If I were to ask “How do you define hope?” I am sure I would get a myriad of answers. For a starving person, hope could be defined as an anticipation of a great feast that never ends. In the case of a person wracked by a painful and incurable disease, hope could be defined as an expectation of a cure or even just a relief from the pain. For someone waiting for a loved one to come back from a military tour overseas, this could be seen as a hopefulness that they come home safe and sound and life can resume some sense of normalcy. Hope has, over the past, been seen as something temporary or even a pipe dream because so often our hope has been in the things of the world. Yes, this may sound harsh but, if we are to be truly honest with ourselves, to put our hope in a person is not a perfect scenario. Think about this for a moment. I love my wife beyond all understanding but there have been times when she has placed her hope in something I promised and I was unable to deliver. It is not that I did not want to fulfill her hopes but I am fallible. There is not a single one of us who can claim perfection and if anyone says they have never had their hopes dashed because of another, I say think a little harder. You see there is only One who is perfect and you can place your hope in Him because He has never failed any one of us.
Consider this, His hope is that all shall come to know His love and joy and embrace His promise of life eternal in Glory but there are so many out there who have been hurt by placing their hope in people, and yes I will go so far to say in the church, only to be disappointed but I offer this; God has not let us down, not even once, it is the people who falter and this tests our faith, our hope. For many, they have walked away yet Jesus remains committed to everyone of us, for you see “God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. And since we have been made right in God’s sight by the blood of Christ, he will certainly save us from God’s condemnation.” Rom 5:8-9. This is where we should look for our perfect hope. This is the perfect promise that is already paid for, is already waiting for all of us to claim and embrace.
This Sunday, we are celebrating perfect hope, a hope in a Messiah who came for one and all. God sent His Son so that we would all have access to the perfect hope of Glory. Christ loves us so much that He came to take our sins upon Himself so that we may embrace the promise of Glory and therein lies our hope. We can put our hope in our brothers and sisters but our ultimate fulfillment will come from our Saviour.
This Sunday, Pastor Todd will once again be digging into the Epistle of Paul to the Church in Philippi. We would love for you to join us either in person or online Sunday at 10:30 AM MST.
Facebook Live - Main Ave Fellowship
YouTube Live – You Tube
We look forward to seeing you this Sunday.
Blessings,
Pastor Todd
Our Mission “To live the love of Christ”
