129: Josh Sommerville - Exhortation: Hope

Automatically transcribed. Accuracy is good but not perfect, and words are sometimes wrong. Trust the audio over the text.

1. 0:13

   Welcome to good for selfie and talks. I’m Levi and I’m Chris and I’m Brian, thank you for joining us this week. On this podcast, we select one taco week to help us get the Bible in our daily news feed. We post a new episode of the start of each week with a short intro before. Hand to kind of set the stage for the talk. You’re about to listen to and now let’s talk more about this week’s talk

2. 0:50

   for this week’s talk. We are listening to an expectation. That was given by brother Josh Somerville at the Verdugo Hills, Ecclesia This very Sunday on February 21st. This was one as soon as I heard it it was such a powerful excitation that I really wanted to share it and he’s talking about the concept of Hope.

3. 1:08

   And this originally I had different talk lined up to share for everyone this week but as I was listening to it spoke to me and it was so applicable to what’s going on in the world right now and kind of a phrase that I’ve been hearing. People use more and more that I totally Vine Brian.

4. 1:26

   I’m calling an audible I really want to use this this excitation hopefully. Everyone isn’t isn’t tired of hearing expectations from Verdugo because I know sometimes I tend to share more of them, but that’s where I go. And I hear a lot of talks on there, obviously that I enjoy very much. And this excitation that brother Josh was giving was so powerful. He’s looking at the concept of Hope. And one of the things that he kind of was making a point about, is he starts by looking at a poem that was even turned into an animation by by Disney called. Casey At The Bat.

5. 2:02

   And basically, without taking everything from what brother Josh mentioned, the idea about it is that the concept of Hope is something that always Springs Eternal in humans, we always feel hopeful. It’s a natural way that we think we wake up every day. Hoping that the next day is going to be better than the previous one.

6. 2:21

   But What brother Josh is looking at, is the difference between the hope that we talked about as christadelphians and his Believers of Christ. When we say, you know, I we have a hope kind of almost we have a hope, right? Almost as we talk about the truth, right? We have a hope of the coming Kingdom and how does when we use the word in that sense? Is it different from when somebody says, you know, I, you know, when you’re wrapping up a rough day at work and you say, I hope tomorrow’s better Or, you know you said like oh, you know, when the weather is really bad ass. Like I hope it’s warmer tomorrow, it’s the same word hope but the meaning is very, very different for what we mean by it.

7. 3:07

   One of the other examples when he was looking at the concept of hope that he mentions is hoping that when you’re playing sports that your team does well and it’s kind of a funny little aside brother Josh and I used to play on a Church intramural softball league here in Simi Valley. We haven’t played for since the pandemic, but we had played together with several other brothers in around Simi Valley for Five or six seasons. And I think I could count on one hand, the number of times we want out of a eight to ten Game season every year, but we kept coming back.

8. 3:42

   We really enjoyed the camaraderie, but he makes a mention of that which I enjoyed, and it reminded me of how much I miss being able to do that. But even that the showing up and always being hopeful even though we always lost, we would always show up every Monday night when we were going to play, hoping that we would somehow do things differently in be able to, to win the game that even That sense of hope and almost optimism. Is different than the hope that we talk about when we talk about our hope kind of with a capital H. Right?

9. 4:13

   And what brother Josh was pointing at is that our hope when we hope in God and in the return of the kingdom and the hope that we have through Christ, it’s a hope where we have a confidence. It’s our faith driven hope and he goes into a lot of different passages and versus when he’s kind of flipping around in that. Looking at that idea of our hope is driven by our faith in God. And almost that that unshakable confidence that we have in God can be something that we lean on and strengthens Our Hope in a way that is far beyond anything that anybody in the world might say.

10. 4:53

    When you might hear someone say, well, you know, I hope that you know, this new politician is going to make things better in the world. Or, you know, I hope that this new law is going to fix a problem or anything that someone might say, I hope that, you know, I do well in this interview. And I can get this job that I want or I hope that I do well in school so I can get the career that I want. All those things are more fleeting, they’re not as concrete as the hope that we have in Christ and I just found the the concept of it to be a really good reminder, to reflect on how we think of Our Hope because that word can get used and you hear it in the news and you hear other people talking about it, And people can use the word hope, almost casually in conversation.

11. 5:45

    That term it was a good reminder to me at least that the hope that we have in Christ and that God has promised to us is so much more impactful than just a casual while. I hope the weather’s better tomorrow type of usage of the word and instead and we talked about, you know, our Shared Hope or the love that that we have in our one hope how much Meaningful. That word hope is in that context, even after the excitation, the presenting brother was trying to figure out a way, a different word to either describe, Our Hope or a different word to differentiate the Hope in that more casual sense and we couldn’t really come up with a good word for it, but you know, the difference, when you hear it in the usage, It was just an like I said, it was just such a good reminder that we should have such a confidence just as Paul talks about having a confidence because of the faith that drives the hope that we have.

12. 6:46

    So like I said, I really thought this excitation was powerful. It was a good reminder for me. I know brother Josh he’s a he’s a very good friend and brother of mine and hearing him talk about going through different trials and things that he’s gone through in his life and being able to have this concrete.

13. 7:02

    You’d hope in a faith-driven hope that you can rely on during your struggles and difficulties, no matter what they may be was incredibly powerful. I know I felt it and I hope that when you’re listening to it it is just as impactful to you as always, thank you for everyone who continues to send in recommendations. We get them every week and we appreciate those and also the encouragement and everybody who enjoys listening to the podcast means a lot to us.

14. 7:30

    So as always You send those in. If you find anything here useful, we encourage you to share it with other people that you think might be able to be encouraged by it. So with that, I’m going to turn it over to brother Josh for his excitation which was titled hope. Morning. Everybody want to share with you, some of my thoughts that I’ve been having about Hope and I want to kick it off by just talking about one of my favorite poems. It’s called Casey At The Bat by Ernest Lawrence Thayer and I’m sure that many of you are very familiar with the poem. It’s very popular where it was very popular. And I believe Disney even turned it into a cartoon, because I remember seeing it as a kid, a little story about it. And it tells the story of a struggling baseball team that was losing a game.

15. 8:22

    And the events, which lead to their possibly coming back and winning but and this is a spoiler alert. Their best player, Casey lets his pride and ego, get the best of him, and ultimately brings him and his team to failure. But as I was thinking about hope there was a it reminded me of this line in the poem. And I want to read it to you.

16. 8:45

    It says a straggling few. Got up to go in deep despair, the rest clung to the Hope which Springs Eternal in the human breast. They thought, if only Casey could get a whack at that, we’d put up even money now with Casey At The Bat. I love that line. The Hope which Springs Eternal in the human breast.

17. 9:06

    How true that statement is. Every day, whether we realize it or not, we wake up with hope. I hope I feel better today. I hope today is less stressful than yesterday. I hope today is the day Jesus returns. I hope it doesn’t rain today. I hope this or I hope that This trait of hope that God has given to us, is something that lives in each of us and it carries us through our lives, you know?

18. 9:41

    And we say things like, you know, it’s never over until it’s over, that’s hope. When you go in for a job interview and it goes really well. And now you’re at home, waiting for that call back. That’s hope. When you lose every softball game with your team, but you keep playing every week thinking, you might win the next one, right?

19. 10:03

    Chris, that’s hope. Hope is that intangible feeling that will not allow us to give up its part of our internal makeup. It’s one of our character traits that keeps us putting one foot in front of the other day after day, year after year, to get up to get through the day to do it again. And again, for our lifetimes, no matter the circumstances that we’re in, it’s defined as a feeling of expectation and desire for certain thing to happen, a feeling of trust, or want something to be the case.

20. 10:40

    So, as I was thinking about this, I was asking myself a question. Is there a difference between My Hope and someone else’s and at first I thought there was But the truth of the matter is, there’s no difference in my ability to hope versus anyone elses, everyone has the same capacity and ability to hope. The only difference is, is what we are hoping for. So in my naivete or just unknowing or not, really thinking about it too much, I thought there was something like Godly hope, you know, that made our hope different than everybody else’s.

21. 11:19

    But when I started kind of looking into it, I realize that’s not true. There’s, I don’t think there’s a thing called Godly hope. It’s just only Our Hope in God. That’s what I was realizing is what it’s what we hope for. That sets us apart from everybody else. Because people in the world obviously have hope it good.

22. 11:40

    You know, they’re motivated to get involved in the political Arena or to protest and fight to make the world a better place to make our society more equal. They have hope in the government hoping the leaders of our country to set things, right to make it better for all of us. They have the same confidence that we do. The same desire to improve the world in which we live, but that’s not where we’re putting our hope. So we are instructed to put our hope somewhere else. Psalm 31 24, be strong and take heart all of you who hope in the Lord Isaiah 40:31.

23. 12:19

    But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength, they will soar on wings, like eagles, they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint Mica. 747, but as for me, I watch in Hope for the Lord, I wait for God my savior, my God will hear me. So that’s the difference between My Hope and everyone else’s. Our hope is in the Lord God and it needs to be that way. It needs to be focused on the returning of Jesus Christ and the establishment of our Heavenly father’s Kingdom, we can’t allow ourselves to get mired in the hope that everyone else has because we’ve been called to something better. And that’s the Fatal flaw in having hope in the current state of our world.

24. 13:08

    The world is run by sinful, man. I can never be fixed, no matter how much we might hope it to be changed. But we can rely on God. Second Timothy, 2:13, if we are faithless, he remains faithful for. He cannot disown himself. And we can’t hope for man’s Justice to make things right, but we can rely on God’s.

25. 13:37

    Deuteronomy, 32 verse 4. He is the rock. His works are perfect. And all his ways are just a faithful. God, who does no wrong, upright. And just is he But again, hope you know, in my thoughts and trying to think about it, is Hope just that desire for a certain thing to happen. Well, I can flip a coin and hope for heads and tails come up is that all it is to it.

26. 14:11

    I kind of want it to be more than that. I think it needs to be more than that because we know that scripture tells us, hold is really important in Romans 15 verse 13. It says, may the god of Hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

27. 14:33

    I love the way that sounds. He is a god of Hope. What a beautiful prayer here by Paul calling God, a god of hope God is the foundation on which our hope is based. He is the creator of it for, he’s the creator of us. So when we hope, we should only be hoping in him.

28. 14:56

    And of course, First Corinthians 13 verse 13. And now these three remain faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love. The fact that hope is listed out, here is one of the three things should be a signal to us. That this is something that’s really important. And when we look at these three, we notice the first two are very similar Faith and Hope.

29. 15:26

    And if you if you look at synonyms, like I did for hope you’re going to find the word faith. And if you look at synonyms for Faith, obviously you’re going to find hope they’re very similar. So how do we differentiate between the two? Well, I hope your mind is taking you where mine did and that’s Hebrews chapter 11.

30. 15:46

    Now Faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen as a definition for pay the NIV States it. Now. Faith is confidence in what we hope for and Assurance about what we do not see. I really like that the way it’s said they’re in the NIV and Hebrews there.

31. 16:05

    That faith is the confidence and assurance. It’s the belief. It’s the trust and the loyalty. You know, I don’t think we have hope for the sun to come up tomorrow, but I think we have faith that it will we have a confidence? We don’t have to have hope that the world is going to keep revolving, but we have faith that it will. And that’s what faith is.

32. 16:29

    Its complete trust or confidence in something or someone. So if hope is the expectation for something, faith is the confidence that it will happen. That’s the critical ingredient there. It takes hope for being just nothing more than the flipping of a coin and it really brings the substance into it. So we almost can’t have one without the other because we want to have the faith that gives us the confidence in Our Hope.

33. 17:05

    So let’s take a couple minutes and talk about, well, how do we increase our faith? Very simplistically. Let’s just talk about four things. First of all, you have to read the Bible Romans 10:17.

34. 17:22

    So then Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God simple. How else can we have? Hope if we don’t know what the Bible is telling us, we have to read God’s word. As often as we can to continue to strengthen our faith. We have to listen and do what we read. James 1:22, but be doers of the word, not hearers only deceiving yourselves.

35. 17:51

    And that takes, you know, it takes my mind at the parable of the sower who’s casting seed, right? We have to be that soil, that takes in the word and allows it to grow in us and produce fruit. Do things that we read about in the Bible. Prayer. We have to talk to God. We have to bring our problems and I needs to him. Psalm 34 verses 17 and 18, the righteous cry out, the Lord hears them, he delivers them from all their troubles, the Lord is close to the Brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit, God is listening to us. He’s waiting for us just to talk to him. To come to him in prayer and allow him to help us. 1st Peter. 5:7 cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. What a powerful verse in today’s age. And we have to surrender ourselves to him Romans 12:2 and be not conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.

36. 18:58

    That you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. As we see the day approaching, we need to be encouraged to increase our faith to put our hope in him, to allow his words to take root. To overcome our own sinful desires and wants.

37. 19:23

    So, like I said, four foundational, simple principles that we can do that would have a huge impact on our lives, but obviously me saying it doesn’t make it easy.

38. 19:38

    Because it’s not easy. Its it is just the war that we wage on a daily basis with ourselves right. Hope is not always an easy thing to hold onto. and there’s many reasons why we struggle and there’s times when we can even find ourselves feeling hopeless, Hopelessness, is that condition or feeling that conditions will never improve?

39. 20:04

    It’s a feeling of Despair or desperation. And those are things that we struggle with. I really love this. Little passage here in 1st Corinthians chapter 15, which the whole chapter is amazing. But Paul says here, when he’s talking about the fact that they were saying there was no Resurrection. He says, starting at verse 16, for if the dead are not raised in Christ, has not been raised. Either in a Christ, has not been raised. Your faith is futile and you’re still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. If only for this life, we have hope in Christ. We are of all people most to be pitied and that really paints that hopelessness.

40. 20:47

    If there was no Resurrection right but we struggle with it too. We have all kinds of things that can cause us to feel hopeless. Depression is a major problem and it’s something that I’m sure a majority of us have dealt with at one time or another. It’s a quiet enemy that can be debilitating, and especially during covid, where we’ve been so separated from each other, it can cause us to feel hopeless, but there’s no Escape. There’s no change.

41. 21:24

    We can struggle with addiction. In all of its forms whether it’s substance or an activity and I can’t claim to it, you know. Be an expert on these things. But I know that. They can bring about a sense of hopelessness in US.

42. 21:44

    What about physical limitations? Some people struggle every day where the body is the enemy and every day is a new adventure of pain. Where, what am I going to be struggling with today? How intense is it going to be? What am I going to be able to do? What am I not going to be able to do?

43. 22:03

    Those are moments of hopelessness that can be found there as well. And what about hardship? We all know that being a follower of God doesn’t mean that our lives are going to be easy. It doesn’t guarantee us that there are burdens that were all going to have to face. And they come in all different, kinds of packages where there’s Financial marital familial professional. There’s times when bat hardship can bring us to our knees But ultimately, we do understand that we are mortal, we are a dying creature.

44. 22:38

    We are walking and talking Miracles and yet, we break down our muscles and joints hurt in the eyesight. Weakens, the hearing goes. But you have to understand that God knows this, right? He knows our weaknesses, he knows our frame. He knows, we’re not perfect and he still loves us, and he still wants us.

45. 23:01

    That relationship that we have with God is really on us to make it work. It’s like that friendship you had where you were totally on board with it, but your friend wasn’t always reliable, that maybe they’d ghost you from time to time or flake on an activity that you plan together or maybe they would show up but be distracted and act like they didn’t really want to be there. Sometimes that’s our relationship with God, isn’t it? God is all in and we’re the ones that sometimes might flake or not show up or, or be there, but not really be wanting to be there.

46. 23:39

    But he is all in with us. He is our God of Hope, and all he’s doing, is waiting for us to put our hope in him. And so when we’re feeling weak and down and even hopeless, we have to try to remember that. No matter our situation. God is our God. He is the god of our Salvation, he is our hope and we can and and he can and will Deliver Us from all of this. We know that he will send his son and that we will be a part of that glorious Kingdom that’s to come. But we need to have that Faith driving. Hope to help us get there.

47. 24:23

    Psalm 42 verse 5. Why am I Soul? Are you downcast why? So Disturbed within me. Put your hope in God for I will yet Praise Him My Savior and my God. Psalm 7114 ask for me. I will always have hope. I will praise you more and more.

48. 24:48

    I want to close my thoughts this morning and bring us to the memorial table by reading from Romans chapter 5. The first 11 verses and therefore since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace, in which we now stand.

49. 25:13

    And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so but we also rejoice in our sufferings because we know that suffering, produces perseverance, perseverance character and character hope. And hope does not disappoint us because God has poured out his love into our hearts. By the Holy Spirit whom he has given us.

50. 25:38

    You see at just the right time. When we were still powerless. God died for the ungodly. Very rarely. Will anyone die for a righteous man, though? For a good man. Someone might possibly dare to die, but God demonstrates his own love for us in this while we were still sinners Christ died for us.

51. 25:59

    Since we have now, been justified by his blood. How much more shall we be saved from God’s Wrath through him? For if, when we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his son. How much more having been reconciled shall we be saved through his life Not only is this so but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ through whom we have now received reconciliation. Brothers and sisters.

52. 26:28

    We are here this morning to be reminded yet again of the incredible act that was done for us. That we have a God who has given us the ability to Hope in him and not only that. But to have the faith that what he has promised us will come to pass, he allowed his only son to be sacrificed so that we can be reconciled.

53. 26:54

    He has told us that even through the darkest times of hopelessness, he is there and that our sufferings should build within us hope the hope of a time when all the trials and tribulations we Face will be at an end and we will be with our heavenly father in his glorious Kingdom.

54. 27:30

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55. 27:45

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56. 28:25

    Thank you for listening. God bless and talk to you next week.