Hope is the conviction that the future is good and worth moving toward.
The battle of our lives is what defines the “good” of our hope
Is it of our own making or is it given to us?
Jeremiah 2:13 NIV
[13] “My people have committed two sins: They have forsaken me, the spring of living water, and have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water.
The world tells you to have hope, but then encourages you to build your own map without giving you all the information
Imagine trying to navigate a city where everyone has their own map. Every map is different. Every direction is different. And everyone insists their map is right. Sooner or later, you realise the problem isn’t the road. It’s the map.
Satan’s original temptation has become the modern reality… we trust our own ways of seeing.
“You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. [5] “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
Genesis 3:4-5 NIV
Real hope is not invented. It is revealed.
Hope is not prognostication. It is an orientation of the spirit, an orientation of the heart; it transcends the world that is immediately experienced, and is anchored somewhere beyond its horizons.
In short, I think that the deepest and most important form of hope, the only one that can keep us above water and urge us to good works, and the only true source of the breathtaking dimension of the human spirit and its efforts, is something we get, as it were, from ‘elsewhere.’
I feel that its deepest roots are in the transcendental, just as the roots of human responsibility are, though of course I can’t – unlike Christians, for instance — say anything about the transcendental. . . .
It is also this hope, above all, that gives us the strength to live and continually to try new things, even in conditions that seem as hopeless as ours do, here and now.”
Vaclav Havel Disturbing the Peace pp 181-182
Hope that works is hope that goes deep… and beyond you
[7] “But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him. [8] They will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.”
Jeremiah 17:7-8 NIV
A Hope filled life looks like BLESS
- Beginning in Prayer: Conversation with God about what we are doing together
This is where our hope comes from
[19] We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, [20] where our forerunner, Jesus, has entered on our behalf. He has become a high priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek.
Hebrews 6:19-20 NIV
- Listening and Learning: Discovering the truth that is beyond your current understanding
Our hope means we see God and work in and through others
- Eat WITH People: Engaging with people on their terms
Our hope means we are not defensive
- Serving needs: Living God’s Love and Justice (Grace and Truth) where the world is in pain
Our hope means we are able to put other people’s needs above our own
Live the kind of life that demonstrates hope and then be ready to explain it.
Peter quotes Isaiah 8:13
But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord.
Always be prepared
to give an answer to everyone who asks you
to give the reason for the hope that you have.
But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander.
1 Peter 3:15-16
“Revere Christ as Lord”
“Always be prepared”
This means active work to prepare. This is doing the work to learn how to communicate your faith in a way that makes sense to others.
“to give an answer” “to give the reason”
The word for answer “apologia” is a legal term that denotes answering specific charges. It is where we get the word apologetics from.
Reason translates the word “logos”, which in this context means “explanation”
“to everyone who asks”
This means knowing how to communicate with people from different cultures, different educational backgrounds, and different ages.
“for the hope that you have”
It is important to know why you pesonally have hope, but it is likely here that Peter is telling you to be able to explain the hope that all Christians have. The “you” is plural.
Probably the meaning is not “in you” individually, so as to stress the inwardness of the hope, but “among you,” i.e., the hope which the readers have in common and which identifies them as Christians.
J. Ramsey Michaels – Word Biblical Commentary
To give an answer for your hope:
- Know the facts
- Know what we are looking forward to
- Tell your own story
- Share hope in darkness
The core of our hope is that there is far more than what we see now
[16] Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. [17] For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. [18] So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.
2 Corinthians 4:16-18 NIV
“Christian hope is not optimism. It is a certainty about the future that changes how we live in the present.”
TIm Keller
For we live by faith, not by sight.
2 Corinthians 5:7 NIV
While our experience of faith is subjective… our hope is not subjective
[4] There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called ; [5] one Lord, one faith, one baptism; [6] one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.
Ephesians 4:4-6 NIV
The early Christians named the “good news” that gave them hope as a set of verifiable historical facts, not as religious concepts
[1] Now, brothers and sisters, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. [2] By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain. [3] For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance : that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, [4] that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, [5] and that he appeared to Cephas, and then to the Twelve. [6] After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. [7] Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, [8] and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born.
1 Corinthians 15:1-8 NIV
Do you know the verifiable historical facts of Christianity?
- Jesus died by crucifixion: Virtually all historians agree that Jesus was executed on a Roman cross.
- The disciples had experiences they believed were appearances of the risen Jesus: Scholars from all backgrounds admit the disciples truly believed they saw Jesus alive shortly after his death.
- The disciples’ lives were radically transformed: Their sincere belief in the resurrection was so strong they were willing to face persecution and martyrdom.
- The resurrection was preached very early: This message began to be taught almost immediately after the events, leaving little room for legendary development.
- James, the skeptical brother of Jesus, converted: James changed from a non-believer during Jesus’ life to a leader in the church after believing he saw the risen Christ.
- Paul, the persecutor of Christians, converted: Paul (formerly Saul of Tarsus) became a missionary after what he believed was an encounter with the resurrected Jesus.
Check our more info: https://www.garyhabermas.com/articles/Habermas_Minimal%20Facts%20STR%202012.pdf
When asked to give a reason, be ready to share your own experience.
[7] I fell to the ground and heard a voice say to me, ‘Saul! Saul! Why do you persecute me?’ [8] “ ‘Who are you, Lord?’ I asked. “ ‘I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you are persecuting,’ he replied.
Acts 22:7-8 NIV
[14] We all fell to the ground, and I heard a voice saying to me in Aramaic, ‘Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’ [15] “Then I asked, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ “ ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,’ the Lord replied.
Acts 26:14-15 NIV
[13] For you have heard of my previous way of life in Judaism, how intensely I persecuted the church of God and tried to destroy it. [14] I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my own age among my people and was extremely zealous for the traditions of my fathers. [15] But when God, who set me apart from my mother’s womb and called me by his grace, was pleased [16] to reveal his Son in me so that I might preach him among the Gentiles, my immediate response was not to consult any human being.
Galatians 1:13-16 NIV
Paul’s explanation of his faith was largely about how his hope helped him through suffering.
[7] But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. [8] We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; [9] persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. [10] We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body.
2 Corinthians 4:7-10 NIV
[24] Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. [25] Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was pelted with stones, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, [26] I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my fellow Jews, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false believers. [27] I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked. [28] Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches.
2 Corinthians 11:24-28 NIV
Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. [8] Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. [9] But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. ”
2 Corinthians 12:7-10 NIV
Hope is clearest when it shines in the darkness
And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. [3] Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; [4] perseverance, character; and character, hope.
[5] And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.
Romans 5:2-5 NIV
Lets hold on to hope and do the work to remind each other and be ready to share with others.
[23] Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. [24] And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, [25] not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.
Hebrews 10:23-25 NIV
Small Group Questions
- What do you think most people today believe will make the future good enough to keep moving toward it?
- Jeremiah says people abandoned the spring of living water and dug broken cisterns. What might some modern “broken cisterns” be that people rely on for meaning, security, or happiness?
- The Genesis story suggests humans are tempted to trust our own way of seeing reality. Where do you see this idea showing up in our culture today?
- The illustration described a world where everyone has their own map of reality. How have you seen this create confusion or disagreement about truth, purpose, or morality?
- 1 Peter encourages Christians to explain the reason for the hope they have. If someone asked you that question, what parts of the Christian story would you want to explain first?
- The message highlighted that Christian hope is grounded in historical events like the death and resurrection of Jesus. Why do you think it matters that Christian hope is connected to something that actually happened in history?
- Paul often spoke about hope in the middle of suffering and hardship. Why do you think hope becomes most visible or powerful during difficult times?
- The passage from Hebrews encourages believers to hold on to hope and encourage one another. What are some practical ways a community can help each other keep hope alive?