Sunday 20 August
Where Is Your Hope Today?
Bevan Burgess
Bevan explores the concept of 'hope' and how biblical hope is about faith in the living God to intervene in human lives and act to out-work his promises.
Life Group questions
Where Is Your Hope Today?
Transforming Hope: Present – Where Is Your Hope Today?
Read Luke 24:13-21
In the Emmaus story in Luke 24, what do you think the two disciples had been hoping for? (Yes, there is a simple answer in verse 21, but what do you think this meant for the disciples?)
In his message on Sunday, Bevan talked about the battle we sometimes face, between our hope and our experience. In the Emmaus story, the disciples had given up hoping in Jesus, because he was dead. It seemed like a situation that could not be fixed.
- Have you ever found yourself in a situation like this?
- What happened over time? Has your hope come back, and if so, how? Or, if it hasn’t, why not?
Bevan made the bold claim that Biblical hope is “a choice to wait for God to bring on a future that is as surprising as a person being raised from the dead.”
- What do you think of this idea? How does it make you feel?
- Why do Christian people sometimes give up on this kind of hope?
Read Hebrews 11:1, in at least two different translations.
Bevan noted that this is a difficult verse to translate into English. Part of the reason for this is that in this verse, the word hupostasis means both “confidence” or “assurance,” and also “essence” or “substance.” The word elenchos means both “evidence,” and “belief.” Our trouble is, we have created a division between what our minds believe and what our actions demonstrate. But, of course, if we really hope in Jesus, it will be evident in both our thoughts and our behaviour.
- How might somebody’s actions reveal that their hope is in Jesus?
- How might somebody’s thoughts change if they begin to hope in Jesus?
Read Hebrews 11:32-38
Note the sudden change in the middle of verse 35! The first few examples of faith in action are victorious and exciting. Then, suddenly, we are reading about people who suffered horribly.
- How are the things listed here evidence of genuine hope?
- Look again at the first half of this reading. If you hope in Jesus, what is one area where God might be calling you to be victorious?
- Now look at the second half of the reading again. If you hope in Jesus, what is one area where God might be calling you to accept suffering?
Pray
Spend some time in prayer and ask the Holy Spirit if there’s anything He’d like to reveal to you.
Past talks