, God looks down and says, “Great, that person is sharing hope. I'm going to give them more hope.”

Did you know that the Bible doesn't say anything about sharing your faith. It says to share your hope. And if you say, “God, use me to share your hope with others” He'll fill you and you'll become a hope-filled person.

Praying that you'll be FULL of HOPE this coming decade!
Pastor Chris