August 18, 2024
FULL OF FAITH AND HOPE
MACK WILBERG AND RYAN MURPHY
Conductors
RICHARD ELLIOTT
Organist
DERRICK PORTER
The Spoken Word
ANTIPHON
from Five Mystical Songs
Music: Ralph Vaughan Wiliams
Lyrics: George Herbert
Arrangement: Mack Wilberg
WE THANK THEE, LORD, FOR THIS NEW DAY
Music: Mack Wilberg
Lyrics: David Warner
ARISE, O GOD, AND SHINE
Music: John Darwell
Lyrics: William Hurn
Arrangement: Mack Wilberg
IMPROVISATION ON HYMN TO JOY
(ORGAN SOLO)
Music: Ludwig van Beethoven
Arrangement: Richard Elliott
PILGRIM SONG
Music and Lyrics: American Folk Hymn
Arrangement: Ryan Murphy
MUSIC EVERYWHERE
Music: Ryan Murphy
Lyrics: S.W. Foster
Arrangement: Ryan Murphy
THE SPOKEN WORD
“Full of Faith and Hope”
LOVE DIVINE, ALL LOVES EXCELLING
Music: Rowland H. Prichard
Lyrics: Charles Wesley
Arrangement: Mack Wilberg
FULL OF FAITH AND HOPE
The Spoken Word, August 18, 2024 Written By: Lloyd Newell
Delivered By: Derrick Porter
Thousands of years ago, the psalmist wrote these comforting words: “Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning” (Psalm 30:5). That message of faith and hope is just as needed today, because nights of weeping haven’t gone away. Every time darkness descends in our lives, we can’t help but wonder if the light will ever return. But it always does come, and with it the chance for improvement and renewal.
We don’t have to see the light to believe it is there. That’s what faith is—to hope for things that are not seen but that are true.1Our hope and faith, if they are to have any depth or meaning, must rest on something greater than ourselves. To produce renewal and rescue from the heartaches of life, faith and hope need to be centered in Jesus Christ.
One night, a young mother was up late, worrying about a situation involving her children. She needed to make a decision and wasn’t sure what to do. So she called her older and wiser friend for some advice. The friend listened and told her: “Say a prayer before you go to bed. Wait until the morning to make the decision. Everything seems better in the morning.” And it did. The next morning, the young mother was able to think more clearly and feel more peace about what to do. Her faith and hope in the Lord gave her the peace to be still and then the courage to act.
Faith and hope are, after all, principles of action and power. Faith doesn’t mean just thinking about how much you believe in God. And hope doesn’t mean just wishing He’ll intervene. Sometimes faith and hope require waiting patiently on the Lord, but more often they require following Him courageously.
Faith is what empowers us to walk in the Lord’s ways with confidence that He will guide us. And hope is what inspires us to keep going, even when the way is dark, with unshakable trust that the light will come. Along the way, we find that the faith and hope that started us on our journey grow as we continue to move forward. Perhaps this is why we call Jesus Christ both the Author and the Finisher of our faith and hope.2
References
1. See Hebrews 11:1; Alma 32:21.
2. See Hebrews 12:2.