Join us for in person worship on Sunday, October 17, at 10:15 a.m.
The video of Sunday’s worship service will be posted on Sunday afternoon at https://vimeo.com/channels/1547852.
You can view and download the bulletin here.
Paul writes to the early Christians in Rome: “And hope does not disappoint us…”
Another translation of our text affirms: Such hope is not a fantasy.”
Hope, genuine hope, not wishful thinking, is in short supply these days.
The fantasy that we call “hope” comes and goes in our lives. Many tend to feel hope when there is a modicum of good news to cling to—and when that vanishes, hope vanishes as well. So it was that many hoped for a return to “normal” when the vaccines rolled out early this year. The Delta variant and waning immunity over time meant that such hope faded. But now: booster shots! And hope returns.
This is the hope that disappoints.
The Old Testament scholar Ellen Davis helps us when she says that hope “is a way of living that we chose; and gradually, day by day, we learn to be graceful in it. Hope is a way of living beyond our own limited vision and natural fears, a way,” Davis says, “of living into God’s faithfulness and there finding fullness of joy forever.."
How do we get to hope?
SCRIPTURE LESSONS: Jeremiah 29:10-14; Romans 5:1-11
SERMON “Getting to Hope”
The Rev. Bill Lovin preaching
ANTHEM "Follow Me to Jordan" Jay Althouse
No matter who you are or where you are on life’s journey, you are welcome here.