Did you ever consider that when we respond to others, we are responding to Christ? Dietrich Bonhoeffer said it well in his book, The Cost of Discipleship: “The bearers of Jesus’ word receive a final word of promise for their work. They are now Christ’s fellow...
This Week at Hope
Put Off . . . Put On
The Apostle Paul calls us “to put off [our] old self, which belongs to [our] former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires (Ephesians 4:22) . . . and then he counsels us “to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness...
Grace Alone
The Apostle Paul declared in Ephesians 2:8, “For by GRACE you have been saved.” This means that we did NOTHING to earn or deserve our salvation. A more literal rendering of this phrase “for by grace” is “by the grace”. “For” is a term of explanation, which always...
Memories
I pride myself on having a good memory of dates and numbers. I can tell you the dates of all of my family’s birthdays and anniversaries. I can remember the dates members of my family have died, and many other significant dates. Memories are important. What are...
Following the Light
Did you ever wonder why people reject Jesus? The foundational reason people reject Jesus is that they are in spiritual darkness. As Jesus is in conversation with Nicodemus, as recorded in John’s gospel, he declares in John 3:19, “And this is the judgment: the light...
What Really Matters?
We begin a new series this week on 1 John. John, the apostle, devoted his life to telling others about God’s love. He did that for 40 to 60 years. Finally, at age 65 or 75 years old, John wrote to a group of people that mattered deeply to him. In this little...
We Need One Another
It has been said that the church is like a family. I’ve always wondered about this because some of the families I know don’t function all that well. We read in Acts 2:42, “They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship . . .” The Greek word...
Stand Up for Jesus!
Christians all around the world are being threatened or persecuted for their faith. We are beginning to see Christians being marginalized for their faith even in our own country – some are being called intolerant, while others are being labeled as hate-mongers! At...
Ignoring God
In 2 Kings 5, we meet Naaman a commander of the army of Aram. He was a good commander and was held in favor because of the victory that God brought him. The King of Israel had a problem. He was already having border troubles with neighboring states when Naaman, one...
Stir Up One Another
The writer to the Hebrews stated, “And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works” (Hebrews 10:24). This command is packed into one word: “Consider”. As Christians we need to consider not just ourselves, but one another. The term “consider”...