What’s your favorite package delivery service story, be it funny, weird, or frustrating?
Hope, Expected
Hopeful expectation can be a good thing, but when hope is about nothing more than outcomes, it becomes brittle. Hope does not have to be a passive waiting; it can be active, living as if what is hoped for is true. Let's explore how hope can shape the ways people act even when the fulfillment of their hopes has not yet (and may not ever have) arrived.
Now that you've answered the Icebreaker, here's another question - this one, about tracking packages.
Have you ever impatiently tracked a package online?
You refresh the page, hoping to see SHIPPED and then hoping for OUT FOR DELIVERY and finally hoping for DELIVERED. You pull up the confirmation email and check again...and again...
That’s how we often think about 'hoping' - that it is a matter of waiting for something we want to arrive. But hoping doesn't have to be something as passive as that. Hope doesn't have to be about refreshing the page until life changes. Hope can shape the way we behave as we wait, turning the waiting into living, and that living can have positive ends.
Everyone who has ever functioned "by faith" has acted without yet seeing the outcome of whatever they hoped for. In the story of the flood, Noah built the ark before the rain ever came. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob passed the promise of God on to their children even though it hadn't come true in their lifetimes. They had hope, but they didn’t wait for certainty. They lived as if the thing they had not seen was in fact coming.
So here’s the challenge: Where in your life are you just tracking hope, waiting for what you want to show up, when God might be inviting you to practice hope instead? That’s what we’re exploring in this Spotlight: Hope, Expected. Not passive waiting, but active trust. Let’s talk about it.
Have you ever impatiently tracked a package online?
You refresh the page, hoping to see SHIPPED and then hoping for OUT FOR DELIVERY and finally hoping for DELIVERED. You pull up the confirmation email and check again...and again...
That’s how we often think about 'hoping' - that it is a matter of waiting for something we want to arrive. But hoping doesn't have to be something as passive as that. Hope doesn't have to be about refreshing the page until life changes. Hope can shape the way we behave as we wait, turning the waiting into living, and that living can have positive ends.
Everyone who has ever functioned "by faith" has acted without yet seeing the outcome of whatever they hoped for. In the story of the flood, Noah built the ark before the rain ever came. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob passed the promise of God on to their children even though it hadn't come true in their lifetimes. They had hope, but they didn’t wait for certainty. They lived as if the thing they had not seen was in fact coming.
So here’s the challenge: Where in your life are you just tracking hope, waiting for what you want to show up, when God might be inviting you to practice hope instead? That’s what we’re exploring in this Spotlight: Hope, Expected. Not passive waiting, but active trust. Let’s talk about it.
Hopefully that makes enough sense to get you started. As you continue into the Worship portion of the Spotlight, pray this prayer together:
Lord,
Lead us to find the value of hope
even when things feel unfulfilled or confusing.
When we feel we have run out of trust,
been too disappointed,
or feel filled with doubt,
keep us from despair
and surround us with those
who will encourage us live as people of hope.
Amen.
Lord,
Lead us to find the value of hope
even when things feel unfulfilled or confusing.
When we feel we have run out of trust,
been too disappointed,
or feel filled with doubt,
keep us from despair
and surround us with those
who will encourage us live as people of hope.
Amen.
Living in hope and acting in expectation of that hope is not the same thing as what is sometimes called "manifesting" an outcome, nor is it the same thing as "earning" it. Explore that, and find comfort in this difference, using the responsive dialogue below. You may, if you'd like, use the video above for background music as you read.
You'll need 3 volunteer readers.
You'll need 3 volunteer readers.
Finding the Light of Hope
Reader 1:
Listen to the words of the prophet Jeremiah:
Hear and pay attention, do not be arrogant, for the Lord has spoken.
Give glory to the Lord your God before he brings the darkness,
before your feet stumble on the darkening hills.
You hope for light, but he will turn it to utter darkness
and change it to deep gloom.
If you do not listen, I will weep in secret because of your pride;
my eyes will weep bitterly, overflowing with tears,
because the Lord’s flock will be taken captive.”
(Jeremiah 13:15–17 NIV)
Response (All):
Lord, we hear your warning.
Teach us to walk in your light.
Reader 1:
Jeremiah speaks to a people who hoped for light but refused to act as if God’s light was real. They needed outcomes and misunderstood obedience. We do this too by waiting for certainty before we risk action. We hope for light but hesitate to strike the match.
Response (All):
Lord, forgive our hesitation.
Help us trust your presence more than our plans.
Reader 1:
“Hope is not the conviction that something will turn out well,
but the certainty that something makes sense, regardless of how it turns out.”
—Vaclav Havel, Author and former President of the Czech Republic
Sit with that for a moment.
Hope is not about guaranteed outcomes,
it’s about living as if the hoped-for-thing makes sense even when results are unclear.
Response (All):
Lord, teach us to trust and act,
even when the path is dark.
(Pause 30 seconds for reflection.)
Reader 2:
Close your eyes.
Picture a dark hill at dusk.
You’re holding a lantern, but you hesitate to light it
because you think the sun may rise soon.
You hope for light, but you do nothing.
What does that hesitation feel like?
Now imagine striking the match.
The lantern glows.
Unlike sunrise, it doesn’t change the whole landscape -
but it changes your next step.
That’s what hope, practiced, can feel like.
Response (All):
Lord, give us courage to light the lantern of faith today.
Reader 2:
A farmer stood at the edge of his field, waiting for rain.
He prayed for rain every day - but never planted a seed.
He said, ‘Why waste the seed if the rain might not come?’
His neighbor planted anyway.
When the rain came, only one field was ready.
Hope without action is like seed in a sack.
It never grows.
Response (All):
Lord, teach us to plant even when skies are gray.
Leader 2:
We have waited for certainty before acting in faith.
We have hoped for light but refused to strike the match.
We have trusted in outcomes more than in obedience,
and in control more than in presence.
Response (All):
Lord, take away our fear.
(Pause 30 seconds for reflection.)
Reader 3:
We have delayed love until we felt safe.
We have generosity until we felt secure.
We have postponed forgiveness until we felt sure it would be received.
We have treated obedience as a way to earn blessings
instead of as an act of faith.
Response (All):
Lord, free us from the need for guarantees.
Reader 3:
We have believed hope is a distant, future reward rather than a present calling.
We have waited for heaven instead of living as if heaven is breaking in.
We have forgotten that obedience is not a transaction but a testimony:
a way of saying, ‘We trust you, God, even when the outcome is unknown.’
Response (All):
Lord, teach us to live as if your light is already here.
Reader 3:
Take a moment in silence to name where you’ve been waiting instead of acting;
where you’ve hoped for light but perhaps refused to strike the match.
(Pause 30 seconds for reflection.)
Reader 3:
God of light, transform us.
Response (All):
Give us courage to plant seeds even when skies are gray,
to light lanterns even when hills are dark,
and to trust that your kingdom is near,
not because we’ve earned it,
but because you are faithful.
Amen.
Listen to the words of the prophet Jeremiah:
Hear and pay attention, do not be arrogant, for the Lord has spoken.
Give glory to the Lord your God before he brings the darkness,
before your feet stumble on the darkening hills.
You hope for light, but he will turn it to utter darkness
and change it to deep gloom.
If you do not listen, I will weep in secret because of your pride;
my eyes will weep bitterly, overflowing with tears,
because the Lord’s flock will be taken captive.”
(Jeremiah 13:15–17 NIV)
Response (All):
Lord, we hear your warning.
Teach us to walk in your light.
Reader 1:
Jeremiah speaks to a people who hoped for light but refused to act as if God’s light was real. They needed outcomes and misunderstood obedience. We do this too by waiting for certainty before we risk action. We hope for light but hesitate to strike the match.
Response (All):
Lord, forgive our hesitation.
Help us trust your presence more than our plans.
Reader 1:
“Hope is not the conviction that something will turn out well,
but the certainty that something makes sense, regardless of how it turns out.”
—Vaclav Havel, Author and former President of the Czech Republic
Sit with that for a moment.
Hope is not about guaranteed outcomes,
it’s about living as if the hoped-for-thing makes sense even when results are unclear.
Response (All):
Lord, teach us to trust and act,
even when the path is dark.
(Pause 30 seconds for reflection.)
Reader 2:
Close your eyes.
Picture a dark hill at dusk.
You’re holding a lantern, but you hesitate to light it
because you think the sun may rise soon.
You hope for light, but you do nothing.
What does that hesitation feel like?
Now imagine striking the match.
The lantern glows.
Unlike sunrise, it doesn’t change the whole landscape -
but it changes your next step.
That’s what hope, practiced, can feel like.
Response (All):
Lord, give us courage to light the lantern of faith today.
Reader 2:
A farmer stood at the edge of his field, waiting for rain.
He prayed for rain every day - but never planted a seed.
He said, ‘Why waste the seed if the rain might not come?’
His neighbor planted anyway.
When the rain came, only one field was ready.
Hope without action is like seed in a sack.
It never grows.
Response (All):
Lord, teach us to plant even when skies are gray.
Leader 2:
We have waited for certainty before acting in faith.
We have hoped for light but refused to strike the match.
We have trusted in outcomes more than in obedience,
and in control more than in presence.
Response (All):
Lord, take away our fear.
(Pause 30 seconds for reflection.)
Reader 3:
We have delayed love until we felt safe.
We have generosity until we felt secure.
We have postponed forgiveness until we felt sure it would be received.
We have treated obedience as a way to earn blessings
instead of as an act of faith.
Response (All):
Lord, free us from the need for guarantees.
Reader 3:
We have believed hope is a distant, future reward rather than a present calling.
We have waited for heaven instead of living as if heaven is breaking in.
We have forgotten that obedience is not a transaction but a testimony:
a way of saying, ‘We trust you, God, even when the outcome is unknown.’
Response (All):
Lord, teach us to live as if your light is already here.
Reader 3:
Take a moment in silence to name where you’ve been waiting instead of acting;
where you’ve hoped for light but perhaps refused to strike the match.
(Pause 30 seconds for reflection.)
Reader 3:
God of light, transform us.
Response (All):
Give us courage to plant seeds even when skies are gray,
to light lanterns even when hills are dark,
and to trust that your kingdom is near,
not because we’ve earned it,
but because you are faithful.
Amen.
Gifts for University Avenue
Illume is hoping to provide 10 gifts for unhoused friends in the University District through the work of the Streetlight Initiative. These gifts are one way to communicate communal hope, letting people you've never met know that they matter to you.
Pray about This Together
Prayer for Communal Expectation
God of hope, you call us into community, not isolation. You remind us that hope is strongest when shared. When we grow weary, you give us one another to strengthen faith.
Thank you for the gift of one another.
When the path is dark and outcomes are unclear, remind us that obedience is not a way to earn your favor but a way to trust your heart. Teach us to act in faith, even when we cannot see the end.
Help us trust you more than our plans.
Forgive us for the times we have tried to carry hope alone.
Forgive us for isolating ourselves when you designed us for interdependence.
All:
Draw us back into your family of faith.
Thank you for the cloud of witnesses who lived by faith - Noah, Abraham, Sarah, Moses, Rahab - none of them saw the promise fulfilled, yet they acted and found themselves in good company. Make us companions in that same faith today.
Give us courage to walk together in hope.
When one of us falters, let another lift them up.
When one of us doubts, let another speak courage.
When one of us rejoices, let all rejoice together.
Teach us to carry each other’s burdens and share each other’s joy.
We remember Jesus, “the pioneer and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God” (Hebrews 12:2).
He lived from hope, and because of him, we can too.
We see from Jesus that hope grows when it is given away. So send us out as encouragers, burden-bearers, and light-bringers in a world that feels dark. Make us instruments of your hope and peace.
May the God of hope fill us with all joy and peace as we act in trust, so that we may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Thank you for the gift of one another.
When the path is dark and outcomes are unclear, remind us that obedience is not a way to earn your favor but a way to trust your heart. Teach us to act in faith, even when we cannot see the end.
Help us trust you more than our plans.
Forgive us for the times we have tried to carry hope alone.
Forgive us for isolating ourselves when you designed us for interdependence.
All:
Draw us back into your family of faith.
Thank you for the cloud of witnesses who lived by faith - Noah, Abraham, Sarah, Moses, Rahab - none of them saw the promise fulfilled, yet they acted and found themselves in good company. Make us companions in that same faith today.
Give us courage to walk together in hope.
When one of us falters, let another lift them up.
When one of us doubts, let another speak courage.
When one of us rejoices, let all rejoice together.
Teach us to carry each other’s burdens and share each other’s joy.
We remember Jesus, “the pioneer and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God” (Hebrews 12:2).
He lived from hope, and because of him, we can too.
We see from Jesus that hope grows when it is given away. So send us out as encouragers, burden-bearers, and light-bringers in a world that feels dark. Make us instruments of your hope and peace.
May the God of hope fill us with all joy and peace as we act in trust, so that we may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Close this Spotlight with the song "May You Find a Light."
Posted in Hope in a Certain Light
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