Hebrews 6:19: Hope, an Anchor That Does Not Move

Introduction

Sophie Crew, a member of the team at Gas Street Church in Birmingham, brings this message during an all-age service, where young and old stay together from start to finish. The series is about hope, and the whole morning has revolved around one image: the anchor.

She starts from a simple observation. Hope is one of those words we think we know, until someone asks us to explain it. We use it all the time: "I hope it doesn't rain," "I hope you win your football match." But what does it mean to have hope when you follow Jesus?

To answer, Sophie Crew opens the Bible to Hebrews 6:19: "This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast." She says she has done "some extensive research" on anchors, and she draws three lessons from them about hope, followed by an invitation to let it overflow to others.

Outline of the message

1. A firm hope, not just a wish

• The hope of Christians is "not just a wish or positive thinking." It is a hope that is "firm, steady and sure."
• To understand this word, the best thing is to turn to the Bible. Hebrews 6:19 compares hope to an anchor for the soul.
• During the service, two volunteers, an adult and a young person, had to bring back a plastic anchor without touching the rope. Sophie Crew invites us to "zoom in" on this image: hope is like an anchor.

2. An anchor keeps you from drifting

• The first thing we learn about anchors: they stop you from drifting. The speaker returns to the story of Blue, the character in a video shown earlier, whose float kept drifting out into the deep end. It drifted because nothing was holding it.
• In life too, you can find yourself in the deep end without realizing it. You are swamped by work or homework, and you come to church less often.
• Or you have become hooked on a new Netflix series or a YouTuber, and you realize: "I haven't read my Bible. I haven't taken time to pray and talk with God."
• Maybe you came to the service sensing that you have drifted away from God, from your relationship with Jesus. Sophie Crew has "really good news" for you: we have this anchor.

3. The anchor is God, and Jesus is the chain

• The anchor is God: who he is, his character, his nature. It is a firm and secure foundation.
• The chain that connects the anchor to the boat is a little like Jesus. He brings us back to our Father, he connects us to God.
• This is what gives hope: knowing that we can never be separated from God.
• When you say yes to Jesus, he creates a firm and secure link to the anchor, to who God is.

4. An anchor keeps the boat steady in the storm

• The second lesson: an anchor keeps the boat steady in the storm. The congregation sang it that very morning: "Through the storm, he is Lord."
• Having an anchor does not mean you will never go through a storm, a hard day or a troubled season. It means something holds you in place.
• The waves of life can wash over you, and the boat of your life can begin to rock. But "the wind and the waves can move the boat, they cannot move the anchor."
• When difficulties come, your security is in God. He plants your feet firmly on the ground. You are held by him.

5. An anchor is fixed in a secure place

• The last lesson: an anchor is set in a secure place. That is what hope in God does when you know him through Jesus.
• Your security no longer depends on your ability not to drift, or on your strength to push back the storms and the waves. It comes from God.
• Attached to him through Jesus, you can feel safe, held by something greater than yourself.
• The Bible describes God with other images of things that are very hard to move: mountains, rocks, fortresses. God is strong and mighty, and you are safe with him.

6. A hope that overflows to others

• This hope is not meant to be kept to yourself. It starts to spring up and overflow: we become people of hope.
• Paul writes it in Romans 15:13: "Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope, in the power of the Holy Spirit."
• We can offer the people around us this strong, steady and sure anchor. Jesus is our hope, because he is the one who connects us to the Father, our creator.
• The world is "absolutely desperate, lacking hope," because no one else can offer a freedom like the one Jesus gives, or bring us into a relationship with the one who made us and knows us so well.
• Jesus offers life, life in abundance, as John's Gospel says. Not just for today, but a life that lasts forever.

7. Coming back to the anchor

• Sophie Crew concludes by rereading Hebrews 6:19. If you feel you are drifting, if the storms of life seem huge and frightening, if the ground under your feet seems unstable, you can come back to this anchor.
• The anchor is God himself, and we are connected to him through Jesus, who offers us a restored relationship with our Father.
• "Don't we want to be people who really carry hope in our hearts?"
• In response, each person wrote their name on a paper link to say they were placing their hope in Jesus. The links were joined together from row to row, then laid in front of the stage, as a reminder that, individually and as a church, our hope is rooted in him.
• One of the people invited to pray interceded for those going through a storm: "Jesus, be their anchor." And she added: "Forgive us for the times we have put our hope in other things. Help us to choose you and to hold on to you every day."

Key takeaways

• Christian hope is not a wish or positive thinking: it is an anchor of the soul, sure and steadfast.
• The anchor is God himself. Jesus is the chain that connects you to him and brings you back to the Father.
• Having an anchor does not take away the storms, but the wind and the waves cannot move the anchor.
• Your security does not rest on your ability not to drift: it rests on God.
• The hope received in Jesus overflows: we can offer it to a world that lacks it.

Personal reflection

1. In which area do you feel you are drifting right now: work, studies, screens, prayer, Bible reading?
2. When you say "I hope," is it a wish, or a confidence that rests on who God is?
3. What storm are you going through, and what difference would it make to remember that the waves cannot move your anchor?
4. In what other things have you placed your hope, instead of God?
5. Who around you needs you to talk to them this week about the hope you have in Jesus?

Verses cited

• Hebrews 6:19
• Romans 15:13
• John 10:10

Frequently asked questions

What does "an anchor of the soul" mean in Hebrews 6:19?

For Sophie Crew, the image tells us what Christian hope is. An anchor keeps the boat from drifting, holds it steady in the storm and is fixed in a secure place. The anchor is God himself, his character and his nature. Jesus is like the chain that connects the boat to the anchor: he brings us back to the Father.

Is Christian hope just positive thinking?

No. We say "I hope it doesn't rain" or "I hope you win your match." Sophie Crew distinguishes this everyday use of the word from the hope of Jesus' disciples: it is neither a wish nor positive thinking, but a firm, steady and sure hope, because it rests on God.

Does having God as your anchor keep you from going through storms?

No. An anchor does not guarantee that there will never be a storm, a hard day or a troubled season. It guarantees that something holds you in place. The wind and the waves can move the boat, but they cannot move the anchor. In difficulties, your security is in God.