I live in the realm of hope. It’s what gets me up every morning. Hope is the dream, the vision, the catalyst to believe God has something important in store for me on any given day. Hope makes life worth living.
1st Corinthians 13 says there are three tremendous assets in our Christian life – faith, hope and love and the greatest of these is love. But for me hope is not far behind.
I have hope today that God will be my strength when I am weak. I have hope that God will keep me from self-destructing. I have hope that God will always love me despite my foibles. I carry the amazing hope of heaven.
Thomas Fuller said, “If it were not for hope, the heart would break.”
William Penn said, “Hope means we should never give up on life.”
The Apostle Paul said, “Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.” Romans 12:12
My hope for you is this would be your best Christmas ever. Merry Christmas everyone!
A vintage Christmas postcard from the early 20th century.
Prayer Needs This Week…
- Pray for Lily, a 22 year-old Persian, who gave her heart to Christ last night.
- David Kessner who continues to battle Lyme’s disease
- The family of Rosemary Qin, a Chinese missionary, who died from cancer recently
- God’s blessing on Caleb Scott’s upcoming marriage
- Hearts touched at the Christmas Eve services
Little Church by the Sea Christmas/New Year’s Schedule
- Christmas Eve Candlelight services – 4:30 pm and 6 pm
- Regular Sunday services, December 31 – 9 am and 10:45 am
- New Year’s Day Morning Prayer – 8 am; knoll on fire road between TOW/Moulton Meadows
- New Year’s Day Evening Worship Service – 7 pm in the sanctuary
Did you know? The English novelist Charles Dickens is credited with making Christmas such a beloved holiday in the West with the publication of “A Christmas Carol” in 1843; the same year (1843) the first commercial Christmas card went on sale in England; Christmas Eve has now surpassed Easter as the time people are most likely to attend church.
Finally – don’t let anybody “Bah! Humbug!” you this week.
Pastor Jay