Horizon Weekly | 26 November 2020
Following is a word from the Canadian National Baptist Convention (CNBC) National Ministry Leader, Gerry Taillon, where he shares an encouragement, our new vision and an announcement about an upcoming celebration.
Advent Moment – Hope
By Lynda Blazina
"Now faith is the reality of what is hoped for, the proof of what is not seen" (Hebrews 11:1).
Until my dad passed away, I had not experienced many deaths of people close to me. When he was diagnosed with terminal cancer, my world started to fall apart. As I was discussing my dad’s prognosis with my brother (who is a doctor), he said, “Hope is not a medical term. You won’t find it in any medical dictionary. We are trained in medical school how to avoid giving hope.”
This seemed cold to me. How can a doctor not be trained in giving hope when medicine is what we often cling to in dire circumstances?
I have thought a lot about this statement in the last months of living through a pandemic. It gives me a great sense of compassion when I see our world struggling to find hope. In masks, vaccines, government and restrictions that are developed with the purpose of protecting us. These things can be helpful in our physical lives, but ultimately are void in giving our world actual hope.
Charles Spurgeon once said, “Without Christ, there is no hope.”
This is the Gospel—the good news—of Christmas: We have an eternal, life-giving, unextinguishable hope found in Jesus Christ. This hope, this light of the world, needs to be shared with our dark and desperate world. Shared with the elderly person next door that has no family around them this year, shared with the barista that has moved from another province and feels isolated, shared with the business owner that has lost his business, shared with the sick that are trying to find hope in medicine when there is no hope to be given.
"No one lights a lamp and puts it under a basket, but rather on a lampstand, and it gives light for all who are in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven" (Matthew 5:15-16).
Jesus came not just to give us hope but to be our hope. When we share Jesus, we share the only true hope there is.
Prayer:
Dear Father,
Remind us today of the great hope we have in Your Son, Jesus. Motivate our hearts to share Your hope with others this season. Help us to be thankful for this amazing gift of love. Help it to anchor us in the storms of life that You have told us will be part of our experience on earth. In Jesus Name ~ Amen
Article photo by Nathan Dumlao on Unsplash
Do you have a story you would like to share? Please contact Lynda Blazina and let her know. We would love to share your stories with our CNBC family of churches.
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CNBC Mission: We are churches in covenant giving ourselves away to advance the Kingdom. CNBC Vision: We see a day when every man, woman, boy and girl has multiple opportunities to see, hear and respond to the Good News of Jesus Christ.
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