Finding Hope
It’s the age-old question every parent must answer: when to tell or not to tell? A friend shared recently that they still had not told their 14 year old daughter the truth: there is no Santa Claus. Not to judge, but I’m thinking he might have dropped the ball on that one… Many people don’t know that our modern Santa Claus myth is based on an actual person: Nicholas of Patar (or, St. Nicholas). The story goes that Nicholas was a wealthy citizen of his town. When he learned that a poor widowed father and his four daughters were about to be tossed out of their home, he snuck over one night and threw a bag of money in the window to provide for a daughter’s dowry. The money landed in a stocking that was hanging by the fire to dry (read more here).
In the previous article, I mentioned that we have entered the Advent season. The traditional approach to celebrating Advent gives each week leading up to Christmas a theme, the first week being Hope. What Nicholas did was give a desperate and destitute family hope. Of course our greatest hope is not in the provision of money, though that is certainly needed in some seasons more than others. But our greatest hope is to find our ultimate purpose and meaning through knowing and following Jesus.
This week we will turn our attention to a new section in the book of John. Last Sunday we wrapped up the “Cana Cycle” (chapters 2-4), now we will start into the “Festival Cycle” (chapters 5-10). In 5:1-18, We’ll see Jesus bring healing and hope to a man who has long-suffered. And if you are following the Bible reading plan, you have a new sense of hope, seeing the light at the end of the tunnel, knowing you have just a few weeks left to finish reading through the entire Bible in a year! We’re shaping up plans for a different reading plan for next year (and, much shorter) that I’ll introduce in the coming weeks.
Thank you for being part of Valley View. Thank you for your prayers and encouragement. Thank you for serving faithfully in so many ways. I’m praying God would open doors for you this week to share the hope you have in Him with your neighbors and the community around us all over Valley Station, PRP and Southwest Louisville!