"It's over now." Those were my thoughts in the fourth quarter as the score slipped further and further out of the Pacer's favor in Game 7 of this year's NBA finals.

This week, we learn about the Holy Spirit's role in giving us up— Hope which does not put us to shame. Hope which looks like Christ dying for the ungodly. Come on Sunday to see what the Spirit might say to us through this message. Come to the church blog to see a fitting quotation from Lutheran Pastor Sarah Hinlicky Wilson about the implications of this very good Gospel: Christ came not for the good. Not even for the ones who wanted to be good or tried to be good.

"If only I had been there, and seen Jesus and saw what he did myself, then it would be easy to trust him." Maybe you've had a thought like this before. The Gospels may surprise us. Those who saw him, lived with him, followed him in the flesh seem bewildered and struggle with trust and faith as much as any of us living two-thousand years later.