Real Jesus - Real Hope

Hope.  Peace.  Joy.  Love.  Those are the "theme words" many Christians traditions hold in common in the weeks leading up to Christmas.  Every year, we return our focus to the ways Real Jesus defines these powerful words in the midst of a world in which the very opposite of each of them seems to dominate, seems closer and closer to "winning".  And yet, nothing and no one can ever truly redefine the hope, peace, joy, and love God offers each and every one of us in the gift of Real Jesus.  This week we look at hope - as defined and redefined by God in Jesus.  If you could picture what someone called their "wallet words of hope", what might they be?  And what would it feel like to have your "empty hope well filled by Jesus at His Table"?  And imagine the power of that hope in the life of a boy lost in the wilderness for three long days who hears an owl call - every time he gets scared.  Then we'll visit the hospice room art gallery in which every picture contains these words from Psalm 71:14: "But me?  I will hope, always."  Finally, a woman facing serious medical issues reaches over to her bedside table for a flashlight.  Not just any flashlight either.  You could call it a "heaven-sent flashlight of hope"!  Real, rock-solid, last-through-any-challenge hope that lights the way to real peace, joy, and love.  That's the Real Jesus way!