Why No One is Hopeless
Christ in you, the hope of glory.
-- Paul's Letter to the Colossians 1:27b
From his cradle to his grave a man never does a single thing which has any first and foremost objective save one to secure peace of mind - spiritual comfort for himself. --Mark Twain
Like Twain, Christians also believe our most profound need is spiritual. The race of our modern life for personal influence, professional prowess, material affluence or success variously defined is at the end of the day really a race "to secure peace of mind" as Twain put it. It's the elusive target that each new achievement promises, but never delivers. That's why there is always more to be done, more to be made, more to be achieved for our legacy - but more is never enough. So it is not surprising that in America the words "I hope" really mean "I wish."
But hope as the Bible uses the word is far from wishful thinking. It is a certainty. Hope is certain because it comes from the person of Jesus Christ, from the historicity of his life, from the reliable attestation of his remarkable words, from the singular accomplishment of his death, and from his resurrection from the dead as the unique Son of God. We believe the spiritual comfort of which Twain spoke, the spiritual comfort our hearts are always seeking, is found in Jesus Christ. The Christian is the person who is spiritually alive as they were meant to be, united to God through his Son, Jesus Christ. The peace of mind or spiritual comfort Twain searched for and apparently never found the Apostle Paul declares is freely available in Jesus Christ. Proclaiming and explaining that certain hope, or gospel, is what happens in our services of worship to which you are very warmly invited. You are also invited to our community groups, where as groups of friends this good news gets worked out in our daily lives.