“Scripture: a Meal of Hope”

Bulletin: December 4, 2022

Newsletter: November 27 – December 4, 2022

Scriptures: Isaiah 11:1-10; Psalm 72:1-7, 18-19; Matthew 3:1-12

Songs:

NEW Introit: Come and Worship – Bebo Norman (video)
Once in Royal David’s City (band, Choir and congregation, meditation)
Infant Holy, Infant Lowly (King’s College; Women’s trio)
O Little Town of Bethlehem (history, video, choir)
Thou Dids’t Leave Thy Throne (choir, recording)

Joel Russell-MacLean

“’Eat this scroll that I give you and fill your stomach with it.’ Then I ate it, and in my mouth it was as sweet as honey.” Ezekiel 3:3

Sometimes, hope is life-giving, that is to say energizing. Things in life may be challenging but for some reason you have hope and find that you are able to face tasks or routines with energy. Sometimes, we experience the opposite. We can’t see any hope and it robs of us energy.

Paul exhorted the church in Rome to read and to listen to scripture so that we might have hope. Romans 15:4

We need the strength that comes from God through scripture so that we can face sin in ourselves and in the world. The hope announced in scripture is, after all, the coming of God’s kingdom to fill all the earth. Put another way, our hope is an end to sin. The temptation is always there to bury this struggle under some happier work or pastimes, or to presume that we have done all we can in our life or for others. John the Baptist cries out to us every Advent, “Prepare the way! Don’t presume! Repent! Bear fruit!” We need hope and strength from God to keep at this work to our last day.

Has reading or listening to scripture ever given you hope?