It strikes me that some common phrases in Christianity can lose their impact over time.  Romans 5:3-5 is one.  As you look at your own life, does suffering really produce endurance which produces character which produces hope?  Only in a kind of more hoped for than realised way? Is the hope that comes from times of trial something that just makes you hope for a better day?  Or is it hope that encourages you that your future is sound?  Be honest!  The alternate Psalm for today, Psalm 100, speaks of the joy of entering the house of God to praise and worship.  Why does this matter to where we locate our hope?  So today we’ll take a look at the wider context of the Romans text and examine how it is that its claim really can be true for us in Christ.  ‘In Christ’ is the key.  ‘For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues though out the generations’ (Psalm 100:5).  How do we know? ‘For while we were still sinners, Christ died for us’ (Romans 5:8).