9 a.m.
Please arrive by 8:30 a.m. Downloadable PDF Lesson Plans for 9:00 a.m. Service:
10:45 a.m.
Please arrive by 10:15 a.m. Downloadable PDF Lesson Plans for 10:45 a.m. Service:
Leader Devo
All I hoped for on my eighth birthday was a pair of cowboy boots. I have a picture of the moment it happened. I ripped apart the wrapping paper, opened the box, and there they were! The picture shows me in swim trunks, my new cowboy boots, and an ear-to-ear smile. As I reflect, I see that my hope was deeper than the leather, thread, and soles of those boots. While my childhood was mostly great, there were times when I felt tame, and weak, and trapped. I hoped that when I pulled on those boots, I would feel like a cowboy—wild, tough, and free.
By necessity, hope is present when something better is not. The people who first heard the words of Isaiah or lived the story in Matthew’s Gospel were people of hope. They hoped for a leader who could make them wild, and tough, and free in the face of suffering and feeling powerless.
Read Isaiah 7:10–14 and Matthew 1:18–24. As you read, what do you see that points to hope?
For hundreds of years before the birth of Jesus, God’s people held onto hope. For over two thousand years after His birth, people have claimed the promise of our Wonder Truth: Jesus Is Our Hope!
How do you see Jesus providing the hope promised in Isaiah and Matthew?
What do you find yourself hoping for these days?
What might the children in your life be hoping for?
—Matt Irvine
Pastor and Editor
Contributor to Wonder Ink
*Wonder Ink Video for this series*
Word of Wonder:
For to us a child is born, to us a son is given.
—Isaiah 9:6
The volunteer schedule, including adults and youth volunteers, is available below.
