Spring of Hope

In the Christian calendar, the new year starts on the fourth Sunday before Christmas day (December 25). It is called the advent Sunday and the season of advent is for four weeks that ends on Christmas eve. It is a season observed as a time of expectant waiting and preparation for the celebration of the birth of Jesus. The term is an English version of the Latin word adventus, meaning 'coming'. The season of advent anticipates the coming of Christ from three different perspectives. It offers an opportunity to share in the ancient longing for the coming of the Messiah into history. It also signifies the longing for the coming of the Messiah into our hearts and lives; and it alerts for His second coming as the King. Advent has past, present and future in itself. The Bible tells us that God sent a man named John to prepare the way for the coming of Jesus. John told the people to make a highway in the desert for their God, make the crooked ways straight and to make the ro

A group of elementary school students were asked to write down the seven wonders of the world. They took blank pieces of paper and started writing. The answers listed the pyramids, the Taj Mahal and other wonders. One little girl was not finished after everyone else did and continued writing. She said, "teacher, I don't know where to stop and if these are the right answers, but I have a lot more than seven." The teacher looked at her paper and started reading her list, "to be able to see, hear, think , breathe, touch, walk, run, love, laugh..and the list went on. We take many vital things for granted. Only one of the ten lepers healed by Jesus came back to thank Him (Luke 17). The others probably got excited and ran back to their families they had been missing for a long time since lepers were isolated from the community. When the receiver overlooks the giver and gets preoccupied with the gift, thanksgiving is often forgotten. On Christmas morning, many ch

In the story of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37) a lawyer asked Jesus a question to test him. "Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?" The question was presumptive in that he believed that by doing certain things, he can inherit eternal life. Jesus answers this question with a question. "What is written in the law and how do you read it?" He answered, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself." Jesus advised him to just follow that. But the lawyer made the classic mistake of asking a follow up question, "who is my neighbor?". Then he got an answer he hadn’t bargained for, in the form of a story that would become the hallmark of the gospel through the centuries. A poor traveller, probably a Jew had been robbed, beaten and left for dead on the street. A priest and a Levite saw him and passed by on the other sid

In the middle of a church service, one child was becoming noisy and distracting. As the parents were losing the battle to manage the situation, the father picked him up walked down the aisle really fast on his way out. Just before reaching the door, the little one called loudly to the congregation, "pray for me, pray for me!." In Luke Chapter 18, Jesus taught through the parable of a widow that a believer should pray with shameless persistence. A poor, powerless person (the widow) persists in nagging a corrupt, powerful person (the judge) to do justice for her. The purpose of the parable is to encourage Christians to persevere in their faith against all odds. There are three main characters in this story - the poor widow, an adversary who had done injustice to the widow and a corrupt judge. All odds are here against the poor widow, who does not have a voice. Well, not so. There is a fourth character, God, the just and merciful judge, who can and will bring about just

Genesis 15 is one of the most important chapters in the Bible because we read that God made a promise with one man Abram to make him the father of a chosen group people for God. But he remained childless for a long time after the promise. Abram said, “I remain childless and the one who will inherit my estate is Eliezer of Damascus, the servant” . God took him outside and said, “Look up at the sky and count the stars and see if you can count them. So shall your descendants be.” Abram believed the Lord and it was counted to him as righteousness. The stars are reminders of a faithful God who fulfills His promise. When we are frustrated, disappointed or depressed, and have more questions than answers, it is human to question God and faith. But there is hope because God works behind the scenes to turn them into blessings. When we see terrorisms, war and mass killings of innocent people are increasing, we can look at the stars in the sky and believe in the 'star promise'. I