The Central Gospel Sermon Series
If you have been around Hope for any length of time, you have probably heard us talk about the “functional centrality of the gospel” from the pulpit and in our mission groups. Starting the last week of August we’ll be unpacking what it means that the gospel is central and functioning as it should in our lives and church. My desire is that this short series serves to help people connect with one another as we begin our mission groups and welcome those who are new to Hope....
Six Ways We Can Ask God to Act from Psalm 90
In Psalm 90:12, Moses lays out a long list of petitions, asking God to act. What does he request of God? I suggest that each of you read these and pick out one or two of them to focus on this week. They can serve as a starting point to recalibrate 2019 in light of who God is and who we are....
Gentleness and the Christian Life
Many of my books sit on the shelf only being referenced once every year or two, as need arises. There are other books like "Jonathan Edwards on the Christian Life," by Dane Ortlund that I come back to again and again. And there is one chapter in this book that I find exceptionally helpful to me personally as I seek to grow in my faith; his chapter on "Gentleness: The Aroma of the Christian Life."...
The Role of Reason and Faith in Our Decision Making
By “reason,” I mean rational thinking and God-given common sense. Proverbs 3:5 does not say, “do not use your understanding” but rather, “don’t rest on human understanding, don’t make it your ultimate rule; don’t put all your weight upon it!” Instead, put all your trust in God who rules and over-rules all human decisions. There are always gaps in our knowledge. Even the most logical decisions necessarily have some unknown factors. So what is the proper role of reason? ...
How Do I Know God's Will for My Life?
Of all the issues that cause stress and confusion among Christians, the question of divine guidance must be near the top. How can I know God’s will for me? Are there certain steps we need to learn in order to access information from God that we would not otherwise know? How does God guide me?...
Five Reflections on Missing Church
The garage door went up and out went our minivan. For the first time in nearly 8 years, I wasn’t going to church. I was scheduled to preach, but stomach issues laid me low, so home I sat (providentially with an internet outage to remove the temptation of NFL Countdown)....
Sturdy Grace
Grace is enough for even the chief of sinners (1 Timothy 1:15). It is sturdy. It can withstand the most difficult suffering and trials. It is enough on our best days, when we think we earned something, and enough on our worst days, when we wonder how God could possibly love us....
Scripture Journals for 1 Thessalonians available Sunday
This Sunday, we will have the 1-2 Thessalonians ESV Scripture Journals for sale for $3. These are a great resource for our new series “Don’t Give Up: Messages from 1 Thessalonians” which will enable you to see the text of scripture as well as take notes....
The Power of Hope to put the Heart at Rest
We’re always looking for peace in our lives, but can’t find it because our hearts are always shifting allegiances. None of the things we set our shifting hearts on can cancel out the noise in our lives. Psalm 131 shows us that calm and quiet souls are possible. ...
Be Still and Know, Part 2
Psalm 46 shows us that God created all of us with the need to be still and know that He is God and we are not. ...
A Great Book to read at Christmas
One of my favorite books about the incarnation is The Incarnation in the Gospels in the Reformed Expository Commentary series. I highly recommend it as a collection of sermons that are very encouraging and edifying to read and think about this Christmas season....
Keep ReadingWhy we must think in a Christ-Centered Way
At the heart of the gospel and the Christian life is the person and work of Jesus. If Jesus is most excellent and above all and if Jesus is worthy of all the praise of the universe, then it would follow that for our thinking to be what Paul is calling for in Philippians 4:8, “If there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise†then it must find i...
Keep ReadingJosh Moody Article on Justification
Dr. Josh Moody, Sr. Pastor at College Church in Wheaton, joined us on Sunday morning, October 14. He preached from Galatians 2:11-14 "How One Long Word Can Make a Big Difference to Your Life." Dr. Moody wrote an article on justification that has been posted on Christianity Today Online. Since we have been going through our doctrinal statement as a church, and Dr. ...
Keep ReadingWhy we should pray for our children to know Christ at a young age
I picked up Thomas Watson's "The Godly Man's Picture" off my shelf today and began reading the section, "the godly man strives to be an instrument for making others godly."Watson writes, "The godly man is not content to go to heaven alone but wants to take others there. Spiders work only for themselves, but bees work for others."He then applies it to how we might encourage...
Keep ReadingA Prayer We Should All Pray
Have you ever paused when someone asked you how they might be praying for you? It can be an awkward moment when we try to determine how much to share, or even what we feel is truly worth sharing. Sometimes, if we are honest, we can even respond with a request that we ourselves are not personally praying for! So how might we be praying for ourselves and seeking for other...
Keep ReadingRecommended Biographies about Missionaries for Children
I wanted to recommend a few resources that we have found really helpful and enjoyable for our girls as they have begun reading over the last few years. ...
Keep ReadingQuotes from the cutting room floor
So often each week as I prepare for the sermon I have a number of quotes that I have read that were personally encouraging but didn't fit into the sermon. It is my goal each week to post some of these quotes on Friday for your encouragement....
Keep ReadingJonah Sermon Series starts this week
We will be starting a four week series on the book of Jonah this Sunday, April 29, 2012. In preparation for the series, take some time with your family to read the book of Jonah together....
Keep ReadingShorter Ending of Mark
When we come to the end of Mark 16, in most English translations of the Bible there are brackets that include something like, "some of the earliest manuscripts do not include 16:9-20" which presents a question for those who are reading their Bibles and who hold it to be inerrant (without error in the original manuscript) clear and trustworthy. Perhaps you might think somet...
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