Today, what are you hoping for? In 1^st century Rome, the apostle Paul had something to say about hope to God’s people. Remember, they didn't live in a representative democracy like that in the United States and other countries around the world, they lived under Roman domination with the enforced Caesar cult. Paul wrote to them about hope, but what were they hoping for? Let's consider that question as we listen to today's passage:

Now that we have been put right with God through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. He has brought us by faith into this experience of God's grace, in which we now live. And so we boast of the hope we have of sharing God's glory! We also boast of our troubles, because we know that trouble produces endurance, endurance brings God's approval, and his approval creates hope. This hope does not disappoint us, for God has poured out his love into our hearts by means of the Holy Spirit, who is God's gift to us. (Romans 5:1-5)

What a passage! Paul tells us that we’ve been "put right with God through faith" and have "peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." I like that, don't you? Following that, he begins to write about hope, saying, "And so we boast of the hope we have of sharing God's glory!" So far so good, right? But then he tells us the process that creates hope: "We also boast of our troubles, because we know that trouble produces endurance, endurance brings God's approval, and his approval creates hope." Simply stated, Paul says that trouble produces endurance which brings God's approval and creates hope in us. Many Christians today might find this process disappointing. They don't want a gospel that says trouble is good for us; they want a trouble-free gospel...but that's not really the gospel at all. Instead, Paul said that real hope emerges from trouble. In verse 5 he concludes, "This hope does not disappoint us, for God has poured out his love into our hearts by means of the Holy Spirit, who is God's gift to us." Wow. Even though the congregation at Rome lived under the rule of the Caesar cult, those Christians had hope; in fact, they were boasting about it! It wasn't hope for better government or a better economy; it was the expectant, joyful hope that Jesus would always make good on His promises. How about you? Are you experiencing trouble today? And because of that trouble, do you feel hopeless? Let me encourage you. Allow your trouble to be productive. Thank God for His peace. Thank Him for His mercy and love. Thank Him for His promise of eternal life, and for welcoming you into His family. God will continue to pour out His love for you now and into eternity...and that is very God News!