In his book Surprised by Hope, author and theologian NT Wright says that one of the purposes of the church is to live consciously between the resurrection of Jesus in the past and the making of God’s new world in the future.
As a church we must never give up the truth of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus while also constantly striving to restore a biblical since of fairness and justice in the world we live in today.
It is in doing this that we as a community will bring hope into our world. And conversely it is also in these moments that our hope in God or faith seems to grow the most.
In Hebrews chapter 6 scripture says: God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them. We want each of you to show this same diligence to the very end, in order to make your hope sure. We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised.
In this passage we see that it is often in the moments when we serve those who are less fortunate than ourselves that our faith seems to grow. It is in these moments that hope seems to become sure.
Maybe you have experienced one of these moments in life. A moment when you though you were serving someone else, maybe you were trying to make something right in this world but in the you walked away feeling like: maybe I gained more from this than anyone else.
Also take a few moments to read through this passage in Hebrews Chapter 6 and think about these questions.
· Read Hebrews Chapter 6:10-12
o When is the last time you have shown God Love by loving his people? Describe the experience.
o How did these experiences help build your faith or make your hope sure?
o Why don’t we actively pursue more of these serving opportunities in our life?