I leant upon a coppice gate
when frost was spectre grey
and winter’s dregs made desolate
the weakening eye of day
the tangled bine-stems scored the sky
like strings of broken lyres,
and all mankind that haunted nigh
had sought their household fires.
The land’s sharp features seemed to be
the Century’s corpse outleant
his crypt the cloudy canopy,
the wind his death lament.
The ancient pulse of germ and birth
was shrunken hard and dry
and every spirit upon earth
seemed fervourless as I.

At once a voice arose among
the bleak twigs overhead
in full hearted evensong
of joy illimited;
an aged thrush, frail, gaunt and small,
in blast be ruffled plume
had chosen thus to fling his soul 
upon the growing gloom.

So little cause for carolings
Of such ecstatic sound
was written on terrestrial things
afar or near around,
that I could think there trembled through
his happy good night air
some blessed Hope whereof he knew
and I was unaware.

So wrote Thomas Hardy at the end of the nineteenth century
a man grasping after hope in a bleak landscape
Walking home during the dusk on the last day of 1999
I had an experience a bit like Hardy’s,
a bleak midwinter afternoon, trees etched against the sky
and yet birds singing some evening chorus.

But you can only have reason for hope in such a scene
when you have confidence in something more substantial
than bird song.
The cynic will write that off as a process of nature
and shut himself into unrelenting despair
and despair is a covert form of atheism
It is based on the assumption that there is no way out, 
no prospect of a better future, no loving God who cares for us.
One paradox of this new century comes in a survey:
it found that young people by a large majority felt it is a good time to live
yet as many as a quarter said they would entertain thoughts of suicide.

What is wrong?
Now that the fireworks are a fading memory
and the party ribbons are swept up with the cans,
many may well feel an emptiness
Money material things are not everything
we need a stronger hope to live for
something to look forward to, or someone to welcome us at the end.
That is what Paul reminds us of in Romans 15 on p 1141
He is making his plea for people from Jewish and Gentile backgrounds
to accept each other in Christian fellowship
and he quotes from Isaiah in v 12
to show that in the Jewish scriptures the non Jews are given a welcome
The Root of Jesse will spring up
one who will arise to rule over the nations;
the Gentiles will hope in him
and then he goes on to give this beautiful blessing 
which could well be a millennium motto
13 'May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace 
as you trust in him 
so that you may overflow with hope 
by the power of the Holy Spirit

This hope comes to us in three main ways

1.  SCRIPTURE
vv 3- 4 Paul affirms what he says about Christ not pleasing himself
with a quotation from the Bible
for everything that was written in the past was written to teach us
so that through patience and encouragement of the scriptures
we might prove that we are right and others wrong? No
prove the exact date of Christ’s second coming? No
have hope? Yes!
Note that endurance and encouragement is linked to the Scriptures in 4
and to God in 5 the God who gives endurance and encouragement …
One small but important
example of how God speaks through what the Bible says.
Which is why in our services before we have a Bible reading,
we don’t just say, ‘we’ll have a bible reading’
as if we were only going to hear some interesting bits of human opinion which we can accept or reject according to our choice
we say ‘Let us hear the word of God’
which, however difficult to understand in places,
is not given to reflect human ideas but to help us hear God.
Do you read the Bible every day?
Why not start this New Year?
Why not ask me to recommend bible reading notes
or go get them yourselves from a Christian Bookshop.
Why not when I visit ask me about the bits you don’t understand
or the bits that challenge you, that’s what ministers are for.
Presbyterians should be bible people
Every new communicant is given a Bible to encourage them
in one of their vows to be faithful in bible reading and prayer
Take a short section each day, start with something manageable
don’t expect to read large bits in one go
no more than when we light a fire
do we start with big bits of wood and coal
but the smaller pieces light much more easily.
Start with small sections
and then see how God’s word begins to glow in your hearts and minds.
And gives you a real hope

2.  SPIRIT
v 13 says that God will fill us with all joy and peace as you trust in him 
so that we overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit
reading the Bible needs the Holy Spirit so that we hear God speak
singing hymns needs the Holy Spirit so that we actually praise God
coming to the Lord’s Table needs the Holy Spirit so that we actually
have communion with Jesus Christ
going to church needs the Holy Spirit 
so that we are a loving, accepting fellowship
Having joy and peace 
does not really come from a good Christmas celebration
but from trusting in the God of hope to give us his Holy Spirit
whatever time of year it is, even in the ‘January/February blues’

3.  SAVIOUR
we are privileged to do something this morning which they first started
about 1967 years ago
and will go on long after 2000 for as long as the Lord’s return is delayed.
celebrating the Lord’s Supper
visible touchable tasteable reminders of Christ
as Saviour to all who believe.
Christians of shapes sorts and sizes
in all sorts of situations of blessing or trouble
have gathered to celebrate one great hope
that Jesus Christ died for us and is risen
and will meet us in the feast of heaven

Have you that living expectant hope today?
One way to test that is to ask how you react to the idea of meeting God.
Is it with joy, even despite all the imperfections of your life,
because you have put your faith in him as your only saviour
or would it be with a shrinking guilty fear
because you are still trusting in yourself
but you are not good enough?

People need hope if they are to cope with the new century
They will not find it really in the singing of a bird
but in the scriptures which describe that hope
in the Holy Spirit which makes that hope live and overflow
and in the Saviour who is our only hope.
Trust in him, receive the bread and wine as an expression of your trust
and rejoice in the hope that one day there will be no bread and wine
but Jesus Christ himself 
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him
so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.



Ten Commitments for 2000
We will make you welcome.
We will be family friendly.
We will make sure you can hear clearly.
We will be practical and relevant.
We will help you explore answers to your deepest questions.
We will offer you time to stop and think in a busy life.
We will help you make sense of the Bible and who Jesus is.
We will make sure your visit will be helpful and challenging.
We will help you to discover for yourself
God’s love, acceptance and forgiveness.

We will offer you the chance to make a new start.
Lord make us and all the churches of Christ
such communities of welcome to all ages
practical in our love and care
faithful to your Word and sensitive to your Spirit
modelling the good news of forgiveness and new life