Overwhelming Hope
Uncertainty about the future results either in paralyzing fear or in self-managed control. Without the hope that Christ is for us and that our future is secured by God, we will be excessively anxious and engaged in self-preservation and self-enhancement. We’ll end up thinking only about ourselves, our future, and our problems, instead of loving (and obeying) Christ. But if we let our future be taken care of by God—whether that’s for the next five minutes or five centuries from now—then we can be free to love others, allowing God’s glory to shine more clearly in our lives.
Join us for this five-part series to discover how growing confident in our hope can give us the peace and freedom we desire today. First Peter chapter one is overwhelmingly about hope, so this chapter of Scripture will guide us into a deeper understanding of the sure hope we have in Christ.
“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade.”
1 Peter 1:3-4a (NIV)
Russell Patterson serves Stonebriar Community Church as one of our Elders. Russell is an Account Manager for Hewlett-Packard, where he has been employed for more than 16 years. He holds a bachelor’s degree in liberal arts from the University of Texas, Austin and went on to study kinesiology in graduate school at the University of Texas.
Russell and his wife, Jayne, grew up in Plano and moved to Frisco in 1996. They both serve in the Faith Builders Sunday Fellowship class. The Pattersons have two daughters, Catherine and Victoria.
