Where Can We Find Hope?

Sometimes it seems like everything is going wrong, that the world seems to be getting worse and worse, that our lives seem to be littered with trouble. Hope in the face of illness and death, in the face of poverty, in the face of abuse, seems pretty thin sometimes, especially when we look inside of ourselves for the source of hope. When we think we can save ourselves from life changing challenges we often find ourselves at the end of a dark hopeless road.

This Sunday we are going to look into the Psalms for words of hope, particularly Psalm 62. The psalmist says that he finds his hope in God. He calls him a fortress, a rock, a refuge. God is the psalmist's salvation. He says God holds the power in the world.

In this hope, we have something to share with those around us who are struggling to see the way through, who feel lost and powerless.

Come and See

chosenrebel.me

This week the lectionary reading takes us to the Gospel of John and the growth of Jesus' little band of disciples. We meet Nathanael a man who grudgingly responds to Philip's invitation to come and see. His skepticism turns to amazement as Jesus tells him about himself without ever having met him before.

Meeting Jesus has that effect on people, all they need is an invitation to "come and see". Philip gets his friend in front of Jesus, but Jesus does the work of convincing Nathanael that he is indeed the promised Messiah.

This week , we will spend some time thinking about what the call to extend the invitation to come and see means for us in our world.

In the Beginning, God......

genesis1blog.com

"In the Beginning, God", these four words have been the source of controversy for decades.

What did the "beginning" look like? Did the world evolve into what it is today, or did it spring up, fully formed, in a week long symphony of creation? The debates fill volumes, each side berating the other, throwing scientific theory against faith based certainty. Every one of these arguments though, tries to fit God into something we can understand with our finite human minds. We try to put God in a box.

The Bible doesn't do that, It just says that at the beginning, God was there. It sets the tone for the entire history of the universe by centering it around God.

This Sunday, we will look at the beginning, our God, and his love for us in new beginnings in Jesus Christ.