Skip to main content

Renewing Hope

I enjoy Do It Yourself (DIY) projects. But they are not always as easy at they seem. I need to remember that they are much easier with help.

I don’t like to ask for help when I’m working on something around the house, need a volunteer at church, or don’t know something. I rather struggle by myself until I get desperate.
As a nation, we isolate ourselves instead of working on issues like conflicts, environment or trade with others from our global community.
And as believers, we pretend we are perfect, and feel ashamed to share our personal struggles, instead of trusting God to care about us, or getting support from our church family.
Word
Jesus lived with hope in the present because he trusted in God’s care. You and I do well to follow his example:

  • Jesus lived by faith. Trust that turning to God and believing in hope is not weakness, but instead it is sign of honesty and faithfulness.
  • Jesus lived without fear. Trust that God provides direction and resources we need.
  • Jesus lived with hope. Trust that God protects us through instructions, warnings, and grace, but also through our smarts, painful experiences, and other people.
It is okay to rely on help and protection. We don’t have to go life alone. Jesus came to give us hope by saving us.
Connection
Do you need hope today? Ask for help, trust in God’s love, and find a Christian who listens, can get you help, and will give you new hope.
Do you know someone who needs hope? Reach out, show them you care and that God cares, and get them help.
Message
We need a Savior, but, the good news is: we can expect him to come and get us out of our fix. God knows we are children in need of help, and cares like a parent.
Like a hen offering shelter to her little chicks, Jesus says: come to me and don’t be afraid to feel weak. I am your Savior and I died to give you hope.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Everyday Gratitude

The altar at St. Paul's Lutheran Church with donations for local food pantries. This week we celebrate Thanksgiving. How do you celebrate the holiday? It’s well and good to be thankful for family and food on Thanksgiving Day. But as Christians we can show our genuine gratitude to a gracious God every day by 1. remembering to thank God for everything, 2. praying for those who are in positions of authority, and 3. sharing the gifts we have received with others in need. According to Matthew’s gospel, Jesus encourages us: “... do not worry, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear?’ ... But strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” (vv. 31, 33) God blesses us all in abundance. Let’s not forget to be thankful. And remember those who lack basic needs.

Renewing Devotion

My wife and I showed our devotion to Jesus by packing food for starving children. 'Why give money to World Hunger when they should help themselves and there’s people to take care of your own family or church or country?’ Or, one could say, why waste expensive perfume to anoint Jesus’ feet when you could have used the money to feed the poor? That’s rational, selfish, and sarcastic Judas speaking to willfully discredit Mary. Mary however, responded with love, generosity, and extravagant devotion. Word The lectionary gospel on the Sunday before Holy Week tells of Mary sharing her devotion for Jesus. She uses expensive oil, and outrageously, her hair and tears, to express her love, her service, her faith in Jesus. While they are at dinner, “Mary took a pound of costly perfume made of pure nard, anointed Jesus’ feet, and wiped them with her hair.” (John 12:3) Guess what? Mary doesn’t care about the cost, or what other people might say. She does what feels right to her....

Renewing Confession

Procession of Clergy during an Ordination service. The church celebrates faith in Christ together. It is difficult for us to relate to biblical events like Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem. The words like Hosanna, and actions like riding on a donkey, are not exactly something we use or encounter today. Word If Jesus were to live today to tell us about God beginning to take charge of governing the world it would be all over Twitter, Facebook and YouTube. God’s representative might come riding on a bicycle instead in a limousine. And people would probably wave their cell phones to express their excitement. Followers of the new visionary leader would shout something like: ‘Hey, yo! Welcome the Boss from heaven! Get ready for some serious change!’ Connection So if it so happened that Jesus were to come through our town on the way to die and rise so we would be freed to live in God’s realm here on earth and forever in heaven, would you even notice, would you believe hi...