What if we need the pain and sorrow in our lives to have this hope for a better tomorrow, to help us keep in mind that there is victory on the other side? Our hope in our present suffering is to keep our eyes on the future glory that God has for us.

One of the most useful tools God has given us to bring ourselves into any moment is our breath. So, as an expression of our hope today, we are going to breathe together, breathe to focus on the presence of God, and breathe to focus on the work set out for us to do in these days as we wait and as we hope.

Listen to a spoken word by our very own Wyatt Walker, Prayer Protege at NCC.

No matter what the circumstances are like in our lives, God is a sure thing, and He will cause the sun to rise each day. Our hope is secure in Him.

Did you know that Mary was only a young teenager when the angel came? That must have been frightening. But what did Mary do? All along, she trusted God. When she found herself wondering about the future, she decided not to look for the answers herself, but to look for God instead.

If you had to create or draw an image to describe hope it could be a circle that travels from our identity in Christ, through hope, to a love that leads to a spirit of generosity, which creates fulfillment in our lives and confidence, coming right back to the start — our identity in Christ.

Did you know our Heavenly Father has love languages? Maybe you practice expressions like frequently thanking God, being kind to others, reading His word, private prayer. Here’s one that’s often overlooked: entering His presence with singing!

We don’t have to wait for circumstances to change before we renew our strength, before we increase our endurance, and grow our resilience. In fact, this verse tells us that as we hope in the Lord, He will renew us as we are waiting.

Advent is a season of preparation, a season of waiting, a season of getting ready for Christ to come. His coming is experienced two-fold during Advent. We anticipate the celebration of his birth. We also anticipate His second coming. But what of the middle? In the middle is where we wait and where we find hope.

Well, we arrive at the end of the book of Ephesians and it reminds me of something T.S. Elliot said: “We shall not cease from exploration and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know that place for the first time.” The book of Ephesians ends the same way it starts, with two of Paul’s favorite words—grace and peace. Wonder twin powers, activate. Those two words set the tone, they shift the atmosphere, they have the power to start revolutions and to stop riots.