to start things off, I want you to picture what it would be like if jesus himself, I was with you for the day, I mean how awesome would that be? Imagine, jesus savior of the world, creator and sustainer of the universe right beside you. I mean that would be pretty incredible. Like, let's say you run out of food, right? You're in a large setting, you run out of food at your workplace, jesus can take a chick fil a sandwich, multiply it and you've got lunch covered for the whole organization, right? You don't have money for rent, okay? You pray a prayer and next thing you know, you're pulling money out of a cactus and you're paying your taxes and you got your rent cover, that's great, let's just say, it just haven't forbid this, your dog passes away, but jesus just praise over your dog and boom, you're, your dog is back up jumping into your lap and and praise jesus or you know, let's say your, your cat dies, and jesus says, let me grab a shovel and help you bury your cat, okay, I kid I kid, but look, look, enjoy your cats now while you can because they're not okay, just kidding, just kidding. No, we, we love all animals. Maybe uh look, let's just be real, okay, I know I cared about cats because I'm a dog person, but if your cat was in the room right now, they wouldn't listen to me, they wouldn't listen to you, that's the whole thing about a cat is that they just do whatever they want and so, but they're great pets really, they are, where was I now, jesus being with you would be pretty incredible, wouldn't it? To see the miracles, to see the authority to see the preaching that comes with that. But yet Jesus, in John chapter 16 verse seven said this crazy thing to his disciples to which he was talking to peter as well, he was in the room and he actually said it's to your benefit that I go away because it's not until I go away that you will receive the helper, the spirit and the spirit of Truth that will come in to your life. And what he was saying, as crazy as this sounds is that the spirit inside of you is better then jesus beside you to have the holy spirit living inside of you is greater and better for you than if Jesus was standing right next to you. And that is because when you pray to receive jesus into your life, that the spirit of God, which is equal with jesus enters your life and then now gives you the power to overcome sin, to love others the way that he does to experience God on a daily basis. And so it's from the spirit of God that really empowers what we now have as hope, maybe some of you can relate, but I made the mistake earlier this week where I plug my phone in on the plug into the phone on our kitchen counter and to my dismay, I came back like an hour or so later and my phone was dead, it was like what? It's plugged in. And then as I pulled the cord kept pulling and it was not plugged into the wall, I was like oh this is great. So I plugged it into my phone but I didn't actually plug the cord into the wall. My kids had put in a different charger in there. And so even though I had it plugged in on the phone, it wasn't plugged into the source and I think a lot of us operate through their daily lives that way we say, okay yeah, I'm connected and we have something plugged in our on our end, but we're not actually plugged into God, we're not actually plugged in to the power of the Spirit, the power of jesus. And so we think we're charging our souls, but really we're not because we have this picture of what it means to be empowered. And so the holy Spirit in us is even better than jesus beside us. And so I want you to think of the cord, the charging cord itself as hope that we've been talking about for the last couple of weeks, but it's not just hope, it's not the court itself that charges your phone or charges your soul here, it's that when the cord, your hope is plugged in to the Spirit of God that your soul gets replenished. So we're walking through our series, the letter of 1st Peter called Living Hope and Peter who was in the room with Jesus and John 16 when he said that is writing this letter to a group of persecuted christians who have experienced extreme suffering and he's saying you have been given birth into a living Hope through jesus. And so he gives this definition that we've been talking through and we've been working through. And that is that hope as the confident expectation that God will do what he promised hope is a confident expectation that God would do what he promises. That when you take that cord that plugs into your phone or plugs into your soul and then you actually plug it into his promises into his spirit and then you trust that that is what's gonna hold you through. Now. Over the last couple of weeks, we've talked about some difficult passages, we talked about words like submission and suffering. We talked about how when you're in a difficult situation that you can submit because jesus submitted that you can love because jesus left. And so whether it's in a marriage or in a work relationship or in a difficult circumstance, wherever you find yourself, that when you love people, the way that jesus loved us, that is what changes and that's what helps you endure. And now we come to one of the most famous passages in the bible and talking about giving a defense for your faith and we see Peter write this in first. Peter chapter three verses 14 and 15, you can read the verses on the screen, you can pull up on your bible if you do not own a bible, I want to encourage you that we have a free bible to give you as our gift to you this morning at the guest services table on your way out. And so Peter writes this starting in verse 14 and he says even if you should suffer for righteousness sake, you will be blessed, have no fear of them nor be troubled. But in your hearts honor christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you yet do it with gentleness and respect. So he has this idea of are you suffering? Are you afraid? He says, do not be afraid? The solution to fear is to honor christ And so here's what he's saying in this passage. Is that christ in your heart puts hope on display, christ in your heart puts hope on display and that you see this that the key to overcoming fear is honoring christ. Now, what's interesting about this passage is that when Peter writes this, he's actually quoting Isaiah Chapter eight So roughly about 700 years prior the prophet Isaiah in Isaiah chapter eight, he is warning the king. The king was being, it was not following after God. And so he was going to be attacked by one set of bad guys and rather than trusting in God, he makes an alliance with another set of bad guys, the assyrians, he says, okay, I'm gonna make alliance with these bad people, hoping that these bad people be these bad people and Isaiah and chapter says no, do not be afraid. It is honoring Yahweh in your heart as Lord and that's important because that description of Lord as Yahweh was so revered that you in many cases they didn't even pronounce the name and that it was very much seen as this ultimate fear or awe or respect of how God has been set apart and how he is holy and so peter saying here that jesus is Yahweh, he's equating jesus with God, this separates Christianity from other religions and saying that it was not just a good man, that he was the son of God and that when you acknowledge jesus as God as Yeah, and you fear God and you do not fear man, that it places your heart in the position to receive him and when you cherish God, when you trust in him, it gives you the strength. One of my favorite passages in the Bible comes from hebrews, hebrews chapter six and the writer is talking about jesus and he says this in Hebrews chapter six verse 19 and 20 he says that we have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, I hope that enters into the inner place between or behind the curtain where jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf becoming a high priest forever. In the order of Mac is a deck. There are three pictures of hope that are just seen in this passage that are are incredible. First jesus and our hope in jesus is described as an anchor for our soul. What I love about that is that an anchor is used to provide stability or strength and security. An anchor for a boat was to be put down in the harbor, so that when the storms of life came the anchor secured the boat and that it would not move, jesus being our anchor who is in heaven. So instead of the anchor dropping down, picture of the anchor being in heaven and that when you face the storms of life you can go through the suffering and the difficulties in the battles because your anchor is secured in heaven through jesus and sealed through the Holy Spirit. And so you have this secured anchor that no storm will overtake you. But then he says, he goes behind the curtain and refers that is even a greater high priest than Mckinsey deck. And so jesus is the greater high priest because in jewish tradition, in in the days before jesus there was a holy Temple and then only the high priest could go and offer sacrifice on behalf of the people with the presence of jesus. But when jesus died on the cross, That curtain was literally torn in two giving people the direct access to him which is really awesome. And so he is greater than the high priest and then he even calls us priests in 1st Peter chapter two and so he says no you have direct access to God who is the anchor of your soul. And then he has this word the forerunner and forerunner could mean a couple of things. It could mean that the forerunners, the person that goes into the temple which is described as a high priest. That word forerunner was also used to describe a scout in battles. How cool is that? The picture that jesus goes ahead and scouts the battle that you're about to face. Isn't that cool? But here's my favorite interpretation of that. It could mean any of these. I'm just being open with you. But four Runner was also used as a nautical term. And peter was a fisherman. So remember this that to describe the tiny boat that would take the anchor and then go into the harbor and drop the anchor in the water. So think about that picture for a second, jesus, our hope is the anchor but then he's also the forerunner that safely takes that and secures it in the harbor. So that jesus is our hope in the storms and battles of this life because he is an anchor for our soul? He is the great high priest giving us direct access to God and the forerunner who goes ahead of our battles and secures our identity and our place in heaven for all eternity. Amen. And so Peter says this, that when we cherish christ and we honor him in our heart, that is the key to overcoming The passage I quoted in the beginning, John 16 7 where jesus said, it's actually to your benefit that I go away because I'm gonna send the Holy Spirit. Just a few verses later in verse 33, he says, you will face trials and tribulations in this world, but take heart because I have overcome the world. And so christ in your heart changes everything because you recognize that you have an anchor for your soul. But then he says, to put hope on display, he says, be ready to make a defense to anyone who asks why do you have hope? The reason this morning's messages entitled life's Q and A. That if you have to be ready to give an answer, what first has to come the question. So let me ask you what in your life begs the question. In this case Verse eight, he talks about living in unity, having sympathy with one another, being tenderhearted, having humility being unified in mind. Live in a way that begs the question how is your life connected to God in a way that someone says wait, you're different. Why is that? Maybe people aren't asking questions because we are not living differently than the world, why would someone desire something that looks exactly the same as they do? Why would someone be interested when we complain as much? We doubt as much, we send as much. We go through all these things. Now I'm not saying that as church people, we don't sin, we don't mess up, but we should confess much more quickly, forgive much more quickly, sustain and be stronger and be more resilient and to get back up from the mat faster than others because we have the hope the anchor for our soul and jesus christ and the power of the holy spirit. This verse is also where you understand and you get this word, that defense is the root word where we get apologetics from. And so it's important to know what you believe, but I believe it's even more important to live what you believe. So we can move beyond just this concept of just saying, oh just have faith. Like study the word, study the the argument, study the philosophies behind that so that you can have intelligent conversations with people around you and then be okay to say when someone asks a question like like I don't know, I'm gonna look into it because everybody is searching and so that when you can love when you can live in a way that shows the love of christ in a practical way, that's when hope is on display. I've never seen somebody lose an argument. So now I believe now it's important to understand and articulate what you believe, but it's really how you love and how you live and that when you cherish christ in your heart, that puts hope on display. And so when someone sees your resilience, when someone sees your sacrifice, When someone sees your redemption, when someone sees the turnaround and transformation of a Michael murtaugh, you're like, wow, how did that happen, jesus is how that happened and that he's ready to share the hope that is within him. And so are we willing to put this on display if you have ever been into um been the house when the power goes out, it always seems to be then that you think about, okay, where are the flashlights now? What good is a flashlight? If you had it, you got fresh batteries and you just walk around but you never turn it on. I wonder how many people in our church today and in church in general have the flashlight in their hands, but they've never lived in a way that they turned the light on. Like you can't lead with light. Walk in the light as first john 17 says if you're not willing to turn the light on and that if you walk in light, you're probably going to be surrounded by darkness. But that's the whole hope of the world that is jesus christ himself and that's what it means to put it on display. Well, how can we do that? How can we live in a way that puts hope on display? We talked about John 16, but just two chapters earlier in John Chapter 14, Jesus says this, he says that if you love me, you will keep my commandments notice this is the same description here in the first peter passage that it talks about action. So live in a way that answers the question that if you love jesus that you will obey. I used to struggle with that until I understood it. That love is best expressed, not felt. So, Jesus didn't say for God so loved the world that he felt. No, he said Jesus so loved the world that he gave. And so that when you are in a relationship and you are expressing love, it's not just about feeling love, it's about expressing love. And in our case, when you love, jesus is if you love me, obey my commands. But how can we do that? We don't have the power. But he continues on verse 16, and I will ask the father and he will give you another helper to be with you forever. Even the spirit of Truth whom the world cannot receive because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him for he dwells with you and will be in you. So in the old testament, you had the spirit of God on people. Sometimes you saw like a cloud or a pillar of fire or you see God come down, you see the Spirit of God in the gospels. You see jesus with his disciples. But when he starts the church and the largest movement in world history it starts because the Holy Spirit comes to dwell in people and that now the same power that conquered the grave, the same power that created the universe. You now have access to so that when you live and walk in the spirit and you're led by the spirit and you pray in the spirit and you love in that way you see how God can radically transform lives and that is putting christ on and hope on display. So when christ is in your heart, when the spirit of God is in your heart it puts hope on display. Well how can we do that? How can we put hope on display in a hopeless world if you would think that with the invention of technology and social media and all the access we have two people that we've become a more loving excellent society and it just seems like we keep getting more anxious, more worried and more divisive doesn't it? The more access to information we have, the more anxious we get, the more stressed we get, the more divisive we get as people and I don't say that to be discouraging, I say that there has never been a better time in the history of the world to be a christian than right now because it's being surrounded by darkness that being the light, the hope of the world will shine so incredibly bright being a year where there is worries and struggles and and division and fights over politics and other things that you have the opportunity to cherish christ in your heart. In a way that puts hope on display that can show people that there is a different way. Well what can we do? I think we can do three things number one is to be brave, be brave, do not have fear, be brave, persevere, overcome. Find christ in the middle of your crisis in the old testament, Joshua was going to lead people into the promised land. He's gonna have battle after battle after battle But he rallies the troops when God speaks to him and Joshua 1 9 says be strong and courageous for I am with you to the end of the day and through the end of the age we can be strong because we have jesus with us and that he overcame The world. Even the Great Commission in Matthew 28 he says go and make disciples baptizing them in the name of the father of the son and the holy spirit teaching them to obey all that I have commanded you for I am with you to the end of the age. We have this picture Paul writes in Romans 15 verse 13 he's praying for people and he says May the God of Hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing. So that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope. When you face a difficult situation this year or circumstance or relationship. The way that you can show hope and put hope on display for the world to see is to be brave, stand up and fight, stand up and go to work and have that tough conversation. Go get that medical treatment, go searching, go, go helping go serving whatever that means to stand up and fight to do that because you have value and you are loved and you have been called to fight the good fight of faith and that when you cherish christ in your heart, when you understand that the anchor for your soul is secured in jesus and then you have the power of the Holy Spirit that conquered death. There is nothing that can stop you, Jesus in Matthew 16 says the Gates of Hell will not prevail against us. That means that the church is on offense. I'm tired of church in general living in a nice little snow globe. It seems that way sometimes like oh we gotta have our bubble, it's safe. No, jesus did not die to make us safe. He died to make us dangerous because lives can be transformed when you trust him as Lord and Savior and hope can abound and that everything around you doesn't make any sense but you have jesus and that is enough and that is enough to be brave and to stand up and to fight secondly we can show hope through being blessed, being blessed. Are you a blessing or burden to the people around you in your workplace, in your community, in your relationships and your friendships? Are you a blessing or burden? Because you have jesus in your heart because you believe in God, you are the hope that the world is gonna see. In fact it says this in Colossians 127 to them, God chose to make known how great among the gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery which is Christ in you the hope of glory. You are a carrier of hope. You have the solution to the disease that is sin and you have the opportunity to share the freedom that comes from knowing jesus so that when you are attacked you are not avenging that. But in turn actually blessing them in a world surrounded by persecution, Peter says to bless those around you because that's radically different and put your life on display and puts hope on display. So how can you share hope. Number one be brave. Number two be blessed and number three be bold 2nd Corinthians chapter three tells this crazy story Paul is writing to this group and he brings up really someone who would be on the Mount Rushmore of faith moses. And he's someone who says like the all time greats. I mean he challenged pharaoh in the old testament, he led the Israelites Out of slavery. They crossed the sea. God parted the waters. He led them to the promise that he received the 10 commandments. He received this on stone. He sees this picture. It's an incredible picture. But then paul says, no, that was just a taste of what's to come. You actually have something better in the Spirit of God in your life. And so he writes his 2nd Corinthians chapter three. And you show that you are a letter from christ delivered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone, but on tablets of human hearts, such as the confidence that we have through christ toward God. Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God who has made us sufficient to be ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter, but of the Spirit for the letter kills. But the Spirit gives life The 10 commandments showed people their sin. The gospel of jesus forgives people of their sins. And so he goes on. And it's one of the craziest phrases in all of scripture is found then in verse 12 and 13 check this out, he says since we have what? Since we have such a hope, we are very bold, not like moses wait, hold on a second moses is like the best like imagine if someone said, well we're gonna serve people not like mother Teresa like wait, hold on, hold on, come on, come on, be serious. Okay, like he took one of the greatest figures in all of history and says, no, we are more bold than that. Well, why he goes on, he says, who put a veil over his face so that the Israelites might not gaze at the outcome of what was being brought to an end, but their minds were hardened for to this day when they read the old government or the old testament, the old scriptures that the same veil remains unlisted because only through christ is it taken away Yes. To this day that whenever moses has read or their old scriptures avail lies over their hearts. But when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed now the Lord is the spirit and where the spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom and we all with unveiled face beholding the glory of God are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the spirit even moses one of the greatest leaders of all time had availed face from the glory of God and and sharing with the people that when jesus came and died and rose again and we received the Holy Spirit we now stand with unveiled face with direct access to God an anchor for our soul a forerunner that goes ahead of our battles and into the harbor and secures us for all eternity. So that with this hope with this freedom we can be bold, this is the faith and the hope that changes everything. You might be familiar with the phrase when someone requires your signature that we need your john hancock. The reason that phrase exists is because the first person that signed the declaration of independence was john Hancock but what's interesting was that he signed it? He wanted his name first and he wanted his name so bold that the king could read it without any type of glasses? And so what he was doing because they wrote this document that is now obviously the foundation for our country but they had to put their name to it and that by signing their name they were declaring their allegiance and saying it's not with you but it's with freedom. And so he went first, he went big and he went bold and he signed his name to where his allegiance slide. So the question for you is the band's coming up on stage is where is your allegiance are you willing to sign your name? Are you willing to sign your life being connected to the hope that's found in jesus christ in your heart, puts hope on display. Are you willing to sign? But not just a name but with your life, with your actions how you live? Are you willing to declare that your hope is found in jesus and jesus alone. If you close your eyes and bow your heads for just a minute, you've never prayed to make that declaration of spiritual independence in your life, I want to give you that opportunity right now. I want you to pray with me right there in your seats and receive jesus and this hope and this spirit into your life. If you've already accepted that I pray that you would walk in the spirit and receive this today so that you can be bold. That you can be blessed that you can be brave. In whatever circumstances you're facing right now, let us pray together. Dear God, we are sinners. We can't make it on our own. Got our sin has separated us from you. But you showed love through sending your son and giving your life for us because you rose again. You can forgive my sins and you can give me eternal life. God, I commit my life to you. You're the anchor for my soul. God, We treasure you in our hearts. We honor you as Lord. We humble ourselves before you and we want to obey what you tell us to do. God may our life may our obedience. What we say, what we do when we put hope on display, but we'll be prepared to give an answer for the hope that is within us. God may we trust that your spirit inside of us is even better than if you were present next to us. God help us to be brave. Help us to be blessed. God help us to be bold and to live in a way that offers light and offers hope to the world around us. God You are Holy God. We know that in scripture. When you repeat something three times, it's a superlative so that in scripture you're referred to as Holy Holy Holy. This idea of being set apart and perfect to the greatest degree. And so God, we lift you up as holy. Now we cherish you in our hearts God, because when you are in our hearts we put hope on display. Thank you for saving us. Thank you for loving us. We give this morning, we give this community, this church, our family and our lives to you God. When we stand together now and sing your praises so that we can put hope on display. We love you God, it's in your son's name. We pray amen