Ezra and Nehemiah is the last chapter of the Old Testament narrative ...
“And let each survivor, in whatever place he sojourns, be assisted by the men of his place with silver and gold, with goods and with beasts, besides freewill offerings for the house of God that is in Jerusalem.” ...
The resurrection is meant to be an immediate and constant source of joy and hope to the Christian. The empty tomb gives us meaning beyond the grave, and meaning brings hope...
If we look at Luke 23, we see Jesus, Creator and Sustainer of the universe, wrongfully accused, tried, beaten, and now hanging on a Roman cross. If anything seems unforgivable, it is that offense. And yet, we hear Jesus on the cross pray, “Father forgive them, for they know not what they do.”...
In the Lord's Prayer, Jesus teaches his disciples to pray, "lead us not into temptation" and near the end of his life, Jesus calls them to "pray that you may not enter into temptation." This should lead believers today to ask what temptation is, and how God uses prayer to combat it....
We live in a #mefirst culture. But lest we think the disciples who spent time with Jesus were any different, we see how on the last night of Jesus’s life with them before the cross, they begin to argue among themselves who is the greatest. Jesus takes the time to show them who is truly great, and what true greatness is....
It’s not enough to be interested or intrigued by Jesus. We can’t stop at agreeing intellectually to some facts about who he is...
In Luke 12:22, Jesus is reminding us of our value to him, so much more than other things of creation. He provides for those other things, so why are we anxious about those things that we can’t ultimately control? Jesus concludes Luke 12 with the call, “Seek his kingdom, and these things will be added to you.” What does it mean to seek his kingdom? ...
We should spend ourselves, no matter how many years we have left, waiting purposefully for Jesus return by working for his glory. Luke 9-19 points to a number of ways we can do this. Today, we will focus on how as we wait, we should be about the business of being good stewards of what he has entrusted to us....
We should spend ourselves, no matter how many years we have left, waiting purposefully for Jesus return by working for his glory. Luke 9-19 points to a number of ways we can do this. Today, we will focus on how as we wait, we should be about the business of showing mercy toward those in need. ...
Verse 32 says, "This Jesus God raised up, and of that we are all witnesses." The disciples all saw the risen Jesus as did more than 500 other people. Tim Keller wrote, "Even if you propose the highly unlikely idea that one or two of Jesus's disciples did get the idea that he was raised from the dead on their own, they would never have gotten a movement of other Jews to be...
Keep ReadingIf the whole plan was of God for the crucifixion and the resurrection, it makes sense that the Bible is unified in the story of redemption-- of it's promise and fulfillment. In verse 25, Peter quotes Psalm 16, which is seen as fulfilled in Jesus. David, as a picture of what the Messiah would be was dead and had been for a long time. Death held him in the tomb and it was...
Keep Reading"God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it." It is impossible for Jesus to be held in the grip of death. The same word for "pangs" here is used elsewhere of labor pains. Labor pains on a pregnant woman indicates that there is going to be a baby born. Pregnancy by it's very definition is not permanent. Jesus is un...
Keep ReadingPart 2 of our Easter series of posts about the truth of the resurrection: I heard a speaker say recently that it was not as if the disciples were sitting around on Saturday night after Jesus died on Friday having a party saying, "I can't wait until tomorrow!" The disciples, though Jesus had clearly taught of his coming death and resurrection, didn't "get it" until he ap...
Keep ReadingOver the next few days we're going to walk through Acts 2 to see how this first sermon by Peter speaks so clearly about the resurrection and why it is essential to Christianity. To do so, each point will fill out the acronym "R.A.I.S.E.D."...
Keep ReadingA few years ago I asked a friend about some good research on Pontius Pilate and the events surrounding the crucifixion of Christ and he recommended Pontius Pilate: A Novel by Paul L. Maier. He explained his unique recommendation by telling me that Dr. Maier was a top-notch historian who wrote a historical novel about Pontius Pilate in order to help people understand the h...
Keep ReadingConcerning serving others,the over arching question we could ask ourselves is about our understanding of how the gospel informs our service of others; "Do I see the gospel as both the remedy for my sin of selfishness and the motivation for Christlike service?" When we see the gospel as the solution for our sin and the motivation for serving others we can then ask ourselv...
Keep ReadingJonathan Dodson: "Contextualization is the intentional process of communicating the historic gospel and teachings of Jesus in contemporary cultural forms. [3] This may result in churches gathering in white tents or rodeo arenas, to hear how the grace rebuffs bootstrap religion among country folk in rural areas of Texas (also known as Cowboy churches). Alternatively, it may...
Keep ReadingA Short story for children (and adults!) that was written by Pastor Jeff Brewer about Amanda Snidefeller, the little girl who was positively fed up with Christmas. It was shared on Christmas Eve at Hope Fellowship....
Keep ReadingAt Hope Fellowship we have been looking at the incarnation through the lens of how Christ is our King. It has been a joy to worship together celebrating advent for the first time as a new church. The links to the audio for the four week series are now online. ...
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