"WALKING with Hope" was the theme of Café Church at Crediton Methodist Church on Sunday, November 5, led by Abigail Hardiman.

Last week we remembered All Saints Day and All Souls Day.

We think of people who have left imprints of love on our lives as we continue to think of saints. Abigail asked us to think what “A saint is …".

There were lots of suggestions – a saint is humble, brave, kind, one who saves the day, compassionate and caring, a good Samaritan, one who shares the love of Christ and treats others as equals.

Abigail quoted a wider definition from the book of Hebrews as a great crowd of witnesses.  In the dramatised reading from Revelation we learned of a multitude, all of whom live with hope and witness before the throne of God.

When planning the service with the worship team, it was decided not to focus on darkness but on light and hope.

All saints seem to have hope in abundance. With hope we motivate ourselves and make a difference to our own and others’ lives.

Hope is being able to see light despite darkness.

Saints must have had hope and we too can have hope despite the ordeals and trials that we face throughout our lives.  Because we are Christians it does not mean that we will not have ordeals to face.

Despite bereavements, ill health, abuse, somehow, we still come to worship for comfort and hope that there is a light that will not be put out.

Abigail asked what else can we learn from the reading? They performed an active role by "washing their robes in the blood of the lamb".

They persevered with hope even in times of darkest suffering by choosing to walk with God.

They had no doubts and trusted in hope that Jesus walked with them. They held on to a tiny spark of the kingdom of light and in love acted with compassion.  There are some dark places in our world today.

The reading also talked about a multitude from every nation and language.

Abigail had been on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land where the guide and driver were of different faiths but worked well together.  This carried the hope for Abigail that there were no barriers in the kingdom of light.

Everyone of us can bring to mind people who are carriers of God’s hope in our lives and we can carry Christian hope into the lives of others.

We have hope in the resurrection and know that Jesus will shelter us  and be the shepherd and guide us. God will wipe away every tear from our eyes.

For our prayers of intercession Abigail invited us to write our own prayers on post-it notes and bring them to the front and, when doing so, to light tea lights which had been laid out to spell the word "hope".

May the God of hope go with us every day, filling all our lives with love and joy and peace.

Bronwyn Nott