A Community of Hope

Community.

When you hear the word 'community,' what comes to mind? Maybe your neighborhood, your group of friends, or the people you do life with. At GraceLife, when we talk about community as a core value, we’re referring to the fellowship of believers that God has placed us into—the church, specifically, your church.

One of the passages that I have used to teach on community is Romans 15:13. This may not be the first passage that comes to mind when teaching on community, but it beautifully illustrates God’s design for it.

Paul writes…

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.

Romans 15:13

This passage is a benediction, a prayerful blessing, that is infused with gospel promises. It is a promise of grace for the undeserving. The vision that Paul elucidates with this blessing is that you and I can live full of joy and peace in believing, abounding in hope, empowered by the Holy Spirit. But that’s not all that’s going on here.

This benediction is not for the individual alone, but for the community of saints.

How do I know this passage is for the community of saints and not just for me, individually? Well, in a way it is for both. Yes, it is for you the individual, but it’s you, together with the saints. This word translated as “you,” is actually plural. So, the correct and the Southern way of saying this verse would be…

May the God of hope fill all y’all with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit all y’all may abound in hope.

(A Louisianan English Standard Paraphrase…)

God’s promise of hope, joy, and peace isn’t dependent on our circumstances—whether times are good, the “right leaders” are in place, or the nation is seeking God. That kind of thinking belongs to the Old Covenant. But under the New Covenant, this promise is rooted in God himself, not in our efforts.

It is the gospel of grace that fuels this hope, joy, and peace in the community—together.

The gospel is the good news of the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus for undeserving people. It is the good news of forgiveness and new birth brought to us by the endless power of the Holy Spirit. It is received with the empty hands of faith.

Because God is the God of hope, we can be a community of hope. So, let’s live in that reality—believing the good news, encouraging and loving one another, and trusting the Spirit to give us all we need.