For our 2024 Advent sermon series, we will consider the four blessings traditionally associated with each week of Advent: Hope, Love, Joy, and Peace, and we will do so using the Gospel of John. In this sermon, pastor Mitch reflects on the blessing of hope from John’s gospel, where John declares that “the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” This imagery of light shining in the darkness is the Christmas story; in this verse we find the hope of the believer and the hope for a weary and darkened world. This verse assures us that our hope is not a wish, it’s not a daydream or a pipe dream, it’s not unattainable or unrealistic. Our hope is a confident, expectation that we eagerly await. It’s the hope that the light of God’s glory and grace, which has been revealed to us in Jesus Christ, not only pierces the darkness but conquers it.