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2009-11-21

2009-11-18

2009-11-05

Agriculture

Lifestyles

Thursday, February 05, 2009 11:51 AM

SERMON: A hope dealer

By FRED MARTIN, Youth Pastor, Ottawa Bible Church

I recently found an interesting quote by Napoleon Bonaparte, “A leader is a dealer in hope.”

I am a little unsure of how he meant that statement.

Certainly, a leader must be able to inspire people and cause them to believe in the direction he or she is going. Napoleon must have known something about leading as he rose to the rank of general at a very young age and nearly fulfilled his dream of consolidating Europe into one empire.

Without knowing the context of that quote, I have a jaded view of Napoleon’s comment. It seems to me, he is saying that hope is a commodity that leaders peddle in order to obtain the allegiance of others. I have no idea whether that was true of Napoleon or not.

Which would bring us to Jesus Christ. Jesus was a leader who brought hope to his followers. So the question would be, was he just a con artist, hawking false hopes to the people around him?

Jesus offered hope to his followers both in this life and the next.

In Romans 15:13, Paul said, “Now may the God of peace fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you will abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”

While Jesus did not promise his followers that tomorrow would necessarily be a better day for them, he did say that his presence would be with them and they would experience internal peace and joy even in the midst of turmoil.

Paul also discussed the promise of God for his people after death — that time in the future when Jesus will physically resurrect his followers from the dead. Jesus’ resurrection was proof that he could defeat death and the first installment on the future resurrection of his followers.

Paul sums up the importance of that future hope of the believer in 1 Corinthians 15:19, “If we have hoped in Christ in this life only, we are of all men most to be pitied.”

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SERMON: A hope dealer

By FRED MARTIN, Youth Pastor, Ottawa Bible Church

E-mail this story to a friend | Print this article | Enjoy the convenience of home delivery of The Ottawa Herald.

E-mail this story to a friend | Print this article |
Enjoy the convenience of home delivery of The Ottawa Herald.