This coming Sunday will be the first Sunday in Advent leading up to Christmas. In the circle of candles in our Advent wreath, this week we will light the Advent Candle of HOPE. We are all aware of a desperate need for HOPE in our world today. There are so many examples of places where HOPE is needed. Unresolved conflict and war has us praying for the HOPE for peace. Rising costs and hunger and homelessness find us searching for answers and for HOPE. For those dealing with illness and in some cases being told there is nothing else that can be done medically, there is a longing for HOPE. In our relationships with family and friends where there is tension and brokenness and pain, we look for HOPE. In our personal circumstances where we wonder how we will face an uncertain future, there is a desire for HOPE. Sometimes looking for HOPE can be like searching the shelves of a store for a particular item. We may even go to multiple stores asking if they have available that for which we are looking. It is such a disappointment to be told, “Sorry, we are all out” or “We don’t carry that anymore.” In this season leading up to Christmas, we have good news to hold and to share. There remains the potential for HOPE in our world and in our personal lives. This HOPE might seem in short supply but we can remember that our God has infinite resources. The angel delivered the message to Mary, “You will be with child and will give birth to a son and you are to give him the name Jesus.” (Luke 1:31) When God sent Jesus into our world, HOPE was established for always. Our prayers this week will center around rediscovering the HOPE that God offers. Yes, HOPE can be obscured by the immensity of the problems we see all around us. Yet, we have the promise of HOPE because of Jesus, God’s Son who came to bring HOPE to our seemingly hopeless lives. We will pray this week that God will assist us in seeing and experiencing the HOPE that is to be found in Jesus. Please join us for our WEDNESDAY PRAYER TOGETHER tomorrow November 29th at 1 pm.
Praying that the glimmer of HOPE will burn brighter and brighter as we look to Jesus, Pastor Lola
Our loving God, thank You that we can rely on You as our Source of Hope. You know how much we need hope in our individual lives and in our world. You know the places where we search for hope. We experience hope when we recall the gift of Your Son Jesus Who entered our world to bring hope to humankind. In this Advent season leading up to Christmas, we want to renew our hope in You. Thank you for times in the past when You have brought hope, although we felt hopeless. We recognize that when we leave You out of the picture, there is no hope. Instead of trying to fix things ourselves, please remind us to turn to You constantly. For every place and circumstance where hope is needed, we release each of these to You. When we begin to feel overwhelmed by all that is wrong in our world, please remind us of all that You have redeemed and made right. We do pray for decisions to be made in the Ukraine and in the Middle East that will advance the hope for peace. We pray for the hope of people being able to feel safe. We think of Jesus coming to save us and to keep us safe forever. This is where our hope lies. When the circumstances of our lives and world are anything but safe, we acknowledge that Jesus has come to give us eternal safety. We pray for those who are homeless and hungry and ask You to show us how to work together to bring a new hope for them in their need. And God when we think of the complications of relationships with family and with friends, we pray for You to guide us in all that we think and say and do. We want our interactions with others to be committed to You for You to touch them with hope and grace. In this Christmas season, we know that often there are heightened levels of stress and anxiety. Here too we pray for hope from You. For those for whom Christmas holds painful memories, we pray for the hope of healing. For those who only know a Christmas without Christ at the center, we pray for the hope of meeting Jesus in a personal and transformative way. God, we see in Jesus hope for every one of us and for our world. May we find generous ways to share this promise of hope with those whom we meet and those for whom we pray. Please do give us a fresh encounter with you and a fresh experience of hope again this Christmas we pray, in the name of Jesus who is our Hope, AMEN.