Hello to all of our wonderful BBT family.  It’s been a tough week for our church, but I look forward to seeing you tomorrow.  When I spoke to you last Mike was still with us but we knew it wouldn’t be long.  I wanted to deliver a message of encouragement, but it seemed that the Lord wanted me to stay with the one He gave me before we learned how close he was to going Home.  Despite the heavy topic I pray that God did use it to encourage and help you.  This time I get to do something more like what I wanted to do before.

What comes to mind when you think about hope?  We tend to use the word rather lightly.  Several times even in the writing of this message I started to use it that way; more like “I wish” than in its deeper significance.  When we see hope in the Bible, it has a much greater significance than a mere wish.  In fact, the whole book is a message of hope.  So, what does it mean?  Why is it significant?  How do we find it?  Let’s start in Romans 5:1-6 and see where it leads.