Hope

It’s all about Hope.

It’s a word we’ve heard a lot in the past year. And it’s a word we need to hear even more this year.

In the midst of a turbulent economy, people are being shaken to the very core. For many of us, the loss of a job is not just the loss of an income, but the loss of self and purpose. And the loss of a home – is anything scarier than that?

Has the world ever needed the church more? Has the message of Jesus that God is able to care for every need ever been more than relevant than today?

We United Methodists are in the hope business, you know. That’s right. Locally and globally, we give hope. To children who are victims of malaria-infected mosquitoes; to students who need a little help to make their college costs; to the young mother who needs daycare for her child and English lessons so she can get a better paying job. The list goes on and on, far too many to list here.

We have been in the hope business a long time. Through economic upturns and down turns, through floods and fires and famine, through war and peace, we have been there. The people of The United Methodist Church. The people of hope.

So don’t give up now. Don’t get scared, don’t run from the challenge. Keep the hope coming. Let this be hope’s finest hour.

--Rev. Dr. Ken Sloane, Director of Communications Ministry, United Methodist Communications