The Power of HopeSample

A People of Hope The Church is so much more than a building we show up to a few times a month or a place we go to get our needs met. The Church is a people: the people of God living out the will of God. It’s the gathering of people declaring together that Jesus is Lord. A movement of people committed to living out the gospel and inviting others into God’s family. The Church doesn’t exist for us, but we are the Church and we exist for the world. As people who have been filled with the Spirit of God and the hope of Jesus, we have been called to bring hope to the world. > … the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the Lord’s people. To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. Colossians 1:26-27 NIV The Apostle Paul, writing to the Christian community in Colossae, was helping them understand that the mystery of God had been revealed to them (the Lord’s people, aka the Church). And through their faithfulness in following Jesus, they had been chosen by God to show the people around them the good news that’s found in Jesus. Check out what Paul says here though: “which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.” Paul is saying something that is both powerful and profound. He is showing us that the hope of glory (Jesus) is in us . Can you feel the significance of that idea? The hope of the world, Jesus Christ, the Son of the Living God, is living in you . Hope in human form has made His home in you. In another letter, Paul says this, > I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. Galatians 2:20 NIV When we place our trust in Jesus to become one of His followers, we are crucifying ourselves so that it is no longer we who live, but it is Jesus living in us. Following Jesus is the process of dying to ourselves to become more like the One who died for us. This is what it means to be the Church, a community of cross-shaped people following the example of our crucified King. If you are a follower of Jesus, you have been made new by the Spirit of God, you have been adopted into God’s family, and you have been invited to share the same hope that is living in you with others. The Church is a community of hope-full people committed to bringing hope to others.