Romans 5:1-5

“Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:
By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.
And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience;
And patience, experience; and experience, hope:
And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.”

Find this passage at Bible Gateway (you can choose other versions if you prefer)

As I may have mentioned, we recently moved house and my mother has moved in with us. Since I am not established in a particular church, we are starting to find a new church that would suit mum. So far we have tried Methodist and the Charismatic Pentecostal church I used to go to. These notes are from the passage that was preached on this last Sunday. I won’t try and turn it into any kind of coherent study, I’ll just post the notes I took and leave them for you to make of them what you will.

hope-painting

The topic of the sermon was hope and character.

  • “Jesus intercedes hope into our lives.”
  • Faith needs to be exercised (like a muscle – the more you exercise it, the bigger it grows).
  • Nothing is impossible with God.
  • We need to take our eyes off our reality and our problems (and fix our eyes upon Jesus).
  • If we have the faith the size of a mustard seed, we can move mountains.
  • Prayer will turn our problems into miracles, our ‘ashes’ into beauty.
  • Suffering produces perseverance which produces character.
  • Position yourself in a place of hope
  • Pursue character
  • Consider the story of Joseph.  In between his dream and its coming into fruition was suffering which produced character. It was the same with Moses and with David.
  • The enemy won’t attack you at the place of the dream, but at the place of character. That is our foundation.

The foundation of contending for Hope and Character:

  • Live Righteously
  • Know the Word, read, study, obey
  • Pray, spend time, be in the Presence
  • Surrender to His Will
  • Worship, praise

holiness-consecrate

  • Don’t wait for the breakthrough to pray, read, worship and live rightly. The breakthrough depends upon prayer, Word, worship and holiness. This is what ushers in the Kingdom of Heaven.
  • Don’t turn your back on God, turn your back on the problems.

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