A Call to Faithfulness: Isaiah 11:1-12:6 - Living Hope

There was utter devastation, with vast areas of scorched, burnt bushland left behind, following the Australian bushfires in 2019. Then some photographers captured an amazing sight. Vibrant green and pink shoots were seen rising up in the middle of blackened forests! The photographers described the hope they felt – seeing shoots of life in the middle of all the charred mess. And they shared the pictures as widely as they could to give others hope. Parts of the bible, like the one we are looking at today, provided - and still provide - a glimpse of hope like that for people. Isaiah uses the same picture – a fresh, green shoot - when it seemed that God’s promises in and through the house and line of David were finished. So here in these chapters, the Bible gives us hope. Here’s the thing: there’s reality behind the imagery. When Isaiah prophesied, he was declaring the line of God’s ultimate hope for the lost and the hope-starved. He was sharing real, tangible hope with the fearful and the broken. And that hope is for you and your family and your neighbours and friends, too.