Message Notes for August 20, 2023
Series: Real Hope
Title: Hope in Jesus opens the door to eternal life 

We can hope in lots of things to save our lives, hope in Jesus to give us eternal life, gives life now its purpose and meaning.

Our hope is not in something, but in someone – Jesus!

1 Corinthians 15:19 And if our hope in Christ is only for this life, we are more to be pitied than anyone in the world.

1 Peter 1:3-6 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials…

How does this hope for eternity change how we live today?

1. If we are the eternal work of God, then we are also the present work of God.
   
   2 Corinthians 5:17-18 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God.
   

2. f we have the hope of eternity, then what we do now is prepare for it. Ecclesiastes 1:2-8
   
   

3. If we have the hope of eternity, it takes away the fear of death today. Philippians 1:23-24, Revelation 21:5
   
   

4. If we have the hope of eternity, we are at peace with God’s timeline toward perfection and the impact of our time on earth.
   
   

   How does all this hope become real for us?

   • When we give our lives to Jesus.

   Romans 6:3-4 Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.
   

Family/Study Group Notes for August 20, 2023
Series: Real Hope
Title: Hope in Jesus opens the door to eternal life 

• Discuss among your family or community group how knowing you have eternal life with Jesus affects the hope in your heart today.
  
• Read 1 Corinthians 15:12-18. What is Paul, the writer wanting people to understand? What do you identify most in this passage? Why does he share verse 18? What would change about our hope for today if there was no life after death? How would life, decisions and actions be different?
  
• Read 2 Corinthians 5: 6-19. What does it mean to regard no one according to the flesh (that is those who are in Christ)? If we are fleshly beings, how are we created new in Christ? What is the promise in this passage? What expectations are set in this passage?
  
• Philippians 1:21-26. How does Paul express the joy of eternity? Why would he rather be with Christ? What does he see as his obligation on earth? How does this inspire your walk with Christ? How does it give you hope? How can this remove some of the fear in death?
  
• Read Revelation 21:1-7. What do you think heaven will be like? What would new on the earth be like? What would being new in our bodies be like? What is the promise in this passage?
  
• Gather with each other and pray for the hope in Jesus to grow and increase your joy in serving Him each day.