Hope lifts you forward (Sermon)

Is it possible to experience joy in the midst of affliction? Yes it is. This isn’t a message you hear very often, but it’s true. But how? The answer has to do with hope. Not naive wishful thinking, but actual hope. The early followers of Jesus in Thessalonica found this out first hand. They were tingling with anticipation for the return of Jesus. They were also experiencing affliction. But God gave them joy. They were, as CR Wiley says, “living in the light of tomorrow’s sun.” This sermon is the first in a new series on 1st and 2nd Thessalonians called “The Beginning is Nigh.” Let’s learn about hope, and how it might change us as well.