Can You Believe We Get to Do This? HOPE IS OUR BELIEF
Hope is not just a feeling—it’s a posture we choose. As a church family, we don’t simply jump in and adopt cultural trends or try to mimic other communities. We plant, we nurture, and we carry a shared identity rooted in Jesus. Wherever we gather—whether here at home or with our family of churches around the world—our cultural values and commitment to Christ remain the same. We are a family of promise, and this year, God is calling us to step fully into it.
Living as a Global Family of Promise
We are part of something bigger than ourselves. Our movement is a global family of churches, Spirit-led and biblically based, embracing every nation, tribe, people, and language. God has called us to multiply—to transform lives, families, neighborhoods, and communities for His glory. And the word for us this year is clear: we are a family of promise. Not just in our church, but in our own families, our own lives, and in the ways we trust God for breakthrough, healing, and restoration.
The Secret in the Struggle
Being a people of hope doesn’t mean we won’t face challenges. Just as David experienced rejection, fear, and hardship, we too will encounter seasons of struggle. Yet, there is a secret to hope in the struggle: our hope is not in what happens around us, but in the God we serve.
Romans 5:1–2 reminds us:
“Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God.”
Hope is anchored in God’s glory, not in the circumstances we face. Even when life doesn’t go as planned—or when prayers seem unanswered—we can stand firm because God is faithful.
Hope in the Middle of Waiting
Sometimes, our disappointment comes from not seeing what God is doing yet. Like our son Tate, who imagined Hawaii instead of understanding the joy of Disney World, we can misunderstand what God has prepared for us. But when clarity comes, our hope is renewed, and joy fills our hearts.
Proverbs 13:12 warns:
“Hope deferred makes the heart sick.”
When we place our hope in circumstances instead of God, disappointment can take root. But when we put our hope in Him, even waiting becomes a season of growth, perseverance, and character-building.
Fixing Our Eyes on What’s Unseen
David teaches us another key principle in Psalm 42:
“Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.”
We combat discouragement by focusing on God’s glory instead of our problems. 2 Corinthians 4:16–18 encourages us further:
“Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.”
Hope grows when we fix our eyes on the eternal glory of God, not the temporary troubles around us.
A Fresh Breath of Hope
If you are feeling heavy, disappointed, or weighed down today, the invitation is simple: lift your gaze to the unseen, to the God who is bigger than your circumstances. Let His glory overwhelm you, let His presence fill your heart, and let unshakable hope take root.
Jesus came to give us life and freedom. Through Him, we are forgiven, made whole, and empowered to live in hope—even in the middle of struggle.
Let us walk together in faith, holding fast to the promise of God. Because hope is not a distant dream—it is a reality that we step into every day, anchored in the glory of God.
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