Over the next four weeks we will be anticipating the celebration of the coming of Jesus Christ as Redeemer and Lord. Our services will feature the lighting of advent candles — advent simply means coming. Each candle represents a portion of the blessings that Jesus Christ has brought to us — hope, peace, joy, love, and life. I will be preaching on each of these themes, as they are touched on in Romans 5:1-11. This morning we are looking at the hope that Jesus has given us.

Hope is the opposite of despair. Despair is the sense that things won't change for the better and nothing that I do will make any difference. Despair is real to anyone living in a fallen world. Certainly there are varying degrees of despair.

I read an article the other day about 8,000 elderly people in Australia who face despair over their growing inability to care for children with physical and mental disabilities. Listen to a portion of that article.

Wilf and Fay Alcock live in Bendigo with their 40-year old son Rodney, who has a multiple disability (physical and intellectual). Their lives have focused around Rodney and his care all his life. For eighteen years of this time Rodney had no day placement and they coped with only several hours of support from the local council's Specific Home Care service. They have never been able to have a proper holiday together. Wilf's constant nightmare is 'what will happen to Rodney' and he wakes regularly during the night worrying about the future. They need permanent accommodation support now for Rodney. However the current reality facing Wilf is one of no hope. This reality they share with almost 8,000 other parents/carers over the age of 65. Their plight — one of no hope, no security, no peace of mind — is a national disgrace. No wonder parents like Wilf are forced to threaten: 'If I thought that Rod wouldn't have suitable care when I die, I would take him with me!' (http://www.dice.org.au/~viccid/letters1.htm)

Despair is real. There are millions of African women who face despair over their plight at the hands of Islamic invaders who rape them, kill them, or take them as sex slaves. There are many that live in poverty and ghetto like conditions that see no possibility of life becoming different for them. There are parents whose hearts have been so devastated by wayward children that they live in despair. There are children and women who live with daily abuse who feel like their life is a torture chamber. How many people sit down with a checkbook each week and feel despair as they realize a growing inability to meet their obligations.