A Resilient Hope
All I Want for Christmas
James Merritt
Titus 2:11-14
Introduction
1. Many years ago French scientists once experimented on a criminal who had been convicted for murder and sentenced to death. The condemned man was strapped to a table and told that an artery in his arm was to be severed and that he would bleed to death in a matter of minutes.
2. The scientists proceeded with the experiment, but they only made a very superficial wound on the surface of this man's skin, but didn't tell him that. They then poured warm water over his arm which he thought was his blood. In just a few minutes he died because he had been convinced there was no more hope. (1)
3. That doesn't surprise me. It has been said that man can live about forty days without food, about three days without water, and about eight minutes without air dash - but only one second without hope. Frankly, if you're like me you have been in situations at times where you felt not just helpless, but hopeless. Perhaps, you feel like you're in a marriage that is hopeless. Perhaps, your finances are in such a mess you feel like any chance of recovery is hopeless or you've been looking for a job and you've gone to interview after interview and you feel like your chances for employment are hopeless.
4. We're doing a series that I've entitled "All I Want for Christmas." There are three things that I want for Christmas that will always perfectly fit me for where I am in my life, that will never disappoint me, that I would never want to trade for anything else, and in fact they truly are gifts that keep on giving. I told you last week my first gift is a redeeming faith - a faith that truly connects me with God now and forever. The second gift I want is a resilient hope. I want a hope that I know will not be denied, cannot be defeated, and will not disappoint.
5. In a New Testament book called Titus, in the second chapter, I want to show you where you can not just find that kind of ...
All I Want for Christmas
James Merritt
Titus 2:11-14
Introduction
1. Many years ago French scientists once experimented on a criminal who had been convicted for murder and sentenced to death. The condemned man was strapped to a table and told that an artery in his arm was to be severed and that he would bleed to death in a matter of minutes.
2. The scientists proceeded with the experiment, but they only made a very superficial wound on the surface of this man's skin, but didn't tell him that. They then poured warm water over his arm which he thought was his blood. In just a few minutes he died because he had been convinced there was no more hope. (1)
3. That doesn't surprise me. It has been said that man can live about forty days without food, about three days without water, and about eight minutes without air dash - but only one second without hope. Frankly, if you're like me you have been in situations at times where you felt not just helpless, but hopeless. Perhaps, you feel like you're in a marriage that is hopeless. Perhaps, your finances are in such a mess you feel like any chance of recovery is hopeless or you've been looking for a job and you've gone to interview after interview and you feel like your chances for employment are hopeless.
4. We're doing a series that I've entitled "All I Want for Christmas." There are three things that I want for Christmas that will always perfectly fit me for where I am in my life, that will never disappoint me, that I would never want to trade for anything else, and in fact they truly are gifts that keep on giving. I told you last week my first gift is a redeeming faith - a faith that truly connects me with God now and forever. The second gift I want is a resilient hope. I want a hope that I know will not be denied, cannot be defeated, and will not disappoint.
5. In a New Testament book called Titus, in the second chapter, I want to show you where you can not just find that kind of ...
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