This Week at Hope
A Profound Mystery
Would you agree that marriage is a complex and mysterious phenomenon? On a profound level, marriage is a mystery. Marriage is a profound…
Our Freedom as Christians
As we celebrate Independence Day tomorrow, I was reminded of the freedom we have as Christians from the law of sin…
God’s Glory
What is the ultimate purpose of our salvation? According to the Apostle Paul, it is “so that in the coming ages…
Staying in the Race
When you’re hurting and frustrated, do you sometimes think about giving up? It is hard to keep going some days, and…
An Astounding Request
Annie Dillard, who won a Pulitzer Prize in literature at age 30, has written explicitly about her Christian faith. As a…
Filled with the Holy Spirit
In Acts 4, Peter and John are confronted by the Sadducees for teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection from…
Contribution vs. Commitment
Recent surveys indicate that there are still a large number of Americans who consider themselves to be Christians, but that a…
God Doesn’t Give Up!
How do you look at life? Do you look at life from your limited perspective or God’s grand perspective? As a…
Rooted
Are you rooted? We read in Colossians 2:6-7, “Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted…
Wait!
I was reminded recently of what my mom used to say when I would ask her something – “We’ll just have…
Living Hope
Is there a hopeless situation you are dealing with today? What are you hoping for today? We all live with some…
God’s Instructions
As we look back at Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem, we read in Matthew 21:1-3 that Jesus “drew near to Jerusalem…
No Compromise
Many people love Jesus, but they also love the sin of the world. You don’t have to teach someone to sin…
Self-sacrificing Service
Jackie Robinson was the first black person to play major league baseball. While breaking baseball’s “color barrier,” he faced jeering crowds…
Gracious Speech
As followers of Jesus Christ, our speech (our conversation) ought to be encouraging and uplifting. Some people we are around may…
A Pillar and Buttress of the Truth
Mary Lefkowitz, a professor emerita of classical studies at Wellesley College, wrote in a New York Times Book Review several years…
Everything is God’s
We read in Job 1:21, “And he said, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken…
Don’t Be Confused
Satan relentlessly promotes confusion about the Gospel! The Apostle Paul warned his young friend Timothy in 2 Timothy 3:13, “evil people…
Do You Want to be Healed?
Have you ever been on the sidelines? When I was in little league, I was very often on the sidelines! I…
The Better Way of Loving
Do you remember who taught you how to tie your shoes? Was it your mother or father, a sibling, or a…
Heaven: A Place God Calls Good
We read in Revelation 21:4, “He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there…
Faithful Prayer
A pastor was asked to call on a woman in a psychiatric hospital and pray for her. After his visit, he…
Oriented Toward Jesus
We read in Acts 4:13, “Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated,…
Filled with the Holy Spirit
In the final chapters of all four gospels, the Apostle Peter denies Jesus not once but THREE times! But in Acts,…
Bringing What We Have
Have you been instructed to do anything recently? God gives us instructions through His Word. And, those instructions always require faith. …
Our First Priority
The prophet Malachi’s first utterance is “I have loved you” (Malachi 1:2). The Hebrew word for love (ahav) describes an affection…
A Wonderful Life
I wonder how many of you have watched the Christmas classic, “It’s a Wonderful Life” during this Advent season. Each December,…
Your Deepest Point of Need
We read in Matthew 1:23, “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name ‘Immanuel’…
The Only Adequate Response
We read in Luke 2:20, “And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it…
Offerings of Righteousness
We read in Malachi 3:3, “He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the sons…