GOOD NEWS FOR YOU: HOPE

We are quickly coming to the end of Lent.  The journey through the darkness of Lent has been punctuated by two mass shootings.  In Atlanta and Boulder people have experienced the terror of violence which is almost unimaginable.  What would motivate these young men to express their anger by taking the lives of these people?  In Boulder, an officer was killed and he was described by the other officers as a committed Christian.  We cannot help but groan in grief and frustration as we go through this all too familiar sequence, yet again.  In our sermon series Good News for You, our topic is Hope.  Hope is the light that leads us through human suffering.  We, as believers, groan in grief for all of these people.  We realize that human suffering is a burden upon us and it can overwhelm us!  In Romans 8:15-25, we find a vital hope that recognizes the reality of human suffering and death, but it is not overwhelmed by the enormity of the suffering.  This hope is not based upon the idea that things will be better tomorrow, but that one day things will be better forever!   How do we deal with the pain of our existence in the interim time?  The Apostle Paul reminds us that pain, suffering, and heartache will be transformed by the power of God’s redemption in Jesus Christ. We know this right now because we have experienced this saving power in our lives. As you read Romans 8:15-25, let the Holy Spirit infuse your heart with the living hope that you are God’s child.  Romans 8:15-25: 15 The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” 16 The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. 17 Now if we are children, then we are heirs– heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory. 18 I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. 19 For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed. 20 For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope 21 that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God. 22 We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. 23 Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies. 24 For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have? 25 But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently. (NIV)