Hope Springs Eternal

Beloved,

Today is a special day. It is the first Wednesday aft

er Resurrection Sunday. It is the first Wednesday of April. It is H.O.P.E. (Hour Of Power and Encouragement) Wednesday. And, it is the day that we remember as the day when the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was shot and killed in Memphis, Tennessee.

At around 7pm this evening will be when he was shot. At around 8pm this evening will be when he was pronounced dead.

Who and what died when Dr. King died? A man who believed in God and the power that God had to change this world in the here and now, not just in the hereafter. A leader who could rally and galvanize some people will dividing and angering others to the point of some deciding it was better that he die than be allowed to continue the movement he was helping to lead. A sense of certainty in the midst of uncertainty embodied in a man who stood against the powers of oppression, separation, and discrimination that allowed one group to exercise dominion over another in a way that could not have been pleasing in the sight of God.

Who and what did not die when Dr. King died? God did not die. Jesus did not die. The Holy Spirit did not die. And, hope did not die.

Why? Because as long as we can believe in God, we have reason to have hope.

And, our hope in God should strengthen us to face the challenges of the day in a similar fashion as Dr. King stood courageously and boldly in the face, not of just revealed opposition, but also of possible death.

Where does such boldness and courage come from to have hope in the midst of darkness and the audacity to face down death to seek out the fulfillment and manifestation of such hope?

2 Corinthians 5:1 tells us, "For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens."

My brothers and sisters in Christ, we can stand as bold and courageous as Dr. King in all of the challenges in life that we will undoubtedly have to face in our health, wealth, and relationships, whether we have the platform of influence or visibility that Dr. King had or not, when we understand that we have a plan for our lives, our eternal lives.

We do not have a plan A with a backup plan B. As I have preached, we have a plan G. Plan G is the plan that God has for our lives. It is not a backup plan. As children of God, it is the only plan that we should have and it is the only plan that we need.

Bold and courageous living is not the same as foolish and reckless living. Some people live foolishly and recklessly as if this is the only life that they will have and they want to make the best of it.

We live boldly and courageously because we have the certainty of the fact that we are living to live again. "For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens."

For this reason, we have hope because hope in God springs eternal.

Beloved, come out tonight for H.O.P.E. Wednesday. Come boldly and come courageously. And, do not come alone. Hope is contagious. Do not contain it. Share it.

See you tonight.

Be blessed,

Rev. Cain