Our text from Romans assures us that the Holy Scriptures bring us encouragement and hope. All our hymns we are singing today affirm the encouragement and hope we receive by being “People of One Book.” I read the daily devotional for March 14 in Kenneth W. Osbeck’s devotional guide AMAZING GRACE: 366 INSPIRING HYMN STORIES FOR DAILY DEVOTIONS, as that devotional centered on our opening hymn “Standing on the Promises.” The Bible contains more than 5,000 promises for God’s people [SOURCE: http://www.jesus-is-savior.com/Basics/gods_promises.htm]. In his devotional on “Standing on the Promises” Kenneth Osbeck says, “Bible scholars have pointed out that the phrase ‘fear not’ appears in the Bible 365 times—a reassuring promise for each day of the year.’” [SOURCE: Kenneth W. Osbeck, Amazing Grace: 366 Inspiring Hymn Stories for Daily Devotions (Grand Rapids: Kregel Publications, 1990), 85.].