05/24/2026
What Does Hope Look Like?
A Sermon from the Homestead
There are a lot of people today asking a question they may never say out loud:
“Is there any point in trying anymore?”
You see it in the tired faces at the grocery store.
You hear it in the voices of men and women working two jobs and still falling behind.
You see it in addiction, broken families, abandoned farms, foreclosed homes, depression, anxiety, and young people who no longer believe tomorrow will be better than today.
And yet, in the middle of all that darkness, Scripture keeps talking about something called hope.
Not wishful thinking.
Not fake positivity.
Not pretending everything is okay.
Biblical hope is different.
Biblical hope is the stubborn belief that God is still working even when the field looks barren.
Hope Looks Like a Farmer Planting Seeds
A farmer plants seeds into dirt that, at the moment, looks dead.
Think about that.
Every spring, a farmer buries good seed in dark ground. Then he waits. Sometimes through storms. Sometimes through drought. Sometimes through uncertainty.
But he plants anyway because he believes harvest is coming.
That is hope.
The Bible says in:
“Let us not grow weary in doing good, for in due season we shall reap, if we do not give up.”
— Galatians 6:9
Some of you right now feel buried.
Financially buried.
Emotionally buried.
Spiritually buried.
Maybe even publicly buried.
But there is a difference between being buried and being planted.
A seed looks lost before it becomes fruitful.
Sometimes God allows seasons where you disappear underground so roots can grow deeper than anybody else can see.
Hope Looks Like the Prodigal Son Walking Home
One of the greatest pictures of hope in Scripture is found in the story of the prodigal son.
This young man wasted everything.
Destroyed relationships.
Burned through money.
Ended up feeding pigs and starving.
But then something changed.
The Bible says:
“When he came to himself…”
— Luke 15:17
That sentence matters.
Hope often begins when somebody finally becomes honest about where they are.
The son decided to go home expecting rejection.
Instead, the father ran toward him.
Ran.
Not walked.
Not waited with crossed arms.
Ran.
The father embraced a broken son before the son could clean himself up.
That is what grace looks like.
Somebody listening today thinks they have gone too far.
You think your addiction went too far.
Your criminal record went too far.
Your failures went too far.
Your bitterness went too far.
But if God could restore Peter after denial…
David after sin…
Jonah after rebellion…
Paul after persecution…
He can restore you too.
Hope looks like getting up and walking home even while still wearing the dirt of your mistakes.
Hope Looks Like Dry Bones Rising Again
In Ezekiel 37, the prophet Ezekiel stands in a valley full of dry bones.
Not wounded bones.
Not injured bones.
Dead bones.
And God asks him:
“Son of man, can these bones live?”
— Ezekiel 37:3
What a question.
Because most people had already given up on those bones.
Just like society gives up on people today.
People give up on addicts.
Give up on marriages.
Give up on prisoners.
Give up on poor communities.
Give up on struggling farmers.
Give up on young men.
Give up on the homeless.
Give up on churches.
But God specializes in speaking life into things everybody else declared dead.
The story says the bones began rattling.
Sinew formed.
Flesh formed.
Breath entered them.
And an army stood up.
Hope looks like God rebuilding what everybody else buried.
Hope Looks Like a Candle in a Storm
A few years ago, after a major storm, a rural community lost power for days.
One elderly widow sat alone in her house with nothing but a tiny oil lamp.
A neighbor later asked her if she had been afraid.
She answered:
“Oh, I was scared. But every time the wind shook the windows, I looked at that little flame and reminded myself darkness still hadn’t put it out.”
That is hope.
Not absence of storms.
Persistence through storms.
The Bible says:
“The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”
— John 1:5
The enemy wants people to believe darkness is winning.
But darkness has never defeated God.
Not at the cross.
Not at the tomb.
Not in your story either.
Hope Looks Like Jesus Carrying the Cross
If you really want to know what hope looks like, look at Christ carrying the cross.
Bleeding.
Mocked.
Rejected.
Abandoned.
Everything looked lost.
The disciples thought hope had died.
Friday looked hopeless.
But Sunday was coming.
That is the message the world still needs:
God can resurrect things people think are over.
The resurrection was not just about Jesus walking out of a tomb.
It was proof that God has authority over death, failure, shame, fear, and hopelessness itself.
The Bible says:
“He is not here; He has risen.”
— Matthew 28:6
Christian hope is not built on politics.
Not money.
Not the economy.
Not social media approval.
Not government systems.
Christian hope is built on an empty tomb.
Hope Looks Like Small Faithfulness
Sometimes people expect hope to look dramatic.
But often hope looks ordinary.
Hope looks like:
* A recovering addict getting up one more day sober.
* A father apologizing to his children.
* A mother praying over her home.
* A farmer planting despite uncertainty.
* A man choosing honesty after years of lies.
* A church opening its doors to hurting people.
* Someone deciding not to quit.
Do not underestimate small acts of obedience.
Jesus said:
“If you have faith as small as a mustard seed…”
— Matthew 17:20
A mustard seed is tiny.
But it grows.
God often starts rebuilding lives with very small beginnings.
Hope Looks Like Community
The enemy isolates people.
Hope reconnects them.
That is why the early church shared meals together.
Worked together.
Prayed together.
Carried each other’s burdens.
The Bible says:
“Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.”
— Galatians 6:2
A lot of people today are not dying from lack of information.
They are dying from lack of belonging.
Hope grows where people are reminded:
“You are not fighting alone.”
Hope Looks Like Staying When It Would Be Easier to Leave
Anybody can quit.
Anybody can walk away.
But hope sometimes means staying in the fight long enough to see God move.
Noah kept building before rain came.
Joseph stayed faithful in prison.
Ruth stayed loyal in grief.
Nehemiah kept rebuilding under criticism.
And Jesus endured the cross knowing redemption was possible.
The Bible says:
“Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning.”
— Psalms 30:5
Notice:
It says weeping may endure for a night.
It does not say it stays forever.
Final Challenge
Somebody reading this is exhausted.
You have fought battles nobody saw.
You have cried prayers nobody answered yet.
You feel like your life is sitting in winter.
But hear this clearly:
Winter is not proof that spring will never come.
God still restores.
God still heals.
God still rebuilds.
God still saves.
God still opens graves.
God still grows gardens in broken ground.
Hope is not pretending the valley is easy.
Hope is believing God can still bring life to the valley.
So plant the seed.
Say the prayer.
Take the next step.
Make the call.
Go home.
Try again.
Forgive again.
Trust again.
Because with God, dead things do not always stay dead.
And that…
is what hope looks like.
