What hope for a pregnant teenager and no one but she knows the father?
What hope for a good man disappointed by his partner’s apparent unfaithfulness?
What hope for parents weeping for children slaughtered by order of a king?
Lord, your prophet spoke of Immanuel, ‘God Is With Us’.
Not just in days of joy and celebration.
But
When the atmosphere in a nation turns sour,
When lives are troubled by mistakes made and hard decisions which have to be taken,
When tragedy breaks into quiet and settled lives,
Lord you are with us,
The God revealed in Jesus,
The Jesus of the wilderness temptations under pressure from the subtle and vicious power of Satan.
The Jesus of Gethsemene in torment as he focuses on the ordeal to come.
The Jesus of Calvary brought to the point when he can no longer experience his Father’s presence.
The God revealed in Jesus.
So we can pray confidently tonight that you will be with us and all those going through their worst of times.
In this we place our hope, a hope that in the end will not be denied but will overcome everything that ever made hope seem out of reach, that day when the voice of Jesus will be heard: ‘Now I am making all things new.’
