Believe is one of those words that we all assume we know what it means but we don’t really ever define it.  People talked a lot about ‘believing’ in the 2025 Bears or the 2016 Cubs.  We ‘believe’ but we also want them to choose good players and train!  Kids ‘believe’ in Santa or that the elf is up to all kinds of shenanigans while we are sleeping, but it actually isn’t real.  Cher sings about believing in love after love – that one bad relationship shouldn’t deter us from all relationships.  So when Jesus says, ‘For God loved the world in this way.  He gave the only Son, that whoever believes in him will not perish but have eternal life,’ what do we think ‘believe’ means?  If we go back to the word in Greek, it is ‘pisteo’.  ‘Pisteo’ is about commitment to, putting trust in and having faith in. Maybe ‘believing’ in the Bears and Cubs is closer to what Jesus is talking about than Santa and the elf, but it is always worthwhile for us to pause when we talk about what we ‘believe’ in, including Jesus. – Pastor Trudy Stoffel