Episode Transcript
[00:00:07] Speaker A: Welcome to the weekday podcast of Sugar Hill Church, where we desire to help you know God and discover your purpose, whether you're exercising, driving, meditating, or just hanging out while you tune in with us today. Thanks. We hope these next five minutes help you feel encouraged and inspired for your day.
[00:00:22] Speaker B: Hi, everybody. Pastor Chuck here with another weekday podcast. I want to talk today about finding hope in a world full of radical uncertainties. Where can you find true hope? I think, man, if you could bottle that and sell it, you'd be worth a billion dollars tomorrow.
I'm here to tell you that our ultimate hope, my friend, is found in Jesus.
I think sometimes we try to find hope in relationship with other humans and you get a dose of it, maybe. Or sometimes we find hope in, wow, if I just had that job or if I just had that home.
But the truth is, we need sustainable hope. I mean, I told you in a sermon recently about a young lady that I had the great privilege of preaching her funeral. Her name is Michaela. She passed away at 20. She had great challenges. She wasn't expected to live past two. She'd never walked before in her life.
I was able to say inside of her funeral, where literally dozens and dozens and dozens, I mean, literally 40 plus people gave their life to Christ in a funeral.
But I think the genuine story is the fact that Michaela was the sermon because I was able to say, think about this. Because of her faith in Christ alone and finding hope, she worshiped freely. I mean, she was a sassy little girl. I mean, she couldn't communicate terribly well, but she was super bright. She graduated from high school, was in college. And it's interesting, when she drew her last breath here on earth, she drew her first breath in heaven because that's where her hope was found, in Christ Jesus. So, friend, listen, Michaela had hope and her hope was found in the Lord Jesus. First Peter 1 says, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. Our hope, friend, is in Christ and it's living and it's active. Michaela was able to walk for the first time in her first breath in heaven on streets of gold. Can you imagine people who had known her and had never seen her walk or communicate well? And to be able to experience that in heaven, that's hope, my friend. Now you might be saying, well, Chuck, that's awesome, but how do I get this hope? Well, it's relatively simple, actually. It starts with recognizing our need for Jesus. We all fall short of God's glory according to Romans 3. But Jesus bridged that gap.
I mean, he did that through his death and his resurrection. So you say, well, Chuck, how do I get this hope? Well, think about this as maybe like a super simple 1, 2, 3. 1. I need to acknowledge forgiveness. It's my sin and your sin that caused Jesus to give his life up, but he did it willingly. I need to believe that Jesus died for me and he rose from the dead as payment for all that sin for the whole world. And then confess. I believe Jesus died raised from the dead because I need him to be my Lord and my Savior, because He's the only one that can be. It's kind of simple. And once you take that step of faith, you're not alone. Because Jesus promised us he'll never leave us. He'll never forsake us. So remember, friend, hope in Jesus isn't about just the future. It's about right now. Today, with Jesus in your life, you have hope for healing, for restoration, for purpose. No matter what you're facing, no matter what you're in the middle of, Jesus is your bridge to hope.
So today, I hope that you can embrace this hope. I pray that you can embrace this hope that you'll let Jesus be your bridge, your peace, your everything. And in him, find that hope that never, ever disappoints. Today, go live in the power of Jesus, the hope, not just for eternity, but for today. God bless you. And thanks so much for joining me on today's weekday podcast.
[00:04:19] Speaker A: Thanks so much for joining us today for the weekday podcast. Our prayer is that the encouragement you just heard would help you live more like Jesus today. Today, we would love to see you at Sugar Hill Church for one of our gatherings each Sunday at 9, 15 and 11. And we're always streaming live at live Sugar Hill Church. Thanks again for joining us today. As always, if today's message encouraged you, share it with friends and family by tapping the share button. Have an awesome day.
