Red Sox Are Giving Hope

The Red Sox are doing it again. They’re giving me hope.
I’m not sure how closely you follow baseball, but the Red Sox started this season with one of the worst records in baseball. It was so bad they fired their longtime manager, Alex Cora. And just my luck, for the first time in my New England life, I decided to bite the bullet and pay for NESN so the family could enjoy some baseball. Instead, we went to bed devastated night after night from loss upon loss.
Then something changed.
I’m not sure if it was the arrival of the Tartan Army or a pep talk from Big Papi, but they turned it around. As I’m writing this, they’ve won 14 straight games and are chasing a franchise record of 15. At their lowest point, their playoff chances were in the single digits. Now they’re sitting around a 65% chance to make the postseason!
It’s finally fun to watch Boston baseball again! And thanks to The 99 Restaurant, the Red Sox have once again become the leading cause of childhood obesity (If you don’t know, kids eat free at The 99 every time the Sox win).
As much fun as this run has been, the Red Sox can’t give lasting hope. In fact, they’re almost guaranteed to disappoint me eventually. But it’s not just baseball. We often put our hope in things that were never meant to carry it: money, success, power, control, relationships, even our own plans. They all promise more than they can deliver.
Tomorrow, we begin a new series in the book of 1 Thessalonians. Paul wrote this letter to a church facing real hardship, yet they were filled with a hope that couldn’t be shaken. Their confidence wasn’t built on circumstances getting better. It was anchored in Jesus Christ.
If you could use that kind of hope, I’d love for you to join us as we begin our journey through 1 Thessalonians.