Christ, Our Hope - A Talk I gave

Hopes, dreams, and wishes…fill our minds and help us endure through the hard times. Hopes of love, dreams of the impossible, and wishes of success. Each one of us has different goals and dreams, but one thing we all have in common is our hope of Christ. Today I have been asked to give a talk based on President Dieter F. Uchtdorf’s talk, Christ, Our Hope. He stated, “Hope is one leg of a three-legged stool, together with faith and charity. These three stabilize our lives regardless of the rough or uneven surfaces we might encounter at the time. The scriptures are clear and certain about the importance of hope.”

 As I think about the word hope, I think about my hope for my mission. I have wanted to serve a full time mission since I was three. My hope is that I’ll be able to be spiritually, mentally and physically prepared to bring God’s message to the people of Brazil. I hope that this mission will transform me into a true disciple of Christ. This opportunity I have to serve in Brazil has brought such high hopes of more people returning to Christ. Not only must we hope for such prominent opportunities, but we must extend our hope for life after death. Jesus Christ has atoned for our sins that we might return to live with him and our Father once more. Because of this, if we repent and turn to Christ with a changed heart we can hope for that life with Christ in which we will live forever in peace and happiness. President Uchtdorf declares, “Think of the worth of this eternal gift. Surrounded by those we love, we will know the meaning of ultimate joy as we progress in knowledge and in happiness. No matter how bleak the chapter of our lives may look today, because of the life and sacrifice of Jesus Christ, we may hope and be assured that the ending of the book of our lives will exceed our grandest expectations.” Christ is the light at the end of our tunnel; as long as we follow his teachings and example and repent of our wrong doings, there will always be something to hope for. Nephi declared, “Press forward with steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope, and a love of God and of all men. Wherefore, if ye shall press forward, feasting upon the word of Christ, and endure to the end, behold, thus saith the Father: Ye shall have eternal life.”

                There have been times I have thought about what my purpose is, and why I have been given the challenges that I go through. What’s the purpose? I then realize I AM a child of God, and God has hope that I’ll put my faith and trust in him so that I may receive the blessing he has in store for me. In gaining a testimony that Heavenly Father has such high hopes for me, I have then raised my hopes and dreams that I may endure to the end and be an instrument in his hands. Hope gives us strength through our trials, temptations and sorrows. They help us look forward to the joy and feeling of success when we’ve gotten through our difficult times. When we pray, we hope and have faith that our prayers are heard and answered. As we continue to hope and have faith in God, we receive courage and strength against fear, doubt and despair. In fact, Hope helps us maintain our faith. For faith is to hope for things not seen which are true. President Uchtdorf explained, “When frustration and impatience challenge charity, hope braces our resolve and urges us to care for our fellowmen even without expectation of reward. The brighter our hope, the greater our faith. The stronger our hope, the purer our charity.” Faith, hope and charity all work together, which the Gospel of Jesus Christ is dependent upon for good works. Whenever you feel discouraged, worried or lonely, don’t give in! Don’t surrender! Don’t ever allow despair to overcome you! There is so much to hope for and look forward to, so long as we stay true to the teachings of Christ and endure to the end. I like the saying that goes along with this that Christ said, “I never said it would be easy, but it would be worth it.” It is a lot of work and effort, but when we put our hope in Jesus Christ, he will never let us down.

                My junior year of high school, I was the pianist for my school’s production of “Once Upon a Mattress.” The music that they had given me was a quite a bit above my piano skills. They had given it to me about two weeks before the production showed. When I sat down for the first time to practice, I was stressed out because I felt it was a goal I wouldn’t be able to accomplish in that time period. I thought there was no way I could do this on my own, so I decided to get on my knees and ask for help. As I practiced each day after school and all through the weekends, I felt I was getting nowhere. The night of the performance I was unsure of how well I would do, scared I would mess up. I then received a father’s blessing telling me I have done my part, and I would do great. That gave me such hope that I went to the performance with great confidence. When you feel that you’re way in over your head, and you can’t do it alone, the Holy Ghost will give you what you need and will help you see your great potential. I played that night with minimum mistakes which no one, except me seemed to notice.

                Near the time my mom had converted into the church, she was asked to be the Laurel’s advisor.  My mom has never been a public speaker, and had never before taught a lesson. She was very nervous about this particular lesson one week, because it was about the holy ghost, She was nervous being so new in the church that she wouldn’t be able to answer all their question. All week she studied, pondered and prayed about what she could say that would influence each of the young women. At the end of the week, she felt flustered, because the lesson was not coming together for her. She feared the lesson wouldn’t go well, and the young women would walk away without learning anything. Right before she left for church, she opened her scriptures one more time to find a few verses that gave her great hope in D&C 11:21 and section 100:5-8 which read, “Seek not to declare my word, but first seek to obtain my word, and then shall your tongue be loosed; you shall have my spirit and my word.” “Life up your voices unto this people; speak the thoughts that I shall put in your hearts, and you shall not be confounded before men; for it shall be given you in the very hour, yeah, in the very moment, what ye shall say. And I give unto you this promise that inasmuch as ye do this the Holy Ghost shall be shed forth in bearing record unto all things whatsoever ye shall say.” My mom walked into the young women’s room with hope that the scriptures gave her in which she would teach a good lesson. During the lesson the words came to her on what to say; and every question the girls had, she was able to answer.

                Don’t give up, because Christ has not given up on you! He wants and hopes the best for all of us no matter what our mistakes are! My Senior year of High school, I did some things I’m not proud of, and lost a lot of trust from my family and friends; and I even lost a lot of self confidence and hope. But because Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ love me, they gave me loving parents who forgave me and helped me understand my consequences. I was given a wonderful visiting teacher who talked to me about the atonement of Christ. I felt so low that I felt I didn’t deserve forgiveness. It was then that my best friend told me that if I felt that way, I didn’t understand the atonement, and I needed to study and ponder it more. Today I now stand, grateful for the power of God’s mercy and love in helping me gain my hope and confidence back through my bishop, family, friends and visiting teachers. He knows we struggle, and it is through those times that make us stronger and bring us closer to Heavenly Father if we let them. We have to put our hope and faith in him and not give up! The atonement of Christ has given me great hope; and I’m eternally grateful to be able to repent of my mistakes and move forward with a sincere and repentant heart ready to renew the covenants I have made with God as I partake of the sacrament each Sunday. God’s hope in me, has helped me have hope in myself.

                Heavenly Father loves all of us, and he wants us all to succeed in this life, so that we may return to live in happiness and peace with him once more and have all that He has

                As I attended the Glady’s Knight event Friday evening they sang a hymn that really shows that Christ is our hope and our joy. As they sang the hymn I stand all amazed I then recognized that because of his great love for us, he has hope and faith that we would use and understand the atonement he gave us. The hymn reads, “I stand all amazed at the love Jesus offers me; Confused at the grace that so fully he proffers me. I tremble to know that for me he was crucified. That for me a sinner, he suffered, he bled and died.” He didn’t do this for himself. He did this because he believes in us and wants us to return to live with him again. In the next part of this hymn, it shows the hope we have him because of the atonement. “Oh it is wonderful that he should care for me, enough to die for me! Oh it is wonderful, wonderful to me!”  As we recognize what he has done for us, we again realize that he does have hope in our future and knows us individually. He knows our rebellious sides, our pride, yet he also knows our loving and companionate sides. Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ have such mercy, love and devotion to us, that he’s always willing to help us when we need it.

                I know this is the true and living gospel and that the scriptures are the word of God. I know President Monson is a true and living prophet. I know that through the atonement of Christ, all mankind may be saved through obedience to the laws and ordinances of the gospel; and that he gives us hope when we cannot fathom our future on our own. We will be happier when we put our faith in Christ. In Romans 5:2, and 5 it states, “Rejoice in hope of the glory of God. And Hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.” I testify that Christ does believe in you and you can put your hope and faith in him. I know that when we do this, and believe in his word and follow his teachings and example, we will all be blessed and be able to endure through our trials. As Paul said in Ephesians 1, “…There is exceeding greatness of his power to us who believe, according to the working of his mighty power.”

I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.