Where does godliness in this present life or this present age come from? Now, the reason I use that phrase, this present life or this present age is that's coming right out of the text of scripture that we're gonna be looking at in a little bit. But it represents this time of rebellion against God, this living in a time where people aren't acknowledging God. So how in that climate, do you live godly lives? You live passionate lives, that you have a zeal for Christ in that kind of climate and situation. And we want to know, where does that come from? How do you get that? Now, if you would call yourself a Christian, would you say that you have a passion for Jesus Christ, that you have a zeal to glorify God in all of your life? Is it kind of this excited energy to follow Christ or maybe over the course of your life, for whatever reasons that you've grown, to use, like, a Bible word for this, a bit lukewarm, you know, like a cup of coffee that's sat out too long, and then you go to drink it, and it's nasty. Now, I think coffee's nasty all the time, but it's just kind of that. Luke, some of you are, like, really upset by that comment. You might have an idol just saying. Or maybe let's get a little bit more personal. Maybe you've been married for a long time and you're still married, but you've lost kind of that spark and that passion in your marriage. Is that description fitting for your christian life, that you've lost a zeal, and how do you get it back? Where does it come from? Because don't you want to have a zeal for the Lord? Don't you want that in your kids? Don't you want that in your spouse? Don't you want to be a part of a church that has a passion and a zeal for Christ? Right. That was confusing. Like, you don't know if you're looking for a response or not, but, like, we all, we want that. Like, we want to be a part of that. Well, where does that, where does that come from, and how do we recapture that? And let me give you the answer to that. And then I want to spend some time just kind of supporting that answer. But that comes from hopefully, like, our zeal for the Lord kind of comes out of a hope in the promises of God. Now, basically, you can think of it this way. Biblical hope is different than worldly hope. The way the world uses the word hope is this kind of wishful thinking that there may be good odds that it would happen. There may not be good odds that it would happen. You could have hope that you'll win the lottery. Not going to happen. Right. Not a lot of good odds for that. But you could have a hope that you'll get the promotion. Maybe you do got good odds for that. But. But it's not really based on anything. It's just kind of wishful thinking. That's not the case when the Bible uses the word hope. So let me give you a definition that we can kind of work from. Biblical hope is a confident expectation on good, based on promises from a trustworthy source. And that trustworthy source is God. We're believing in his promises, and hope is like this confident expectation that his promises will come to pass. And hope is at the core of Christianity. Like, you can't take hope out of Christianity. You do that, you lose Christianity. It's so essential. In fact, let's look at some passages that point us to that. This is romans 15 four. For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction that through endurance and through the encouragement of the scriptures, we might have what? Hope. Hope. Right. Basically saying everything that's been written in the Bible is to result in our hope. All the scriptures, everything, kind of supposed to produce hope in us, hope is a very important thing. Let's go again. Ephesians 118. Having the eyes of your heart enlightened that you may know what is the hope? Hope. Right. Let's for. Just a rule, just for this morning, when we say hope, let's not make it sound so dreary. Right. Let's just try to. So anyway, know, what is the hope? There you go. To which he has called you. What are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints? So hope is what we've been called. Called to as christians. Let's look at one more. One. Peter, one, three. 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. Yeah. Through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. So this new life that we've been born again into is one that is defined by hope. Like, we should be filled with hope. That is kind of part of being a Christian. And we'll see in a bit. We'll try to point it out. But if there's a zeal problem, there's a hope problem. If there's an absence, a passion, devotion to God, that there's a hope problem behind that. Now, maybe a message for another time. If there's a hope problem. Then there's a faith problem. So in Romans 1513, I believe we'll look at it a little further on. But it's the God of hope. May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing. So it's in believing that we find this hope. So if there's a zeal problem, there's a hope problem. And if there's a hope problem, there's a faith problem. But I want to look at the connection between hope and our zeal and our passion this morning. So here's the question. Do you have a hope problem? And there's a lot of maybe different kinds of hope problems. Maybe you have really fragile hope. Like, you can have hope, but it just breaks really easy as soon as something doesn't go your way or something didn't work out the way you hoped it to, like, it just kind of breaks apart. Maybe fragile hope. Maybe you have misplaced hope. Pope Paul warns in one Timothy six to warn the rich not to put their hope in the richest. Like, do you put your hope in the wrong things? You put it in your spouse, you put it in your income, put it in your job. Do you have misplaced hope? Do you have a worn out hope? Like, you've just been let down so many times, your hope is just worn thin. Like, you might hear people say, I don't want to get my hopes up. You hear a cyclone fan say that a lot. Like, I don't want to get my hopes up. It's like, I'm so used to just disappointment right now. If you have a worn down hope or a fragile hope, you probably have a misplaced hope. Or maybe you just have missing hope. Like, it's just not there. You're negative about everything. Like, everything to you is just, like, this is what's wrong. You're just kind of like, you've been around those people, right? Maybe you are one of those people. Like, you're just negative about everything. Everything is bad. Is that you think about it for yourself. When you reflect on yourself, are you more driven by fear, worry, anxiety, anger, frustration than you are hope? Like, I'm not saying we're not gonna deal with those emotions, but. But do those emotions drive you and your personality and your demeanor more so than hope does? Are you a pessimist? Right. If you're a pessimist now, no pessimist says they're a pessimist. They say they're a realist. And there is a certain sense, like, if you're a Christian, living in Babylon, you're gonna notice some things. Things aren't the way they're supposed to be. Like, it's not wrong for a Christian to have discernment and then look and see in our broken world. Like, that is messed up. That's wrong. That shouldn't be that way. Like, you can see that. But there's this kind of demeanor of defeat behind that. That should not be for a Christian. For a Christian, to be a realist is to be optimistic about the future. Like, that's the connection of our faith. It ends. Well, I mean, for a Christian, it's not just that change is possible when you look into the broken world. No, it's going to happen. Like, eventually, the clouds will part, our king will come, and he will make all things new. There's that sense of eternal optimism that should come from a Christian. For a Christian, we're the type of people who can look at a grave and be like, yeah, it's not over yet. Like, buried dead. And be like, yes, the story's not done yet. Here's what I want us to get across, especially in a world that is driven by, like, 24 hours news negative. The world's coming to an end. And we're like, yeah, it is. We already read about it. It's a pretty good ending. But I want us to know, guys, hope is real. For the Christian, hope is real. Being optimistic about the future is an essential, natural outcome of faith. And hope is something we need to recapture as a group of people. So if you got your bibles, Titus, chapter two is our main text. We'll look at a handful of others, but that's going to be our main text. Titus, chapter two, verses eleven through 14. You guys ready to go? All right, let's look at this. I'm going to read it all, and then we'll kind of back up and look at it. For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed, the appearing of the glory of our great God and savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us, to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession, who are zealous for good works. Now, there is an important detail in here about people who are zealous for good works, who have renounced ungodliness and worldly passions, who are living self controlled and upright, godly lives in this present age. So in THIs PRESenT age, this time of difficulty and opposition towards the things of God, the people that are still zealous for the lord, still passionate of living for him, there is a detail in this text that is important, and that is they're waiting. Now, there's a description of, like, who they are, these people that are zealous for good works, and they pronounce UNGAHlA. But what they're doing is they're waiting. And what specifically are they waiting for? Look at verse 13. They're waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and savior jesus CHRIsT. They're waiting for the appearing of christ, the second coming of jesus christ. Now, this text, you get actually the first coming of Christ and the second coming of Christ. So verse eleven is for the grace of God has appeared, past tense, bringing salvation for all people. And that was Jesus. That was the cross, the tomb, the resurrection. Like, that happened. And then you get down. We're waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing, like, future tense of the glory of our great God and savior, Jesus Christ. And what Paul is saying we're waiting for is the return of our savior. We're waiting for Jesus to come back. And why is it called a blessed hope? Well, it speaks to how awesome that is. Maybe you haven't spent enough time thinking about that. Like, he's coming back. He will make all things new. He will wipe every tear from your eye. There'll be no more pain, no more mourning, no more death. Like, are you getting that? Like, that can seem like an odd belief for christians. Like, seriously, when you think about the return of Christ, let's just be real. It can seem a little fairy tale ish, can it? Like, we're just kind of, you know, struggling through this broken world, waiting to be rescued, to have a happily ever after. You know, we, the bride of Christ is just like Cinderella or sleeping beauty, and we're waiting for our prince charming gonna come to our rescue. And sometimes people are like, you really believe that? Like, yeah, you want in? Cause it's awesome. But it's not like a foolish hope. It's not like this kind of. This wishful thinking, this hope that we have is built on promises and history. That's why we said a biblical hope is this confident expectation of good in the future coming from a trustworthy source. Our hope is based in the promises of our savior who has kept his promises in the past. Let's look at some of them. This is John 14. Let your hearts not be troubled, or let not your hearts be troubled. Why would they be troubled? Cause you're living in this present age. It says, believe in God, believe also in me. In my father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and I will take you to myself. That where I am, you may be also. He's saying, I'm going away, but I'm coming back for you. While I'm away, I'm preparing something for us, and we're going to be together. That is a promise our savior made. Let's look at one more. We'll look at a couple more. This is acts, chapter one. And when he had said these things, these things were like the great commission. You're going to be my witnesses. Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, to the ends of the earth. When he said these things, as they were looking on him, he was lifted up and a cloud took him out of their sight. And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes and said, men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who is taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven. So you got the eleven disciples at this point staring up into the sky, and for good reason, because Jesus just floated away on a cloud. Where do you think you're going to be looking up? Then you have two men, says, dressed in white robes. That wasn't just like an awkward outfit. These are angels that show up by them and they ask, I don't want to be arrogant, and say, angels ask dumb questions. That's kind of a dumb question. What are you looking at? Right? What do you think we're looking at? But they're not like honestly saying, no, really, what are you looking at? They're saying, didn't he tell you to do something? Like, let's go. What are you just staring up in the sky for? He's given you the great commission. Like, let's get to it. But there's this promise that, hey, just as you saw him leave, you're going to see him return. It gives a promise given to us. Let's look at this promise fulfilled. Revelation, chapter one. Behold, he is coming with the clouds, just like it said. And every eye will see him, even those who pierced him. And all the tribes of the earth will wail on account of him. Even so, amen. So be it. I am the alpha and the omega says, the Lord God, who is and who was and who is to come, he will return. And our hope is based on promises. Not just promises, history. Like look back at verse eleven in our text, for the grace of God has appeared, has appeared, bringing salvation for all people has appeared, past tense, like that happened. Jesus Christ, Emmanuel, God with us was born, lived, died, rose again. That happened. Like our promises, or, excuse me, our hope is a foundation of the promises of God. Like it's built on credibility and history. And it also has real practical impact. Paul's talking about waiting for the appearing of the Lord, waiting for the return of the Lord, and waiting for the appearing of the Lord shapes our living. So when he describes these people who are zealous for good works, who renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, who live self controlled, upright, godly lives in this present age, in this time when it's difficult, how are they doing that? It's in there waiting, like they're waiting. They're this anticipation for the Lord's return. It's kind of shaping how they live and it's based on the credibility of previous promises made and kept. So listen, it's not just that hope is real, which it is for christians. It's not just that hope is real, that hope is real important. Hope's real important. Like, it shapes your life, it shapes your living, it shapes your lifestyle. Let me point this out in a few passages, Hebrews 611 and twelve. And we desire each of you to show the same earnestness, to have the full assurance of what until the end, so that you may not be sluggish, but imitators of those who, through faith and patience, inherit the promises. He's saying, listen, you need to have hope. And if you don't have hope, it's going to show itself in a sluggish lifestyle. What do you mean by that? It's like a lack of zeal and passion for God. Like that comes out of hope. And when you don't have hope, you have a sluggish christian life. Let's look at some other connections. Romans 1513. This is the one we referenced before. May the God of hope. And he's not saying that the God who has hope, although the God does have hope, here's. This is the God who is the giver of hope. He's full of hope, he supplies hope. May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing. So that's that connection to faith, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope that we be full of hope. But if you have hope given to you by God through faith, it expresses itself in joy and peace. If you have a lack of joy and peace, he's saying, you got a lack of hope, and if you're full of hope, it's going to show itself. Enjoy and peace. There's a practical connection. Let's look at another 1 second Corinthians 312. Since we have such a what? Oh, we are very bold. What he's saying is, you know why we're so bold about the gospel? It's because of the hope that we have. Like, our boldness of sharing the gospel with other people is coming out of our hope. So if you're somebody who's like, I don't have a lot of boldness, you may not make that connection, but Paul does, of saying, yeah, yeah, that's a hope problem. Cause if you have hope and you're full of hope, it's gonna express itself in boldness. Hope's practical. Ephesians four four. There is one body and one spirit, just as you were called to the one what hope that belongs to your call. Hope is connected to our unity in how we treat each other, that we are bonded together by the most important thing, a common hope. And if there is disunity in the body, you can trace that back to different people placing their hope in different things. But we are bonded together in unity by this common hope of salvation in Jesus Christ. Let's look at some more first. Thessalonians 413. But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep or those who have died, that you might not grieve as others do who have no hope. Right. Hope shapes even how we grieve. Hope's practical. It has practical implications on your life and people that have no hope. You see it in how they deal with troubles in their life and how they process grief. And when people do have hope, hope in Jesus Christ, specifically this context, it shows in how you even grieve death. Let's look at another one last one. First. Timothy 410. For to this end, we toil and strive because we have our set in the living God who is the savior of all people, especially those who believe. So toil, striving, endurance, perseverance. He's like, yeah, that's hope. That's coming from a hope. You see our endurance or our hope come out in our endurance. Guys, listen to this. Christian hope produces christian living. Christian hope produces christian living. Think of it like this. Let your life with God someday shape your life for God today. That's what Paul's talking about. When we're, like, waiting for the appearing of our great God and savior Jesus Christ, and this kind of demeanor, of that kind of excited anticipation for the return of Christ that's leading to being zealous for good works, living self controlled, godly lives. So you let your life with God someday. You picture that like someday you're going to be with God. Behold his glory made new and spent eternity with him, enjoying him forever. You let the anticipation and the excitement of that day shape how you live today. That's what he's calling them to. And there should be an excitement about that. And that's what impacts our life practically. In fact, we'll see it in Paul here. This is two Timothy four says, I'm already being poured out as a drink offering. Why? Because you're living faithful in this present age and the time of my departure. As death has come, I have fought the good fight. I have finished the race. I have kept the faith. Henceforth, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that day. Which day? The day of his appearing. And not only to me also, but to all who have loved his appearing, this anticipation for this appearing of our Lord. And when he comes, there's rewards coming with that. And I'm living in excited anticipation for that. Let's look at another one. John three. Beloved, we are God's children. Now. That is a reality. That's true now. And what we will be has not yet appeared. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him because we shall see him as he is. You guys get that? Like his appearing means our transformation. When he appears, we change, we get made new. There's this excitement towards that day and everyone who thus what in him purifies himself as he is pure. Let's look at one more. Do we got one more? Yes. So Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin, because he already did that on the cross, but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him. That's a description of the christian life. We're eagerly waiting for the return of Christ. And when you're eagerly waiting for the return of Christ, you live passionately for Christ. That's the connection that we need to see now. You'll see it in our text as well. So look back at our text. Let me read the whole thing for you. It says, for the grace of God has appeared, past tense, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and and worldly passions and to live self controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing future tense of the glory of our great God and savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us, to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession, who are zealous for good works. Now here's what he's saying because of this past tense promise that God will come Immanuel God with us and die on a cross and rise from the grave to redeem us from our sins because of that past tense promise, and then this future promise that we're waiting for his second coming, his appearing. We live in between and we're waiting. We're in this in between and we're waiting. But what he's saying is, by faith, you are being propelled forward by the past fulfilled promises of God because he's a trustworthy source, and you're being pulled into the future by the future promises of God. Like, because God said this was so and he did it, it happened, it accomplished. By faith, we're propelled forward in our christian life, but yet we also look forward to future promises return, and we're being pulled towards that coming of Christ. And that's the momentum that creates zealous, passionate christian lives in this present age. Because in this present age, we have past promises to stand on, and we have future promises to look forward to, and that creates the zeal in our life. Now the question is, do you have it? Like, hope is essential for the christian life, but do you actually have it? Are you someone that really has hope? Like, it's shaping your life, it's shaping your demeanor. There's a threat in our waiting, and the threat is you'd get tired of waiting. And when you get tired of waiting, you settle and you just start living for here and now. You start to remodel your hotel room. You just try to have your best life now. You try to get all your fulfillment now, and you live for the here and now. In fact, Jesus acknowledged this danger. He told five parables about his return, and all five parables pretty much have the same point. Don't stop waiting. Stay awake, stay alert. Be diligent in your waiting. Don't lose hope. It's like, that is great. How, how do we not lose hope? Well, hope is the key to passionate devotion. What's the key to hope? How do we get it? How do we keep it? How do we increase it? If hope grows zealous, what grows hope? And here's what we have to understand. It's a fight to have hope in this present age. It's a fight. In fact, you see this play out in psalm 42, you guys famous psalm. You're probably familiar with this. Why are you cast down, o my soul? Why are you in turmoil within me? It's literally having a fight with his own emotions. Why are you so down? Why are you in turmoil? Then he commands himself, hope in God, for I shall again praise him, my salvation. Now, here's the first thing I want to point out, guys, if you feel that way in the first part of psalm 42 five, and it's just like, why am I down? Why am I so downcast? Why am I feeling so low? Like, I want you to know that is the normal christian life. You are not unique. It is a normal fight to fight for hope. But you gotta fight, and you gotta know how to fight. In this fight for hope. He's drawing hope from future salvation. I will again praise him. My salvation. And that hope of future salvation is built on past faithfulness of God, just like we see in our text in Titus two. So the psalmist is saying, like, I'm looking forward to future salvation, and my confidence in that future salvation is built on the past works of God. Look at verse six, the very next verse. My soul is cast down within me. Therefore, I remember you from the land of Jordan and of Hermon and from Mount Mazar, like these other places where God has shown his faithfulness, where he has shown up. Like, my hope is built on the past faithfulness of God. That gives me confidence in the future promises of God. And it's in that tension where I'm being kind of propelled by the past faithfulness, God, and pulled by the future promises of God. I have zeal and passion in this present age, but you got to know how to fight. Notice he's directing his mind in the fight. I'm going to remember what he has done. I'm going to think about what he will do. I'm going to remember what he has done. I'm going to think about it. What he will do. I'm going to remember what he has done. I'm going to think about what he will do. A fight. You fight in your mind. I think it's pointed out more clearly in one Peter 113. As a command, he says this, therefore, preparing your minds for action and being sober minded. Set your what fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. You know, church, I think sometimes, even though we want to be hope filled people, that we don't do the work to cultivate hope. This is a call to action. Set your hope fully. You set your hope. You have hope. You place it places. Place it in the return of Jesus Christ. Set your hope fully, not partially. Don't diversify your hope. Don't put some here and some there and some there. You set your hope fully on this promise of God, of the return of Jesus Christ. Christ. Prepare your minds for action. You're kind of like, what action? What exactly are we supposed to do with our minds? We are to mentally set our hope there. And this may sound overly simple, but we're to think about the hope producing promises of God and not about the hope sucking circumstances of life. All right, that's the command. Set your hope on the hope producing promises of God and not the hope sucking circumstances of life. In fact, an older translation of this would be like, gird up your loins. When it sucks about set your mind to action, it's like, gird up your loins. So in these times, you'd wear, like, long robes. You can't run in that. You'll trip. So what they do is they would kind of pull them up between their legs and tie them so that they have nothing in their way to run. That's what it means to gird up your loins. So when he's saying, prepare your minds for actions or gird up your loins, it's like you need to get the things out of the way that are tripping you up mentally. You can't keep going back to what's stressing you out. You can't keep going back to what's depressing you. You can't keep going back to what's angering you. That's just tripping you up. You gotta get that out of the way, and then you gotta run. And what does it mean to run? Set your hope on the coming of Jesus Christ. Think about the amazing promises of God. That's how you fight for hope. You gotta get your mind right. In college, before practice, the whole team lined up stretching, getting ready for practice. And my position coach, he would walk the lines and he would say, gotta get your mind right. Better get your mind right. He'd just say that over and over again. And what he's saying is like, you got some grown men, pad it up, and we're getting ready to kill each other. We're gonna try to hit each other as hard as we can. And if you're thinking about your girlfriend or you're thinking about your homework, you're gonna get yourself hurt. So you better dial into what's in front of you. That's what's being said here. Like, we live in a world where our enemy prowls around like a roaring lion looking to devour our faith. And if you don't get your mind right on the things and promises of Jesus Christ, you're gonna get eaten alive. You need to set your hope call to action. I read a book recently that, it's not a christian book, but it was fascinating. It's called bad therapy, why kids aren't growing up. And there was an illustration in there, like, how we can just become slave to our feelings so much. And the illustration was in there, like, if we're climbing Mount Everest together, and about every 200, 300 yards, we stop and we ask ourselves the question of, like, how are you feeling? We're never going to make it to the top, right? Because after a while, you asked me how I'm feeling. I'm just like, I'm feeling tired. I'm feeling like I can't breathe. Well, my feet hurt. Like, you're just going to be trapped in these kind of emotions that stop you. It's like, that's not how you reach the top of Mount Everest. How you reach the top of Mount Everest is you don't ask how you're feeling. You just like, we got to keep going. We got to keep going. We got to get to the top. That's the christian life. That's why Paul says I press on towards the prize, the upward call of God, forgetting what lies ahead. Like, I'm fighting the good fight. That's psalm 42. Why am I so downcast, o my soul? I'm not gonna stop and stay in these depressing feelings. Hope in God. Put my hope on God. Why should I put my hope on God? Because I will again someday praise him, my salvation. Well, how can you be so confident that you will someday again praise him? Because I know what he has done in the past, so I know what he will do in the future. You track it with me. It's a fight for hope. And this fight gets modeled by Jesus Christ. Hebrews twelve two. Why did Christ endure the cross? For the joy set before him. He had a joy that he was living towards. Think of it like this. We're not called to have duty driven Christianity. We're called to have hope driven Christianity. And that's a big difference. And you might miss it because they both get the label Christianity. But a duty driven Christianity is all about what I have to do, and I have to do this. This is what the christians are supposed to do. We gotta climb the mountain, right? Gotta climb the mountain. We're supposed to climb the mountain. That's what christians do. We climb the mountain. That's duty driven Christianity. Hope driven Christianity is God's at the top of the mountain. Let's go, like, let's run towards our savior, let's run towards our maker. It's motivated out of hope, not obligation. As a christian life, we have to constantly be reminding ourselves of the hope that we have. It's what waiting looks like. And everybody's living in this place, present age, but not everybody is eagerly awaiting the return of Jesus Christ. That's what makes us different. And we're not going to be shaped by it if we don't think about it. It's not complicated. You ever notice how so much of the christian life is just reinforcement? We're working from the same book. It hadn't changed. We get together, we sing songs, we teach the Bible. You know what we're going to do next week? Not shocking. Like, so much of the christian life is just like, let's keep reading things we've already read. Let's keep singing songs we've already sang. Let's do it again. Let's do it again. Let's do it again. It's because hope fuels zeal, like we feed on. That's why the word of God is like nourishment and food and living water. Like, it's so important. You don't have. You've had a steak, and somebody offers you a steak next week, and you're like, already had steak? No. Your body burns calories. You need to put more calories in it to function right. Like, if you drive a car, you fuel it by gas, and if you drive it, you're going to burn gas. Gas. And you're going to need to refill the car to keep driving it. Well, if you're going to live a passionate, zealous christian life that's fueled by hope, and if you don't keep filling yourself with the hope of the promises of God, you might grow weary of doing good. As Paul puts it, you got to feed. You've got to feed on the hope of God. Listen, pastor, let me press into you a little bit. Take responsibility for your own hope. Take responsibility for your own hope. You see too many christians being dominated by fear and anxiety and anger and worry. And I'm not saying you're not going to deal with those emotions. You are, because we live in this present age. I'm just saying you ought to fight. You got to tell yourself, hope in God. You got to feed on the promises of God to fuel your hope that fuels your life. Let me put it this way. Fill your mind with the hope of Christ, to fill your life with zeal for Christ. It's important. You ever notice Christ doesn't save us and then just take us out of the world right away. He doesn't just, like, save you and just kill you. He saves us and then leaves us. In this present age, why? Why didn't he come do the salvation and then just, like, set up your kingdom? Now, that would have been nice. Why not just one action? Come down the cross, rise from the grave, let everybody know, set up your kingdom. Why this waiting? Why is the gospel, like, slowly spreading throughout the earth? It's almost like a scattering of salt, scattering of lights. He's saying the world needs to get a taste of something. The world needs to see something. Why did he come and win and then wait? Jesus Christ came to win the game, to change how we play the game. You get that? He came to win the game to change how we play the game, because our future is secure. Because our future is secure in Jesus Christ, that what he accomplished on the cross, it is finished and done, changes the way we play, changes the way we live. We're free. We don't have to try to find our value in this life. We don't have to try to find our validation this life. We don't have to try to find our belonging in this life. We don't have to try to find all our joy and happiness in this life, because this life isn't all there is. And we've been promised this better coming life. Like christians. Listen to me. We are people that no matter what happens, we're good. We're good. We're more than good. We're full of hope and joy and peace. No matter who wins the next election, we're good. Our king is on the throne and he's coming back. No matter what a doctor may tell you, we're good. We're good. I mean, his body's just wasting away anyways, preparing an eternal way to glory to come. My king's coming. I'm good. No matter what strife and difficulty, no matter what the economy does, we're good. And that kind of unshakable hope there's a flavor to that. And the world's starving for it, and they don't even know it. They're looking for it in all the wrong places. And they need to get a taste of the hope that only Jesus Christ can supply. And I hope, and I pray that whenever they get a sample of Veritas church, that's what they get a taste of, that we would be a people full of hope. Amen. Let's pray. Father, I bet a lot of us, myself included, have been glued to. To information and just feeding on information so long, so often, that just stirs up anger, frustration, depression, worry, anxiety. Remind us of the hope that we have in Jesus Christ. Help us to feed on your promises that the main driving demeanor of our lives would be hope that we know our future is secure in you. We pray this in your name. Amen.