Faith and Hope

Hope is something we can easily reflect on and understand. We can hope for a better day tomorrow. We can hope to get a tax refund. We can even hope to win the lottery. However, Faith on the other hand is something different. Faith is something that we often can have trouble explaining, or even wrapping our minds around. We tend to believe in things that we can understand, see, or touch. It can be difficult to walk in faith at times. We are going to look at a few stories that touch on a bit of Hope and Faith.

Definitions:

• Hope:
  • A feeling of expectation and desire for a certain thing to happen
• Faith:
  • Complete trust or confidence in someone or something

Jesus Heals a Man with Leprosy

• Luke 5: 12
  • Who was this man?
  • What did he think of Jesus?
  • Hope or Faith?
• Luke 5: 13 - 15
  • What did Jesus do?
    • He touched him before the healing.

The faith of a Roman Officer

• Luke 7: 1 - 5
  • Who was this Roman Officer?
  • Who was sick and near death?
  • Who was sent to Jesus?
  • Why all of this?
• Luke 7: 6 - 8
  • Faith or Hope?
  • Why?
• Luke 7: 9 - 10
  • Why did Jesus say this?
    • Possibly because people believed in something that they could see or experiencing something. Proof in the puddling so to speak?

Jesus Heals in Response to Faith

• Luke 8: 43
  • Who was she?
• Luke 8: 44 - 48
  • What happened?
  • Did Jesus ask the question of Who for His benefit or others?

While Hope is based on our expectation that a desired outcome will happen; Faith is the complete trust or confidence in someone or something. For us, Faith is trust in God. Sometimes we can misplace faith in medicine, in investments, or in our careers. However, our Faith should always be in our Lord and Savior. We have a responsibility to do what we can, and have faith that God will take care of the detail.