Tag Archives: hope

God Keeps His Promises (A Minute of Advent Hope)

God promised to send the Immanuel – the “with-us-God” – and his word never fails. This week we rejoice in the fact that God always keeps his word. The Jesus of Bethlehem is proof!

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Hope that Sustains

Hope is more than a feeling, more than a wish. It is more than “the thing with feathers that perches in the soul” (Emily Dickinson). Hope is an objective reality outside the soul which protects the soul. It is an … Continue reading

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A Minute of Hope for Advent: The End of Evil

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Have You Got the Time?

You will think that you have seen it all when you see your friends and family, and especially when you see yourself. You will be stunned and overwhelmed. “After this,” you will think, “nothing will ever surprise me again.” And then you will see him – him who made the worlds – and in that moment, you will know why you were made, why everything and everyone was made, and you will know that the making was good, was “very good. Continue reading

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Get Ready, Get Set, and Wait: Observing Advent

Why do some churches begin their celebration of Advent, which is Latin for “arrival” and refers to Christ’s coming, a month before Christmas? Are they taking their cue from Walmart and trying to leverage the holiday to maximize worship attendance? … Continue reading

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Living Backwards – 1 Peter 1:1-4

This week we begin a new series titled, Strong, Firm, and Steadfast. The first message in this series is a hopeful one – is about hope – and comes from 1 Peter 1:1-4. It’s titled, Living Backwards. Read 1 Peter … Continue reading

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Nothing Fails Like Success

Failure sometimes follows close on the heels of success. The person who gets the dream job (success) allows that job to take the place of their spouse (failure). He or she gets promotions but ends up with a divorce.

The child of an alcoholic vows never to be like his dad. He doesn’t drink (success). But the resentment he carries around with him damages his own kids (failure), and they choose to get back at their dad by – what else? – drinking. Continue reading

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What it Takes to Change: Hope for a Better Future

If you’re going to change in a way that leads to even better changes and does not lead back into the bondage of old habits, these three elements must be in place.

First, you have to see the benefit that change will bring. You have to think it, feel it, want it, dream it, daydream it; you have to live with a vision of what your life will be. Without that hope, change won’t last. Continue reading

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8 Things Hope Does for the Believer (part 2)

My son Kevin and I were once fishing in Quebec from a boat that was anchored about 100 yards above a small waterfall. (I say small, but it probably dropped 30 feet over a course of a couple of hundred yards.) Without that anchor, the current would have carried us into pain and loss. And without hope, the strong currents of this age will carry you and your family where you do not want to go. Continue reading

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Hope – I Need Somebody (Hope- Not Just Anybody)

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