GIFTS MOST PRECIOUS: #5 The Gift of Hope

By Dr. Gilbert W. Stafford
Scripture: Romans 15:13 

A TWELVE YEAR OLD LISTENER AND THE MESSAGE OF HOPE 

The year was 1991. The place was in the south aisle of Park Place Church of God in Anderson, Indiana. The time was on a Sunday following the morning service. I was in conversation with a twelve year old girl, Ellie Fitts, and her father, Royce. The whole Fitts family listened to CBH regularly while eating breakfast each Sunday. As they expressed appreciation for that morning’s program, I shared with them my desire to find a new designation for CBH that would summarize in a word or two what the program is about. But, I told them, I wanted to do it in such a way that we could maintain the CBH identification. I paused. I shall never forget it: Ellie looked at me and said without hesitation: “Call it Christians Broadcasting Hope.”

That clicked in my heart and mind. I mulled over it, prayed about it, and in November of that year suggested it for consideration to the Board that sponsors this program. I used Ellie’s suggestion for the first time as the title for my anniversary sermon on the January 3, 1993 program when I preached on the subject, “Christians Broadcasting Hope.” A year later we were ready to make the change official. During anniversary month, January 1994, I preached a series entitled, “CBH: CHRISTIANS BROADCASTING HOPE.” I talked about broadcasting hope to individuals, to families, to churches, and to the nations.

That is what this program has always been about since it started in 1947 almost fifty years ago. The good news for the desperate person is that in Christ there is hope. The good news for a troubled family is that in Christ there is hope. The good news for a struggling church is that in Christ there is hope. The good news for a broken world is that in Christ there is hope. Nothing that I do gives me any more pleasure than to be a mouthpiece for God’s hope in the world. 


A TRAVELLING EVANGELIST AND THE MESSAGE OF HOPE 

And so, for one last time I want to share the good word of hope. Paul’s benediction in Romans 15:13 to the church at Rome is a fitting benediction for me to share with you, “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”[1]

1. THE GOD OF HOPE

Notice that Paul refers to God as the God of hope. Knowing this and believing can transform our lives.

A man came to our house to deliver something. After the delivery, he said, “By the way, I’ve been wanting to thank you for something you said in a sermon that you preached at our church four or five years ago." “What was that?” I wanted to know. He reminded me that I had simply proclaimed the good news that God never gives up on us, and that he always has first rate plans for our lives. Hearing that simple gospel truth had transformed him from being a broken and despairing man into a man of wholeness and hope. That morning he learned for the first time that God had not given up on him and that he had first rate plans for him.

So many people do think that God has given up on them. But the God we learn about in the Bible is like the good shepherd who having lost one of his hundred sheep looks for it until he finds it (see Luke 15:3-7). The shepherd did not give up on the one lost sheep. God is like that; he is the God of hope.

Our God is like the woman who, having lost a coin, searches until she finds it (see Luke 15:8-10). She does not give up. God is like that; God is the God of hope.

Our God is like the father of the prodigal son who is already out on the road waiting for him when finally he returns (see Luke 15:11-32). He had not given up. God is like that; he is the God of hope.

2. WILL FILL YOU WITH JOY AND PEACE 

This God of hope will, according to our text, “fill you with all joy and peace in believing.” My step mother, Arietta Shock Stafford, tells about how afraid she used to be when her first husband was away on trips. Even while their three children were still at home, she was gripped with fear when he was absent. And then, her husband dies. By this time the children were out of the home. Not only did grief overwhelm her but also fear of being alone. One day, in total exasperation, she sat down on the side of her bed, pouring the anguish of her soul out to the Lord, telling him how frightened she was to be alone. Then and there, the God of hope did a good work in her heart and mind. When he assured her that he was with her in all of the circumstances of life, she believed. At that moment something wonderful happened. She experienced peace instead of anxiety about being alone which she was for the next fourteen years. She rediscovered the truth that when we believe that God in Christ is our companion even when those closest and dearest to us are no longer with us, we experience a remarkable joy and peace that the world does not comprehend. It is a joy and peace that comes from believing.

3. SO THAT YOU MAY ABOUND IN HOPE 

The benediction in Romans ends with the phrase, “so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” The word translated here as abound means to overflow, or to be more than sufficient. The God of hope wants us to overflow with hope.

Hope sees possibilities where all looks bleak and forlorn. Hope says “Why not?” instead of “I can’t.” Hope looks more often toward the eastern horizons of the rising sun than the western horizon of the setting sun. Hope embraces life instead of running away from it. Hope walks on through the storm rather than cursing it. Hope looks for the good rather than searching out the bad. Hope leans, with confidence, into the future instead of getting stuck in the past. Hope raises its head toward victory instead of bending low in defeat. Hope lifts its eyes toward the hills of inspiration rather than fixing them on the self of desperation. Hope invigorates life instead of snuffing it out.

A FARMER’S DAUGHTER AND THE MESSAGE OF HOPE

She was born to farmers with a small dairy farm. The family did not have much money. Travel from rural central Michigan was limited. The horizons of life were not much farther than fifty miles away. But she had big dreams of going to college, living in Boston, marrying a minister, having a family and serving Christ in his church. All of the circumstances of her life indicated that such probably would not happen. But the Holy spirit had done a good work in her youthful heart. As a young woman abounding in hope she graduated from college—the first in her family to do so, married a minister, lived for seven years in Boston, had four children, and today continues serving the church.

In 1983-83 she was a mother of four children all still at home. The report from the tests was not good. She had cancer. The circumstances were not pleasant. The surgery required some major readjustments. Chemotherapy was a monthly interruption. But the girl who abounded in hope was now a mature woman still abounding in hope.

All along she has had some other major disappointments, crises, and challenges, but in each and every case, she gets up and goes at it again. And the remarkable thing is that she comes through each of them more beautiful, wiser, and more spiritually sensitive than ever. She “abound[s] in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”

I am blessed to be married to this woman who has taught me as no other has what it is like to “abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”

My friend, you, too, can be a blessing to those dear and close to you, if by the Spirit’s power you will be a person who “abound[s] in hope.”

THIS MINISTRY AND THE MESSAGE OF HOPE

As I bring my preaching ministry on CBH: Christians Broadcasting Hope to a close, I leave you with five gospel messages.

1) Don’t ever forget that God is the God of hope.

2) Be assured that God has not given up on you.

3) Remember that regardless of your circumstances, God in Christ has good things ahead for you.

4) Trust in Christ who is your hope. Trusting in him brings remarkable joy and peace, and

5) Know that you can be a blessing to others when you yield to the Holy Spirit who will empower you to abound in hope.

In short, that is the legacy of my ministry to you. Will you, this day, tap into the hope that is in Christ?

PRAYER

I can pray no better final prayer than the one prayed by Paul: “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” In Christ’s name, I pray. Amen.

[1] New Revised Standard Version used here and throughout.

Script 2609 (GWS)
December 29,1996
SERIES: GIFTS MOST PRECIOUS
5. The Gift of Hope
Scripture: Romans 15:13

FREESTANDING COMPONENT OF THE PROGRAM

This program brings my ministry on CBH to a close. These have been some of the best years of my life. I am sincerely grateful to the Mass Communications Board of the Church of God for giving me this decade of opportunity to serve.

Dean Schield, what a blessing you have been to CBH! It has been a joy to work with you. I am sure that our listeners pray the best for you as you continue your pastoral ministry at the North Modesto Church of God in Modesto, California. Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been both creative and inspirational in your work as the host of this program. Thank you.

Dean and I both look forward to the new leadership that will come to CBH now entering its fiftieth year. Next week you will have the privilege of hearing our new speaker, Jim Lyon. Jim is a captivating communicator of the gospel. You will be blessed by his ministry. Though assuming this new responsibility, Jim Lyon will continue serving as pastor of the North anderson Church of God here in Anderson. He deserves your prayers and mine as he expands his ministry to include CBH. God bless you, Jim.