'Christ in me - the hope of glory!' Gosh!

[Lee Herdman]

Have been challenged for sometime by the passage in Colossians 1:27 which tells us that the gospel has been revealed to the world and the good news is wrapped up in me! Jesus in me, the hope of glory. The hope of the world, the good news, the gospel is wrapped up in me! the hope of glory for me, and hope of glory for others - is in me, because his Spirit is in me!

Nothing new here, not a grand revelation, just a dawning realisation of the fact that my life should bring flesh and blood to the gospel. But more than this it has heaps of implications...

-I am called to be hope in every situation, even if there appears to be no hope, no signs of change

-If the hope of eternity is wrapped up in me, I should be the eternal optimist! (ouch - out should go my negativity)

-I should be able to enter even the darkest situation and be the hoper, the light at the end of the tunnel,

-if this hope is wrapped up in me, and in fellow followers, we have a responsibility to be in the darkest of places, the most impossible of situations where there seems to be no light and no hope

-that as the eternal hoper, my job is also to be part of the transformation because that social care and spiritual care are totally and utterly inseperable. Social hope and Spiritual hope are totally and utterly inextricably entwined, and social hope and spiritual hope are the purpose of Jesus living in me.

This has implications for our ministry with children, Wooo the task is huge!

'Christ in you - the hope of glory!'