I just read about two Senior Citizens who were out for their usual morning walk. They both had been complaining about the aches and pains of getting older. As they passed the local funeral home one of them turned to the other and said, "Look there's no hope of recovery, we're just getting older. Let's just go in and give ourselves up." (1)

I also read about a For Sale ad in the Roanoke, Illinois, Review which read: "Hope chest: Brand new, half price, long story." (2)

I'd like to know the story behind that one, wouldn't you?

This morning we begin a series of sermons on Hope. Something I think our world needs right now is Hope. Advent is a season of Hope. It reminds us not only of the birth of Christ and the hope we find in that event. But it also reminds us that we live between times, be…