6-5-2026

Good Morning!

       1 Timothy 4:10; “For to this end we toil and strive, because we have our hope set on the living God, who is the Savior of all people, especially of those who believe.”

    The English language is a strange beast. How a word is pronounced or how it is used can vary and be dependent upon the person using the word. For example, the word “stock” means something different to a person who raises animals, to a person who is a race car driver, to a gunsmith, and to a person of finance. The word “unionized” means (and is pronounced) differently between a scientist and a member of the Teamsters. (un-ionized to union-ized). Words can be difficult and frustrating but what can be very frustrating to a Christian is when the devil and the world take really good Bible words and mushes them all up and uses them to mean something altogether different.

    Hope is one of those words. In the worldly vernacular, hope is a flimsy, worthless, imagination of folly. When people use the word “hope,” you can almost sense that they think their “hope” is lost. I hope my team wins the World Series this year even though they have never won one and they traded their best players for some unknowns. I hope I have better crops this year than last year even though I have not changed anything since last year. I hope I win the Powerball lottery even if the odds are 292.2 million to 1. So, when we use the word hope like this, what good is there in having your hope set on the living God? How can that possibly be of any value?

    “Hope” in the Bible refers to the expectation of future good because of past events. Hope is a certainty not a flimsy wish. I hope that when I get out of bed, my feet hit the floor. Gravity has not failed before, and it won’t fail now. So, playing with English words, we can read “our hope set on the living God” and think “our ANCHOR set on the living God.”  Our hope is in God. We can anchor ourselves to this truth. We can hold onto God’s great promises of forgiveness and salvation and eternal life in the face of every earthly life storm.

    There is no greater power or force than God’s love for you. He shows us that love in the person of Jesus, whose death and resurrection gives us hope. It is our anchor into God’s rock of love. We will be battered, slammed, and attacked by everything this world has, yet just like the ship that rides out the storm because it is anchored safely in the cove, we too, are safe, anchored in the resurrection of Jesus and secure in his loving arms. We “wholly lean on Jesus’ name.” That is our hope, that is our anchor. We have Jesus and more importantly, He has us.

Gracious Father, our hope is in You because of your great promises which never fail. Help us to always know the confidence of your grace and the certainty of your mercy that declares us your children. Keep our hearts and minds safe in the knowledge of your love. Defend those who are struggling and send Your Spirit that they may know Your peace. In the precious name of Jesus we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret