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Hope For A New Year

Hip Hope, part 6 of 6
With each new year, we all have hope for things to be different in our life. Our waistline, our finances, our relationships, our families, but how can you find hope for a new year that lasts beyond January? In this message we will talk about how to have hope for the key areas or life change most people crave.

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“‘For I know the plans I have for you’, declares the LORD, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future’.”
(Jeremiah 29:11, NIV)

I) HINDRANCES OF HOPE IN OUR LIVES

1) Our faulty ___flesh___.

“For the world offers only the lust for physical pleasure, the lust for everything we see, and pride in our possessions. These are not from the Father. They are from this evil world. And this world is fading away, along with everything it craves. But if you do the will of God, you will live forever.”
(1 John 2:16-17, NLT)

2) Our problem-plagued ___past___.

“No, dear friends, I am still not all I should be, but I am focusing all my energies on this one thing. Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead.”
(Philippians 3:13, NLT)

3) Our exaggerated ___expectations___.

“And fathers, do not provoke your children to anger; but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.”
(Ephesians 6:4, NASB)

II) HELPFUL PERSPECTIVE ON HOPE

* Remember that __everything in this world__ belongs to the Lord.

“… for the world is mine, and all that is in it.”
(Psalm 50:12b, NIV)

“…You do not belong to yourself, for God bought you with a high price.”
(1 Corinthians 6:19c-20a, NLT)

III) HABITS TO KEEP US HOPEFUL IN THE NEW YEAR

1) Set your ___hopes really high___.

“Since you have been raised to new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits at God’s right hand in the place of honor and power. Let heaven fill your thoughts. Do not think only about things down here on earth. For you died when Christ died, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God. And when Christ, who is your real life, is revealed to the whole world, you will share in all his glory.”
(Colossians 3:1-4, NLT)

2) Starve your ___hope-stealing habits___.

“So put to death the sinful, earthly things lurking within you. Have nothing to do with sexual sin, impurity, lust, and shameful desires. Don’t be greedy for the good things of this life, for that is idolatry. God’s terrible anger will come upon those who do such things. You used to do them when your life was still part of this world.”
(Colossians 3:5-7, NLT)

3) Stand strong and ___never give up hope___.

“But now is the time to get rid of anger, rage, malicious behavior, slander, and dirty language. Don’t lie to each other, for you have stripped off your old evil nature and all its wicked deeds. In its place you have clothed yourselves with a brand new nature that is continually being renewed as you learn more and more about Christ, who created this new nature within you.”
(Colossians 3:8-10, NLT)

4)Seek the ___hope that God supernaturally supplies___.

“In this new life one’s nationality or race or education or social position is unimportant, such things mean nothing. Whether a person has Christ is what matters, and He is equally available to all.”
(Colossians 3:11, LB)