Notes of Faith December 25, 2025

Merry Christmas!

Power of Hope

Therefore remember...that at that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.

Ephesians 2:11-12

Medical science and psychology advocate strongly for the power of hope—the positive belief and expectation that a remedy or solution is going to manifest in a season of despair. Losing hope has been shown to eventually have negative consequences on health and well-being.

It may come as a surprise that in the Bible, a book about faith and positive expectations, the phrase “no hope” appears. When writing to the Ephesians, Paul says they had “no hope” in the world. Not some hope, not a little hope, but no hope. He was describing to them their condition before coming to faith in Christ. Without Christ, they (and we) were hopeless. But with Christ, we have hope. Not a lucky charm kind of hope but hope that is an “anchor of the soul” (Hebrews 6:19). If Christ had not entered the world, the world would have no hope of knowing God and being reconciled to Him.

As you celebrate Christ’s coming into the world, remember that you have hope because of Him.

Let thy hope of heaven master thy fear of death.

William Gurnall

John 11:25-26

Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies, 26 and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?"

Hope in a resurrection is sure and true.

John 10:27-28

27 "My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; 28 and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand.

We are not only sure of our own eternal life in Christ, but that of those who have gone before us in faith. We will be together with the saints of all time to spend eternity with our Creator and Savior!

Pastor Dale