Hope Of The World | Hope of a Life that Matters | Mark Caldwell

Let me just open with prayer and then

we'll get started. Lord, we thank you

that you are here and present. We ask,

Father, that we may sense your presence.

You're our creator. You sent your son

Jesus that gave his own life and he was

resurrected. And we celebrate all that

next Easter. We can't wait for that.

Jesus, we just invite you to be here.

May you just be sitting at the very

[music] seat of each person. May they

just extend their hand out and know that

your mighty right hand is in theirs.

That's how intimate you want to be with

us. And Holy Spirit, just invoke us.

Invoke our spirits that we may respond

to you with the word and the action that

you've got [music] for us in Jesus'

name. And we all said, "Amen." Let's sit

down. Terrific.

Well guys, we're in a teaching series

called Hope of the World. I love that

word hope. And the word hope in the

Bible is mentioned between 130 and 180

times depending on the translation used.

That's a lot of words of hope, isn't it?

And while some things look entirely

impossible in our world, particularly in

the precarious world that we living at

the moment, but also in our own lives,

it's not the end.

God can and will make a way. Today's

teaching from scripture will reveal to

us a very powerful story reaching out to

a person who had no meaning in his life

to a powerful change in living a

significant life all made possible by

Jesus.

And I believe many of us here this

morning will relate to this story in one

way or another.

And I also believe the Holy Spirit will

stir in each one of us, me included, an

opportunity later for prayer and

stepping into not a hope but a divine

hope

that only Jesus can release for us. So

today I want to encourage all of us to

always anchor our hopes. Every hope the

little things matter just as much as the

big things in Jesus.

So, our lead text is from Luke 5:27-32.

Luke 5:27–32

But before you read it, can I give you a

bit of background, a bit of setting that

might help us?

Luke 5:27-32.

Luke 5:27–32

The Gospel of Luke was written around

62-72 AD.

And Luke was a doctor. I'm sure he bulk

build,

but he was also a companion of the

Apostle Paul.

Luke tells us a story about Matthew.

Matthew was a tax collector.

Luke refers to the text collected by his

Hebrew name which was Levi.

His Greek name is Matthew.

The person Matthew in this particular

scripture is the same Matthew who wrote

the first gospel in the New Testament.

How good is that?

The setting is in Judea, a Roman

providence that enjoyed the protection

and the privileges of good economic

trade with access to Rome's luxuries and

goods. They're in a good place. But

these privileges bore a price for the

Jews. They were subject to pagan

practices and also paying hefty taxes to

Rome.

Matthew was appointed by the Romans to

collect taxes for Rome's imperial budget

and in return was allowed to keep a

portion of the taxes.

In a nutshell, it was a very lucrative

business for tax collectors. They kept

more than they taxed people and it also

encouraged unethical practices.

taxpayers were not at all popular with

the Jews and they were in fact despised

by the Jews. So there's the background.

So let's turn to the scripture Luke

Luke 5:27–32

5:27-32.

Can we just pay honor to the scripture?

Can I ask us to stand as I read this

scripture? I love in the Old Testament

there are stories where when the word

was shared that people stood to the holy

word of God. I love that. So let me just

read this scripture for this morning.

After this, Jesus went out and saw a tax

collector by the name of Levi sitting in

his tax booth. "Follow me," Jesus said

to him. And Levi got up, left

everything, and followed him. Then Levi

held a great banquet for Jesus at his

house, and a large crowd of tax

collectors and others were eating with

them. But the Pharisees and the teachers

of the law who belong to their sect

complained to his disciples, "Why do you

eat and drink with tax collectors and

sinners?"

Jesus answered them, "It is not the

healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.

I have not come to call the righteous,

but sinners to repentance." Amen to that

word. Please be seated.

Let me just unpack some insights to this

scripture. And I'm going to share four

points this morning about a hope for a

life that matters. First of all, Jesus

was the initiator to Matthew to follow

him. Jesus, our Lord and Savior, did the

initiation. That's powerful.

Jesus was focused on a person who was

not in a relationship with him

to give him a fresh and a divine hope.

Jesus wanted to draw in close

relationship with Matthew. Verse 32, as

we just read, says, "I've come to call

not those who think they are righteous,

but those who know they are sinners and

need to repent."

Jesus knew Matthew's occupation as a tax

collector caused him to be very

unpopular with the Jews. And it also

impeded because the nature of what he

did, his spiritual state to have a

relationship with him.

Jesus knew his divine purpose in calling

Matthew. I love this point.

He became one of the chosen 12 disciples

for a ministry of three years and went

on to write the first gospel in the New

Testament. Wow.

Matthew responded immediately to Jesus

call to follow him. There was no

equivocation, no doubt. He just

immediately did it. His immediate

obedience to the Lord's call gave his

life meaning. It was an eternal life

changer.

Um,

let me sort out what page I'm on on

right now.

I've got four points as I said before I

just want to share this morning on hope

of a life that matters.

The first is just around a scripture.

It's a great scripture. Let me just read

it. Psalms 139:13 to18.

Psalms 139:13–18

You made all the delicate inner parts of

my body and knit me together in my

mother's womb.

Thank you for making me so wonderfully

complex.

Your workmanship is marvelous, how well

I know it. You watched me as I was being

formed in utter seclusion as I was woven

together in the dark of the womb.

You saw me before I was even born. Every

day of my life was recorded in

uh uh in your book.

Every moment was laid out before a

single day passed.

You uh every day Yeah. Every moment I

was laid out before a single day passed.

How precious are your thoughts about me,

oh God.

They cannot be numbered. I can't even

count them. They outnumber the grains of

sand.

I don't know when you go to the beach

and sometimes you're just sitting there

and you look at the sand and you just

look at the

the grains of sand. There are trillions

of them. He's talking about the grains

of sand that he created for Earth.

And when I wake up, you are still with

me. That's the intimacy when God created

us.

From this scripture, we can see that we

are not formed by accident. We are

created and designed in every detail by

God our father. He knows us before we

even come into being.

Even before we change, before we clean

up our life, before we have a

relationship,

we matter to him.

He loves us unconditionally

and wants to draw close us to him. I

love that verse. James 4:8. For those

James 4:8

who draw near to him, he will draw near

to them. It's not a if, it's not a

maybe, it's a promise. He will draw near

to us. The word is powerful.

His thoughts are precious for all of us.

You see, they're precious for every one

of you that are sitting here this

morning.

They're precious for the little kids

that are up in the kids program at the

moment. They're precious for the worship

band that led this morning. They're

precious for all the volunteers that are

out and about in this church. They're

precious for those who are listening

online in your very houses. They're

precious for those who are away.

He watches over us day and night. God

doesn't sleep.

Amazing, isn't it?

We cannot fathom how much God loves us.

Let me talk a little about love with a

bit of a story. Um my wife is Robin. She

was here at the earlier service and she

is the love of my life. I love her

dearly. My Robin, we had a two-year

Sydney Melbourne relationship. She was

down in Melbourne. I was in Sydney. And

uh in those days there weren't mobile

telephones. Can you believe that? So we

would use a public telephone. we would

write. I think we ended up writing 321

letters to each other.

It was amazing. But I wanted to

demonstrate my love to her in some way.

So I thought creatively around it. So I

actually got a computer image of my face

and I got it all done, sent it down to

Melbourne and I said, "Oh, Robbie, can

you just put it on the back of your

bedroom door? Put it 180 cm high and

kiss me good night." And when I did the

shot, I puckered my lips

for that little kiss at night. And I

thought, I've got to get a bit more down

there. So, I took some photo copies of

my hand so she could hold my hand. And

we would talk on the phone and pretend

that we were just on a date.

I then went a bit crazy as some people

do, and I thought, look, I've got to get

one more bit down there. And I thought,

look, I'm going to get my feet down

there. How do I do that? Now at the time

I had started my first job in my career

and I was working at Blacktown Hospital

as a management traininee doing a degree

under the mentorship of a very senior

CEO and that morning I got in very early

to the big photocopy room. In those days

they were big canon photocopers, the big

green button. I got in early all good.

Um went to the machine, took off my

shoes, took off my socks. I have to

stand up on the bench and sort of get my

foot and then reach over to get the

green button without breaking, you know,

the photocopier.

Just as I did that, I looked under my

legs and the CEO, Mr. Derek House, had

come in.

I froze. He walked out.

I took the shot. I got the feet down to

Robin.

And I rang my mom as I was walking back

to my desk and said, "Mom, I'm in

trouble. This is what's happened." Oh,

Mary, you'll be okay. God's got you.

Two [laughter] minutes later, M. Betty

Evans came to see me, the executive

assistant for the CEO, Mr. Derek House.

Mr. Hows would like to see you.

My heart was pumping. I went in and uh

the conversation went like this. Mark,

look, you're doing a really good job in

in management training. I want to move

you now from radiology to pathology. He

wanted to show me the heart of how a

hospital works apart from the

management. You're doing well. As I

walked out, he said, "Mark." I turned

around and he said, [laughter]

"Mark, um, I there's a message you need

to give your mother that you've got a

hole in your left sock. You need to buy

a new one."

Now, that was a demonstration of my love

to Robin.

But let me give you the game changer.

God's love for us transcends

everything.

There is no greater love than God. You

see, he is love itself.

He created us in his image and he calls

us into a divine intimate relationship

with him. Even when you put your feet on

the photocopier.

Colossians 3:10 says, "Put on a new

Colossians 3:10

nature and be renewed as you learn to

know your creator and become like him."

When we come into relationship with

Jesus, we have a mandate to put on this

new nature,

to walk in the fruits of the spirit, the

beautiful fruits of the spirit, to seek

him in all that we do, and to place all

our hope in him, not just the big

things, the little things.

Not to place our hope in worldly desires

and things that ultimately have no

eternal significance. We need to learn

to reach out and to know our creator.

Point two, we are called by God. So, we

are created in his image, but we also

called by God. First scripture is Luke

5:27b. It's a short one, but I love it.

Follow me and be my disciple.

You see, Jesus had pity on Matthew and

his current life, but much more than

that, he gave him a divine purpose and a

hope, calling him to following him. It

was simple and clear that was divine

calling. You see, when God or the Holy

Spirit calls you,

there was no confusion about what he's

asking you to do. It's clear as you

listen, as you're in step with him.

There's always a if. You need to be in

step with him. And you'll hear that

clear call. If you're not in step with

him, it'll be muffled.

But he's very clear when you hear and

are walking in relationship with him

with that divine calling.

I'm wondering if any of you today have

had a touch of divine hope that have

changed your circumstances.

It could be a health crisis.

It could be a relationship restoration

that's crying for restoration.

It could be a financial lifeline that's

desperate.

It could be an unhealthy marriage.

It could be parenting rescue with your

kids.

It could be demolishing addictive

behaviors that are in our lives. It

could be a desperate need for a job or a

career change.

You see, divine hope that gives you

godly purpose with an eternal

perspective.

Matthew 9:9 says this. Interestingly,

Matthew 9:9

it's it's very interesting. The writer

of this was the very guy that we're

talking about in Luke and he makes no

mention of himself. This is what he

says. As Jesus was walking along, he saw

a man named Matthew sitting at his tax

collector's booth. Follow me and being

my disciple, Jesus said. So, Matthew got

up and followed him.

You see, the Pharisees saw Matthew as

scum.

That's how strong it was.

Jesus saw Matthew as one of his

disciples to journey with him for three

years of a life-changing ministry and

after his death to write the first

gospel in New Testament.

Wow. That's how Jesus saw him.

A rejected and outcasted man became a

kingdom builder not only in his earthly

life but today as millions still read

his gospel in the Bible. It's a message

of hope and love.

Colossians 3 verse 12 says since God

Colossians 3:12

chose you to be a holy people you must

clothe yourselves with tender-hearted

mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness,

and patience.

What do you think Jesus sees when he

looks at you? When he looks at me?

Does he look at the person that you

could become?

Does he look at the encourager that

deposits into other people's lives?

Does he look at the parent that raises

children with eternal significance for

them?

Does he look at a husband or a wife that

feeds and blesses the marriage?

Does he look at a disciplemaker?

Does he look at the business person that

leads with a godly influence?

Does he look at the friend that stands

with you through valleys and mountain

tops?

The school or uni student that people

ask, "What's different about you?

There's something different. How's God

see you?

You see, God has chosen you again for

his divine purpose to a life that

matters.

Point three this morning is we are saved

by God.

This is a big one. You see, we are made

in his image. We are called by God, but

we also able to live in him because

Jesus came to earth to die for us so

that we may live. and we meditate on

that next Friday and we celebrate it on

Sunday.

Let me read John 3:16.

John 3:16

For God so loved the world that he gave

us his only son so that everyone who

believes in him will not perish but have

everlasting life.

Friends, this is probably the most

well-known verse in the 66 books of the

Bible.

It's often referred to as the gospel in

a nutshell.

There were two verses in the Bible

that impacted me greatly when I was 11

when I gave my life to Jesus at a Billy

Graham crusade. This was one of them.

The verse emphasizes the unconditional

love of God and the sacrifice of Jesus

for humanity and highlights the

importance of faith in Jesus as the way

to receive eternal life.

Through faith, we receive eternal life.

The hope God gives us is full of meaning

and eternal life. We don't talk enough

about eternal life, do we? Quite often

it's the present. Help us with what

we're doing. The end of the day, it's

about eternal life. Yeah.

It really reveals God's character for

us. That hope that he gave by sending

Jesus

that he is love itself. God is love.

Romans 5:es 8 to10. Let's read this

scripture. This is great scripture. But

God showed us his great love by sending

us Jesus,

Christ to die for us while we were still

sinners. And since we've been made right

in God's sight by the blood of Christ,

he will certainly save us from God's

condemnation.

Thank you, Lord.

This verse says everything. This great

love of God is for all of us.

It's an eternal rescue for us and it

gives us hope for a life that matters

now and eternally.

The fourth point I want to talk about is

probably the most important point in my

view and it's that divine hope is

everything for us. Not hope but divine

hope.

First scripture is, and it's a short

verse, but I'm sure that we'll all

relate to it. Hope deferred makes the

heart sick. We all read that?

Yep.

We can all relate to this verse. We've

all experienced lost hope.

Long anticipation of a desired outcome

causes deep emotional, spiritual, and

physical weariness. It can cause us to

give up or to even lose our joy.

Hope is more than wishful thinking.

It's a firm trust in God and his

promises.

The Bible repeatedly emphasizes that

hope comes from trusting God.

Waiting on God is another sermon in

itself.

But one of the keys I just wanted to

share this morning to hope. This is

important is knowing that God is

sovereign in his timing.

His timing is perfect.

It's not our own.

Hebrews 11:1.

Hebrews 11:1

Now faith is the assurance of things

hoped for and the conviction of things

not seen.

I love this verse. It places faith and

hope in parallel. They stand together.

Romans 15:13 similarly encourages us.

Romans 15:13

May the God of hope fill you with all

joy and peace as you trust in him so

that you may overflow with hope by the

power of the Holy Spirit.

This scripture shows that hope is

intertwined with joy, peace, and

reliance on the Holy Spirit.

You see, hope does not stand alone.

Maybe one word, but it does not stand

alone.

It's anchored with faith,

joy,

peace, and total reliance on the Holy

Spirit. There's power in that, isn't it?

The framework that God gives us for

divine hope.

So, just remember this morning, we are

made by God.

We are called by God.

We are saved by God. And we have divine

hope in God.

There'll be people here today that are

looking for more than just hope. But

you're looking for this divine hope

in your current circumstances and your

challenges.

I'm in that lot, too.

It could be that

you're looking for hope in having a

stronger and a healthier marriage.

It could be that you're needing

relationship restoration within your

family

or with a friend. It's fallen away.

It could be financial lifelines. And

life's tough at the moment financially

for all of us. We're looking at every

penny, aren't we?

It could be freedom from addictive

behaviors,

all sorts of things, pornography,

gambling,

having a potty mouth, the way you speak.

There are all sorts of addictive

behaviors [music] that might be there.

Having clarity for your future is a big

one.

Desperately needing a job or needing a

career change.

It could be what do I study when I

finish school? Where do I go? Where do I

reach out? Where do I commit to in my

education?

It could be a lack of confidence in

yourself. This is a big one.

And really knowing who God made you to

be.

It could be longing to see those who you

love come into relationship with Jesus

because they haven't got that

relationship at the moment.

I just believe this morning there are

many here that you may relate to some of

those areas of needing that divine hope.

You know what need that you've got for

divine hope. Your heart knows that. Your

mind is just telling you now. You're

recognizing it. I'm the same.

And I'm just going to invite people who

have got a need for divine hope right

now. Just raise your hand. Just raise

your hand if you've got a need for some

divine hope. Isn't that beautiful? His

hands come up. Look at them come up.

It's a beautiful thing. You're

responding just like Matthew did to

Jesus. No equivocation. He responded

immediately.

Jesus loved that. The instant obedience

to the call. He loves that. He will

bless it.

I'm just going to ask those people who

put your hand up. Can you just stand?

And we're just going to pray over you.

Can you do that? Comfortable to do that?

And I'm going to ask people around you

who are close to you, can you just lay

hands on these people? [music] And we're

going to pray.

So, if you're a person who stood up,

you've got nobody around you, just lift

your hand again so that we can make sure

that you're covered.

We've got somebody down the back there

that needs to lay some hands over

somebody. Thank you. Put up your hand if

you've not got anybody around you. It's

beautiful when the unity of the spirit

comes together as one as we pray

together.

So let me just pray for the people who

have stood looking for this divine hope.

Thank you father that you are present

right in this very room.

Thank you Lord that you are hope itself,

divine hope.

Jesus, we just ask that you may just

now work a miracle for these people that

have stood. You know [music] exactly

what their need for hope is. You knew it

before they stood. And I just pray for

these people that they may with

confidence rely on the Holy Spirit to

open those doors. Your word says in

Revelation 3:8 that the door that God

Revelation 3:8

opens, no man can shut. [music]

Lord, open this divine door for the for

for the issues that people are looking

for divine hope.

Lord, we thank you that you're a God

that rescues people. You redeem people.

You want to see the best for people. It

is your very nature. Lord, we look

forward to hearing the testimonies that

are going to happen [music] as these

people have stood up in faith and the

testimonies will just come. Oh my

goodness me. This is what happened. We

thank you Lord that you are divine. We

thank you that you are good. That we

thank you moving in the lives of all the

people that have stood. And we [music]

thank you in Jesus mighty name. And we

all say amen.