Real HOPE

Colin Buchanan is well known as a Christian children’s entertainer and many churches use his songs for their children’s ministry. But did you know that he also has Christian songs for adults? And full marks if you knew that he is also a Golden Guitar winning country music singer.

For me, one of Colin’s most memorable songs is ‘Real Hope’ – it is off his 2003 album by the same name. In this uncomplicated and acoustic song, he sings of the real hope that we have because of the reality of Jesus and his mission. He sings of a real birth of a real baby, in a real dusty, Judean town. A later verse outlines how Jesus wept real tears, and on a real cross, cried “forgive them” as his  real life drained away.

The final verse is poignant and moves me every time. In it, Colin sings that he has real fears and does real sin; yet the real mercy of  the true God sees the filthy & fallen, purchased and restored (I encourage you to look it up on Spotify or YouTube).

I mention all this because across the whole of the Anglican Church in Australia there is a concerted and combined effort to promote
HOPE25. From Easter in mid-April through to Pentecost, the HOPE25 initiative seeks to empower churches and communities to share the ‘real hope’ that is found only in Jesus. It is my hope that the churches you are part of are participating.

To that end, and to encourage such an effort in BCA-supported ministries, I have released funds for BCA Field Staff to be used to put
on evangelistic events or purchase resources. I look forward to seeing their creativity in sharing the real hope of Jesus during  HOPE25.

Yet there is something we can all do. We can go the distance for BCA Field Staff engaged in the HOPE25 initiative by lifting them up in prayer before our real Father in Heaven.

My own prayer for the people of the bush, not just during HOPE25 but always, is summed up in the chorus of Colin’s song. My prayer is that everyone will “bet all they have on Jesus and throw themselves on Him so that they may through all eternity, marvel at the real hope the Saviour won for them.”.