218. How To Embrace Hope For The Impossible.

[00:00:08] Good day to you. Welcome to episode 218 of Making Disciples with me, Cris Rogers, your host.

[00:00:16] Lovely to be spending this time with you today. Another episode. What are we going to be looking at today?

[00:00:22] Well actually what I want to be looking at is really this idea of hope.

[00:00:28] What is hope? And how is hope, how is a Christian hope different to the hope that the world might have?

[00:00:37] Or how somebody who isn't a Christian, how they may function with or without hope.

[00:00:44] So I've entitled this episode Embracing Hope For The Impossible.

[00:00:49] As disciples of Jesus we are learning to hold on to the values and the work of the kingdom of God.

[00:01:00] We are learning to walk in the way of Jesus. We're looking to aim our lives, point our lives,

[00:01:09] walk our lives in the same direction of Jesus with the same desires of Jesus.

[00:01:14] And you know discipleship is allowing Jesus to have influence over our lives beyond any other influence.

[00:01:23] And there are lots of things that might try to be a comfort in your life or bring hope into your life.

[00:01:30] But actually these things are quite short-lived although not actually hopeful at all.

[00:01:35] So we're going to be looking at Christian understanding of hope.

[00:01:38] What does it look like for us as disciples to journey through each day, each season with a hope that's based on not good ideas

[00:01:49] but based upon the truth of the gospel, truth about who Jesus is.

[00:01:55] And don't we all go through some horrendous seasons? We go through seasons where it really feels hopeless.

[00:02:01] We go through with depression, with anxiety but also with debt and health issues.

[00:02:09] Marriages that fail, children that don't succeed in the way that they want to or we would love them to succeed.

[00:02:16] There are seasons when it feels like it's hopeless.

[00:02:22] And the question for us as Christians is what do we do in those seasons?

[00:02:27] How do we turn away from hopelessness to hope? How do we do that?

[00:02:32] So that's what we're going to be looking at today.

[00:02:34] So I hope this is really helpful for you particularly if you are going through a season right now where you feel hopeless.

[00:02:41] And I think many of us are like this aren't we? We all have relationships or situations where we are just feeling hopeless.

[00:02:52] Where we've got worry rather than hope or success or whatever that look, you know what even does success look like?

[00:03:02] But we end up surrounded by things that just feel hopeless and many of us are in those situations aren't we?

[00:03:11] And how do we turn to hope in those seasons but how do we turn to hope generally anyway?

[00:03:16] So that's what we're going to be looking at today.

[00:03:19] So I hope you find this helpful.

[00:03:20] If you're listening to this on one of the podcast apps that allows you to like or to comment,

[00:03:26] I would love you to comment.

[00:03:28] I'd love you to share what hopelessness have you gone through where you found the hope of Jesus.

[00:03:35] I'd love to hear from you with that.

[00:03:37] But let's jump in episode 218 as we explore embracing hope for the impossible.

[00:03:53] Okay embracing hope for the impossible.

[00:03:56] As I've said friends we are all being discipled all the time.

[00:04:03] All the time things are forming us.

[00:04:06] Discipleship is essentially the formation of three areas.

[00:04:13] You've got your mind, you've got your heart and you've got your hands.

[00:04:17] Your mind being what you think and how you understand yourself in the world

[00:04:20] and how you understand who Jesus is and your places and adopt a child.

[00:04:24] Your mind, your heart around things that we desire.

[00:04:31] Disciples around our desire but also what breaks our heart, compassion.

[00:04:36] Having compassion and then our hands is what we do.

[00:04:39] What do we do with what we have or how we've been resourced?

[00:04:42] What do we do with our time and energy and that kind of stuff.

[00:04:44] So all the time you and I have been discipled.

[00:04:48] We've been discipled and in terms of using this phrase formed.

[00:04:53] Discipleship is formation.

[00:04:54] So all the time there are things forming you and I.

[00:04:57] And there are obvious things that form us like school.

[00:04:59] School forms as we go, we learn ethics, we learn about the world, how it functions.

[00:05:04] Other things form us family form us.

[00:05:07] Our workplaces form us, our friends form us.

[00:05:09] You know the conversations that we have with friends or play their part in formation.

[00:05:13] We formed in positive ways in a way that people speak into our lives positively.

[00:05:17] I love you, I think you're amazing.

[00:05:18] But also we're formed by the hurtful things that are said to us.

[00:05:22] You know, you are fat, you've got a strange nose.

[00:05:26] You know nothing good will become of you.

[00:05:28] All that kind of stuff. That forms us.

[00:05:30] So the things that form us positively, the things that form us negatively.

[00:05:33] Formation could come in a positive way but it can also become in a toxic way.

[00:05:38] So formation is happening all the time.

[00:05:40] It's happening through what we watch, what we read, what we listen to.

[00:05:44] So you can see there's all these things that are bombarding us all the time with formation.

[00:05:47] And when we say we want to become a disciple of Jesus, what we're saying is

[00:05:52] I want Jesus to be the primary formation device in my life.

[00:05:59] You know, he is to be the potter, I am to be the clay.

[00:06:02] I don't want social media to be the potter of me and my clay.

[00:06:08] And I don't want my friendships or my family to be the primary formation.

[00:06:12] Now many of us have got great families and the things that they'll form us are great stuff.

[00:06:16] But actually that's not always the case.

[00:06:18] And friends there are some things that might want to form you that are not helpful.

[00:06:23] They're not helpful. You recognize they're not helpful.

[00:06:25] There's things that you recognize are not helpful but there's also things that form you.

[00:06:28] You don't even realize it's happening. You don't spot it.

[00:06:30] You don't notice that this is happening.

[00:06:34] So recognize that discipleship is happening all the time.

[00:06:37] Formation is happening all the time and we have to be really key to let the right things be forming us.

[00:06:42] And the nice thing about, so things like New Year, things like Lent

[00:06:48] and also particularly in terms of the UK where we have summer holidays

[00:06:55] and we come back to a new term and kids go to school.

[00:07:00] There's something about that August, September, new season.

[00:07:04] And these new seasons allow moments for us to reset ourselves and what's going on inside of us.

[00:07:13] And one of the things I think we are able to reset is our hope.

[00:07:17] So there are seasons where we are hopeless and we don't see any breakthrough.

[00:07:22] We're praying for something and we just don't see the change.

[00:07:25] We are desiring and hoping for something for somebody, a situation, a problem.

[00:07:30] And we get burnt out. We end up getting burnt out.

[00:07:33] Why Lord, why Lord? And then these new seasons come along.

[00:07:36] And in that new season we are able to say I'm going to reset my hope.

[00:07:42] I'm going to reset the hope that I have for a situation that I'd almost lost hope for.

[00:07:47] And I find this every September. There's something for me about September, new term.

[00:07:52] Now why do we work in these terms?

[00:07:54] I don't know, particularly as adults.

[00:07:57] But there's something about September for me that says, right, new season, new term, autumn is coming now.

[00:08:03] I'm going to reset my hope. The things that I was hoping for before, that I'd stopped hoping for,

[00:08:08] I'm going to reset my hope.

[00:08:11] Now, I'm an Anglican Pentecostal.

[00:08:15] Anglican Pentecostal. And in many ways I have got lots of friends who are Pentecostals.

[00:08:21] And whenever I hear them preach, it always makes me laugh.

[00:08:24] And one of the Bible passages that I hear preached by my Pentecostal friends a lot is Isaiah 43 verse 19 where it says,

[00:08:32] See, I'm doing a new thing. And it's like every week people preach, are preaching on this.

[00:08:37] See, I'm doing a new thing. God's doing a new thing.

[00:08:39] And it's, we can always, you know, particularly in the Pentecostal movement,

[00:08:43] we can end up chasing the new thing all the time.

[00:08:45] What is the new thing? What is the new thing?

[00:08:48] I'm being somewhat facetious because I think God is always doing a new thing.

[00:08:53] You know, every day God is doing a new thing.

[00:08:55] The God of yesterday, today and forever is doing new things all the time.

[00:09:00] So I think Isaiah is true.

[00:09:04] You know, see, God is doing a new thing today.

[00:09:07] And it does make me laugh how he kind of gets preached on so much.

[00:09:11] But whilst at the same time, I'm like, yeah, do you know what?

[00:09:13] There is something about this Isaiah 43. See, I'm doing a new thing.

[00:09:16] And I was reading recently, reading it and thinking, yeah, what new thing is the Lord doing?

[00:09:21] What is the thing the Lord is doing in this season that I need to come back to?

[00:09:26] Because where I'd not seen breakthrough in the past, it might, this might be the new season

[00:09:31] where the new thing is the very thing that I'm praying for.

[00:09:34] So this is why I want to talk about hope.

[00:09:37] I want to encourage us to reset our hope for the things that we might have lost hope for.

[00:09:46] So let's just think about this for a moment.

[00:09:51] Many people, friends get stuck in a way of thinking that is more reflective of the past

[00:09:58] where life has let them down in the past and that let down ends up playing out for them

[00:10:06] in a way that says, well, because that happened in the past

[00:10:10] and because that's what I'm seeing now, then that's what we'll just be for the future.

[00:10:15] So the horrible thing that happened before, my expectation is it'll just happen for the future.

[00:10:21] So we can often, as people get stuck in this reflective thing where we're going,

[00:10:25] well, the past will be the same as the future or the future will be the same as the past.

[00:10:29] And that's not what we believe as Christians, is it? That's not what we believe.

[00:10:34] The other thing that I've often come across, and you know, this is particularly something that I come across here in East London

[00:10:38] is this idea of manifesting. The number of people I speak to are manifesting good things for the future

[00:10:43] and I just find this really quite bizarre, this idea of manifesting.

[00:10:47] So people talk about manifesting good things in the future.

[00:10:50] And you know, what is this manifesting? Let me just read this to you.

[00:10:53] I found this online the other day and I took it. I like that.

[00:10:56] So this is what I found on a particular website that was talked about manifesting.

[00:11:01] Manifesting is the practice of intentionally bringing something in your life

[00:11:05] through to reality, through focused thought, visualization and belief.

[00:11:11] So if you visualize it, this good thing will happen for you.

[00:11:14] If you manifest it, you visualize it in your head, then it'll come to fruition.

[00:11:19] It says it is based on the idea of your thoughts and emotions and beliefs

[00:11:23] have a power to shape your reality.

[00:11:26] The concept is often associated with the law of attraction,

[00:11:29] which suggests that by focusing on positive or negative thoughts,

[00:11:32] you can bring positive or negative experiences into your life.

[00:11:37] So if you want to become a millionaire, manifest it.

[00:11:40] If you want to have health, manifest it.

[00:11:42] If you want to change jobs, manifest it.

[00:11:43] Friends, there is no reality in this.

[00:11:47] There is no amount of manifesting that's going to change reality.

[00:11:51] The world does not work in that way. You cannot manifest.

[00:11:55] What we've got as Christians is Jesus.

[00:11:57] What we have got is a God who promises to practice resurrection,

[00:12:02] broken things coming to life.

[00:12:05] And in prayer and petition, we get to hope for a new future.

[00:12:11] And this is where I think we get to as Christians.

[00:12:15] We don't rely on false things for the future.

[00:12:18] We don't rely on manifesting or hoping

[00:12:20] in terms of something will just happen if I will it into existence.

[00:12:24] We base our lives on something else.

[00:12:26] Let me just read this to you.

[00:12:27] I've got two Bible passages here.

[00:12:29] Romans 15-13 says,

[00:12:32] It says this,

[00:12:43] If you want to know where hope comes from,

[00:12:45] hope does not come from just pulling up your bootstraps

[00:12:48] and willing something.

[00:12:49] Hope is not about you today,

[00:12:51] just blindly desiring something.

[00:12:55] It will happen, it will happen.

[00:12:56] Hope is based upon God.

[00:13:00] May the God of hope, God is hope.

[00:13:03] Yes, we know that's because of the cross,

[00:13:05] because of resurrection,

[00:13:06] the God that can practice the new thing,

[00:13:08] practicing resurrection.

[00:13:10] But may the God of hope fill you with joy and peace

[00:13:12] as you trust in him.

[00:13:13] Then it says,

[00:13:15] In other words, God is the God of hope

[00:13:19] and we access that hope through the Holy Spirit.

[00:13:23] So if you want to have hope for situations

[00:13:25] that you feel hopeless in,

[00:13:27] then the way to change your position

[00:13:30] and your perspective on this

[00:13:31] is to pray for the work of the Holy Spirit.

[00:13:34] Holy Spirit, would you come and bring me hope

[00:13:37] because I know you're the God of hope.

[00:13:40] So we pray for the work of the Holy Spirit

[00:13:42] to be in our lives for hope.

[00:13:45] What about Hebrews 11-3?

[00:13:47] Now faith is confidence in what we hope for

[00:13:50] and assurance about what we do not see.

[00:13:54] This is what the ancestors were commanded for by faith.

[00:13:57] We understand that the universe was formed by God's command

[00:13:59] so that what is seen was not made out of

[00:14:03] what was invisible.

[00:14:04] So now faith is confidence in what we hope for.

[00:14:11] Our hope and our faith friends

[00:14:13] comes out of the God of hope.

[00:14:17] The God of hope.

[00:14:18] So three little reflections for you and I today.

[00:14:21] Number one, hope gives us confidence each day and season.

[00:14:29] Our hope in Jesus Christ isn't wishful thinking.

[00:14:31] It is confident expectation.

[00:14:35] Confident expectation.

[00:14:37] So friends hope gives us confidence each new day.

[00:14:44] What hope does friends is hope enables us to withstand

[00:14:51] insurmountable circumstances during horrific seasons.

[00:14:55] When we go through those horrific seasons that hit us like a storm

[00:14:59] hope enables us to withstand those insurmountable circumstances.

[00:15:05] Hope helps us hold on with confident expectation

[00:15:10] for what is possible.

[00:15:13] And because we believe in a God of hope

[00:15:15] and we believe that through this God of hope

[00:15:18] we can access that hope through the work of the Holy Spirit

[00:15:20] this hope gives us confidence each day

[00:15:23] and through each season hoping in Jesus Christ

[00:15:28] in what he has done.

[00:15:30] So friends as we hold onto promises

[00:15:35] that we find in scripture promises that God has made for us

[00:15:38] we have a confidence.

[00:15:40] Our hope is anchored in the character and promises of God himself.

[00:15:45] You could even say like this hope has a name

[00:15:48] and his name is Jesus.

[00:15:50] You know our hope is based on the foundation of Jesus Christ.

[00:15:55] Not on some idea or philosophy

[00:16:02] but not even based on that sense of desire and manifesting.

[00:16:09] Our hope is based on Jesus and this gives us confidence.

[00:16:14] Confidence.

[00:16:15] The second thing I would say is this hope shapes our perspective.

[00:16:20] Friends with hope we look to the heavens.

[00:16:26] Many of our friends that are not Christians

[00:16:28] their perspective is not heaven's perspective on a situation

[00:16:32] it's hell's perspective.

[00:16:35] And there's a difference between heaven's perspective

[00:16:38] and hell's perspective.

[00:16:39] Hell's perspective says nothing will change.

[00:16:43] Heaven's perspective you know looking down

[00:16:47] a different angle sees things differently

[00:16:49] when you see something from a higher perspective

[00:16:52] you see a different landscape

[00:16:53] you can see further, you can see wider

[00:16:58] when you are narrow in your thinking

[00:17:03] and you're looking you know if your perspective is from hell

[00:17:06] then you have a narrow way of thinking.

[00:17:09] Think about when you walk the streets surrounded by buildings

[00:17:12] looking to the floor your perspective is small

[00:17:14] but when you go to the height of a tower block

[00:17:17] or a bridge you see a different perspective

[00:17:19] and it's a broader perspective

[00:17:21] it's a further perspective that's like heaven.

[00:17:23] Heaven's perspective is a wider perspective.

[00:17:26] Now what hope does friends is it changes our perspective

[00:17:30] rather than having that perspective

[00:17:33] where we can only see our feet

[00:17:36] Heaven's perspective gives us a hope that's broad, wide and long

[00:17:41] so hope shapes our perspective

[00:17:44] and I think this is really quite significant and important

[00:17:48] and it's been one that I have learnt the hard way

[00:17:52] I think there are times of the seasons

[00:17:54] when you have Heaven's perspective on a situation

[00:17:58] it radically changes how you engage with it

[00:18:01] how you either worry or don't worry about it

[00:18:05] or how you're willing to play a longer game

[00:18:07] because you can see that longer down the line, further down the line

[00:18:10] there's hope that further over the horizon

[00:18:13] hope is coming.

[00:18:15] So hope shapes our perspective

[00:18:18] what we think we can see gets changed

[00:18:21] hope allows us to see beyond our current circumstances

[00:18:25] it gives us assurance about what we do not see

[00:18:29] what we do not see

[00:18:31] which is what was in that, you know the passage

[00:18:34] now faith is confidence in what we hope for

[00:18:37] and assurance about what we do not see

[00:18:40] Heaven's perspective, hell's perspective means we can't see something

[00:18:43] Heaven's perspective means we actually start to see a different perspective

[00:18:45] we see something different

[00:18:48] so assurance about what we do not see

[00:18:50] when faced with challenges friends we have to train our eyes

[00:18:55] to see possibilities through the lens of faith believing in God

[00:18:58] you know the God of a measurably more than we can ask Dream think of or imagine

[00:19:01] where's that from? Ephesians 3 20

[00:19:04] we believe in God of a measurably more

[00:19:07] therefore with hope we change our perspective

[00:19:10] because there's something else could happen here

[00:19:12] so one, hope gives us confidence each new season

[00:19:16] as we start again

[00:19:17] but also hope shapes our perspective

[00:19:21] now the third thing I want to say just about hope is this

[00:19:24] hope fuels our actions

[00:19:28] hope shapes our actions

[00:19:32] so faith described in these passages

[00:19:36] isn't just about positive thinking

[00:19:40] it's active and it's transformative

[00:19:43] so hope fuels our actions

[00:19:46] when we believe that something different is coming on the horizon

[00:19:52] when we believe with hope that God is at work

[00:19:55] then actually we can start working and walking in the way of hope

[00:20:00] before that's actually happened

[00:20:01] we can start living out that hope

[00:20:04] before maybe we've seen the solution to it

[00:20:07] and our actions means that we can get involved

[00:20:10] with being the positive change that we're hoping for as well

[00:20:12] so hope fuels our actions

[00:20:14] hope should propel us into action friends

[00:20:18] not paralyzers

[00:20:19] so hope should propel us to action

[00:20:22] not paralyzers

[00:20:23] as we face seemingly impossible tasks

[00:20:27] for as we have to step out in faith

[00:20:29] knowing that the same God who formed the universe out of nothing

[00:20:33] can work miracles through our obedience

[00:20:36] hope also helps us live out a new perspective

[00:20:40] we start to live out a heaven's perspective with our actions

[00:20:43] so when we now are living with this different perspective

[00:20:47] and that attaches to action

[00:20:50] then actually our actions start to live out a different perspective

[00:20:56] so there are seasons when I come to a new season

[00:20:58] like I need to start fresh

[00:21:00] I am going to choose to walk in the hope

[00:21:02] that this thing that we're praying for is on the way

[00:21:06] and I'm going to live out my life as if it has already come

[00:21:10] not to manifest or just to blindly desire

[00:21:15] but to live out hope fuels our actions

[00:21:20] and this can be really helpful when we're holding hope for others

[00:21:24] so there are times when others friends are hopeless

[00:21:29] they can't hope for themselves

[00:21:30] they've lost all hope

[00:21:31] that does not mean that I can't hope for them

[00:21:34] and this means then that I can hold hope for others

[00:21:39] so where they are hopeless

[00:21:41] I can hold hope

[00:21:43] they're weighed down by the hopelessness

[00:21:46] but I can hold them up with hope

[00:21:50] so there are times when I've got friends who are really struggling

[00:21:53] and they've stopped praying for something

[00:21:56] but I can carry on praying

[00:21:58] because hope is shaping my perspective

[00:22:01] and I can keep petitioning

[00:22:04] and keep praying

[00:22:05] and keep holding

[00:22:06] and keep actioning with hope

[00:22:09] so friends I want to ask this question for you

[00:22:12] as we start September

[00:22:14] or any new season

[00:22:16] what do you need renewed hope for?

[00:22:22] what do you need renewed hope for?

[00:22:24] is it a person?

[00:22:26] is it a situation that you're going through family workplace?

[00:22:29] is it a problem?

[00:22:31] is it a concern?

[00:22:34] is it something that's worrying you?

[00:22:36] is it that you've been praying for somebody to receive salvation

[00:22:39] and you're not seeing it yet?

[00:22:41] that's just heartbreaking

[00:22:42] somebody has walked away from faith

[00:22:44] and you've not seen them come back to faith

[00:22:46] and you've just lost hope

[00:22:49] where do you need a renewed hope?

[00:22:54] because we're told

[00:22:55] Romans 15-13 may the God of hope

[00:22:58] fill you with joy and peace

[00:22:59] as you trust in him

[00:23:00] so that you may overflow with hope

[00:23:02] by the power of the Holy Spirit

[00:23:04] what we're able to do friends when we've lost hope

[00:23:07] is come to the God of hope

[00:23:10] asking to be filled with joy and peace

[00:23:12] as we trust in him

[00:23:13] we can't do anything, only he can do something

[00:23:16] and from this overflow

[00:23:18] of the Holy Spirit

[00:23:19] we might receive hope

[00:23:23] so what we're able to do

[00:23:24] is come to him may the God of hope

[00:23:26] God is the one we hope in

[00:23:28] and friends, I want to remind you

[00:23:30] with God all things are possible

[00:23:32] it says in Matthew 19-26

[00:23:34] that all things are possible through him

[00:23:36] so friends we have to embrace hope

[00:23:39] and you need to expect

[00:23:41] great things from our great God

[00:23:43] and keep resetting

[00:23:45] our hope

[00:23:46] so that we are not

[00:23:48] basing

[00:23:50] how we are doing

[00:23:51] what we think is happening on our experiences

[00:23:54] or how we see things

[00:23:56] but actually that we get to base

[00:23:59] ourselves and our desire

[00:24:00] all the things that we are hoping for

[00:24:02] on him and him alone

[00:24:04] so that is

[00:24:06] the prayer

[00:24:07] and that is also the

[00:24:11] discipleship topic here

[00:24:12] if you say well is this head, hands or heart Chris?

[00:24:15] well I think this is about ministering

[00:24:17] into our hearts

[00:24:18] where our hearts have lost hope

[00:24:20] coming back to resetting

[00:24:22] hope having hearts that are filled

[00:24:24] with hope

[00:24:26] not hearts that are filled with hopelessness

[00:24:29] now if you are

[00:24:30] in a season of hopelessness right now

[00:24:33] the question is

[00:24:34] how are you going to renew your hope

[00:24:36] as I've just said the way you

[00:24:38] renew your hope is to come to Jesus

[00:24:40] it's to come to the God of hope

[00:24:42] ask him to fill you with the Holy Spirit

[00:24:45] and to renew

[00:24:46] you and your heart

[00:24:48] with an overflow of hope from him

[00:24:51] that is how we renew our hope

[00:24:53] friends I hope

[00:24:55] and pray that that is somewhat helpful for either you now

[00:24:57] or somebody you know

[00:24:59] and

[00:25:01] I'd love to encourage you just to rethink

[00:25:03] where or what

[00:25:04] needs renewed hope in your life

[00:25:07] friends until next time

[00:25:09] grace and peace

[00:25:11] have a fantastic week

[00:25:12] and we'll catch up soon

[00:25:14] grace and peace