Whatever Happened to the Message of The Cross?

Not For Itching Ears

The sign said, “Now serving Starbucks coffee!”

It was the late 90’s and the premium coffee craze was taking the country by storm. Everyone who liked coffee LOVED Starbucks or soon would. So it wasn’t surprising that some business would be utilizing the brand name to promote what they were doing. It made pretty good sense. It would not have fazed me a single bit if any other company was doing it. However, this massive sign was hung in front of a local evangelical Christian church. The message was crystal clear: “Come to our service on Sunday, we have free Starbucks coffee!”

With the arrival of the church growth movement and the seeker-sensitive ministry focus it birthed..

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Hope Is Remembering The Promises Of God

Because we have fixed our hope on the living God. 1 Timothy 4:10b (NASB)
Most of us want to be optimistic. Optimism is that positive outlook that is based on how things are going. Hope is different from optimism. Hope is not based on what is going on at the moment or the direction in which things are headed.
Hope is based on a promise that something is going to change the course of events. It is not based on the latest experience we have had, or on how optimistic or pessimistic we feel at the moment.
Hope keeps on going when optimism fails. Hope is remembering the promises of God, remembering how He has broken into human events in the past, and the promise that He will do it again.