In the last five years, we have all lost what we believed would not change. The pandemic
stole a sense of reliability. We understand tentative in a way we never wanted to. We’ve collected more “maybe’s” about the future. We’ve also collected more fears. What we believed was permanent and untouchable has slipped through our fingers. Our culture is in chaos. We do not live as a nation “under God.”
We Need Hope!
We need hope that won’t come from our culture, our politicians, or our schools. It will come as it came over 2,000 years ago, from God’s great gift. He sent Himself to us, not as a theory or construct or premise. Not so we can debate and divide ourselves.
Advent Hope
We need to rediscover the hope that Jesus brought and how He changes our lives today. We need to know how hope helps us stand firm in a world that is broken and breaking.
It is no accident that the theme of the first Sunday of Advent is Hope. If we don’t start with hope, we will find a detour that gives us a celebration without substance. Unless hope is our foundation, we will find substitutes for peace, love, and joy that God wants us to experience from His gift first.
Living Hope
How do we live in hope? By fixing our eyes on Jesus instead of the bad news our world delivers. By living in the promise that “My God will meet all my needs” and wait to see what gift he brings to meet them. By reminding ourselves that the One who lives in us is greater than anything in the world. That’s hope with a capital H-O-P-E! And we find that hope nowhere else but in Jesus.
To Help You
To help you live with true hope this Christmas, I’ll send you a message of hope each Wednesday leading up to Christmas. As a companion resource, I have prepared a 25-day Advent calendar for you to download. It will give you a 2-3 verses to read, a question to think about and a prayer to pray. You can download your pages here.
Hope-carriers!
Let’s be hope-carriers this year at Christmas. Let’s point people to hope in Jesus by living his hope in front of them. The world will still be dark. The wars won’t all stop. But if our lives can be a candle of hope and we put our candles together, we can make our circle of the world a little brighter.
As we prepare for the first Sunday of Advent, pray this prayer with me::
Holding my candle of hope up for you!
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