What's there to Be Hopeful About?

As you came to worship yesterday, you saw this picture on the cover of our worship guide - a single lit candle on the Advent wreath, symbolizing our starting point on the journey to Christmas and the starting point of our next year.

Why Hope?

Simple. Since our earliest days, the people of God have been at their core people of hope. Adam and Eve hoped for reconciliation. Noah hoped for life. David hoped for redemption. Moses hoped for deliverance. The prophets hoped for vindication. All hoped for the arrival of the promised one, the Messiah. Since Christ's death and resurrection, the people of God have hoped for his return, with his words about 'I'll be back soon' resonating through the centuries. Many I visit with these days hope that in the end, everything will be ok, for we are, it seems, bombarded with all sorts of stuff that can lead us to frustration, aggravation, and despondence, convincing us that things will NEVER get better.

One of the things that makes Christianity so unique is that we are, by definition, people of hope. As those who have gone before, we, too, face days, weeks, seasons, and years of doubt, worry, fear, and despair. There are times where we question whether or not this is all worth it. We ask ourselves if its worth it to profess faith in a Messiah who says to us that we had better be willing to leave it all behind (friends, family, possessions) to follow him. We ask ourselves, when the church does things that we don't like, things we don't agree with, things that (unfortunately) hurt us, is this all worth it?

Yes, my friends, it is. And that's why we start our year off with the candle of hope. Lord knows there are many things that we allow us to snuff out our hope, but, like clockwork, we, year-after-year, are confronted with the single, solitary candle of hope, and are reminded that, yes, it is all worth it. We have seen it over and over again - ours is a God of hope, and no matter what, in the end, God will deliver the faithful. Maybe not in the way or in the timing we would like, but in the end, God has always delivered.

As you journey through this week, may you be a person of hope, who's world is illuminated by the light of that first candle on the Advent wreath, and whose life is filled with the hope symbolized therein.

Grace and Peace,

Lamar