The Resurrection of Hope, Rev. Dr. Howard-John Wesley

0:24 Lord, today we sit as recipients of answered prayer. And for that we are thankful. For hearing our feeble cry and yet answering. When we didn't know what to pray for, you still answered. When we asked for what we wanted, you gave us what you willed. And we thank you for answering prayer. somebody's asking you God to speak to their life and their heart right now please don't allow my faults and my frailties to stand in the way of your glory speak Lord for your servants are listening in Jesus name we pray amen beloved if you would turn with me in your bibles or on your devices this morning to the last chapter of the gospel of Luke the third book of the new testament the gospel of Luke I want to read in your hearing from that 24th chapter, from the New International Version, verses 13 through 32.

1:31 Luke chapter 24, verses 13 through 32. And when you have found that, if you're physically able, would you stand with us together? We might reverence the reading of the Word of God from Luke chapter 24, beginning in verse number 13. Listen for the Word of the Lord. Now the same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem. They were talking with each other about everything that had happened. And as they talked and discussed these things with each other, Jesus himself came up and walked along with them. But they were kept from recognizing him. He asked them, what are you discussing together as you walk along? They stood still, their faces downcast. One of them named Cleopas asked him, are you the only one visiting Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days?

2:30 What things, he asked? About Jesus of Nazareth. They replied, he was a prophet, powerful in word and deed before God and all the people. The chief priests and our rulers handed him over to be sentenced to death, and they crucified him. But we had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel. And what is more, it is the third day since all this took place. In addition, some of our women amazed us. They went to the tomb early this morning, but didn't find his body. They came and told us that they had seen a vision of angels who said he was alive. Then some of our companions went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said. But they did not see Jesus. He said to them, how foolish you are and how slow to believe all that the prophets have spoken. Did not the Messiah have to suffer these things then enter into his glory?

3:31 And beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the scriptures concerning himself. As they approached the village to which they were going, Jesus continued as if he were going farther. But they urged him strongly, stay with us, for it's nearly evening. The day is almost over. So he went in to stay with them. And when he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it, and began to give it to them. Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him, and he disappeared from their sight. They asked each other, were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the scriptures to us? I want to hang out, Rosetta, in that 21st verse that simply says, and we had hoped that he was the one that would redeem Israel. Last night at six o'clock, Dr. Judy preached about the inheritance of hope.

4:34 Today, I want to preach about the resurrection of hope. You may be seated in the presence of the Lord. The resurrection of hope. By the time you get to the 24th chapter of the Gospel of Luke, Luke's story of Jesus has just about come to an end.

5:01 Jesus has been crucified and resurrected on the third day. And the irony, Mark, is that Luke ends his Gospel there, but that's where our journey as disciples begin. because I would argue with you that you cannot correctly claim Christianity if in the depth of your heart you don't believe that Christ died and has been resurrected from the dead. There may be many things we can debate within Christianity. We can debate whether you need to talk in tongues or not. We can debate whether communion ought to be on the first or the second Sunday. We ought to debate and can debate whether women should wear pants and wear makeup in church. Some folks say it's a sin for women to wear makeup in church. I say it's a sin for some not to. There are many things we can debate.

6:05 But the one thing that is not debatable in Christianity is that Jesus died and rose again. That's where Christianity begins. And you may find it ironic then that if Christianity begins with the belief in the resurrection of Jesus, you will find that those who followed him, this was the most difficult thing for them to believe. They believed he could walk on water. They knew he could change water into wine. They knew he could raise the dead. But yet they struggled with believing that he would be resurrected after his crucifixion. Women go to the tomb. The body's missing. Angels verify it, and they still don't know. Disciples run to the tomb and find it just as the women said, and they still don't know. And the struggle with the resurrection is really clearly seen on this road to Emmaus.

7:09 This passage I read to you tells the story of two people who have left Jerusalem, and they're on a road to Emmaus some seven miles outside the city. One is named Cleopas. The other has given no name. What the Bible tells us is that they are making their way to Emmaus, and while they're on their way, they are talking about what has just happened in Jerusalem. Luke doesn't fill it in, but I can guess what the conversation was about. Man, can you believe this happened? No, I sure can't. Can you believe Pilate would crucify him? That was a shame. Man, trifling Judas sold him out. Wait till I find him. Peter betrayed him. I thought Peter was down for the cause. Peter left too. They're talking about everything that went down. And the Bible says that while they're discussing, Jesus shows up. They don't recognize the resurrected Savior.

8:04 And Jesus asked them, what y'all talking about? And they begin to tell Jesus about Jesus. They say, are you the only one that ain't been in Jerusalem? You don't know what's happened? It's been all over the media. It's in the internet. Every page of Facebook, every post on Twitter, everything on Instagram, and you don't know what has happened? And they begin telling Jesus about his crucifixion. And in the midst of their testimony, Siobhan, they say something that is really one of the saddest statements to come out of a believer's mouth.

8:44 They say, we had hoped. we had hoped. We had hoped. If you listen correctly, you hear the testimony of two people whose hope has died. We had hoped. What a sad thing to be a believer in Christ but be without hope. Now, let me just clarify so that someone doesn't lose me. There is a subtle difference between faith and hope. Faith and hope are not the same thing. Faith is trusting in God and believing in God. But hope is something different. Trust says, I believe that God can.

9:39 Hope says, I expect that God will. The difference between faith and hope is that faith says, I trust that that God is real. Trust that that God is able. Trust that he can. But hope is when I sit down at the edge of my seat and pull my life up and I expect God to do great things. I expect God to answer that prayer. I expect God to make a way. I expect God to open door. And there's a difference between expecting and believing. Reason I have to make that clear is because somebody today sitting in this section, that section and up there. Your issue is not faith. your issue is hope. You believe in God but you know what it's like for hope to die on you. You know you lost hope when you've resigned yourself to the realities of your life and believe that there will be no change. You know that you've lost hope when you look at tomorrow and have no expectation that tomorrow is going to be better than yesterday. You know you've lost hope when you look at what's coming up the road in your life and have no expectation that greater is ahead than what was behind. And what a shame to be in a place where you have lost hope.

10:56 The Bible's clear to us, beloved, that hope is central and critical to the Christian life. You can't claim to walk with God and lose your hope. The Bible says in Psalm 42 and 5, why is my soul downcast? Put your hope in the Lord. Jeremiah 17 says, blessed is he who trusts in the Lord and puts his hope in God. In Ezekiel 37, we are told that the children of Israel struggle in Babylon because they get up every morning, look in the mirror, and say, our hope is gone. Romans 5, Paul says we ought to glory in tribulations. Tribulations produce perseverance. perseverance produces character and character produces hope and hope cannot fail when your hope is in God. First Thessalonian 4 says the next time you go to a funeral of a loved one don't you dare grieve like somebody who ain't got no hope because we know that one day the dead in Christ shall rise and we shall be caught up together.

12:05 And Hebrews 6 says that hope is an anchor to the soul. Hope will hold your soul together while the storms of life are trying to pull you apart. Notice if I tell them you need some hope. And yet as critical as hope is, all of us at some moment in life will walk the road to Emmaus. That road where hope is behind you. That's the reason why Luke gives us one disciple's name, Cleopas, but the other is unnamed. because whenever a biblical writer doesn't give you a name, it's an invitation to put your name there.

12:57 So on the road to Emmaus is Cleopas and Mark. On the road to Emmaus is Cleopas and Dorothy. On the road to Emmaus is Cleopas and Howard John. All of us walk that road where things have happened that have caused your hope to die just a little bit. Have you ever been there? if you've ever gone from doctor to doctor to doctor to doctor and no one could diagnose or treat what your problem was and you were sicker after four doctors than you were the first you know what it's like for hope to die if you've ever prayed for a prodigal child and gotten your hopes up when they seem to get their life back on track only to see them backslide into that place of addiction, you know what it's like for hope to die. If you got excited when you met your new boo and thought this was the one that would lead me to happily ever after, and they were as ratchet as the last Negro you dated, you know what it's like for hope to die a little bit.

14:05 If your hopes have never been raised when you've seen protests against gun violence only to be met by a Congress that can ban vape smoking in six days but has not been able to revamp gun control law, you know what it's like for hope to die a little bit. If you got your hopes up when he was booed at National Stadium, only to be confronted with Republican senators who tried to get Obama out for wearing a brown suit, but yet have doubled down on this joker who is immorally unfit to sit in the office he serves, you know what it's like for hope to die. If you've ever struggled with fertility and gone through the pain of in vitro and the cost of in vitro, only to not turn up with a bundle of joy, you know what it's like for hope to die.

15:15 And I would argue with you that Jesus, our Savior, makes a deliberate decision to show up on the road to Damascus for one reason, to resurrect hope. Jesus knows that there are some who believe in him, who are walking a road of life, and although they have faith in God, they've lost their hope, and Jesus shows up then as the Lord shows up today because it is not God's will for you to live a hopeless existence. It is not God's will for you to hear bad news and think that's all you got. It's not God's will for you to look at a situation and say, ain't nothing ever going to get better. It's not God's will for you to lose hope that tomorrow will be better than yesterday. It's not God's will for you to think nothing will change, nothing will get better. It's always going to be like this. The Lord shows up to resurrect somebody's hope. That's why God pushed you in church this morning.

16:12 That's why you got that extra hour. So you make sure you got yourself up and got here on time because somebody's hope needs to be resurrected. To understand how the Lord resurrects hope, you first need to understand how hope dies. How can you have faith in God and yet lose your hope? How can you believe God is, but have no hope that tomorrow will be better? how does hope die well right here in the text if you follow these two disciples one named and one unnamed i suggest to you that we see three ways in which hope dies can i share with you three ways hope dies so you can see how hope is resurrected okay it's not rhetorical that that's an opportunity for you to give me you're supposed to say yes we try again uh can i give you three ways that hope dies so you can see how hope is resurrected?

17:09 Okay, thank you. Y'all know how we do this around here. You talk, I talk back. That's what we do. Here's how hope dies. Hope dies watch this, when you remove yourself from the presence of the body of Christ. Hope will always die when you decide you ain't coming to church no more. Beloved, beloved, watch what is happening. These two have left Jerusalem and they're on their way to Emmaus. And the problem with that is that the disciples are in Jerusalem. The problem with that is that the upper room is in Jerusalem. The problem with that is the upper room is where worship is going on. The problem with that is that Jesus told them to stay in the upper room until you saw me. So they have left the place where the disciples are in worship waiting on the Lord and they have walked away from the presence of the body of Christ.

18:09 And this may not be for you because you're in church, but you need to carry this and tweet it to somebody you know. The worst thing you can ever do when life hits you hard, the worst thing you can ever do when it seems like God is not answering your prayer, the worst thing you can ever do when it seems like God is taking too long is to stop coming to church. Baby girl, brother man, that ain't the time to go to brunch. that ain't the time to sit at home that's not the time to go down to FedEx field when life hits you and God seems delayed and your faith is being challenged that's not when you sit home that's when you press your way into the house of God do me a favor and do somebody tell me you need to go to church Why? Here it is. Listen to their conversation while they're walking. They've left the body of Christ and listened to their conversation as they relay events to Jesus.

19:10 If you listen to what they're saying and how they speak to Jesus, this group that has left church, they're not encouraging each other's faith. They're fertilizing their hopelessness. They're feeding their negativity. They're sowing into their pessimism. All they're talking about is how bad things went and how ugly it got and how we didn't expect this and it shouldn't have gone down like this. Because when you leave the body of Christ, you avail yourself to voices that don't encourage your hope. when you stop coming to church you are bombarded with people who have no witness and no testimony of how the lord is able to do great things in your life But I get it. I can probably guess why they left.

20:07 Can I tell you why I think they left? Because they found out what some of us have found out. And that is that disciples can be difficult. Saints can be messy. church can get some kind of ugly you ain't met nasty until you met church nasty you you you haven't experienced ugly until you deal with sanctified ugly you ain't been hurt till you've been hurt by church folk and i don't mean you can't leave now but i want you to know Church is filled with people who sometimes have bad attitudes are nasty won't speak and won't even move down the pew so you can get a seat that make you climb all over Don't look at nobody.

21:12 Don't look. But here's the reality, my brother, my sister, why you should never give up on church. Because in spite of it's nasty, in spite of it's ugly, in spite of folk who don't speak, who make you climb over them to get a seat, you can be blessed by somebody mean. You can be encouraged by somebody nasty. Your hope can be resurrected by somebody who made you step over them to get a seat. Let me prove it to you. Because I don't ever want you to think that the preacher is trying to manipulate a praise. So if I stand here and I say, is there anybody here who's ever been sick and you know the Lord healed you and people start to give God glory. that ain't manipulation.

22:13 If I stand here, I see him and say, is there anybody here that's ever seen the Lord make a way out of no way? I'm not looking for some fake praise. If I ask, is there anybody here that the Lord has delivered out of some stuff?

22:33 That's not trying to manipulate praise. that's me trying to encourage your hope so that you can see that if God can bless somebody mean and if God can bless a bad attitude and if God can bless someone that made you step over them to get a seat that if God could do it for them then surely God is able to do it for you Thank you. I don't know who I came to preach today, but I want somebody to know the next time you get happy with God and you begin to think what the Lord has done and you want to stand up and lift up your hands and open up your mouth and that brother next to you, that sister behind you tells you to shut up, sit down.

23:33 It don't take all of that. All you got to do is turn around and tell them, girl, I'm trying to help you. I'm trying to encourage you because you act like you ain't getting no hope in what God is able to do. Woman of God, man of God, you need to be in an environment where people encourage your hope. Elijah, this became real to me on Wednesday. This past Wednesday, rather than going out to watch the game with my frat, decided to stay home. Been a long week. I wanted to stay home and watch the game. And stayed home.

24:25 I was watching the game on Wednesday. Astros versus Nats. And at the end of the sixth inning, we were down two to nothing. And I lost my hope. We're down two to nothing. We were losing. We were on the Astros field. We were in hostile territory. It was late in the game, and I remembered all that smack that Pastor Cosby talked last Sunday in Houston. And so, Cliff, I'm going to be honest with you. I lost my hope. We're down two to nothing. We're in hostile territory. It's late in the game And I remember the smack my friend talked And I just didn't want to watch us lose So I turned the game off Because we down two to nothing We're in hostile territory It's late in the game And I remember the smack my friend talked I just turned it off And as soon as I turned the game off I got a text from one of my frat brothers He said, hey, are you watching the game?

25:32 I said, no man, I turned it off He said, why you turn it off? I said, because we're down two to nothing we're in hostile territory it's late in the game and I remember all the smack Pastor Cosby talking he texted me back said boy put the game back on I said why? he said you cause we've been down before this ain't the first time we've been down we've been in hostile territory before this ain't the first time we've been on their field it's been late in the game before and we always get better in the seventh inning. We've heard smack before. Turn the game back on. I don't know who I came to preach to, but somebody you've turned God off. And I came by to remind you, we've been down before, and the Lord made a way.

26:26 We've been in enemy territory before, and the Lord made a way. We've heard smack before, and the Lord made a way. I'm trying to encourage you. Now let me pause. Since we are the reigning World Series champions.

26:52 And since Pastor Cosby talked all that smack last week. I will let you know that we took some of your tithing offering. And we sent a dozen black roses. Down to Wheeler Avenue Baptist Church. we bought pastor Cosby a nationals cap and jersey and I reminded him they that live by the sword Must die by the sword. Hey. Ah! Because can't nobody beat me at being petty. Amen. You need to be connected to the body of Christ.

27:38 Let me show you where else and why else hope dies. Hope not only dies when you remove yourself from the presence of the body of Christ. Hope dies when you refuse to wait on the power of the resurrection of Christ. when you refuse to wait on the power of the resurrection of Christ. I'm about to test you a Baptist right now. I'm about to prove who is and who ain't Baptist. You ready? Watch what they say to Jesus. They say, we've left Jerusalem, and we left on the third day. You Baptist. You showing up Baptist. Yeah. We left on the third day? We quit on the third day.

28:38 Now, if you got any Baptists in you, you know, that ain't where we quit. That's where we shout. He died on Friday. He stayed dead all day Friday. He was dead all day on Saturday. Hmm. But sometimes early on the third day, he rose. with all power in his hand. That's not where you quit. That's where you shout that he rose. Because the resurrection of Christ is the foundation of every promise God has made. Get a little deep. You can trust every promise because of the resurrection. It is the foundation upon which every promise is made valid. Okay, whenever someone makes you a promise, there are two things you got to take into consideration before you take them at their word.

29:41 Ability and willingness. Some people are able but ain't willing. And some people are willing but not able. So if you ask me, Corey, to take you home after church, I'm able because I got a car. But if you then tell me you live in Fredericksburg... You on your own, brother.

30:15 I ain't willing to deal with that traffic on 95. I'm able, but I'm not willing. But on the flip side, Mark, if you tell me you need $25,000 today, I'm willing to give it because I love you, but I'm not able to give it. Well, not on Pastor Alphard Street I am, but that's the story. I love y'all. Praise Jesus for the body of Christ. I may be willing, but I'm not able. So with every promise you've got to ask, are they able and are they willing? Now here's the beauty of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. The resurrection of Jesus Christ confirms for you, number one, God is willing. because if God was willing to sacrifice his son on the cross for your ratchet sinful self, then surely God is willing to do whatever God needs to do to bless your life.

31:12 And not only is he willing, but he's able because if Christ can be resurrected from the dead, what do you think God can't do? I don't know who I can't appreciate today, but with men, some things are impossible. But the good news is that with God, nothing is impossible. God can do whatever God wants to do and whatever you need to do. I came to declare we serve a God who is able. So if God is willing, and if God is able, and that is proven in the resurrected Christ, why did they leave on the third day?

31:56 Because they suffered from what many of us suffer with. We hate waiting. Our world has conditioned us to believe that if you're waiting, something is wrong. This is the only one I can do. The only one I can do. Hive that. This is the only one I can do.

32:34 That ain't even been a minute. When someone makes us wait, we assume a few things. Maybe they don't know what they're doing. Maybe they forgot what their assignment is. I wasn't talking to someone saying, Help them, Jesus. Help them, Jesus. We don't like to wait on God.

33:17 And your hope will always die when you have no ability to wait on the Lord. Can I tell you something that made this clear to me the other day? It really, really, really bothered me. Siobhan, it bothered me so bad I had to bring it to the pulpit. I called for an Uber, scheduled an Uber to come get me. and when the Uber arrived, I got a notification on my phone, a text message, and the notification offended me. The notification said, your Uber driver has arrived. They'll wait 15 minutes and then they're going to leave. Wait, wait. I called for you. You came to my house. You know I'm in there. You saw my name. You know who I am. and you are an uber driver because you want to make money and i got the money and you got the nerve to tell me you only gonna wait 15 minutes let me make this right you came to my house you know i'm inside you saw my name you know who i am you know i got the money to pay what you want and you only gonna wait 15 minutes before you quit you ain't got it you came to me. You know I'm in there. You know who I am. I got what you need. And you only gonna wait 15 minutes.

34:35 when you come to God and you know God is there and you know who he is and you know he's got what you need I want to ask you how long have you given God before you quit on God and walk away from God if you know you're where you're supposed to be and you know who God is and you know he's got what you need how long before you walk away from God and I don't know who I'm preaching to right here But the old song says, you can't hurry, God. You just got to wait. You got to trust and give him time, no matter how long it takes. He's a God, you can't hurry. But he'll be there, don't you worry. He may not come when you want him to, but he's always... I like the way Reverend Tim Sloan flipped it.

35:28 He said, God may not come when you want him, but you're going to want him when he comes. So you got to learn to wait on the Lord and be of good courage. And God will strengthen your heart. Wait, I say, on the Lord. In order for hope to be resurrected, you got to be connected to the body. In order for hope to be resurrected, you've got to learn to wait on God. But here's the third reason hope dies, and I'm done now. Hope not only dies when you remove yourself from the presence of the body of Christ. Hope not only dies when you refuse to receive the power of the resurrection of Christ, but hope will always die on you when you fail to remember the promises and the performances of the miracles of Christ. That when hope is dying, you've got to remember what he said and what you've seen. Say again, you've got to remember what he said and what you've already seen.

36:30 Watch this, watch this. Jesus shows up, finds out that Cleopas and whoever the brother, sister is, they've lost some hope. So the very first thing Jesus does is say, hey, you know what? Y'all need some Bible study. Sets them down, whips out his Bible. And beginning in Moses, all the way through the prophets, showed them everything in the word that was supposed to encourage their hope. He says the reason your hope has died is because you don't have any memory of what the Lord has said. There comes a moment, man of God, woman of God, when the only thing that will anchor you is the Word of God. You've got to have that Word hidden in your heart so that even when you don't have a Bible, you've got the Word. Oh, it is the necessity of the word of God that shapes and frames my comments about Kanye West. I was asked, Pastor, your opinion about his Sunday service and his album being released.

37:41 And my comments were like this. I don't know if he's truly given his life to Jesus. I don't know that about you. So I'm not going to judge the authenticity of your discipleship. All I can say is I'm glad I know him for myself. Pastor, do you think the message is sincere or marketing? I don't know. I don't know if he's just trying to make money. But I know he's proclaiming the name Jesus and introducing people to the Lord. And that can't be but so bad. Where I have criticism is that all Kanye is doing is remixing R&B with gospel. And that's beautiful that you know some gospel songs. But life will put you in a place where you got to know more than a gospel song.

38:38 Life will put you in a place where the music won't anchor your soul. But you've got to know some word in your heart. You got to look in the mirror and tell yourself, they that wait on the Lord shall renew their strength. You got to remind yourself, no weapon formed against me shall prosper. You got to tell yourself, they that wait on God will see themselves through. You've got to know the word. So Jesus sits down and gives them Bible study. He says, remember what I said. But then watch this. Then he says, and I need you to remember what you've already seen. I need you to remember miracles. So watch what Jesus does. I love Jesus. I love him.

39:29 Watch what Jesus does. After Bible study, Anthony, Jesus goes in the house, takes bread, blesses it, breaks it, and gives it to him. he takes bread he blesses it he breaks it he gives it to him and the bible says that when he took bread blessed it broke it and gave it their eyes were open and hey that's jesus their hope was restored when jesus took bread blessed it broke it and gave it to them their hope was resurrected it when he took bread, blessed it, broke it, and gave it to him. Now, if you got any Baptist in you at all, and you see Jesus take bread, bless it, and break it, you ought to catch a flashback. It ought to take you back to a place where you say, we've seen this before. I would argue that when Jesus takes bread, blesses it, breaks it, and gives it, he's taking these two down a walk of memory lane. So you ought to be asking yourself, where did we see Jesus take bread, bless it, break it, and distribute it? Now, if you're Baptist, your first answer should be at the Lord's table.

41:03 That in that upper room on Monday, Thursday, Jesus took bread, broke it, blessed it, and gave it. But that's not the right answer for these two. These two were not part of the 12. Only the 12 were in the upper room. So now you got to ask another question. Where would these two have seen Jesus take bread, bless it, break it, and distribute it? In case you ain't remembered yet, in the wilderness, 5,000 hungry folk, And Jesus took bread and blessed it and broke it and made a miracle out of bread and fish. And when he does it with Cleopas and that disciple, they are reminded of a miracle that the Lord has already done in their eyes.

42:07 I come by to tell you brother sister that when your hope is dying and when you don't think tomorrow will be better than yesterday When you think that this is all you have and the things are never gonna change I double dog dare you to walk down memory lane And find a moment in your life Where you know the Lord worked a miracle where you know the Lord did what couldn't have been done by anybody else when you know the Lord answered your prayer in a miraculous way, when the Lord removed the tumor, when the Lord protected the child, when the Lord gave the raise, when the Lord made a way, when the Lord walked with you. Is there anybody here that knows he's a miracle working God?

42:59 Goodbye, Alfred Street. May the Lord bless you mighty good. but there's somebody on your pew who can't recall a miracle. You're saying it's been a long time since God worked a miracle in my life. I come by to remind you of a miracle God worked since this is the 930 crowd. That miracle happened somewhere between 630 and 745. somewhere in that hour you were in your bed with your eyes closed sleeping to yourself and when your eyes woke up you should have said miracle while you were laying in your bed you start moving your muscles you may have had to stretch a bit but you had enough strength to get out the bed and you should have said miracle you went to the closet had to choose which outfit had to choose which shoes had to choose which car you should have said miracle you drove to church miracle you found a parking space A miracle!

44:24 A miracle! Is there anybody here that knows God's blessed you with a miracle? And when I know he's blessed me with a miracle, God says you ought to expect that I got another one up my sleeve. You ought to be hopeful that your tomorrow will be better. than your yesterday. Is there anybody here that expects God to do great things? I expect God Goodbye, saints. But the Clark sisters had an old gospel song. They said, I expect a miracle. Every day, God will make a way out of no way.

45:23 Just believe and receive it. God will perform it today. Hey, hey, just believe it. I've never seen it. Is there anybody here? I'm here. This is, I expect God. I believe God. I trust God. Hey!

45:53 Come on, stand if you're able. Listen, I want you to leave this church filled with hope that God is going to. In order to do that, I need you to remember what the Lord has already shown you. He's worked miracles every day. I need you to trust that the resurrection of Christ is the validation of every promise God has made. If God loved us enough to surrender Jesus and raise him from the dead, what can't God do for you? Just wait on him.

46:33 And you need to be connected to a family of faith. Your problem is you're trying to do this by yourself. And I know church ain't perfect. I know church people can be people. But every day you need someone who encourages your hope in the Lord.