Today we're going to take a look at the fresh hope we have in God's nearness.

God's promise is to be near to us as his people, the great length he's gone to to commune with us and the Holy Spirit has the power to change every moment of our lives.

And one of the most powerful changes his nearness provides is hope and the peace that comes with it.

As we make space for his presence today, I pray that he fills us with a new measure of hope in life in his nearness.

Welcome to the First of Team Podcast. Our verse for today comes from Psalm 33 verse 22.

Scripture says,

Let your steadfast love, O Lord, be upon us,

even as we hope in you.

As sons and daughters of the living God, faith founded on God's

nearness should be at the core of our hope for next year. Psal 1.39, 7 through 12, says,

where shall I go from your spirit,

or where shall I flee from your presence?

If I ascend to heaven, you are there. If I make my bed and shield, you are there. If I take the

wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, Even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me.

If I say, surely the darkness shall cover me, and the light about me be night.

Even the darkness is not dark to you.

The night is bright as the day,

for darkness as is light with you.

There is no greater source of hope than God's resounding declaration of his nearness.

Jesus paid the ultimate price that you and I might no longer be separated from God.

His presence now dwells within us through the Holy Spirit,

and that fact brings a pervasive hope that has the ability to profoundly impact every aspect of our lives.

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