Good morning. The scripture reading this morning comes from Romans chapter 12.
Please follow along on the screen, the bulletin, or your own Bible.
Starting in verse 1 we read,
I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God,
to present your bodies as a living sacrifice,
holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.
Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind,
that by testing you may discern what is the will of God,
what is good and acceptable and perfect.
Then in verse 9 we read,
Let love be genuine.
Abhor what is evil.
Hope fast to what is good.
Love one another with brotherly affection.
Outdo one another in showing honor.
Do not be slothful in zeal.
Be fervent in spirit.
Serve the Lord.
Rejoice in hope.
Be patient in tribulation.
Be constant in prayer.
Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality.
This is the word of God.
Amen.
Thank you so much, Angeline.
Welcome again.
My name is Chris, if you don't know me.
And if you're here for the baptism as well, you're just super welcome.
Really, really excited that you can join us this morning.
Let me just pray for us as we begin to look into God's word.
Father, thank you that whatever week we've had, wherever we come from, however our circumstances, you are still God.
Lord, I pray that you're the one who loves us.
And you're the one who is with us.
And you're the one who is faithful.
And you're the one who never lets us go.
And Lord, I pray that this morning you would speak to us.
I pray, Lord, even as we celebrate the baptism later, we would just remember your goodness.
And the fact that you are the one who does immeasurably more than we can ask or imagine.
Lord, fill our hearts with a real deep hope in you.
So that we can be a people who don't just say the right things, but live with a real deep confidence in the mercies of God in our lives.
We pray this morning you'd open our ears to hear your word.
I pray that you would just speak through me, but I pray your spirit would take your word and just bury it into our hearts, we pray.
In Jesus' name.
Amen.
Great.
The Washington Post, they had an article a few years ago which headline was,
Too Many Celebrities, Not Enough Heroes.
And as I read the article, Fiona was just talking to me this week, telling me about in Hong Kong there is this new sensational boy band called Mirror.
Does anyone know Mirror?
Okay, there's a few fans out here.
Well, you can find out from them.
And she was telling me that many husbands have started complaining that they've lost their wives to infatuation with members of this boy band.
This is what you might call celebrity love.
It's a kind of love which is based on appearances.
It's based on feelings and attractions.
But it's superficial.
You don't actually know what they're like.
It's a mirage.
It's celebrity love.
But then there is another kind of love which I like to call heroic love.
It's the kind of love where heroes are willing to lay down their lives for others in the hard realities of life.
They're ordinary, not glamorous.
They're sacrificial, not self-focused.
They're purpose-driven, not feeling-driven.
You know, it's the kind of love of parents for their children, not fans for their celebrities.
And the book of Romans, which we've been going through over the last few weeks,
and Paul, the apostle who's been writing it, has been painting this picture of Jesus as the ultimate heroic lover.
However, his sacrificial love for us goes beyond all other heroes that we might have.
While we were not just friends of God, but even enemies of God,
he came and died for us, sacrificing his life for us.
To bring us back, to reconcile us into the relationship we were always made for with the creator God.
And to draw us into his family.
And to bring us to be part of a cosmic redemption story that God is writing, even right now.
And all of this, Paul has been saying, we receive by faith.
It's not by being religious.
It's not by being moral.
It's a gift of grace to us.
It's by the mercies of God.
And Paul has then said, in the light of this, his family, the church,
in the light of his mercies and empowered by his mercies,
are to live and to reflect that same love, to be a community, not of celebrity love,
but of heroic love like Jesus' love.
A love that doesn't just look nice on the outside, but is genuine,
even in, excuse me, genuine in whatever circumstances we go through.
It's a heroic love like Jesus.
And last week, we looked, we began to see how Paul starts in verse 9,
he says, let love be genuine.
And then he goes through and tells us what this love begins to look like.
It's a love that hates evil.
It loves good.
It's a love that is honoring other people before ourselves.
It's a love that is fervent, self-forgetful, serving God in every area of our lives.
But as you think about those things that he's been telling us in verses 9 through to 11,
you can actually do a lot of those things when life's going okay,
when the seas are calm.
But today's passage, where we're going to look particularly at verses 12 and 13,
is about how do you love when life gets tough,
when the waves are crashing against the boat of your life.
How do you be in a community of ordinary heroic love at that point?
And so I'm going to go through two points,
which are basically the two verses that we're going to look at.
The first point is hope in turbulence.
And the second is hope that fuels love.
So let's look at hope in turbulence.
And just have your bulletin looking at those two particular verses.
So verse 9 has said,
let love be genuine.
And now in verse 12, he tells you another way that love can be genuine.
He says,
And the middle command of that,
being patient in tribulation,
tells you that the context for this is painful,
it's messy,
and the kind of love that we're to show,
is not just when everything's going well.
Because the word tribulation in scripture
actually has a lot of different meanings of
the way different kinds of suffering can come.
It can mean persecution.
It can mean financial hardship.
It can mean heartache at the decisions of other people.
It can mean even childbirth.
So it can mean all kinds of suffering that we experience in this world.
And when he says be patient,
be patient, that's actually the word for to endure.
It means, you know,
it's kind of like the image of a speaker who's speaking,
and they're just getting heckled,
and people throwing things at them,
and they just keep going in spite of everything being thrown at them.
They continue, and they just keep going,
no matter how many tomatoes are thrown at them.
They endure.
They persevere.
They continue.
It's what, you know,
1 Corinthians tells us,
love perseveres.
It doesn't back down when the going gets tough.
It keeps to its commitments and its promises.
But how does it do that?
Well, this is where the first and the last of that trio of commands shows us.
So the first one is rejoice in hope,
and I'm going to spend a bit more time on this one.
Because I don't know what you think about the word hope,
but hope is actually vital for life.
Hope is actually a desire for heaven.
I don't know if you realize that,
because hope is a desire for a better world,
for a better life,
for a better future.
That's what hope is.
Hope is what gets you out of bed in the morning,
thinking that you could be different,
your life could be different,
or you can make a difference in the world in some way.
You know,
I hoped that England would win last week,
so I got up at 3 a.m.
I never do that.
I am still hoping that that might happen in the future.
But when people lose hope,
like England supporters often do,
or like actually a lot of young people in Hong Kong have,
right,
what happens is you give up.
You get depressed.
You lose the joy of life when you have no hope.
And so secular hope,
the hope out there,
is actually looking for heaven on earth now.
You're looking for it in promotion,
or in early retirement,
or in a comfortable life,
or in a great body.
That's why you go to the gym all the time.
But Christian hope is actually different from all of that.
So let me explore what Christian hope is.
Romans 5 says,
we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.
That's an amazing statement.
That's a statement that should get Christians out of bed every morning
with a sense of purpose.
Because Christian hope is that you and I were made
for a personal relationship
with the glorious, majestic creator of the universe.
And every believer who puts their trust in him,
you can experience that relationship even right now with him.
But right now, if you're a Christian,
you know that a relationship with God
is still a little bit like being on Zoom.
It's real,
but there's something not quite all there.
Right?
There's something missing.
But the hope of the glory of God
is one day,
that even though we see glimpses of his glory,
though we experience the realness of his relationship right now,
one day,
you won't be on Zoom with him,
you'll see him face to face.
In his majestic beauty and majesty.
I mean, just look at the sunset,
look at the stars,
and those are just a glimpse
of the majesty of who he is.
And scripture says,
when you see the glory of God,
then you and I will be home.
Because he is actually the place
where every desire and every longing
that you have ever had
is ultimately satisfied.
Because he and we were made for him.
We have hope that we will see the glory of God.
But not only that,
Paul also says,
don't we all know deep down
that there's something in us
that's not what we should be?
Right?
We know that we're not all that we want to be.
And we know that this world
is not all that it should be.
And the hope of the glory of God
is like the Japanese art of kintsugi.
Do you know kintsugi?
Well, you know,
where they take this broken pottery
and what they do,
they put it together with gold.
You've got a picture of it.
I think there's a picture here.
And they put it together with gold.
So actually what gets happened is
the brokenness gets transformed
into this glorious masterpiece.
And so what God is saying,
he will not only transform our broken lives
from shame into glory
so that we reflect his loving,
perfect kindness and graciousness,
but this world will also be freed
from all the stuff you see on the news
of the suffering,
of the injustice,
of the exploitation,
of the pain.
And some of you feel that pain today.
And he says,
there will be a time
where there will be no more tears.
There will be no more pain
because we will be home
with the one who created us.
Heaven on earth.
We have a hope in a good God
who regrets glory out of brokenness.
That is what Christian hope is.
And you might say,
well, I hope that's true.
But you know when we say I hope,
generally that's just kind of a wish, right?
It's like, I hope England will win.
Like, good chance.
It's not a certainty.
But when the Bible talks about hope,
it's saying three things.
First thing it's saying,
hope is certain for Christians.
Romans tells us,
hope does not disappoint us
because God's poured his love
into our hearts.
You know,
every hope you have placed in this world
can be taken away from you.
But Christian hope
is a hope outside of this world.
And it's in the safe hands of God.
And do you know what?
God's never let go.
God can never let you down.
It cannot be taken away
by COVID or an economic crisis
because God's bigger than all of that.
And so it's a bit like this.
You know,
secular hope
is like,
did you see those flights to nowhere
during COVID?
Right?
Where basically
there is no destination.
The whole purpose of the flight
is to get on the flight
and just enjoy the ride
and then come back down again.
Okay?
Now imagine
if you've bought business class tickets.
It's been a hard few months.
You want to relax.
You want to watch some movies.
Just get away from it all.
Okay?
Good idea.
So you take off.
Everything's great.
You start watching your favorite movie.
You're just getting
to the really good scene
and then the entertainment system stops.
Freezes.
And you're like,
oh my goodness me.
You're mad.
And you're like,
oh,
it's just that good scene.
But then
as you try and desperately
try and get someone
to fix the issue
and it takes some time
because they're busy
with everybody else
but then
after 30 minutes of frustration
and they just tell you
sorry,
it's not working
you go,
okay.
Let me try and get some sleep.
I need a bit of rest.
So you just start nodding off
and then turbulence hits
and it's really bad turbulence.
Have you seen that turbulence?
You,
where everyone around you,
you know when you've been in turbulence
and it's like this
and it goes on
not just for one minute
but it's two minutes,
five minutes,
ten minutes
and everyone's panicking.
Everyone thinks the plane's
going to go down.
That's what actually
a secular hope is like
because
in a flight to nowhere
all your hopes,
whatever you're putting
your life on
can be taken away
from you
in one instance
of tribulation.
Money,
jobs,
relationships,
it's all uncertain.
But Christian hope
is different.
It's a different flight.
It's a flight
with a destination.
You know,
like the Maldives.
It's actually
a destination
to the glory of God.
And if everything's smooth
in life,
we enjoy the flight.
We enjoy the blessings
God gives us.
But if turbulence hits,
it's unpleasant.
We don't kind of
love the turbulence
but it doesn't crush us
because our hope
isn't on the flight,
it's in the destination.
You see,
nothing can take away
this hope
because the fact
that Jesus died
and rose again
from the dead
means for Christians
the Christian plane
will not crash.
Then there's one
who's waiting for us
at the airport
who's going to welcome us.
It's our lover
and our saviour,
Jesus Christ.
The one who's sacrificed
his entire life for us.
And whether the flight
is smooth
or whether the flight
is tough,
all of it
is actually still
getting you
towards the destination.
You know,
I know from personal experience
in the face of death,
there's no greater certainty
than a resurrected saviour
who you know
has already gone before you
and is waiting for you.
That's Christian hope.
It's certain.
But Christian hope
is not just certain,
it's also transformational.
Because what does Paul say?
He says,
we rejoice in hope.
Now just think about
how you rejoice in a baby.
We had one four months ago.
And so what happens is
you spend time,
you gaze at your child
in the cot
kind of longingly
going,
wow, isn't she amazing?
You show everybody your baby
and then other people say,
oh, isn't she lovely?
And you do all of that
and you post a gazillion photos
on Instagram and Facebook.
You talk about her
all the time to everyone.
You go, oh,
she farted today.
It was amazing.
You do all of these
kind of things.
You rejoice in your baby.
How do you rejoice in hope?
Well, you rehearse
and you gaze
and you talk about
the hope you have
to yourself
and in community
we remind each other of that.
Because if drawing close to Jesus
and being transformed
to be like him
is our hope,
then we know that actually
the trials
and the turbulence
we go through right now
are actually
the refining fire
which is actually
drawing us
and shaping us
towards that goal
even today.
You know,
I have a stomach condition
which reoccurs
from time to time.
And you know
when you just feel rough,
you don't feel like rejoicing at all,
do you?
And you actually feel like
having a pity party.
Oh, woe is me.
But rejoicing in hope
means right at those moments
what God is trying to teach me
and is what God wants
to teach all of us
who really know
what it is to go through
turbulence in these times
is that we load
our gospel shotgun
with the promises of God.
That right now
I have Christ in me
the hope of glory.
That I can do all things
through Christ
who gives me strength.
That he is renewing me
and transforming me
from one degree of glory
to another right now
in this moment.
And as I rehearse
that scripture
and other people
in the community
remind me of the hope
that we have.
Do you know what happens?
Immediately,
not a lot.
But actually
as I battle
and I wrestle
hope rises
and I discover
God in new ways
that I never thought
were possible.
And he gives me
the strength
to persevere
in the midst of them.
And my soul
actually finds joy
even in those hard moments
because there is a purpose
and I have a certain hope
at that moment
and he is beginning
to transform me
and transform us
right at that place
towards the hope
that he has for us.
You see,
hope is not just certain.
Hope is also
transformational.
But the third thing
that Christian hope is,
it's also personal.
And
because though it's not,
it's a certain destination,
Paul actually says
be constant
in prayer.
You know,
prayer is communicating
with God.
Constant means
stubbornly,
persistently,
in a disciplined way,
carrying on
and doing it.
You know,
the early disciples
met constantly
in the temple
in the book of Acts.
It's a regular,
habitual discipline.
Like talking to your wife,
actually.
For a healthy relationship,
communication
needs to be
constant,
right?
Regular habit.
But here's the point.
In turbulence,
if your hope
is getting
the entertainment system
of your life
fixed and working,
you'll get stressed
just trying to
get it all to work.
You'll get frustrated.
When all along,
there's someone
who's sitting next to you
on the flight,
but he's not just
an ordinary passenger.
He's God himself.
He's the one
who is
the pilot
of the plane,
but he's also
the one
who's owned
and designed
the aircraft.
And
he's the one
who created
the laws
of thermodynamics.
and he's the one
who's holding up
the plane of your life
right now.
And if he is with you,
if he is with you,
then that means
you don't just have
an abstract,
distant hope
somewhere over there.
You have a present place
where you can run.
You have a place
where you can cry.
You have a place
where you can find
refuge and strength
no matter how hard
it is for you,
even right now.
because he
is not abstract.
He is a person,
Jesus Christ,
with you.
You see,
constant prayer
is an obligation
for Christians
just like breathing
is an obligation
for human beings.
You see,
in the turbulence,
we don't just need
a solution.
We need a person
to cling to.
And in prayer,
what we do
is we turn to Jesus
and we remember,
he says,
I'm with you always.
I'll get you
to the destination.
I've got this.
I don't know
what you're going
through right now,
but some of you
need to hear
him saying,
run to me
because I want you
to experience
the fact that
I have got
your situation
right now.
You can trust me.
because he knows
how the plane works
even when we have
no idea.
He says,
rejoice in hope,
be patient
in tribulation,
be constant
in prayer.
And by the way,
if you are struggling
right now,
don't go it alone.
Come and speak
to one of us,
myself,
a CG member,
because we're
to be a community
who walks
on this road
together.
So what does
that all have
to do with love,
this verse 12?
Well,
I want to move
on to verse 13,
which is the second
point,
which is hope
fuels love.
You see,
when your hope
is in now,
you will become
stressed and
frustrated with
the turbulence
of life.
you'll become
anxious,
because if
everything is
about now,
man,
that's a lot
of pressure on.
But can anyone
tell me,
has anyone
who's been
really stressed
ever been
more loving
when you're
stressed?
Anyone?
I don't think
so.
Because what
happens when
we're stressed,
we tend to
turn inwards,
we tend to
try and preserve
ourselves.
Some of us
do that by
escaping into
alcohol or
binge-watching
Netflix.
We just try
and cope
with the
situation.
Others of us
keep calm
and carry on.
And then you
look around
at everybody
else who's
worrying,
whether it's
about COVID
or other
things,
and you go,
why are they
all worrying?
Why are they
all so weak
and emotional
about these
things?
You should
be like me.
And you
have very
little compassion
on other
people who
are struggling.
doing.
But when
you've got
a hope
beyond the
flight,
when the
turbulence
hits and
the Spirit
reminds you
to turn in
prayer to
your all-powerful
Savior by
your side,
remind yourself
of the
scripture
promises of
hope,
and you
find that
over time
he brings
peace and
a joy into
your heart,
then what
happens is
that hope-filled
joy begins
to take your
eyes off
yourself.
And you
start looking
around and
you see the
other passengers
around and
you see their
needs and
you see their
anxieties and
their worries,
not just your
own.
And Paul
says this,
with hope,
what you can
start to do
is you can
start to
contribute to
the needs
of the
saints.
You see,
contribute
doesn't just
mean,
okay,
throw in some
money into
the offering
and then go
back to
your own
problems.
The word
contribute,
actually,
it's the
word fellowship,
which means
to share
life with.
He says,
share life
with the
saints.
That means
other believers
in church.
It means
entering into
partnership with
their struggles
so their
burden becomes
your burden.
You feel
their struggles,
not just
your own.
And I've
been so
encouraged,
because in
Watermark,
I know there
are families
who are
struggling with
young kids,
and there are
CG members,
you've just
stepped up,
you're providing
meals,
you're providing
babysitting,
you're providing
toys,
all kinds of
things.
I know
that there
are families
here who
are reaching
out to
singles who
are struggling
with loneliness,
and you're
inviting them
in to spend
meals so that
they can
experience family
life in this
difficult season.
Hope opens
you up to
love other
people,
and I see
that in our
community.
But you
know,
you will only
see the
needs of
others when
you're actually
investing in
relationships with
people.
Do you know,
that's why we
encourage everyone
in Watermark to
get into
CGs,
or if you're
in a stage
of life as a
family,
to get into
family groups
where you can
actually begin to
walk with one
another,
and when you
do that,
you'll begin to
see the needs
of other people.
So my question
is,
do you see the
needs of people
in your CG?
Do you see the
needs of people
in Watermark
around you?
Or,
and here's the
challenge,
are you wrapped
up with all of
your own problems
that you can't
see beyond
them?
Because if
that's the
case,
that may be
an indication
to you that
your hope is
in the flight
rather than
in the
destination.
And God
may be calling
you,
come back to
me and
place your
hope in
me,
and let
me free
you to
see others
around you.
But you
see,
it's not
just,
he says,
hope opens
you to see
the church
community
around.
He then
says it
opens you to
see the
community
outside the
church too.
Because he
says next,
seek to
show
hospitality.
And again,
the word
hospitality doesn't
mean dinner
parties or
fine dining.
The word
literally means
in Greek,
love for
strangers.
Love for
strangers.
And he
says,
pursue,
seek,
pursue,
actively,
pursue loving
strangers.
Not just
kind of wait
till some
show up.
No,
actually be
looking for
opportunities
where you
can open
up your
life,
your home,
your heart,
not just
for the
people in
the church
community,
but also
for those
outside who
can experience
the love of
Christ through
us.
That's actually
what,
you know,
some of you
did.
Who went
on loving
the city?
Okay,
a few of you
did.
That's why
we want to
call people
to see the
city,
the loving
the city.
Some of us
went out to
pour tea for
refuse collectors
and just get to
know them.
Some of us
are with the
Young Lives,
teen ministry
that Oscar
mentioned,
you know,
we're befriending
vulnerable mothers.
I know there's a
couple of CGs here
who are tutoring
refugee kids.
And God is
calling us as we
have this hope
that we don't
have to cling
to our life
right now,
but we can see
other people.
You know,
one of the
things I've
realized being
in Hong Kong,
and my wife
has also shared
this with me
about her life,
that growing up,
many of us are
taught to be
very private.
We're taught
to be very
suspicious of
strangers and
people you don't
know.
You know,
they could do
things.
You can be
dangerous.
And one of the
things that I've
seen, both with
people here in
Watermark, but also
with my wife as
well, is that as
the gospel has
grown and shaped
and worked in
their life, what
it's done, it's
actually opened
them up to be
less fearful and
to open up their
lives.
I've seen opening
up our home for
refugees, troubled
kids.
I've seen people
just serving the
homeless who a
million, like in
their childhood,
they would never
have done it.
Why?
Because the hope
of the gospel
changes you to go,
I don't have to
cling to my
privacy right now.
I don't have to
cling to my
comfort right now
because my hope
is not in right
now, because I
can be messy
right now and
it's okay.
I can be a
little bit risky
right now because
actually God's got
me and he's my
security and he's
my protection.
Here's a challenge
from Rosaria
Butterfield.
She says this,
Christians who
have too much are
the ones prohibited
from practicing
hospitality.
They have so many
cluttered idols that
they can give
nothing at all.
For this reason,
it's often the
well-heeled and
rich who are
known for their
lack of hospitality
and the meager and
even poor who are
known for their
plentiful hospitality.
So Christian,
kill your idols.
I was really
challenged by that.
Really challenged
by that.
Because you know,
as Watermark,
we're not the
poorest of the
poor.
people who
want to do in
our lives and
in our church is
that in an anxious
world, in an anxious
city, that as
Christian hope gets
hold of us into our
hearts, it begins to
change us into this
community which is
willing to sacrifice
our in-flight
comforts and the
desires that we have
to spend time with the
Filipino community on a
Sunday afternoon.
For those who can
afford it, renting
larger properties so
that you can host
people more.
And I know many of
you do this.
People from different
backgrounds.
It means sacrificing
your free time to be
willing to accompany a
teen mom to a
hospital appointment.
It looks like inviting
the receptionist or a
colleague in your
workplace, even when
you're busy out for
lunch, or taking the
time to pray and talk
with the security guard
that you have.
You see, as a
community, God wants
us to be known as
people who are lovers
of strangers.
Not because we do it
in our own strength,
but because we know
the mercies of God to
us.
Because we know that
Christ was the most
hospitable person ever.
You know, didn't he
eat and drink with the
despised, with the
outcast, with the
shamed, but also with
the religious hypocrites
like the Pharisees?
He eats and drinks with
those who feel your
brokenness the most.
For those of us who
need a hope beyond
ourselves.
And he opens his arms,
welcoming people like
you and me to his table
to eat with him, the
king of all creation,
without condemnation,
without judgment, to
come home to be with
him.
And if you're not a
Christian today, Jesus
is pursuing strangers
like you.
And he's calling you
today not just to keep
the door shut and bolted
on the inside, but as
he knocks on the door
of your heart, he's
saying, will you open
up your heart to me?
Don't be so private,
don't be so self-reliant
that the king of kings
can't enter and show
you what it really
means to have hope.
Will you shut out the
pilot of your life
because you want to
pilot your own life?
You know, that's the
way to a plane crash.
Will you pray today,
Jesus, if you are who
you say you are, then I
want you to come into
my life.
I want to find this hope
in you.
Pilot my life.
I want a relationship
with you.
That's the offer today.
Will you take it?
And if you are a
Christian, do you know,
in our city, the most
persuasive argument for
the truth of the gospel is
not a great sermon.
It's not a great
intellectual conversation,
though those things are
good.
It's a community of hope-
fulfilled, heroic love.
Who, because of the
mercies of Jesus, we learn
to kill our idols, whether
it's of comfort, privacy,
self-reliance, whatever
they are.
And in the midst of
tribulation, we learn how
to rejoice in the hope
that we have.
We learn how to be
patient and just keep
going constantly in
prayer, contributing and
sharing our lives with the
needs of those in our
church community, opening
our hopes, opening our
homes and our hearts and
our lives to those around
us, and setting our
sights on Christ, the hope
of glory.
Let me pray.
I want you just to think
where you are up to right
now with Jesus.
And some of us need to
actually just rejoice again
in the hope that we have
in Christ.
Some of us, we've
forgotten.
We haven't gazed on Christ
recently.
We've gazed on our
problems.
But some of you just
need to come and thank
him for who he is and
what he's done and where
he's taking us.
Some of us need to repent
that actually we're putting
our hope in so many other
things.
And Jesus calls you to his
table to find hope in him.
And some of us, God is
calling you to actually take
a step of faith, to reach
out to someone, to pray for
someone, to look beyond
yourself and let Jesus
work in your heart.
So as the band comes up
and we're going to sing our
next song, just take a few
seconds to just pray
wherever you're up to with
God.
Some of us need, in the
struggles that we're going
through, to just cling to
Jesus and just to pray to him
right now.
He's with you.
Father, we just want to thank
you.
that with you there's a hope
that is utterly, utterly
unshakable.
Thank you that your
resurrection means that we
are never left alone.
That you walk with us.
Teach us to love because we
have a true hope in you.
In Jesus' name.
Amen.