As we begin the season of Advent, the countdown to Christmas, we consider not only the countdown which looks back at the first Christmas and its implications for us, but the future countdown – the Advent to Christ’s return and the promise this holds. It is a season of hope, and nowhere is hope more powerfully realised than in the Person of Jesus Christ. IN this sermon, Leston explores the implications of the eternal hope that finds its source and substance in Christ, empowering and enabling us to meet whatever challenges this life may bring in the knowledge and hope of the life yet to come.