gift of hope

this past advent I decided to speak on the three gifts that the wise men brought to Jesus...I entitled it Gifts of Hope...these wise men had traveled thousands of miles on the hope that some words they had read were true...hope for a king that was better than the one they served, hope for a better priest than the ones who served them...and hope for a savior from the emptiness of the life they now lived...we also gathered gifts of hope for our elementary afterschool kids (PrimeTime)...20 some families at Central invested in 27 different kids by purchasing presents for them for Christmas...wanting to share the hope of Christ in a time where it seems like there is no hope...but the best gift of hope that Laura and I received this Christmas is one from a dear friend in our congregation...instead of the church collecting money for us for Christmas, the Elders suggested that in going along with our gift of hope theme that people would give us something from their hearts, something more relational in manner...well, let me tell you...the gifts we have received have revived my hope...anything from gift cards to restaurants to fruit baskets and even an invite to go bowling...and please don't misunderstand they are all good...but the one that blew Laura and I away is how someone sponsored an orphan in our honor for a year...so for a year this child is going to be able to get educated and fed because of their generosity in our honor...let me tell you it brought tears to our eyes...and here is why...Laura and I have dedicated our lives to pointing people to Jesus...now there have been good times and there have been some discouraging times along the way...but when a person prays and asks the Lord on what to give us and the Lord directs them to this...WOW!...that gives us hope...hope in the gospel...hope in that we still get to participate in His plan of redemption...hallelujah!...all praise goes to the one worthy of all our praise...relax God is in control!