Is it true that “everything happens for a reason”? It is true that God integrates both our good experiences and our bad experiences into his plans to bless us? It’s easy to believe that God uses our “highs” to bless us, but does he also use our “lows”? Joseph had extremely high “highs” and low “lows” and the ways God used them to bless him and those around him long ago help us understand how he blesses us today. Join us this Sunday, January 8 at 9am as we ask these important questions and seek the answers God has revealed through a fascinating narrative of betrayal, redemption, and forgiveness.
Sermons by Arik Stewart (Page 2)
When we recognize how extraordinary God is and how ordinary we are by comparison, we may feel that God is too different from us to understand us or too distant from us to be close to us. But when read the Christmas story with a fresh interpretation, we discover that God came to us in many ordinary ways, easing our fears that he is too different or too distant. Instead, he became like us and came close to us.
Last week we studied Paul’s exhortation to the Corinthian church to prioritize loving others by not exercising personal freedoms when love and freedom conflict. This week we will study the reverse: prioritizing loving others by not restraining freedoms when restraint is unnecessary and deters people from receiving the Gospel message. Love restrains freedom for the sake of other Christians but love also frees restraint for the sake of those who aren’t yet Christians. Join us as we seek to better understand this way of living that Christ himself lived.
We’re Christians. We’re people of deep conviction; primarily about the lordship of Christ but also about lesser things, even things that Scripture doesn’t directly address. When we believe that we’re free to do something that another Christian believes is wrong or is tempted by, should we do it? Should we exercise our freedom or restrain it? Though the Corinthian church had different circumstances than ours, they too grappled with this difficult question and Paul, an Apostle of Christ, answered it, for them and for us.
Our community is committed to growing, gathering, giving, and going together. Each of these commitments is crucial for us and our church to thrive, especially giving. Giving honors God and empowers Hope to meet the material and spiritual needs of families within our community and within the communities of those we partner with. It’s biblically supported, practically needed, and deeply fulfilling to invest in Christ’s redemptive mission through his local church. May we all freely give as we’ve freely received!
Let’s be honest, “go therefore and make disciples of all nations” is a big ask. Participating wholeheartedly in Jesus’ Great Commission is a big investment of time, money, and energy. So much so that many who do eventually burn out. However, there are also many who endure for years, decades, even lifetimes co-missioning with Jesus. How do they? What sustains them? God sustains them in his great, big MISSION by sharing with them his great, big VISION. And he can do the same for each of us!
What is God’s vision for his world? What is his ultimate purpose for it, especially for its people? Where does his vision apply and whom does his vision apply to? The Psalmist answers, “let the peoples praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you!”
Jesus demonstrated his kingdom and his kingship in his life, death, and resurrection, so that all who believe that he is king can glorify him and enjoy him both now and forever. Join us on Sunday at 9 a.m. as we consider this compelling invitation to believe.
As we continue learning the biblical origin and present application of Hope Church’s values, our third value is God’s peace. When we receive God’s presence and guidance in every area of our lives, we also receive God’s peace. Jesus told us that God’s peace differs from the world’s peace. How does it? And how can each of us and all of us experience it for the first time or to a greater degree?
Happiness comes and goes as circumstances change but joy transcends all circumstances, and Jesus wants his followers to experience it. He taught us to abide not only to enact God’s redemptive plan for the world and to glorify the Father, but so that we can fully experience His joy. Join us on Sunday at 9 a.m. in person or online as we worship together and learn how we can each experience Christ’s immense joy.