If finally feels like summer is here! We just came through a beautiful Memorial Day weekend and now we can look forward to a fantastic summer. What is it about summer that brings such excitement and hope to us? It seems as though we plod along through the winter months looking forward to spring and summer and the beautiful weather we know will come. The kids look forward to having time off school and most people plan some sort of vacation to get away from the daily grind of life. At the very thought of summer, we can almost smell burgers being grilled to perfection and friends and family enjoying the fellowship of one another. To be sure, there are many pictures and images that come to mind with the thought of summer, but for most people, regardless of how they spend their summer it is an exciting and enjoyable time. When the winter seems like it will never end, we always have the hope of summer to get us by.

This Sunday I am going to preaching on the theme of “Future Hope” from Jeremiah 29:10-14. Every human being needs hope and hope is always connected with the future. The hope of tomorrow makes the trials of today much more bearable. Unfortunately, many people today feel “hopeless” and they wonder if life is actually worth living. As the pastor of “Hope” Church, it is my prayer this church will be ready and equipped to point the people around us to the Hope of the world. You cannot talk about hope without talking about Jesus Christ. Yes, I know that the world pretends to offer hope and security to us, but it is only false hope. Praise God for what He has done through His Son Jesus Christ. Fanny Crosby describes this magnificent work in her classic song, “To God be the Glory.” Here are the first two verses and the refrain, which she wrote in 1875.

To God be the glory, great things He has done; So loved He the world that He gave us His Son,
Who yielded His life an atonement for sin, And opened the life gate that all may go in.

Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, Let the earth hear His voice! Praise the Lord, praise the Lord,
Let the people rejoice! O come to the Father, through Jesus the Son,
And give Him the glory, great things He has done.

O perfect redemption, the purchase of blood, To every believer the promise of God;
The vilest offender who truly believes, That moment from Jesus a pardon receives.