What has Nietzsche to do with Christmas? And what has either to do with rock bands, HIV and clean water? In a word: hope.
Having just described generosity as one of the highest virtues of the church, one of the surest signs that a community is following Jesus, we turn now to the content of that generosity – what we have to give away. The list is lengthy, of course: resources, talent, energy, creativity… But there are a few gifts that only the church can give. And thus we have a special obligation to give these unique blessings in as much abundance as possible.
Today we explore hope – the sure and certain hope of resurrection to eternal life and the restoration of all things. For the biblical authors, hope is not a verb (to be hopeful), but a noun (the possession of those who recognize that the tomb was empty that Easter morning). Christians are not those who life with optimism. They are the ones who know how the last chapter of history is written and live in light of God’s already-determined victory. And as such, we carry on the mission of bot declaring and embodying that hope to the world.
In addition to a look at the book of Hebrews, we have a guest appearance from Jake Smith of the non-profit, Blood:Water Mission (an exceptional charity!) to give (one) very tangible look at how we can bring hope to hopeless places.
This is a sermon that was originally presented at Canvas (a Presbyterian church in Irvine, CA), November 30, 2014. To learn more about Canvas, click here!
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