येशू हाम्रो एकमात्र आशा, -सामुएल बुढाथोकी

Introduction Christmas has come and it’s over. New year is here. We are looking forward to it with new hope and, encouragement. We celebrated the birth of Jesus Christ. Jesus was not only born but he also lived, suffered, died and rose on the third day and he is coming again. This is the fulness of the gospel that we proclaim. We have made goals and plans in the previous years, but we know many of us have not been able to it follow through. Goals and plans will fail. It’s not wrong to make plans and set goals but we cannot always fulfill them and certainly we leave them half-way through when things get tough. Therefore, it isn’t enough to make plans and set goals, we also need to look to the one who is able to accomplish them for us. Let’s look at from 1 Peter 1:3-9, three things that might help us look forward to the New Year with renewed hope. Jesus has come, suffered, died and rose from the dead and he is coming again. Therefore, 1.We have a living hope (3-4)Hope is something that helps us look forward to the future. We all hope for something (return of investment, promotion, graduation etc). The difference between Christian and worldly hope is that the worldly hope is a hope without God. It does not have a power to change hopelessness into hope. But Christian hope has a power (the resurrection power) to change our hopelessness into a living hope because Jesus has been raised from the dead. Jesus is the source of our hope, and this living hope is found nowhere else other than Jesus. 2.Our future is secure (4)Why do people work so hard? What are they looking for? Why are they not happy with what they have? People are looking for secure future in places like: •Wealth and money – people think that if they invest certain amount of money that will earn this much in the future and the future will be secure. •Job – If I get this kind of job and paid this much money, my life will be secure. People look for security in their profession. •Relationship – people look for security in marriages. Why many marriages have problems? It’s because they think that marriage will provide security for them and when they don’t find it, they become unhappy, and problems starts to rise. Our ultimate hope is in Jesus because he has made it right what has gone wrong. 3.There is joy in the middle of suffering (5)It’s hard to go through suffering. We have experienced suffering of many sorts in our lives. It is painful. We panic when it comes. However, as Christians we can rejoice in our suffering. The reasons why we can rejoice in suffering is because: •We are called to suffer (1 Pet. 2:21)•Suffering has a goal (1 Pet. 1:7)In summary, if you are in Christ, you have a living hope, your future is secure and there is joy in suffering. If you are not a Christian, sadly you won’t have all of these. If you are not a Christ, I encourage you to know who Jesus is and what he can offer. If you are a Christian, you might not have these with you either. Pray that God will grant hope, security and joy in your life. Life without living hope, feeling secure of present and the future and joy cannot glorify God.

Om Podcasten

Podcast by Cross-Way Nepal: Here you will find the Biblical and Contextually Relevant Sermons recorded live at Cross-Way Church, Lalitpur Nepal. These sermons are in the Nepali language.