Hopeful Perseverance

The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad; the desert shall rejoice and blossom like the crocus; it shall blossom abundantly and rejoice with joy and singing. The glory of Lebanon shall be given to it, the majesty of Carmel and Sharon. They shall see the glory of the Lord, the majesty of our God. Strengthen the weak hands, and make firm the feeble knees. Say to those who have an anxious heart, "Be strong; fear not! Behold, your God will come with vengeance, with the recompense of God. He will come and save you." Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped; then shall the lame man leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute sing for joy. For waters break forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert; the burning sand shall become a pool, and the thirsty ground springs of water; in the haunt of jackals, where they lie down, the grass shall become reeds and rushes. And a highway shall be there, and it shall be called the Way of Holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it. It shall belong to those who walk on the way; even if they are fools, they shall not go astray. No lion shall be there, nor shall any ravenous beast come up on it; they shall not be found there, but the redeemed shall walk there. And the ransomed of the Lord shall return and come to Zion with singing; everlasting joy shall be upon their heads; they shall obtain gladness and joy, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away. - Isaiah 35:1‭-‬10 ESV

Justin Kim

Hope for the weary

The promise is given from God that He shall redeem the land. In the previous chapters, the prophet Isaiah warns Israel against trusting in other nations rather than God. This chapter is juxtaposed against that and speaks of how life can be found in trusting in God. In God, there is life, healing, and salvation. We are called to place our how in God and He will heal, revive, and save. This isn't just for the first day we place our faith in God, but for everyday Christian living. This is the foundation of what it means to be a Christian. He will come and save, not just the first time, but day after day. Jesus isn't just our savior, but we must also acknowledge Him as Lord over our lives. It's isn't just about celebrating Jesus as savior, but also living day to day with Jesus as Lord. Jesus isn't just a ticket to heaven, he is also about saving us from ourselves, from our self reliance.

Hope fulfilled

God speaks about redemption and hope in Zion. The kingdom of God is here, but also not yet. The salvation of God is already here in Christ. We are saved and secure because of Jesus. Yet we are not in heaven, Jesus at his first coming is an inauguration of the kingdom of heaven. We should celebrate it, but we should also pray and wait eagerly for the full coming of heaven on earth. Thanksgiving has just passed. The best moment for me is isn't just the fully stacked plate of dinner, but rather that first "test" bite when the fresh turkey comes out and is getting cut into probs. The first bite reassures us that the coming full dinner will be great. So it is for the Christian, the taste we have of heaven will point to coming fullness of the kingdom. Do we remember this? Do we hunger for the coming fullness of heaven? Let us return to the promise of God and the fullness to come. Let us submit to the Lord everything and every area of our lives.

False hope and the real thing

See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ. For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, and you have been filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority. In him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead. And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him. - Colossians 2:8‭-‬15 ESV

Rev. Travis Drake

This is a letter written by Paul. It is written to a church in Collosi. This church is located in what is now modern day Turkey. It is to correct the church and bring them back to the real thing and away from the counterfeit/fake. In our world there are plenty of counterfeits. Many counterfeits to address our ills. How do we avoid spiritual fakes? How do we recognize them?

The Warning

Paul is trying to bring our awareness to something. It isn't a quiet word, but more like "Hey!" This is something that is coming and we need to be prepared. What is it? It is that we should beware of empty hopes and philosophies. These are lifestyles and philosophies that promise life, prosperity, and fulfillment. But they will not deliver on those promises. Paul is telling believers to watch out for these scams. The counterfeit hopes are coming to us. It isn't just a warning to the foolish or inattentive or unbeliever, but for us. We can stare at a spiritual forgery and invest into a scam that comes to nothing in the end.

The Counterfeit

Paul references aceticism and mysticism. The former is denying ourselves of pleasure and joys to make progress. Or the latter is looking for special hidden knowledge... Like looking for a prophecy from God for our lives. How does this happen? There are elements of the original of the truth. The counterfeit must speak to the fact that we are broken and we need something else. We need to do something more, work harder, and know more in order to be right. We desire fulfillment and there's nothing wrong with that, but we think we can fix it. We can fix ourselves.

The Remedy

Jesus is fulfillment. He is joy. He is the unfading, undying, glorious fullness. He is the healing we need. We need to stop trying. Instead of waiting for fulfillment, we need to consider that in Jesus, we have it; we have it all. Whatever dreams our hopes we have are still small, Jesus promises a fuller hope, a fuller dream. He wants more than just our small hopes for us. Jesus is circumcising our hearts. It isn't us doing this, it is Him. And it doesn't need our additional work, He's finished it.

Application

1. Come back to the Gospel (lean into the finished work of Jesus)

2. Find how we seek our false hopes (and lay them down)

Ain't nothing like the real thing - Marvin Gayle

https://youtu.be/Jz_D-greh8Q

Why should we prioritize reaching the unreached?

For I tell you that Christ became a servant to the circumcised to show God's truthfulness, in order to confirm the promises given to the patriarchs, and in order that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy. As it is written, "Therefore I will praise you among the Gentiles, and sing to your name." And again it is said, "Rejoice, O Gentiles, with his people." And again, "Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles, and let all the peoples extol him." And again Isaiah says, "The root of Jesse will come, even he who arises to rule the Gentiles; in him will the Gentiles hope." 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. I myself am satisfied about you, my brothers, that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge and able to instruct one another. But on some points I have written to you very boldly by way of reminder, because of the grace given me by God to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles in the priestly service of the gospel of God, so that the offering of the Gentiles may be acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit. In Christ Jesus, then, I have reason to be proud of my work for God. For I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me to bring the Gentiles to obedience—by word and deed, by the power of signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God—so that from Jerusalem and all the way around to Illyricum I have fulfilled the ministry of the gospel of Christ; and thus I make it my ambition to preach the gospel, not where Christ has already been named, lest I build on someone else's foundation, but as it is written, "Those who have never been told of him will see, and those who have never heard will understand." This is the reason why I have so often been hindered from coming to you. But now, since I no longer have any room for work in these regions, and since I have longed for many years to come to you, I hope to see you in passing as I go to Spain, and to be helped on my journey there by you, once I have enjoyed your company for a while. - Romans 15:8‭-‬24 ESV

Rev. S.Ewing

Why? God has a mission to reach all the people for his glory. So the church must prioritize the mission of God.

God has a mission to reach all people's for his glory and the church is called to the same mission

Paul was calling both Jews and gentiles to unity in the church. He tells them that they are both needed. First he speaks of how the word first came to the Jews. Then he calls for the fulfillment of the word in bringing the gentiles into God's family/kingdom. Paul speaks of the gentiles six times in six verses. He references the Old Testament which both gentiles and Jews use. Missions isn't a personal hobby. It comes from God. The bible is a missional book. So the church must be on mission as well. The verses speak of God subduing the nations and then calling them into worship. How? This is only possible by the sacrifice of Jesus. From rebels, to saved, to worshippers... This is the theme, this is our story. Not only just the gentiles, but also the Jews. It is the story of every Christian. God wants to win our hearts and receive our praise & worship. Missions isn't primarily about salvation, it is about God's glory. Salvation of people is important, but God's glory is ultimate.

We cannot go on missions on our own power. Going overseas is difficult. How then? We are first objects of God's mission before we are the means of God's mission. Worship and missions are married. They are not in conflict. Paul's worship is bringing more worshippers to God.

We must prioritize the unreached

The church must prioritize the unreached because God is on a mission for those who don't know him. Paul says that there are places where people don't know God and places with no foundation. What does that mean? It means places with no Christian witness. A foundation is coded language to mean a church. So places where there is no church. This is what we understand as unreached people. There is no one actively working for the resurrection of those people.

We must use God's resources

Paul wants to go to Spain. Not Spain like today, there are no Christians there. Paul asks for help on his journey. What does that mean? In that day and age, it means to pave the way to send someone with them. It means to provide resources, maybe even send people to go with them, to be refreshed & encouraged for their journey. So let's summarize, it means material, financial, & spiritual support. We don't just send them and say bye. It means sending short term teams. It means sending long term missions team members. It means praying for them as the missionaries go thru hardship.