Most of us like buying new things from time to time. We take pleasure in the appearance of something brand new, it’s perfect, no imperfections. Our purchase might be something big like a new car or something not so big, like a new pair of shoes. However, whatever it is, no matter how carefully we try to take care of it, that new car is going to get a door ding and that new pair of shoes is going to get a scuff mark. When that happens, it kind of pops your bubble because you had hoped you could keep it looking perfect. You had hoped that the newness would last but sooner or later something happens to disappoint you.
Life can be like that. We start out young with all kinds of hopes and dreams, but sooner or later our hope for life begins to fade. God created us to want to have hope, hope in this life that and hope for the next life. If we put our hope in things they won’t last. If we put our hope in people, we’ll be disappointed.
God wants us to have a lasting hope, a hope that doesn’t quit, a hope that will ultimately be realized. God wants us to find a lasting hope, not in things, not in people, not in anything else in this imperfect world, but in Him.
Hope is an expected and awaited good, something in the future, something we anticipate. We want that hope to last until it becomes reality. God wants you as a believer to be filled with hope, to be filled with joy. NIV Proverbs 10:28 The prospect of the righteous is joy, but the hopes of the wicked come to nothing.
So how can you have a hope that doesn’t quit, a hope that lasts? The answer if found in Jesus who said in NIV John 11:25 “I am the resurrection and the life.” Today we are going to look at story of Jesus and Lazarus in John 11 to see how we can have a lasting hope. We’re going to look at 3 stages in what I call the Lifecycle of Hope.
To hear more about this topic, listen to my August 21, 2005 message entitled Can I Find A Lasting Hope?
Love is something that everyone talks about and love is something that everyone needs. God created us with a need for love, both the love of God and the love of people. 
Do you remember your first day on a job? Got up in the morning, excited but apprehensive, thinking “What should I wear? formal or informal?” Got to work early and you looked for your boss. You had a name, but didn’t even know what he looked like. You finally found him. He gave you some instructions, new office, a list of names of people to talk to and left you to yourself. 
A television crew was filming the devastation caused by Hurricane Andrew in southern Florida. In one scene of damaged and destroyed homes along the coast, there was only one house still standing on its foundation. The reporter approached the owner, who was out cleaning up his yard. “Tell me, sir, why do you think your house is the only one standing? How did you alone in this area manage to escape severe damage from the hurricane?” The man replied, “I built the house myself and I built it according to the Florida State building code. When the code called for 2×6 trusses I used 2×6 trusses. I was told that a house built according to code could withstand a hurricane I built it according to code and it withstood the hurricane.”
A little boy came to his father and asked him, “Dad, where is heaven?” His father, engrossed in the evening paper, responded, “Beats me, son.” The boy thought a minute and asked another question, “Dad, why is the earth round?” The Dad answered, “I don’t know.” His son played few more minutes, then asked, “Dad, is there life on other planets?” His father patiently answered, “Nobody knows the answer to that.” Finally, the boy asked his father, “Dad, do you mind me asking you all these questions?” His father put down his paper, looked at his son and said, “Why not at all son, how else are you going to learn?” 
