ADVENT: WORTHY OF NOTE!

For Christians, Advent is an important celebration of the four weeks leading up to Christmas and the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ! An advent wreath usually contains three purple, one pink and one white candle.

Today in North Carolina, Tennessee & Texas the first candle, a purple candle signifying hope, was lit by special people in special ways.

A Baptist Church in Bryson City, NC

An Evangelical Church in Memphis, TN

Isaiah 11:9

A Bible Church in Allen, Texas

Jesus is true God and true man are celebrations worthy of note in the Christian community of faith!  

CELEBRATE..........EASTER IS A-COMIN'

Easter will be here in a little over a week. It's celebrated by Jesus followers on March 31, this year.

For Christians, Easter is more a time of remembrance than bunnies, colored eggs and jelly beans. Easter is also a time of hope.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, (1 Peter 1:3)

"What kind of hope is that?" one might ask.

Hope is not wishful thinking. For believers in Jesus as Savior of our world hope is a confident expectation! It's hope for a future backed by the promises of Father God's Word and work for us.

Jesus, our living hope, resurrected from the dead,  

is cause for true celebration this Easter Season!

HOPE NEEDED ONCE MORE---TO BEGIN 2024!

Abounding hope, is known in "Dotsyese" as abunDANCE of hope. May I "dance" through 2024 with all joy and peace in every step as I believe!"

A dance allowing me to follow the lead of my partner, the One who is my Living Hope. A dance keeping my eyes on Him and not looking down on my own circumstance of fear.

Though they stumble, they will never fall, for the Lord holds them by the hand.(Psalm 37:24, NLT) Help me, LORD!

Fideli-TEA : a Cuppa hope

All honor to God, the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ; for it is his boundless mercy that has given us the privilege of being born again so that we are now members of God’s own family. Now we live in the hope of eternal life because Christ rose again from the dead. (1 Peter 1:3, TLB)

Faith! Faith!! Faith!!! Hope! Hope!! Hope!!!
Faith from the latin fidere – to trust. Confidence or trust---for me it is a necessary facet of hope. 
The "what ifs" of a faithless life, breed worry and negate hope. Worry is the antithesis of hope---without faith there is no hope for a better tomorrow. 

People who have faith, have hope.  People who have hope, have faith.  Seemingly, a person cannot have one without the other. "One has to be faithful to be hopeful." (Cole Huffman, 11/9/14)

FAITH is defined as a belief which expresses confidence in the truth or veracity of someone. Even Wikipedia got it right this time. The One who is Truth is the bedrock of faith. In Him alone one can have confidence. The Lord Jesus Christ is that someone. In Him we have hope.

In Christ Alone my hope is found. He is my light, my strength, my song; this Cornerstone, this solid Ground,....

"Hope is only found in faith. Living hope is only available with belief in a risen God. (1Peter 1:13) Hope is like the "gold standard" of faith. Deep joy which transcends circumstances results from a "living hope reality."(notes from CH sermon, 11/914)

Fideli-TEA served in a cuppa hope is only available through a risen Lord.