When all around can seem like darkness in the church, the nation and the world, there is safety in the arms of Jesus. Marcus Nelson delivered the talk for Hope Cymru 2023 and here are 14 quotes he shared that give a sobering picture of the darkness and despair we see around us, but also the glorious hope that we can know today in Jesus Christ. Watch his whole talk here.

1.

“The old glory that once captivated the hearts and minds of the nation [is] almost spent.”

2.

“Not many of us have the strength to fight a losing battle. But neither do we want to be the ones that turn off the lights on the way out of the building; to close the doors and to admit that the glory has departed.”

3.

“In the many funerals that I have taken, even over these last years since the pandemic, the thing that struck me again and again is that, when all is said and done, how short a space of time is really given to sum up a person’s whole life.”

4.

“[Simeon and Anna] lived in a world of great uncertainty, of crushed hopes and scattered dreams.”

5.

“That day, Simeon carried the one who carried him, and who carries all the world.”

6.

“How could that greatest of human fears, which has overshadowed the hearts and minds of countless millions right across the world, be overcome in just a moment, as Simeon saw and held this little baby?”

7.

“Even the fear of death is destroyed by the sight of Jesus Christ.”

8.

“Salvation — that old word — not a transaction or a deal of some kind, but a person. This person, Jesus Christ, in whom God and man are brought together forever, are made one.”

9.

“There is no night too dark for Him (Jesus) to shine.”

10.

“Have you ever placed yourself in His (Jesus’s) arms? Have you ever taken Him to yourself and asked Him to be your Lord, Saviour and Friend?”

11.

“Jesus is more, even than hope just for us as individuals. He is the the hope of all the churches of Wales. He is the hope of Wales, the hope of the nations, and the hope of the ages.”

12.

“Today in this place where Jesus Christ has been known and loved and worshipped for so long, He is near again. He doesn’t want to leave the building. He doesn’t want the lights to be switched out, but is in a moment able to fill our hearts and lives, all of our churches with His glory and power as never before.”

13.

“The revival which we need does not come by talking about revival, but by talking about Jesus.”

14.

“The vision of Hope Cymru is simply to share that message — that story — the greatest story that the world has ever heard. That men, women, boys and girls from right across this nation, of every background, might come to know Him, to love Him, and trust Him for the very first time.”