Romans 12:12

"Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.”

From Background Notes [BN] for November 19^th/20^th written by Pastor Bob Brown:

Hope is actually “waiting” within Hebrew thought, and Jewish people knew a great deal about waiting for promises to be fulfilled. To Paul’s mixed Gentile/Jewish audience, the notion of “hope” had different meanings.

 Classical Greek thought knew little about hope, and when we read about it, the emphasis is usually negative — something like “wishful thinking.” Since hope implies deferred gratification, joy would not be the natural response to the need for hope. What Christian love brings to the challenge is its commitment to “always hope,” as the verb form attests in 1 Corinthians 13:7. Love is what love does, and while waiting, love supplies the joy.[BN,13]

Join us this week in Worship at ChicagoFirstChurch of the Nazarene -

* Saturday 6:00pm
* Sunday 8:30am & 11:00am, 5:30pm