The Power of Hope

Ever FaithfulJoe Cotroneo
Written By Olivia Zurawski

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Hope is a powerful force.  When you hear the stories of someone fighting for survival, what often keeps them alive and moving forward is a finish line of hope.  They hope to see their family again.  They hope to be able to hug their wife and hold their kids. When there is a finish line of hope, we will endure much to taste the goodness of that finish line because the hope of the future outweighs the troubles of the present. This week we begin a letter of hope.  This is a warm letter from Paul to Christians in a city called Thessalonica.  These Jesus followers are joyfully enduring much because of a coming hope they are confident in.  Do you need some hope in life?  Need to know that the hope of the future outweighs the weight of the present?  Join us for the next 12 weeks as together we go on a journey of hope!  You are loved.

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More from this series:

Sermons
Five Signs of a Flourishing Faith Family
Ever Faithful, Brock Graham
Five Signs of a Flourishing Faith Family
Ever Faithful, Brock Graham

Have you ever walked away from a dinner with a family you recently met and said, "Wow, they have something special going on"? You could sense a close bond between them. You could feel a respect the kids had for their parents, and a deep love from the parents to their kids. It was evident that their marriage was in a place of thriving. Your time with them made an imprint on your heart of what you longed your family to one day be.

All of us want to be a part of a flourishing family. And all of us want to be a part of a flourishing faith family. But what defines or characterizes a church, or faith family, that is flourishing together? This week, we close our study in the book of 1 Thessalonians by learning five signs of a flourishing faith family.

May these traits define our church, and may we seek these things amongst our family of faith for the rest of our days.

Ever Faithful, Brock Graham
What I Need to Know about the Rapture
Ever Faithful, Brock Graham
What I Need to Know about the Rapture
Ever Faithful, Brock Graham

Do you remember watching the Left Behind movie as a kid, and as the movie finished and the credits scrolled, all you could do was sit there wide-eyed and paralyzed in fear. This is a common reaction for Christians when faced with the topic of the rapture and the second coming of Christ. Many believers associate the rapture with fear.

But what if this beautiful doctrine and truth of Jesus returning for His people is meant to produce comfort and encouragement, not fear and trembling for the believer? This week, we talk about Jesus coming back and the hope, joy, and encouragement that this brings to those who believe.

But what if you are still fearful about this? What if it produces more uneasiness than comfort? We talk about how you can walk away from this message more excited than ever for the reality that Jesus is coming back. This can be the day your fear over this topic subsides.

Ever Faithful, Brock Graham
By This All the World Will Know
Ever Faithful, Brock Graham
By This All the World Will Know
Ever Faithful, Brock Graham

Jesus said something pretty astounding in regards to how His followers would show the world that they were truly his followers. He said, "By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another." Our love for each other communicates our following of Jesus. This week, we study a passage that spurs us on to greater love for each other in the family of God. And in it we find 3 ways we can exercise a deep love for each other. Here's the thing, these 3 ways to show love to your brother aren't things we often think about. So let's grow in our love for each other as we study some practical ways for us to extend the love of Christ that we have so generously received.

Ever Faithful, Brock Graham
God's Will for Your Life!
Ever Faithful, Brock Graham
God's Will for Your Life!
Ever Faithful, Brock Graham

Is it God's will for me to go to that college? Is it God's will for me to marry that person? Is it the will of God for me to make that career change? One of the leading questions for Christians centers around the will of God for our lives. We pray for clarity for it. We sometimes do funny things looking for "signs" of it. It can paralyze us from doing anything for fear that we are doing something outside the will of God. But what if there are passages of scripture that tell us flat out what God's will for our life is, how we pursue it, and why we should pursue it? What if God's word is that clear about? Good news: It is! And this week's passage is one of those "God's will clarifying" passages. But what if God's will is way different than we often think about it? Let's study this together.

Ever Faithful, Brock Graham
Don't Waste Your Suffering
Ever Faithful, DJ Blatherwick
Don't Waste Your Suffering
Ever Faithful, DJ Blatherwick

Waste… It literally means a bad use of something valuable that you only have a limited amount of. I don't know many people who would say, "sign me up for that." None of us like to waste something. If we're going to do something, we want to get all that we can out of it. We've seen that the Thessalonian church has gone through affliction. Following Jesus has been difficult, to say the least, in their context. They've suffered for the decision to follow Jesus. In the midst of all this, Paul wants to make sure they don't waste their suffering. It's possible for them to walk through all these difficult things… and it be a waste. However, we're going to see that they're not just making it through their suffering…they're thriving in their suffering. It's possible for us to do the same. Listen for 3 ways to make sure we're suffering well and not wasting it.

Ever Faithful, DJ Blatherwick
The Priority of people
Ever Faithful, Brock Graham
The Priority of people
Ever Faithful, Brock Graham

Imagine the Apostle Paul standing before Jesus, and Jesus asking him to point to the greatest accomplishment in his life. Imagine all the ways Paul could answer:

The missionary journeys he could point to. Some extremely productive sermon he preached. A visit to a city that brought many to the Lord. A resume of accomplishments with his life.

And yet, in the passage this week, Paul tells us what his crowning accomplishment before Jesus is…It's people. What if our greatest joy in life will come not from ultimately pouring into projects and products, but what if it will come from pouring into people? And how do we become someone who makes the people in our lives one of our greatest priorities? This week we will see 3 principles from 1 Thessalonians of what our lives will look like when we make people one of our greatest priorities.

Ever Faithful, Brock Graham
People of the Word
Ever Faithful, Brock Graham
People of the Word
Ever Faithful, Brock Graham

If God spoke, would you listen? So often I hear people say, "I just wish God would speak to me…" Good news…He has! He has spoken His very word to us, and we have it at our fingertips. We can carry it around with us, we can turn to it whenever we need. In fact, God says His word has everything we need to live this life. Now we turn to four verses that will give us a greater passion to study, meditate, memorize, and become people of the word. We will see His word for what it is, and we will leave with a greater passion to build our lives on the foundation of His word.

Ever Faithful, Brock Graham
A Gospel Show and Tell
Ever Faithful, Brock Graham
A Gospel Show and Tell
Ever Faithful, Brock Graham

"So, being affectionately desirous of you, we were ready to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own selves, because you had become very dear to us." In this verse you can literally feel the love of the Apostle for these Jesus followers in Thessalonica. He shared with them the message of love that saved them and he showed them that message of love in how he lived with them. We have a message to share. If we have been saved by the gospel we are called to spread that gospel. In this scripture, we will see 5 "must-knows" of showing and telling the gospel. May we equip ourselves this weekend to tell the gospel with our mouths and show the gospel with our lives. You are loved.

Ever Faithful, Brock Graham
A Viral Faith
Ever Faithful, Brock Graham
A Viral Faith
Ever Faithful, Brock Graham

We live in a day when a picture or song or video can be posted online and within 24 hours be viewed by hundreds of thousands of people. When something like this catches and spreads, we have a saying for it…it has "gone viral". This week we will see that the faith of the Thessalonians and what God is doing in their midst has "gone viral" in a world where the saying didn't yet exist. People are talking about the faith of these people all over the region, and all over the world. What was it about the Thessalonians' faith that led to a viral impact for the Lord? And what would a vibrant and viral walk with the Lord look like for us today? Don't miss this message and the 3 elements to a virally contagious life that will lead to impact for the Lord far beyond what we could imagine.

Ever Faithful, Brock Graham
The Power of Hope
Ever Faithful, Joe Cotroneo
The Power of Hope
Ever Faithful, Joe Cotroneo

Hope is a powerful force.  When you hear the stories of someone fighting for survival, what often keeps them alive and moving forward is a finish line of hope.  They hope to see their family again.  They hope to be able to hug their wife and hold their kids. When there is a finish line of hope, we will endure much to taste the goodness of that finish line because the hope of the future outweighs the troubles of the present. This week we begin a letter of hope.  This is a warm letter from Paul to Christians in a city called Thessalonica.  These Jesus followers are joyfully enduring much because of a coming hope they are confident in.  Do you need some hope in life?  Need to know that the hope of the future outweighs the weight of the present?  Join us for the next 12 weeks as together we go on a journey of hope!  You are loved.

Ever Faithful, Joe Cotroneo
Olivia Zurawski https://www.makerscc.com
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A Viral Faith