E52 Pregnant Hope

The Acts 2 Church was part of a powerfully unified community connected by shared values and purpose. The culture was so countercultural that people were drawn into their community. You see, if the culture isn’t right, nothing else really matters, and that’s because culture always wins!   If you have a great culture, your church will thrive. A great culture enables you to do great things!   In our current series: Our Tribe - we will clarify what Living Stones is all about! We will talk about the 7 things we value here, and how these values shape what we do! Our culture must be incarnated!    Today we talk about our second value: Pregnant Hope!    The Apostle Paul said, “For I live in eager expectation and hope…”-Philippians 1:20 AMP   Hope comes from the promises of God rooted in the work of Christ.   Biblical hope is a confident expectation and desire for something good in the future. Biblical hope not only desires something good for the future — it expects it to happen. And it not only expects it to happen — it is confident that it will happen. There is a moral certainty that the good we expect and desire will be done.   We need to understand that if God is going to do something, He will look for people who are operating in a spirit of expectant hope!   But, O my soul, don’t be discouraged. Don’t be upset. Expect God to act! For I know that I shall again have plenty of reason to praise him for all that he will do. He is my help! He is my God! - Psalm 42:11 TLB