A Life of Hope

A Letter from a Pastor #9

Pastor Dennis Clanton

Woodland Church

Sunday, August 18, 2024

Christian hope is a joyful conviction based on compelling evidence.

Christian hope enables us to live victoriously despite the evils of this world.

(1 Corinthians 15:50–58, NLT) “What I am saying, dear brothers and sisters, is that our physical bodies cannot inherit the Kingdom of God. These dying bodies cannot inherit what will last forever. But let me reveal to you a wonderful secret. We will not all die, but we will all be transformed! It will happen in a moment, in the blink of an eye, when the last trumpet is blown. For when the trumpet sounds, those who have died will be raised to live forever. And we who are living will also be transformed. For our dying bodies must be transformed into bodies that will never die; our mortal bodies must be transformed into immortal bodies. Then, when our dying bodies have been transformed into bodies that will never die, this Scripture will be fulfilled: “Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” For sin is the sting that results in death, and the law gives sin its power. But thank God! He gives us victory over sin and death through our Lord Jesus Christ. So, my dear brothers and sisters, be strong and immovable. Always work enthusiastically for the Lord, for you know that nothing you do for the Lord is ever useless.”

1. WE HAVE HOPE BECAUSE DEATH IS DEFEATED

a. Christ has given us dominion over the fear of death. (Hebrews 2:15)

b. Christ has given us dominion over the fact of death. (Romans 8:37-39)

(1 Corinthians 15:54, NLT) “Then, when our dying bodies have been transformed into bodies that will never die, this Scripture will be fulfilled: “Death is swallowed up in victory.”

“Death is the supreme festival on the road to freedom.”  -Dietrich Bonhoeffer

“I’m about to take my last voyage, a great leap in the dark.”  –Thomas Hobbes

“What men fear is not that death is annihilation but that it is not.”  –Epicurus

“O mighty death! Those whom none other could convince, thou hast persuaded! Those whom all others flattered thou hast despised! Thou hast fetched all greatness, all the pride, all the cruelty, power, and ambition of humanity, and covered it all over with these two little words: Here lies.”  –Sir Walter Scott

2. WE HAVE HOPE BECAUSE WE KNOW THE JESUS STORY

(1 Corinthians 15:57, NLT) “Thank God! He gives us victory over sin and death through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

(John 10:10, NLT) “The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life.”

a. The evidence of the empty tomb

b. The evidence of transformed lives

c. The evidence of the spread of Christianity

3. WE HAVE HOPE, THEREFORE WE HAVE VISION

(1 Corinthians 15:58, NLT) “So, my dear brothers and sisters, be strong and immovable. Always work enthusiastically for the Lord, for you know that nothing you do for the Lord is ever useless.”

a. A vision for work

b. A vision that protects us

c. A vision that empowers us

GROWTHWORK

(2 Corinthians 1:9, NLT) “In fact, we expected to die. But as a result, we stopped relying on ourselves and learned to rely only on God, who raises the dead.”

1. Trust in Jesus Christ

(2 Timothy 1:10, NLT) “Jesus … broke the power of death and illuminated the way to life and immortality through the Good News.”

2. Invest in eternity

(Ecclesiastes 11:7–8, LB) “It is a wonderful thing to be alive! If a person lives to be very old, let him rejoice in every day of life, but let him also remember that eternity is far longer and that everything down here is futile in comparison.”