A Thrill Of Hope Week 3: Prophetic Hope
Read
Acts 2:29-36
29 “Brothers and sisters, I can confidently speak to you about the patriarch David: He is both dead and buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. 30 Since he was a prophet, he knew that God had sworn an oath to him to seat one of his descendants on his throne. 31 Seeing what was to come, he spoke concerning the resurrection of the Messiah: He was not abandoned in Hades, and his flesh did not experience decay. 32 “God has raised this Jesus; we are all witnesses of this. 33 Therefore, since he has been exalted to the right hand of God and has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit, he has poured out what you both see and hear. 34 For it was not David who ascended into the heavens, but he himself says: The Lord declared to my Lord, ‘Sit at my right hand 35 until I make your enemies your footstool.’ 36 “Therefore let all the house of Israel know with certainty that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah.”
Summary
Welcome back to our third week in the Thrill Of Hope Series. This week we find ourselves in Prophetic Hope which is found in Acts 2:29-36. Hope is something we are all familiar with. HOPE is the desire for what we want to come true. I HOPE I can buy a car, I HOPE she says “yes”, I HOPE we win the game. We have all made statements of HOPE. HOPE has a way of transforming our attitude. In this passage, Peter is preaching 50 days after a major failure, if you remember, he denied Christ. However, it was the risen Jesus that gave Peter hope.
You may be asking yourself, what is “prophetic” ministry? In the Bible, there were many times that God gave prophets message to people through His human servants. These servants did not say what they wanted, they were simply relaying a message from God. These messages didn’t always predict the future, but they did proclaim the message from a powerful God. Peter is preaching with prophetic hope as he preaches Jesus. In Revelation 19:10, the testimony of Christ is the spirit of prophecy. There are 456 verses that refer to the Messiah in the Old Testament, and Jesus fulfilled 300 prophesies mentioned in those verses throughout his earthly ministry in the New Testament. It was the prophetic hope of Jesus that changed Peter, humanity, and eternity. This HOPE in anchored in the past, it’s confident in the present and it’s certain about Jesus.
Anchored In The Past
Peter reaches back to speak of David and David’s prophecy concerning his offspring sitting on the throne found in Psalm 132; 45:6-7. Throughout the Bible we see God’s faithfulness to Adam & Eve, Abraham, and David giving us a rich heritage of hope that anchors us. Peter says, David knew God had sworn to him that his offspring would one day be on the throne. That is why David spoke in hope of the resurrection. Every follower of Jesus should be anchored in the past powerful work of the resurrected Christ.
Confident In The Present
Confidence came from the encounter with the risen Christ. Peter knew there was a living God, he had seen him and had been filled with the Holy Spirit. At Christmas we celebrate Jesus coming down, there can’t be a Spirit sent unless Jesus ascends, and Jesus can’t ascend unless he first descends. These powerful acts of Jesus allow us to walk in confidence. We need confidence to live by faith, we need confidence to love our enemies, and we need confidence that comes from the Hope found only in Jesus.
Certain About Jesus
Peter is no longer shy about who Jesus is to him. He is certain of where his hope lies. Jesus is Lord and Messiah, this hopeful truth changes everything even our attitudes. Just as Jesus came down the first time, Jesus will return again! And that Hope will someday be a reality!
Discussion
Have you ever faced a PROBLEM that was bigger than you? Share
Have you ever taken a PROBLEM to Gad that He was not able to handle? Share
How reassuring is the PROMISE of Jesus? Share
How has the PROMISE of Jesus changed your life? Share
Who have you shared the PERSON of Jesus with this year? Who will you share Him with next year?
Announcements
I want to thank all of you that came out and helped us during our OCC collection week. We had a great time taking in the thousands of boxes people prepared.
CG Leaders, please be on the lookout for an email from my assistant Meichelle. It should be coming your way this week.
Let’s continue to pray for each other and send prayer requests through our WhatsApp thread. If you are a CG Leader and are not on our WhatsApp thread please contact Meichelle at meichelle.vasquez@bt.church
Pastor Isuaro Medina
Isauro.medina@bt.church
Cell: (956) 984-9380
