A Sure Hope

Our culture pays a lot of respect to those who “pull themselves up by their bootstraps”. Spiritually, this is impossible. It’d be like climbing out of the Grand Canyon with dental floss. We simply can’t do it. As Pastor Dave will remind us in today’s message, we have to admit we can’t do this on our own and accept Jesus’ help.

Each of us has a spirit of tyranny born into our hearts. This tyrant wants to rule over our own lives (as well as those around us) and place itself in a position of self-sufficiency and self-service. As Pastor Dave will explain in today’s message, this spirit has to die in order to find life with Christ as your Lord and Savior.

The story of Job seems unfair. As much as we can learn from it, nobody wants to trade places with him. While the majority of us won’t experience half the calamity that Job did, we’ll experience trials, and as Pastor Dave reminds us in today’s message, in those trials we have a chance to grow closer to God or push Him away.

God created our world with a beautiful tapestry of widely varying creatures, and even within a species, you’ll find incredible variation and uniqueness. As Pastor Dave will remind us in today’s message, this diversity of kinds should be a reason to honor God and respect His creativity, not a reason to discriminate.

If you don’t struggle with your faith, your faith won’t experience growth. Battling with doubts and questions in the face of the trials this broken world brings is an integral part of the journey of faith. As Pastor Dave will point out in today’s message, God didn’t reject Job when he admitted that his faith needed help.

Pride is at the root of so many evils. The sin that ultimately condemns souls to hell is the rejection of God’s grace. As Pastor Dave will remind us in today’s message, we need to humble ourselves and admit our desperate need for help. Only when you can see your own failure can you then accept God’s offer of salvation.

We all have needs in our lives, but we are too weak to truly handle life on our own. That’s why we surround ourselves with a support team of family members and friends. In today’s message, Pastor Dave teaches that God is the best support. He will care for you, even when things don’t make sense.

Have you ever been a little quick to the draw when someone offends you? Has pain ever caused you to do or say things you shouldn’t have? Today, Pastor Dave teaches that this is a human reaction seen even back in Job. As hard as it may be, instead of showing them a smoking gun, show them the love of Christ.

It’s all about Jesus. We see so much foreshadowing and many prophecies fulfilled in the Old Testament. In today’s message, Pastor Dave teaches you about one more – the description of being ‘born again’ found in Job… the oldest book of the Bible. If you’ve been born again, you know just how amazing Jesus is.

Think about the worst thing that’s ever happened to you. Maybe it was a financial difficulty, a health issue, or perhaps even the loss of a loved one. Pastor Dave teaches in today’s message that your response in these terrible times reflects on God. When times get tough, stay faithful. Praise God even in your darkest hour.