Biblical hope is one of the greatest blessings of being a Christian. It is the confident expectation that every promise God has made is true. It is what sustains our faith during difficult times, and it allows us to focus on spiritual things over physical things.
In Romans 15:13, Paul writes, “Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you will abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” Paul makes it clear that hope comes from God, that hope comes after or as a result of our belief, and that it comes by the power of the Holy Spirit, but also notice that Paul’s desire is for Christians to “abound in hope.”
Abounding in hope is being filled to the top and even overflowing. It is having as much as we need and then still having more. Paul’s desire is for the hope of Christians to be so abundant in our lives that we cannot contain it.
As a congregation, we plan to study and focus on this hope that comes from God in the coming year. It should be so abundant that it meets our every spiritual need, is clearly seen by others, and is easily shared with the world around us.
Matt Langfield