The greatest source of our hope is God's presence. When we sense and believe that he is with us through his Spirit, remembering that he sent his very Son to be walk among us, we will have confidence in the love he has for us.

When hope begins to come to fruition, we experience the overflow of joy. This morning, we'll look for ways we can see God's work in our lives more clearly so that we can experience this joy even amidst seasons of drought.

Hope can only truly be found when we find peace with each other, but our nature is often to choose conflict. This morning, we learn how the presence of Jesus helps lay this warring nature to rest.

Hope is confidence that something good is coming, yet it is one of the most difficult things to internalize, especially in the chaos of our day and age. As we walk through Advent, remembering the anticipation of Jesus' first arrival, we look at how hope is only possible when we lay down our aggression toward each other and listen to the wisdom of God.

The end of the church is to be united with our king. When Christ returns to reign, he will bring to fruition the full purpose of the church. Rather than a disembodied ether or a church service in the sky, we will experience a new creation in the presence of God, always in immediate reach of his love as every wrong is made right.

Our greatest hope is that Christ is returning, and death will see its final defeat. More than this, God's living church will finally experience its fullest unity with him in the resurrection as what scripture calls the bride of Christ. How can we live in anticipation of this final, greatest act of God's love for us?

Living with grief in life, especially the passing of loved ones, leaves us caught in the tension between wanting heaven but being called to live on earth. Today, we'll ask ourselves how to live with that tension in such a way that brings reminds us of our hope and offers it to those around us.

Everything that has a beginning has an end. Especially on days like All Saints Day, when we remember the brevity and fragility of life, we examine the value of using every breath, including our last one, for the love of God and neighbor.

If the church is an organism that has been made alive with Christ, then it needs Christ to sustain it, too. As we've learned that grace is what keeps us alive, we must remember that the word of God is the source for our understanding of that grace, meaning that being in the word regularly will not only teach us about God but empower us to live well.

While we acknowledge that it is because of the death of Christ that we find life in him, it can often be difficult to accept the grace necessary for us to receive that life. It is only in letting go of our ability to save ourselves that we can truly experience the fullness of the salvation and life of Jesus.