ADVENT, the four weeks leading up to Christmas, is the season of the year when Christians celebrate ‘hope’.

I’m guessing that you might agree with me that, as 2009 draws to a close, we could all do with some of that. What with the banking crisis, unemployment, house repossessions, MP’s expenses and no end to the war in Afghanistan, it may seem that there’s not a lot to be hopeful about.

Of course, some people are naturally more hopeful that others. But whoever we are, we all use the words ‘hope’ and ‘hopeless’ a great deal.

“The situation’s quite hopeless. I don’t know which way to turn.”

“Our finances are in a hopeless mess.”

“Well, I well hope so”.

“I hope your day goes well. I hope your interview goes ok.”

Whether you are a natural optimist or pessimist, whether you have religious faith or not, the Advent season is when Christians celebrate the coming of Jesus into our human condition.

Jesus - God in human form - came to bring genuine hope to a world that was hopeless. A society that was occupied by foreign troops, riddled with injustice, poverty, disease and racial hatred.

Jesus did not solve all the social ills of his time, but he did enable people to discover a purpose for life and a power to live by which is beyond our natural optimism or pessimism.

This is not a ‘whistling in the wind’ hope. This is a hope founded in God who made us and goes on remaking us as we put our trust in him.

Whoever you are, wherever you are, I wish you genuine hope this Advent and Christmas Season.

And, if you want to discover this purpose and power to live by, for yourself, why not got to a Carol Service near you over this next week and discover the meaning behind the carols we sing each Christmas.