Hope For Today Videos

One week since Easter Sunday and so we pray: Work in us and through us today to help us become the persons You have created us to be – beloved citizens meant to bless You and be a blessing to others.  Teach us what all that means, Holy Spirit, and guide us in the ways of God, the great King of all Kings. 

It’s just a week since Good Friday and our remembering the great sacrifice Jesus made on our behalf.  A week is a long time in any news cycle.  Our world is full of many troubles and the death and resurrection of Jesus is meant to reassure us, particularly during troubled times, that God has a good way forward for us.

With full knowledge of our broken past, Jesus looks at us today, asks us to follow Him, and promises to use us in meaningful and satisfying ways if we will do His will. His resurrection power in us is more than enough to make us successful in the venture.

We all love the flowers and vegetables that grow from seeds but it is true that the original seed dies in the ground before any new growth takes place. I’m so grateful that Jesus Christ gave His life as the seed that died so that you and I could find life with God.

One of Jesus’ followers named Thomas wasn’t with the others when Jesus first made an appearance to them.  When Thomas was told that they had seen Jesus, he doubted that it was true. He was afraid to hope again.  Too many surprises.  Too much information.  Thomas just couldn’t deal with any more. I think there are lots of folks who feel that way today. Like Thomas, some of us have known the discouragement of hopes dashed and opportunities lost.  In our broken fearful lives, we doubt the presence of a loving caring God with us to help.  And yet ….

God wants to lift us out of whatever sorrow and darkness has clouded our own souls with life’s challenges.  Our part is to realize that we are not seeing reality as clearly as we should.  God is with us, has been with us, providing us whatever we need for whatever we face.  God is doing more.  God is ready to explain more.  God, in fact, is doing so much that if we paused to let Him show it to us, we would be amazed.

The resurrection of Jesus proves that the power of God’s love is stronger than all of evil so anything challenging that happens in our lives is something we can bring to God and expect His power to make changes in us – not just in our bodies but in our souls and spirits as well.

How do we respond to the greatest act of love this planet has ever seen? One song writer tried with these words: “Love so amazing, so divine, demands my life, my heart, my all.”

This is the day in the Christian calendar when we remember Jesus who is so one with us and yet so much better than all of us. At the Last Supper, Jesus should have been the focus of honour with His friends, but he’s the one who paid attention to them and who got up and humbly served them by washing their feet.

Here we are on Wednesday of the week where time seems to turn at a different pace than what is usual.  We have the Friday’s events of Jesus’ suffering and death in our thoughts and yet it seems like such an unbearably long time to have to endure the anticipation of what is to come.

It's Tuesday of Holy Week as we head towards Good Friday and Easter Sunday. Today we remember how when Jesus was at a dinner a woman of “ill repute” came with a very expensive bottle of perfume and poured the perfume on Jesus to express her love and gratitude to Him and to honour Him. that action means even more for all of us.

It's Monday of the week leading up to Good Friday and Easter Sunday called by many – Holy Week.  Every day is holy, actually.  Every day is a gift from God. So few people really recognized Jesus and gave thanks for who He was.  This week we want to take time to focus our attention on Him.