Hope-filled Love

Good morning. The scripture reading this morning comes from Romans chapter 12.

Romans 12 · chapter mention

Please follow along on the screen, the bulletin, or your own Bible.

Starting in verse 1 we read,

I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God,

to present your bodies as a living sacrifice,

holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind,

that by testing you may discern what is the will of God,

what is good and acceptable and perfect.

Then in verse 9 we read,

Let love be genuine.

Abhor what is evil.

Hope fast to what is good.

Love one another with brotherly affection.

Outdo one another in showing honor.

Do not be slothful in zeal.

Be fervent in spirit.

Serve the Lord.

Rejoice in hope.

Be patient in tribulation.

Be constant in prayer.

Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality.

This is the word of God.

Amen.

Thank you so much, Angeline.

Welcome again.

My name is Chris, if you don't know me.

And if you're here for the baptism as well, you're just super welcome.

Really, really excited that you can join us this morning.

Let me just pray for us as we begin to look into God's word.

Father, thank you that whatever week we've had, wherever we come from, however our circumstances, you are still God.

Lord, I pray that you're the one who loves us.

And you're the one who is with us.

And you're the one who is faithful.

And you're the one who never lets us go.

And Lord, I pray that this morning you would speak to us.

I pray, Lord, even as we celebrate the baptism later, we would just remember your goodness.

And the fact that you are the one who does immeasurably more than we can ask or imagine.

Lord, fill our hearts with a real deep hope in you.

So that we can be a people who don't just say the right things, but live with a real deep confidence in the mercies of God in our lives.

We pray this morning you'd open our ears to hear your word.

I pray that you would just speak through me, but I pray your spirit would take your word and just bury it into our hearts, we pray.

In Jesus' name.

Amen.

Great.

The Washington Post, they had an article a few years ago which headline was,

Too Many Celebrities, Not Enough Heroes.

And as I read the article, Fiona was just talking to me this week, telling me about in Hong Kong there is this new sensational boy band called Mirror.

Does anyone know Mirror?

Okay, there's a few fans out here.

Well, you can find out from them.

And she was telling me that many husbands have started complaining that they've lost their wives to infatuation with members of this boy band.

This is what you might call celebrity love.

It's a kind of love which is based on appearances.

It's based on feelings and attractions.

But it's superficial.

You don't actually know what they're like.

It's a mirage.

It's celebrity love.

But then there is another kind of love which I like to call heroic love.

It's the kind of love where heroes are willing to lay down their lives for others in the hard realities of life.

They're ordinary, not glamorous.

They're sacrificial, not self-focused.

They're purpose-driven, not feeling-driven.

You know, it's the kind of love of parents for their children, not fans for their celebrities.

And the book of Romans, which we've been going through over the last few weeks,

and Paul, the apostle who's been writing it, has been painting this picture of Jesus as the ultimate heroic lover.

However, his sacrificial love for us goes beyond all other heroes that we might have.

While we were not just friends of God, but even enemies of God,

he came and died for us, sacrificing his life for us.

To bring us back, to reconcile us into the relationship we were always made for with the creator God.

And to draw us into his family.

And to bring us to be part of a cosmic redemption story that God is writing, even right now.

And all of this, Paul has been saying, we receive by faith.

It's not by being religious.

It's not by being moral.

It's a gift of grace to us.

It's by the mercies of God.

And Paul has then said, in the light of this, his family, the church,

in the light of his mercies and empowered by his mercies,

are to live and to reflect that same love, to be a community, not of celebrity love,

but of heroic love like Jesus' love.

A love that doesn't just look nice on the outside, but is genuine,

even in, excuse me, genuine in whatever circumstances we go through.

It's a heroic love like Jesus.

And last week, we looked, we began to see how Paul starts in verse 9,

he says, let love be genuine.

And then he goes through and tells us what this love begins to look like.

It's a love that hates evil.

It loves good.

It's a love that is honoring other people before ourselves.

It's a love that is fervent, self-forgetful, serving God in every area of our lives.

But as you think about those things that he's been telling us in verses 9 through to 11,

you can actually do a lot of those things when life's going okay,

when the seas are calm.

But today's passage, where we're going to look particularly at verses 12 and 13,

is about how do you love when life gets tough,

when the waves are crashing against the boat of your life.

How do you be in a community of ordinary heroic love at that point?

And so I'm going to go through two points,

which are basically the two verses that we're going to look at.

The first point is hope in turbulence.

And the second is hope that fuels love.

So let's look at hope in turbulence.

And just have your bulletin looking at those two particular verses.

So verse 9 has said,

let love be genuine.

And now in verse 12, he tells you another way that love can be genuine.

He says,

And the middle command of that,

being patient in tribulation,

tells you that the context for this is painful,

it's messy,

and the kind of love that we're to show,

is not just when everything's going well.

Because the word tribulation in scripture

actually has a lot of different meanings of

the way different kinds of suffering can come.

It can mean persecution.

It can mean financial hardship.

It can mean heartache at the decisions of other people.

It can mean even childbirth.

So it can mean all kinds of suffering that we experience in this world.

And when he says be patient,

be patient, that's actually the word for to endure.

It means, you know,

it's kind of like the image of a speaker who's speaking,

and they're just getting heckled,

and people throwing things at them,

and they just keep going in spite of everything being thrown at them.

They continue, and they just keep going,

no matter how many tomatoes are thrown at them.

They endure.

They persevere.

They continue.

It's what, you know,

1 Corinthians tells us,

love perseveres.

It doesn't back down when the going gets tough.

It keeps to its commitments and its promises.

But how does it do that?

Well, this is where the first and the last of that trio of commands shows us.

So the first one is rejoice in hope,

and I'm going to spend a bit more time on this one.

Because I don't know what you think about the word hope,

but hope is actually vital for life.

Hope is actually a desire for heaven.

I don't know if you realize that,

because hope is a desire for a better world,

for a better life,

for a better future.

That's what hope is.

Hope is what gets you out of bed in the morning,

thinking that you could be different,

your life could be different,

or you can make a difference in the world in some way.

You know,

I hoped that England would win last week,

so I got up at 3 a.m.

I never do that.

I am still hoping that that might happen in the future.

But when people lose hope,

like England supporters often do,

or like actually a lot of young people in Hong Kong have,

right,

what happens is you give up.

You get depressed.

You lose the joy of life when you have no hope.

And so secular hope,

the hope out there,

is actually looking for heaven on earth now.

You're looking for it in promotion,

or in early retirement,

or in a comfortable life,

or in a great body.

That's why you go to the gym all the time.

But Christian hope is actually different from all of that.

So let me explore what Christian hope is.

Romans 5 says,

we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

That's an amazing statement.

That's a statement that should get Christians out of bed every morning

with a sense of purpose.

Because Christian hope is that you and I were made

for a personal relationship

with the glorious, majestic creator of the universe.

And every believer who puts their trust in him,

you can experience that relationship even right now with him.

But right now, if you're a Christian,

you know that a relationship with God

is still a little bit like being on Zoom.

It's real,

but there's something not quite all there.

Right?

There's something missing.

But the hope of the glory of God

is one day,

that even though we see glimpses of his glory,

though we experience the realness of his relationship right now,

one day,

you won't be on Zoom with him,

you'll see him face to face.

In his majestic beauty and majesty.

I mean, just look at the sunset,

look at the stars,

and those are just a glimpse

of the majesty of who he is.

And scripture says,

when you see the glory of God,

then you and I will be home.

Because he is actually the place

where every desire and every longing

that you have ever had

is ultimately satisfied.

Because he and we were made for him.

We have hope that we will see the glory of God.

But not only that,

Paul also says,

don't we all know deep down

that there's something in us

that's not what we should be?

Right?

We know that we're not all that we want to be.

And we know that this world

is not all that it should be.

And the hope of the glory of God

is like the Japanese art of kintsugi.

Do you know kintsugi?

Well, you know,

where they take this broken pottery

and what they do,

they put it together with gold.

You've got a picture of it.

I think there's a picture here.

And they put it together with gold.

So actually what gets happened is

the brokenness gets transformed

into this glorious masterpiece.

And so what God is saying,

he will not only transform our broken lives

from shame into glory

so that we reflect his loving,

perfect kindness and graciousness,

but this world will also be freed

from all the stuff you see on the news

of the suffering,

of the injustice,

of the exploitation,

of the pain.

And some of you feel that pain today.

And he says,

there will be a time

where there will be no more tears.

There will be no more pain

because we will be home

with the one who created us.

Heaven on earth.

We have a hope in a good God

who regrets glory out of brokenness.

That is what Christian hope is.

And you might say,

well, I hope that's true.

But you know when we say I hope,

generally that's just kind of a wish, right?

It's like, I hope England will win.

Like, good chance.

It's not a certainty.

But when the Bible talks about hope,

it's saying three things.

First thing it's saying,

hope is certain for Christians.

Romans tells us,

hope does not disappoint us

because God's poured his love

into our hearts.

You know,

every hope you have placed in this world

can be taken away from you.

But Christian hope

is a hope outside of this world.

And it's in the safe hands of God.

And do you know what?

God's never let go.

God can never let you down.

It cannot be taken away

by COVID or an economic crisis

because God's bigger than all of that.

And so it's a bit like this.

You know,

secular hope

is like,

did you see those flights to nowhere

during COVID?

Right?

Where basically

there is no destination.

The whole purpose of the flight

is to get on the flight

and just enjoy the ride

and then come back down again.

Okay?

Now imagine

if you've bought business class tickets.

It's been a hard few months.

You want to relax.

You want to watch some movies.

Just get away from it all.

Okay?

Good idea.

So you take off.

Everything's great.

You start watching your favorite movie.

You're just getting

to the really good scene

and then the entertainment system stops.

Freezes.

And you're like,

oh my goodness me.

You're mad.

And you're like,

oh,

it's just that good scene.

But then

as you try and desperately

try and get someone

to fix the issue

and it takes some time

because they're busy

with everybody else

but then

after 30 minutes of frustration

and they just tell you

sorry,

it's not working

you go,

okay.

Let me try and get some sleep.

I need a bit of rest.

So you just start nodding off

and then turbulence hits

and it's really bad turbulence.

Have you seen that turbulence?

You,

where everyone around you,

you know when you've been in turbulence

and it's like this

and it goes on

not just for one minute

but it's two minutes,

five minutes,

ten minutes

and everyone's panicking.

Everyone thinks the plane's

going to go down.

That's what actually

a secular hope is like

because

in a flight to nowhere

all your hopes,

whatever you're putting

your life on

can be taken away

from you

in one instance

of tribulation.

Money,

jobs,

relationships,

it's all uncertain.

But Christian hope

is different.

It's a different flight.

It's a flight

with a destination.

You know,

like the Maldives.

It's actually

a destination

to the glory of God.

And if everything's smooth

in life,

we enjoy the flight.

We enjoy the blessings

God gives us.

But if turbulence hits,

it's unpleasant.

We don't kind of

love the turbulence

but it doesn't crush us

because our hope

isn't on the flight,

it's in the destination.

You see,

nothing can take away

this hope

because the fact

that Jesus died

and rose again

from the dead

means for Christians

the Christian plane

will not crash.

Then there's one

who's waiting for us

at the airport

who's going to welcome us.

It's our lover

and our saviour,

Jesus Christ.

The one who's sacrificed

his entire life for us.

And whether the flight

is smooth

or whether the flight

is tough,

all of it

is actually still

getting you

towards the destination.

You know,

I know from personal experience

in the face of death,

there's no greater certainty

than a resurrected saviour

who you know

has already gone before you

and is waiting for you.

That's Christian hope.

It's certain.

But Christian hope

is not just certain,

it's also transformational.

Because what does Paul say?

He says,

we rejoice in hope.

Now just think about

how you rejoice in a baby.

We had one four months ago.

And so what happens is

you spend time,

you gaze at your child

in the cot

kind of longingly

going,

wow, isn't she amazing?

You show everybody your baby

and then other people say,

oh, isn't she lovely?

And you do all of that

and you post a gazillion photos

on Instagram and Facebook.

You talk about her

all the time to everyone.

You go, oh,

she farted today.

It was amazing.

You do all of these

kind of things.

You rejoice in your baby.

How do you rejoice in hope?

Well, you rehearse

and you gaze

and you talk about

the hope you have

to yourself

and in community

we remind each other of that.

Because if drawing close to Jesus

and being transformed

to be like him

is our hope,

then we know that actually

the trials

and the turbulence

we go through right now

are actually

the refining fire

which is actually

drawing us

and shaping us

towards that goal

even today.

You know,

I have a stomach condition

which reoccurs

from time to time.

And you know

when you just feel rough,

you don't feel like rejoicing at all,

do you?

And you actually feel like

having a pity party.

Oh, woe is me.

But rejoicing in hope

means right at those moments

what God is trying to teach me

and is what God wants

to teach all of us

who really know

what it is to go through

turbulence in these times

is that we load

our gospel shotgun

with the promises of God.

That right now

I have Christ in me

the hope of glory.

That I can do all things

through Christ

who gives me strength.

That he is renewing me

and transforming me

from one degree of glory

to another right now

in this moment.

And as I rehearse

that scripture

and other people

in the community

remind me of the hope

that we have.

Do you know what happens?

Immediately,

not a lot.

But actually

as I battle

and I wrestle

hope rises

and I discover

God in new ways

that I never thought

were possible.

And he gives me

the strength

to persevere

in the midst of them.

And my soul

actually finds joy

even in those hard moments

because there is a purpose

and I have a certain hope

at that moment

and he is beginning

to transform me

and transform us

right at that place

towards the hope

that he has for us.

You see,

hope is not just certain.

Hope is also

transformational.

But the third thing

that Christian hope is,

it's also personal.

And

because though it's not,

it's a certain destination,

Paul actually says

be constant

in prayer.

You know,

prayer is communicating

with God.

Constant means

stubbornly,

persistently,

in a disciplined way,

carrying on

and doing it.

You know,

the early disciples

met constantly

in the temple

in the book of Acts.

It's a regular,

habitual discipline.

Like talking to your wife,

actually.

For a healthy relationship,

communication

needs to be

constant,

right?

Regular habit.

But here's the point.

In turbulence,

if your hope

is getting

the entertainment system

of your life

fixed and working,

you'll get stressed

just trying to

get it all to work.

You'll get frustrated.

When all along,

there's someone

who's sitting next to you

on the flight,

but he's not just

an ordinary passenger.

He's God himself.

He's the one

who is

the pilot

of the plane,

but he's also

the one

who's owned

and designed

the aircraft.

And

he's the one

who created

the laws

of thermodynamics.

and he's the one

who's holding up

the plane of your life

right now.

And if he is with you,

if he is with you,

then that means

you don't just have

an abstract,

distant hope

somewhere over there.

You have a present place

where you can run.

You have a place

where you can cry.

You have a place

where you can find

refuge and strength

no matter how hard

it is for you,

even right now.

because he

is not abstract.

He is a person,

Jesus Christ,

with you.

You see,

constant prayer

is an obligation

for Christians

just like breathing

is an obligation

for human beings.

You see,

in the turbulence,

we don't just need

a solution.

We need a person

to cling to.

And in prayer,

what we do

is we turn to Jesus

and we remember,

he says,

I'm with you always.

I'll get you

to the destination.

I've got this.

I don't know

what you're going

through right now,

but some of you

need to hear

him saying,

run to me

because I want you

to experience

the fact that

I have got

your situation

right now.

You can trust me.

because he knows

how the plane works

even when we have

no idea.

He says,

rejoice in hope,

be patient

in tribulation,

be constant

in prayer.

And by the way,

if you are struggling

right now,

don't go it alone.

Come and speak

to one of us,

myself,

a CG member,

because we're

to be a community

who walks

on this road

together.

So what does

that all have

to do with love,

this verse 12?

Well,

I want to move

on to verse 13,

which is the second

point,

which is hope

fuels love.

You see,

when your hope

is in now,

you will become

stressed and

frustrated with

the turbulence

of life.

you'll become

anxious,

because if

everything is

about now,

man,

that's a lot

of pressure on.

But can anyone

tell me,

has anyone

who's been

really stressed

ever been

more loving

when you're

stressed?

Anyone?

I don't think

so.

Because what

happens when

we're stressed,

we tend to

turn inwards,

we tend to

try and preserve

ourselves.

Some of us

do that by

escaping into

alcohol or

binge-watching

Netflix.

We just try

and cope

with the

situation.

Others of us

keep calm

and carry on.

And then you

look around

at everybody

else who's

worrying,

whether it's

about COVID

or other

things,

and you go,

why are they

all worrying?

Why are they

all so weak

and emotional

about these

things?

You should

be like me.

And you

have very

little compassion

on other

people who

are struggling.

doing.

But when

you've got

a hope

beyond the

flight,

when the

turbulence

hits and

the Spirit

reminds you

to turn in

prayer to

your all-powerful

Savior by

your side,

remind yourself

of the

scripture

promises of

hope,

and you

find that

over time

he brings

peace and

a joy into

your heart,

then what

happens is

that hope-filled

joy begins

to take your

eyes off

yourself.

And you

start looking

around and

you see the

other passengers

around and

you see their

needs and

you see their

anxieties and

their worries,

not just your

own.

And Paul

says this,

with hope,

what you can

start to do

is you can

start to

contribute to

the needs

of the

saints.

You see,

contribute

doesn't just

mean,

okay,

throw in some

money into

the offering

and then go

back to

your own

problems.

The word

contribute,

actually,

it's the

word fellowship,

which means

to share

life with.

He says,

share life

with the

saints.

That means

other believers

in church.

It means

entering into

partnership with

their struggles

so their

burden becomes

your burden.

You feel

their struggles,

not just

your own.

And I've

been so

encouraged,

because in

Watermark,

I know there

are families

who are

struggling with

young kids,

and there are

CG members,

you've just

stepped up,

you're providing

meals,

you're providing

babysitting,

you're providing

toys,

all kinds of

things.

I know

that there

are families

here who

are reaching

out to

singles who

are struggling

with loneliness,

and you're

inviting them

in to spend

meals so that

they can

experience family

life in this

difficult season.

Hope opens

you up to

love other

people,

and I see

that in our

community.

But you

know,

you will only

see the

needs of

others when

you're actually

investing in

relationships with

people.

Do you know,

that's why we

encourage everyone

in Watermark to

get into

CGs,

or if you're

in a stage

of life as a

family,

to get into

family groups

where you can

actually begin to

walk with one

another,

and when you

do that,

you'll begin to

see the needs

of other people.

So my question

is,

do you see the

needs of people

in your CG?

Do you see the

needs of people

in Watermark

around you?

Or,

and here's the

challenge,

are you wrapped

up with all of

your own problems

that you can't

see beyond

them?

Because if

that's the

case,

that may be

an indication

to you that

your hope is

in the flight

rather than

in the

destination.

And God

may be calling

you,

come back to

me and

place your

hope in

me,

and let

me free

you to

see others

around you.

But you

see,

it's not

just,

he says,

hope opens

you to see

the church

community

around.

He then

says it

opens you to

see the

community

outside the

church too.

Because he

says next,

seek to

show

hospitality.

And again,

the word

hospitality doesn't

mean dinner

parties or

fine dining.

The word

literally means

in Greek,

love for

strangers.

Love for

strangers.

And he

says,

pursue,

seek,

pursue,

actively,

pursue loving

strangers.

Not just

kind of wait

till some

show up.

No,

actually be

looking for

opportunities

where you

can open

up your

life,

your home,

your heart,

not just

for the

people in

the church

community,

but also

for those

outside who

can experience

the love of

Christ through

us.

That's actually

what,

you know,

some of you

did.

Who went

on loving

the city?

Okay,

a few of you

did.

That's why

we want to

call people

to see the

city,

the loving

the city.

Some of us

went out to

pour tea for

refuse collectors

and just get to

know them.

Some of us

are with the

Young Lives,

teen ministry

that Oscar

mentioned,

you know,

we're befriending

vulnerable mothers.

I know there's a

couple of CGs here

who are tutoring

refugee kids.

And God is

calling us as we

have this hope

that we don't

have to cling

to our life

right now,

but we can see

other people.

You know,

one of the

things I've

realized being

in Hong Kong,

and my wife

has also shared

this with me

about her life,

that growing up,

many of us are

taught to be

very private.

We're taught

to be very

suspicious of

strangers and

people you don't

know.

You know,

they could do

things.

You can be

dangerous.

And one of the

things that I've

seen, both with

people here in

Watermark, but also

with my wife as

well, is that as

the gospel has

grown and shaped

and worked in

their life, what

it's done, it's

actually opened

them up to be

less fearful and

to open up their

lives.

I've seen opening

up our home for

refugees, troubled

kids.

I've seen people

just serving the

homeless who a

million, like in

their childhood,

they would never

have done it.

Why?

Because the hope

of the gospel

changes you to go,

I don't have to

cling to my

privacy right now.

I don't have to

cling to my

comfort right now

because my hope

is not in right

now, because I

can be messy

right now and

it's okay.

I can be a

little bit risky

right now because

actually God's got

me and he's my

security and he's

my protection.

Here's a challenge

from Rosaria

Butterfield.

She says this,

Christians who

have too much are

the ones prohibited

from practicing

hospitality.

They have so many

cluttered idols that

they can give

nothing at all.

For this reason,

it's often the

well-heeled and

rich who are

known for their

lack of hospitality

and the meager and

even poor who are

known for their

plentiful hospitality.

So Christian,

kill your idols.

I was really

challenged by that.

Really challenged

by that.

Because you know,

as Watermark,

we're not the

poorest of the

poor.

people who

want to do in

our lives and

in our church is

that in an anxious

world, in an anxious

city, that as

Christian hope gets

hold of us into our

hearts, it begins to

change us into this

community which is

willing to sacrifice

our in-flight

comforts and the

desires that we have

to spend time with the

Filipino community on a

Sunday afternoon.

For those who can

afford it, renting

larger properties so

that you can host

people more.

And I know many of

you do this.

People from different

backgrounds.

It means sacrificing

your free time to be

willing to accompany a

teen mom to a

hospital appointment.

It looks like inviting

the receptionist or a

colleague in your

workplace, even when

you're busy out for

lunch, or taking the

time to pray and talk

with the security guard

that you have.

You see, as a

community, God wants

us to be known as

people who are lovers

of strangers.

Not because we do it

in our own strength,

but because we know

the mercies of God to

us.

Because we know that

Christ was the most

hospitable person ever.

You know, didn't he

eat and drink with the

despised, with the

outcast, with the

shamed, but also with

the religious hypocrites

like the Pharisees?

He eats and drinks with

those who feel your

brokenness the most.

For those of us who

need a hope beyond

ourselves.

And he opens his arms,

welcoming people like

you and me to his table

to eat with him, the

king of all creation,

without condemnation,

without judgment, to

come home to be with

him.

And if you're not a

Christian today, Jesus

is pursuing strangers

like you.

And he's calling you

today not just to keep

the door shut and bolted

on the inside, but as

he knocks on the door

of your heart, he's

saying, will you open

up your heart to me?

Don't be so private,

don't be so self-reliant

that the king of kings

can't enter and show

you what it really

means to have hope.

Will you shut out the

pilot of your life

because you want to

pilot your own life?

You know, that's the

way to a plane crash.

Will you pray today,

Jesus, if you are who

you say you are, then I

want you to come into

my life.

I want to find this hope

in you.

Pilot my life.

I want a relationship

with you.

That's the offer today.

Will you take it?

And if you are a

Christian, do you know,

in our city, the most

persuasive argument for

the truth of the gospel is

not a great sermon.

It's not a great

intellectual conversation,

though those things are

good.

It's a community of hope-

fulfilled, heroic love.

Who, because of the

mercies of Jesus, we learn

to kill our idols, whether

it's of comfort, privacy,

self-reliance, whatever

they are.

And in the midst of

tribulation, we learn how

to rejoice in the hope

that we have.

We learn how to be

patient and just keep

going constantly in

prayer, contributing and

sharing our lives with the

needs of those in our

church community, opening

our hopes, opening our

homes and our hearts and

our lives to those around

us, and setting our

sights on Christ, the hope

of glory.

Let me pray.

I want you just to think

where you are up to right

now with Jesus.

And some of us need to

actually just rejoice again

in the hope that we have

in Christ.

Some of us, we've

forgotten.

We haven't gazed on Christ

recently.

We've gazed on our

problems.

But some of you just

need to come and thank

him for who he is and

what he's done and where

he's taking us.

Some of us need to repent

that actually we're putting

our hope in so many other

things.

And Jesus calls you to his

table to find hope in him.

And some of us, God is

calling you to actually take

a step of faith, to reach

out to someone, to pray for

someone, to look beyond

yourself and let Jesus

work in your heart.

So as the band comes up

and we're going to sing our

next song, just take a few

seconds to just pray

wherever you're up to with

God.

Some of us need, in the

struggles that we're going

through, to just cling to

Jesus and just to pray to him

right now.

He's with you.

He's with you.

Father, we just want to thank

you.

that with you there's a hope

that is utterly, utterly

unshakable.

Thank you that your

resurrection means that we

are never left alone.

That you walk with us.

Teach us to love because we

have a true hope in you.

In Jesus' name.

Amen.