SERMON 3:
The Meaning of HOPE:
Part 3
Job 14 : 7 - 9
(picture taken by Rev. Darrell Armstrong in Venice, Italy (2004) ) (THIS SERMON IS THE SERMON FOR WHICH THE BOOK IS NAMED!) Reading of Scripture and Prayer
This morning, the Holy Spirit is leading me to teach out of the book of Job. Please turn with me to Job Chapter 14, verses 1-9. Verse 7a reads, “For there is hope for a tree when it is cut down.” The clear image in this text is that of a tree. The author makes the tree analogous to hope, meaning that a tree that is cut down, can basically grow again. The author goes on to say in verse 7b, “that it will sprout again and that its tender shoots will not cease.” How can hope that is robbed or cut down, ‘sprout’ again? This is the majesty and true beauty of this text. In Job 14:8-9, the author writes, “Through its root may grow old in the earth, and its stump may die in the ground, yet at the scent of water it will bud and bring forth branches like a plant.” And that verse struck me… I don’t know if it struck you the same way it struck me, “at the scent of water.” What does water smell like? Ask yourself the question, “What does water smell like?” There are various key words within this study that I wish to bring to your attention.
INTRODUCTION:
Hope is the possibility of
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And so Paul says that, “the God of patience and comfort help us to be like- minded toward one another.” Now what Paul isn’t just citing the old adage that “patience is a virtue;” he really wants to impress upon hus that how we treat one another matters in the Kingdom of God. It matters how we talk to one another, how we treat one another… that we don’t stab each other in the back… that we are long suffering with one another, that we have patience with one
Before reading The Book of Job, as translated by Stephen Mitchell, I had no prior experience reading this in the bible. After reading this story, the theme of the story stood out to me as a man’s test of faith. Throughout the story, Job is presented with obstacles to his faith in a God figure, by a figure of Satan. Satan proposes to God that Job will lose faith in him if his circumstances are altered in a negative way. The first obstacle Satan presents is taking away the worldly possessions that Jobs loves.
Therefore, Paul offers courage to the believers and the task that encouragement. For in (v.7) Paul expresses having faith in the promises of God and not on what he sees then, he illiterates again in verse 8, about the courage which he has while expressing his desire to be with the Lord. Paul can face the afflictions upon his body by the ministry because he is “confident that God will supply a superior replacement for [his body].” (Barrett 158).
In the book, My Side of the Mountain, there are many conflicts in it. They include a boy who lives in the woods and survives on his own. One of the conflicts is about an old lady and strawberries. This conflict happens when Sam is making his bed. This conflict makes me think about how Sam handled the conflict, how I would have handled it, and how God would have handled it.
Hope is alive and can be found in more places than one might expect. In Lisel Mueller’s poem, “Hope”, Mueller uses metaphors to describe hope and show that it can be found in many places. Let’s start with the first stanza. In the first 3 lines of the poem, Mueller describes how hope can sometime “hide” from us. She says that it “(…) hovers in dark corners until the lights are turned on,” showing that hope can seem nowhere to be found sometimes (lines 1-2).
To end the story a thunderstorm rolls in and Prometheus is left chained to the rock. The Book of Job is a story about a man who “feared God and turned away from evil” (Job 1:1, ESV). He was a very wealthy man who had ten children, many livestock, and many servants. Satan speaks to God one day and God gives him permission to test Job’s faith. Satan begins by taking away Job’s children, killing his livestock,
Why do people always say, “we just have to hope for the best”? What’s so special about hope? Well, it just happens to be the only good reason why we are all alive. It drives us to not just get through life but to also to, live it to the fullest. We need hope.
When have you ever been in a situation where all that you could do was hope for the best? Did you have hope for others or for yourself? Hope is like a dog that ran away. It starts out being lost and confused but once it gets found, you realize that everything will turn out fine. Think about it as if you missed school for a week because you were sick and you come back and realize that you forgot to get your absent work.
Hope is something everyone has rather it 's hoping to make a team, hoping to get something specific for a holiday, or simply hoping one 's day is good. A survivor has more hope than anyone else they hope to survive, to stay surviving, and for others to survive with them. In the novel, Lord of the flies Ralph has hope that they will be rescued by building a fire, he says to the group “The fire is the most important thing on the island. How can we ever be rescued except by luck, if we don 't keep a fire going?” (Golding 80).
In Chapter 9-14 Holden Caulfield leaves Penecy Prep and heads to New York City. Where he will stay for a couple days before winter vacation starts and he will head home. Delaying breaking the news to his family he got kicked out of school for as long as possible. These chapters are where Holden’s loneliness becomes abundantly clear. The reader is subjected to many long rants by Holden about the company he wants, though he attempts to settle several times.
Hope is a feeling inside you that makes feel like you can do anything. When you have that feeling you set yourself up for success and it makes you want to live life like a fairytale. The war started at Valley Forge, George Washington made an army that he had hoped for. Then the British came and forced war over them. “The harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph.”
Hope can consist of staying positive even through the most calamitous of times, remembering some of your precious memories, and even waiting patiently for good outcomes. Having hope can help you overcome obstacles that you may have thought were unfeasible to surpass. There may be times where hope seems out of your grasps. Yo may even start feeling like there is no point in having hope, but a positive attitude can help a tremendous amount when handling conflict. Having something taken from your grasps makes you want to fight for it, but waiting patiently and having hope can also get the lost item back.
The journey to the tree is the journey to rebirth and hope. In the Holy Bible, a tree symbolizes hope and rebirth. In the second chapter of the Holy Bible, Adam and Eve eat from the the tree of knowledge of good and evil (Taylor-Weiss). As a result, God punishes Adam and Eve for disobeying by kicking them out from the Garden of Eden. Human life changed after God cursed creation.
Hope can mean many things, it can also be represented by different things. In the book Lord of the Flies hope is represented by the fire. It's a chance at getting off the island. “A fire! Make a fire!”(Golding 52).
A Northern Light Everyone has dealt with hope. They’ve either had it, or they didn’t. Whether they had hoped to get a job they wanted, hoped to get into a good college, or as simple as hoping to get good grades. Hope is something that is available for everyone, it's just a matter if they believe in it. Hope is sometimes a last resort for people.
In the Merrriam-Webster dictionary, hope is defined as; to cherish a desire with anticipation. However, those words don't convey the meaning deep enough, hope is more than that. Hope is a feeling deep in the gut, a motivating force, for some hope is everything. Hope must be stronger than any fear and it must have fight in it. Lina Vilkas, a fifteen year old Lithuanian, she fights for hope.