Slideshow image

On Sunday November 29, 2020 we lit the Advent Candle of Hope. For what do we hope?

The reading from the Prophet Isaiah on Advent One was part of a prayer that Isaiah offered on behalf of his Nation. It begins as a lament for his sins and the sins of the Nation. Then it moves into a rousing remembrance of how in times past God came down in awesome power and rescued the people. The prayer moves to the present moment when the people’s sins have come between them and God. Is there any ground on which they can build their hope that God will rescue them?

The prayer acknowledges that although the situation does appear hopeless there is one redeeming fact to which the people can cling, “And yet, Lord, you are our Father. We are the clay and you are the potter. We are all formed by your hand.” (Isaiah 64:8 NLT) The hope of the Nation rests on the love the Father has for all the people.

Advent invites us to identify whatever comes between us and God, to confess our sins, and to put our hope for the future in the forgiving love of God.

Bible Reading: Isaiah 63:15-64:9; John 3:16-17