Hope is knowing and showing that better is coming [Sermon]

Our world is parched for hope. Here’s some context.

Psychologist Daniel Goleman says we live in the ‘Age of Melancholy.’ Another psychologist, Martin Seligman, says we have heaped too much on the ‘self.’ Frank Furedi reports that for the first time since World War Two, parents expect that life for their kids will be worse than it was for them.

Oh, and too much smart phone use results in greater stress, sleep disturbances and depression. Suicide rates are concerning, and so is the isolation felt by many students.

And we haven’t even mentioned the pandemic or global security threats. Should we go on?

Since our world is parched for hope, (a) do you know what yours is, and (b) do you know how you can be a cause for hope in someone else’s life?

That’s what this sermon on John 4:43-54 explores. When Jesus heals an official’s son (from about 27 kilometres away), it is the second of seven “signs” in John’s Gospel. We explore the meaning of the “signs” and how they are a reason for hope, and how they provide guidance about how we might be a person of healing and hope in the life of someone else.

The sermon is called “Hope is knowing and showing that better is coming.”

Below is the YouTube video version. Under that is the audio-only download. You can also access a link to the “growing deeper” background content as a part of The Pulse Podcast.

YouTube:

Audio-only download:

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As mentioned, you can access the extra “growing deeper” background content as a part of The Pulse Podcast with Matthew Ruttan (by clicking here) or by finding it wherever you subscribe to podcasts — iTunes (Apple Podcasts), Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher or TuneIn). It’s called “Jesus’ healing power (even from a distance) and what that teaches us about the future and hope.”