Skip to main content

Hope to hang on to

What is hope?

The dictionaries say that Hope is a feeling and expectation that a particular thing is going to happen. Sometimes hope is assured and sometimes unlikely. 
Maybe, you hope your favourite team will win a match. That can be likely to happen or you could be rather optimistic! 
An older definition includes the idea of trust as well.

So what is the hope that we have as Christians?


Firstly, that if God has promised it, it will happen. We see God's promises in the bible in stories like Noah, Abraham and Joseph. Their lives included promises for the future, some of which we see come true in their lives and the lives of their families.

                                                    🚢                 ✰                🌈

But our biggest Hope is rooted in Jesus Christ and who He is. We see Him as the completion of the Old Testament law, prophesies and promises and that we can depend on Him for our futures too.

This is an assured Hope, something that has and will happen, not just unlikely and over optimistic.

Hebrew 11:1 Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see.   (New Living Translation)

Faith and hope are intertwined and faith is confidence in our hope.

An Anchor

How can this hope be an anchor in our lives?

  • It is something that is always there. God doesn't leave us and we can depend on Him at all times.
  • If you believe Jesus is your Saviour then you know you are secure in your eternity.
  • It helps you define who you are and find purpose in your lives.
  • The church provides a community to explore this hope and learn about God.

Firm and Secure

We are repeatedly told in the bible about God and His steadfast love, that He is a rock and that we can trust Him with our lives.

In a world that is so unpredictable normally, and feels chaotic at present, it is reassuring to know that God is firm and secure. We can use our hope to connect our anchor to God and know we will be safe.


Activities

🪁 See if you can go and fly a kite. Feel the pull of the kite in the wind and imagine that you are the kite and God is holding the end of the string. You are safe and secure. He will never let you go.

🎨Paint a picture of the sea in a storm. You could add a ship with an anchor, or a lighthouse standing firm.

🖍 Colour in the picture at the top of the blog.

🙏 Pray to God and ask Him to remind you that He is there. Ask Him to help you to rely on Him. 


Father God,
May we all know you as firm and secure, a place of safety in the midst of confusion. Help us to hold on to this hope as you hold onto us.
Thank you for already fulfilling our hope, by sending your Son to save us. Thank you Jesus for dying to give us life and sending your Spirit to help us each day.
Amen


 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Harvest and thankfulness

    Harvest This coming Sunday we will be celebrating Harvest during our all-age service. I wanted to write you a poem or two to help us think about what harvest means to us today. It is a bit about food and all the fruit and vegetables we can pick and enjoy at this time of year. But, because most of us don't grow all of our food any more, it is also a chance to be thankful for all the good things we enjoy in our lives. Thankfulness What are you thankful for? It could be your family and the extra time you've had to spend with them this year. It could be that you are healthy and fit and are able to use that to help others. Maybe it is the place you live, or the community you are part of, or the beauty of our earth and universe. Even in the hard times we should try to be thankful for what God has given us. This isn't always easy but can mean that we become more aware of the goodness of God, instead of the problems of earth. Hebrews 13:15 15   Through Jesus, therefore, let us
Post a Comment
Read more

Creative Creator

Creator God is amazing, with an amazing imagination. I love reading and I love it when an author creates a whole world, like Middle Earth or Narnia. The imagination it must take is incredible. So what does it take to imagine a whole universe and then, not just write about it, but actually make it exist. WOW! Created If God is the creator, we are the created, made by Him. And He knows us inside out because we are special to Him. Have you made anything special? A picture or painting, maybe a pot made of clay or something with Lego. You want to keep your special thing safe and make sure it doesn't get broken. God wants us to be safe and doesn't want us hurt or broken. Creative We have a gift from God and that is creativity. We are made to make things. I find that wonderful and I love to express my creative side. I like to hand sew decorations and accessories. What is your favourite way to create?  I have listed quite a few in the chart but I know that you'll have loads more cr
Post a Comment
Read more

Love is ...

Colouring Page God's Love God's love for us is all of the things listed in the chapter from 1 Corinthians that I have used for the colouring page this week. This is an amazing list and teaches us how we should try to love too. Are you always patient and kind with those you love? Do you make sure you keep no record of wrongs? This is a real challenge for us and we cannot do it alone. Help along the way God has offered us help to get through our lives. He showed this love through Jesus, His Son, and He sent the Holy Spirit to guide and fill us each day. This is how we love properly. Not in our own power but in God's. Symbols of love Hearts One very familiar symbol of love is the heart 💖 and there are loads of fun ways to create them. We drew hearts and the word LOVE with white candles on white card. Then someone else painted over the images. They appear because the wax doesn't absorb the paint. Have you ever made a row of paper people? You can do this with hearts too. Co
Post a Comment
Read more