Are you looking for genuine hope?

That's what I entitled today's encouragement from our daily bread.

I'm Bill Crowder.

In the early 1960s, the U.S. was filled with anticipation of a bright future.

Youthful President John F. Kennedy had introduced the new frontier, the Peace Corps,

and the task of reaching the moon.

A thriving economy caused many people to expect the future to simply let the good times roll.

Then the war in Vietnam escalated.

National unrest unfolded. Kennedy was assassinated,

and the accepted norms of that previously optimistic society were dismantled.

Optimism simply wasn't enough, and in its wake, disillusionment prevailed.

Then in 1967, theologian Jurgen Maltman's A Theology of Hope pointed to a clearer vision.

This path wasn't the way of optimism, but the way of hope. The two aren't the same thing.

Maltman affirmed that optimism is based on the circumstances of the moment, but hope is rooted in God's faithfulness,

regardless of our situation.

What's the source of this hope?

In 1 Peter chapter 1, Peter wrote,

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

In His great mercy, he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ. In his great mercy, he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection

of Jesus Christ from the dead. Our faithful God has conquered death through his son, Jesus. The reality

of this greatest of all victories lifts us beyond mere optimism to a strong, robust hope every day and in every circumstance.

Today's scripture reading is from 1 Peter chapter 1, verse 3 through 9.

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