Reason For Hope with Don Patterson

Your understanding of spiritual truth - what you believe to be true - will be the determining factor in your eternal destiny. Truth is vital - and God teaches us truth via His Word. Therefore, what people do with God's Word is tremendously important. At the same time, the devil is doing all he can to deceive as many people as possible. Please listen to this message from Mark 13:5-11 to learn how to safeguard yourself from deception.

At the time of creation, God carefully crafted and presented the gift of marriage to humankind - setting its parameters and boundaries intentionally for our good and well-being. Therefore, this cornerstone of society needs to be respected and kept by all Christians, as God intended. Please listen to this message from Genesis 2:18-24.

We have a natural inclination to try to earn God's favor. We want the credit for performing well. But God's standard is nothing less than perfection and we fall short in so many ways. So our attempts to merit God's favor inevitably result in guilt and stress. That's not what God desires. He wants us to find peace in the gift of forgiveness that Jesus won for us. Please listen to this lesson from Hebrews, chapter 4.

God talks to us about the end of the world - to comfort us regarding our delivery from times of distress. But also, so we will live wisely with respect to our eternal destiny. The daily concerns that typically preoccupy us, will matter very little on Judgment Day. What will matter is taught to us in this message from the 12th chapter of Daniel. Please listen.

Upon their miraculous exit from Egypt, God instructed the priest Aaron to pronounce a special blessing upon the Israelite nation... It was intended to communicate that God was present, that He was in close contact with them, and that He was there to bless them. To bless means to guide, to protect, to care for, and to make our lives happy. Please listen to this beautiful promise from God as it is taught in Numbers, chapter 6.

How can God love those who are deeply rebellious, selfish and evil at heart? In other words, how can God love sinners like us? Jesus would often teach the spirit of God's love with stories - examples that illustrated the relentless desire God has to restore a close relationship with every person... but in this story, His main point was to hold up a mirror to the un-Christian attitude that often lives in the hearts of those inside the church. Take an honest look at yourself in this lesson from Luke, chapter 15.

Inside every person, God has placed a knowledge of right and wrong (our conscience). At the same time, our inherent sinful nature keeps us from ever living up to God's expectations. We are all painfully aware of how short we fall... Worldly philosophy and man-made religions try to address this conflict - but God's solution is the only true answer. Please listen to this insightful lesson in human behavior from Galations, chapter 2.

The self-sacrificing love that God has for every person is foundational to the Christian faith. But when we are suffering, and the God that we know loves us doesn't deliver us in the way we want to be delivered, then our trust in God's love is tested. In those times, we need the lesson embedded in the story of the death of Lazarus, found in John chapter 11. Please listen.

Throughout His 3-year ministry, the closer Jesus came to the cross, the more focused and determined He became. And this was because He fully understood what was at stake - the eternal consequences of the sacrifice He was about to make. And Jesus wants us - those who believe His promises - to have the same understanding, when we look at the people around us. Holding that truth close helps us to love others the way Jesus loves us. Please listen to this important lessson from Luke, chapter 10.

The birth of Jesus in Bethlehem was fulfillment of God's all-important promise. A promise He first made to Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden and one which was repeated and detailed by prophets over 20 centuries. So when it came to pass, God sent angels and other miraculous signs to insure we wouldn't miss the significance of this world-saving event. Please listen and soak in the full meaning of Christ's arrival in the world from Luke, chapter 2.

The Christmas story presents a double-fold difficulty for many believers. On one hand, it's a story that's so familiar and idealized, that the reality of it becomes glossed over. At the same time, the very idea that God - the Creator and Lord of the universe - would condescend to live among us as a helpless baby is so incredible, it becomes equally hard to appreciate. If you can relate to those struggles, please listen to this lesson on the reality of Christmas, as viewed through the eyes of Mary and Joseph in Matthew, chapter 1.

Jesus came to repair the relationship between you and God - replacing the fear of judgement with the peace of forgiveness. One way that Christians can communicate the love of God during the hectic holiday season is by meditating upon and displaying the peace that God bestows on us through our Savior. To hear more about that peace, please listen to this lesson from Ezekiel, chapter 37.

Jesus came to sacrifice himself and pay for the sins of the world... But when He taught those who would follow him (including you and me), He gave us unvarnished, truth-filled advice on how to live in a sin-stricken world. If you are interested in living wisely, according to God's direction, please listen to this message from Jesus in Matthew, chapter 7.

Jesus taught that He would bring peace between God and humankind - by sacrificially taking the punishment for our sins. But His message left no room for fence-sitting - the only options are to accept Him as your Savior (God's Messiah), or reject Him as a fraud. In that sense,Jesus and His message are inherently divide people into two camps. Please listen to message of division from Luke, chapter 12.

With regard to spiritual matters, our hearts are inherently dark and bent on self-justification. So much so, that we often deceive ourselves and can't see the truth about our spiritual condition. To help us realize our need for a Savior, Jesus was an expert at using stories to get past our defenses. Please listen to this insightful lesson from Luke chapter 25, that shows your Savior at work.

Faith in God is being sure of what we cannot see. It's about trusting in God's promises regarding what lies ahead, because apart from God, we can't know what the future holds. In this lesson, God directs us to look at believers of the Old Testament. And God commends them for the trust they displayed by relying on His direction and His promises. Please listen to this enlightening description of faith from Hebrews, chapter 11.

Jesus had a mission to save the world by sacrificing His life and taking on the punishment for our sins. But on His journey to the cross, He made it His priority to passionately pursue lost souls (like us) - to bring us back to a right relationship with God. And that is what we see Jesus doing in this lesson from John chapter 4. Look at your Savior.

Conventional wisdom advises us to stay silent regarding our religious beliefs... and politics and a long list of sensitive subjects. But that "wisdom" runs counter to the very purpose God has for believers. He leaves us here on earth to be an encouraging spiritual influence on the people around us. People who may not know there is a loving, forgiving Savior-God who invites them to come home. Please listen to Jesus teach this important lesson from Matthew 5.

The Bible tells us that our sinful hearts - our in-most thoughts and being - can be so deceptive that we even fool ourselves when it comes to rationalizing our bad motives and bad behavior. Knowing this, Jesus was an expert at using stories to get past our "walls" to show us our serious, deep-seated problems - and our desperate need for a Savior. Please listen to this revealing lesson from Luke, chapter 14.

Trusting in Jesus - the meaning of his life and death - is the essence of our saving faith. But faith also encompasses many other aspects of our relationship with God - including our acceptance of God's morale authority. So then, it comes as no surprise to find the Apostle Paul encouraging us to live in a way that is consistent with Christian faith. Please listen to this tough-love message from Ephesians 4:17-24.