Category: Hope

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People of Advent Hope

Isaiah 61:1-2

Jesus quotes Isaiah 61:1-2 during what many people see as the very start of his ministry, the Nazareth Manifesto. What can his choice tell us about Jesus’s mission, and our mission as Jesus’s followers? For one, it reminds us that the Advent hope is a trinitarian hope. God sends Jesus as the servant figure, equipped with God’s spirit, to bring about the promised restoration and healing. Jesus extends this vocation to the church, as we ourselves are equipped with God’s spirit and enabled to be people of Advent hope.

How can you bring a hopeful light to dark places this Advent season?

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Faith Without Hope is Weird

A blog by Steve Backlund  14th November 2023

The statement “faith without hope is weird” captures an important truth for those who want to have a healthy faith. 

Hope is an overall optimistic attitude about the future based on the goodness and promises of God. I am not a proponent of simple positive thinking, but I do ascribe to biblical optimism. “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful” Hebrews 10:23. 


Faith is very specific while hope is more general. Faith says, “God is going to do this !” Hope says, “I don’t know what God is going to do but good things are coming.”  Continue reading “Faith Without Hope is Weird”

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Imagine the church unrestrained

I was reading some comments by contemporary theologian Walter Brueggemann regarding the season of Pentecost.  He makes these comments firstly of the church ….    “It is not an institution, but rather a community of folk who are propelled by God’s own spirit, situated in Jesus’ own narrative, and alive in the world in alternative ways.” 

In making these comments Brueggemann is not only making comment on the nature of the early church situated around Jesus human incarnation some 2020 years ago but also and as importantly he is making comment on the nature of the church we need to live in today. Where are a community that stands over against institution – where we are propelled not by regulation or fear but by God’s own Spirit.  Continue reading “Imagine the church unrestrained”