Confident Hope: Faith That Fuels the Harvest

This Sunday at Myrtle House Community Church, Bill Chapman brought a powerful message centred on confident hope—a hope that doesn’t fade with circumstances, but is rooted deeply in who Jesus is and what He has done.

We find ourselves in the season of Eastertide, the 50 days between Easter and Pentecost. It’s a time marked in Scripture by encounter after encounter with the risen Jesus—moments where ordinary people are transformed as He meets them, speaks to them, and stirs something new within them. These encounters didn’t just comfort people—they equipped them to become witnesses.

In John 20, we see this unfold beautifully. Mary Magdalene moves from grief to revelation when Jesus calls her name. The disciples move from fear to peace when Jesus stands among them. Thomas moves from doubt to bold declaration when he encounters the risen Christ. In each moment, Jesus is doing something deeper—He is building confident hopewithin them.

And then comes that powerful line: “Blessed are those who believe without seeing.”

This is the kind of hope we are called to carry—a faith that doesn’t rely on what we can see, but trusts in who God is. It’s a hope that becomes visible to others. When people see something different in us—something steady, something real—it gives them a glimpse of Jesus and invites them to follow Him too.

But we also know that life has a way of trying to rob us of that hope. Pressures, disappointments, and past experiences can cloud our vision and weigh us down. That’s why we must allow Jesus to continually build and restore that hope within us.

We see this clearly in the story of the woman at the well in John 4. Her past, her pain, and her circumstances could have defined her—but Jesus meets her right there. He speaks truth, cuts through her limitations, and reveals who He is. In that moment, confident hope is ignited within her—and it doesn’t just change her life, it transforms her entire community.

That’s the power of confident hope.

It’s not just for us—it’s for others. It’s the fuel for mission, the foundation for faith, and the spark that leads people to Jesus.

Scripture reminds us in Ephesians that God wants to flood our hearts with light so that we can understand the hope we’ve been given. This isn’t a weak or wishful thinking kind of hope—it’s strong, secure, and anchored in eternity.

And from that place, we are called to lift our eyes.

As Jesus says, “Wake up and look around. The fields are ripe for harvest.”

There are people all around us who need hope—real hope. And often, the first glimpse they get of that hope is through us. Through our words, our prayers, our lives.

This is why we do what we do as a church. To see heaven come to earth. To see lives changed. To see people encounter Jesus.

So the encouragement is simple but powerful: hold onto that confident hope. Let Jesus build it in you, strengthen it, and renew it. And then carry it boldly into the world around you.

Because when hope is alive in you, it has the power to awaken hope in others.