Zechariah 9:12
Return to the stronghold, prisoners of hope. Moreover, declare today that I will return double to you.
Dearest Leaders of Our Church:
Today I read a devotion from The Methodist Book of Daily Prayer, and I was humbled by its challenge. Return to the stronghold, prisoners of hope!
Am I a prisoner of hope? Am I hopelessly hopeful? Nope. Not even close.
I may look like a cheerleader many times at church, full of optimism for God's work in the world.
But I have quiet, dark times of doubt. Of pessimism. Of cynicism. Of accepting the conventional wisdom that churches are doomed to decline in this day and age and that I am foolish to even try to grow our church.
Reading this passage today, I want to be a prisoner of hope. I want to be a person that is always hopeful, always full of the hope that Jesus offers.
I am finishing the Institute of Congregational Development today, and our final speaker is Rev. Ken Nash of Cornerstone Church in Grand Rapids, MI. This pastor, and this church, are prisoners of hope. They have hope overflowing, and their church is thriving and flourishing.
They are proof that hope is real, that God's plan for the world is still moving forward. I want what they have!
As we prepare for a new year of ministry, and a project for launching a new worship service with new people, I invite you to join with me on a journey of hope. Let us all become prisoners of hope, with relentless hope that Jesus is walking with us to meet new people and grow new ministries in our community.
Let us return to God's stronghold, and thrive in God's Kingdom. Amen.
Pastor Anna-Lisa
December 6, 2023
