Jim Cymbala, pastor of the Brooklyn Tabernacle, states that Christianity is only as strong as the local church and that God wants to bless our churches in ways we can’t possibly imagine. It doesn’t matter whether a church is alive and growing or barely surviving on...
This Week at Hope
Better Together
The church is made up of individual, local gatherings. The early disciples went out and established the church of Jesus Christ. We have frequent references through the New Testament to the various local gatherings of believers, such as the church at Jerusalem, the...
Ambassadors of Jesus Christ
We read in the first two verses of 1 Timothy, “Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by command of God our Savior and of Christ Jesus our hope.” This verse shows us that God saves us AND calls us to serve. The word apostle reminds us that Paul was one who was sent out. ...
The Glory of God
How have you experienced God’s GLORY in your life? Certainly, creation testifies to the GLORYof God. Think about the first time you were told that there were no two snowflakes exactly the same. There are so many miracles of nature. Like so many of you I like vast...
Love . . . Our Standard of Living
There are many different ideas in our culture about the meaning of love. Love comes to have real meaning in John’s Gospel. We read in John 13:34, “I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another.”...
An Apprentice
If someone were to ask you: “Where is your church?” What would your answer be? It’s where it’s always been – at 2910 West Main Street (across from Taco Bell)! But, that’s the wrong answer. Our church is at the NIBCO Plant in Stuarts Draft; our church is at a...
Maximum Christians
While I have been away, I attended a midweek worship service with Kim’s parents on Wednesday. The preacher shared how it is easy to become a “minimum Christian” in lieu of “maximum Christian”. Minimum Christians do as little as possible in their walk with the Lord...
God is God!
Have you ever had someone let you down? They made a promise but didn’t fulfill their promise. The fact is people will let you down sometimes. A vast number of our troubles in this world come from placing our trust in something or someone other than God. When Joseph...
The Significance of Christ’s Death
We read in 1 Peter 3:18, “For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit . . .” In this powerful text, Peter emphasizes a clear and concise...
Palm Sunday
This Sunday is Palm Sunday! It recalls the day Jesus made his triumphal entry into Jerusalem. Did you ever wonder who the people were in the crowd who went out to meet Jesus that day? First, there were those who were curious. They thought of Jesus along much the...