On Sunday, November 30, I had the privilege of reciting Colossians 1:24–27 (CSB) before the sermon at City Life Church. This moment marked the first Sunday of Advent, a season that invites reflection on the mystery of Christ’s coming—not only into the world, but into the human heart. Standing before the gathered church, I spoke words that continue to shape how I understand suffering, redemption, and hope.
The sermon was preached by Craig Daniel, an elder at City Life and a dear friend. I was grateful for the opportunity to help Craig prepare the sermon in the weeks leading up to Advent. Our conversations centered on Paul’s profound declaration: “Christ in you, the hope of glory.” It is a phrase both simple and inexhaustible—one that refuses abstraction and insists on incarnation.
For me, Scripture memorization has been one of the primary ways that truth has moved from the page into lived reality. Reciting this passage aloud, in the context of Advent, felt like a quiet testimony to God’s faithfulness over time. The hope of glory is not postponed to some distant future; it is present, active, and personal. Christ in you. Christ in me. That is the mystery—and the hope—we live from.