2009-01-05T12:11:41-05:00 GCI info@gospel.com http://www.gospel.com/feeds/topics/hope http://hutchcraft.com/A-Life-That-Matters/Radio-Program/A-No-Fear-Christmas-8165 2009-01-05T12:11:41-05:00 ...even with a falling messenger, that’s still an important message of Christmas. The Bible says, “The angel said to them, ‘Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy…a Savior has been born to you’” (Luke 2:10-11). Notice, “Do not be afraid.” That message seems especially important this Christmas. A lot of our personal finances are full of fear right now. http://hutchcraft.com/A-Life-That-Matters/Radio-Program/Lonely-Christmas-Lights-8164 2009-01-05T12:10:30-05:00 ...when I see that island of light in a sea of night, I realize the darker the darkness is, the more the light shows up. That’s a good reminder of maybe why you are where you are: the place where you work, your school, your social group, or where you recreate, maybe even your family. It could be that Jesus has asked you to represent Him in a place that’s really dark–except for you. http://hutchcraft.com/A-Life-That-Matters/Radio-Program/Broken-At-Christmas-8162 2009-01-05T12:07:15-05:00 ...may be that’s a feeling someone listening today knows all too well. Here we are in the season when everybody’s all “joy to the world” and you’re dealing with the pain of a broken relationship, or a broken dream, or a broken heart. http://hutchcraft.com/A-Life-That-Matters/Radio-Program/A-Sunrise-Sunset-Savior-8146 2008-11-25T11:35:40-05:00 During praise and worship, we were led in singing that great old hymn, “It Is Well with My Soul”. The verses talk about “when sorrows like sea billows roll…whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say, ‘it is well with my soul.’” I glanced over at that precious lady with Alzheimer’s who had appeared pretty unresponsive most of the weekend. Her lips were moving. She was mouthing those words! ”It is well, it is well with my soul.” It was hard for me to sing after that. Then she mouthed the words to the next song, ”My Jesus, I love Thee, I know Thou art mine…If ever I loved Thee, my Jesus, ‘tis now”. What a testimony to the kind of Savior we have. He’s our sunrise Savior, early in our life. He’s our sunset Savior when the darkness is closing in, and through every hour in between. http://hutchcraft.com/Life-Issues/Loneliness/My-Father-Is-Missing 2008-11-20T13:16:56-05:00 Do you have a hole in your heart that you long for your father to fill? Maybe you haven't had a real relationship with your father, and you wish you could be close to him. http://hutchcraft.com/Life-Issues/Loneliness/No-One-to-Welcome 2008-11-20T13:16:29-05:00 It's a pretty sad feeling when you prepare a big welcome and the one you did it for never comes. You've gone through so much to make it perfect just for them. ... Jesus knows that feeling. He's prepared a welcome home, an expensive welcome, for some people who have never come. http://hutchcraft.com/Life-Issues/Loneliness/In-Search-of-the-Anchor 2008-11-20T13:15:41-05:00 People everywhere are searching for something to fill a void in their lives. They are searching for something to count on that will provide an anchor in an increasingly uncertain and unpredictable world. ... An author named Faith Popcorn writes, "The search for life's anchor is a must for filling the void that so many are feeling. We're looking for ourselves, our lost souls. A relationship with the Divine may be the ultimate expression of anchoring." http://hutchcraft.com/Life-Issues/Loneliness/Bridges-to-Nowhere 2008-11-20T13:14:37-05:00 In our age of pluralism, tolerance, and eclectic spirituality, those are pretty loaded words about Jesus. We must be saved by His Name. We have the Protestant bridge to God—with good works that are supposed to take us to God—, the Catholic bridge—with good Catholic things to do—, the Jewish bridge, the Muslim bridge, the Buddhist bridge, the Hindu Bridge, and the bridge of New Age Spirituality. Our human nature wants to believe that all those bridges end up the same place with God. http://hutchcraft.com/Life-Issues/Hope/Believing-in-Spring 2008-11-20T13:02:25-05:00 Hope is hard to come by during the "winter" seasons of your life, like the loss of someone you love. Sometimes someone close to you dies suddenly, and the grief is almost unbearable. You are overwhelmed. ... You are able to talk about the hope factor when your life is anchored to a personal relationship with the one who created you. You can know that death cannot ultimately win. Death is reduced to being a painful interruption. It can be very painful, but only an interruption. http://hutchcraft.com/Life-Issues/Hope/One-Unloseable-Hope 2008-11-20T13:01:32-05:00 It's hard to think of a more devastating feeling than losing what you had put all your hope in. It's a feeling you may know if you've lost your health, the love of your life, your job, an anchor person in your life, the thing you've invested so much in, or the person that's been the glue sort of holding your life together. Many have been told by their marriage partner of decades, "I don't love you anymore" and are left to feel crushed inside.