11A Worship

“The hopes and fears of all the years are met in Thee tonight.” In whom? When?

What do we hope for … not “wish for”, not “want”, not “it would be nice if …” but genuinely, deep in our soul, down to our toes, hope for? When we are alone, reflecting on our life, on those we love, and on the world we live in … what is our greatest hope … and our deepest fear? Our hopes are often connected to our fears.

The problem with hope is that we are continually enticed to place our hope in the wrong things and the wrong people. Promises are made, our hope rises. And then those promises are broken, and our hopes too.

Christian faith, and the Christmas miracle, offers a different kind of hope. Christian faith, and the Christmas miracle, claim that one night, 2000 years ago, our greatest fears ran into something, actually SOMEONE, who entered this world, and our lives, and brought not simply another vague and unreliable hope, but a certain and unshakable hope. The hope this One brought at His birth is way beyond wishful thinking … He has enabled generations to overcome their fears, to live differently, generously, confidently. Even the fear of death fades as the Hope He provides rises.

Our Advent preaching series begins this morning and reaches its crescendo on Christmas Eve. True Hope, Enduring Peace, Unrestrained Joy, and Overwhelming Love come from Jesus … nowhere else. These next four weeks we will look at the miracle of Christmas through some of the greatest parables Jesus told: this morning the Good Samaritan. We find courage to risk, courage to be compassionate, courage to love … because Jesus was born in the “Little Town of Bethlehem”.