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....
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....
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."...
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? ...
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?...
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)....
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....
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....
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. ...
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. ...
Last week in our Sunday morning gathering we looked at Justin Taylor's chapter on Abortion from the new book, Don't Call it A Comeback: The Old Faith for a New Day Listen to a sermon that Justin preached on Sanctity of Life Sunday in St. Charles IL at New Covenant Bible Church titled, How Should We Then Live? Abortion, Gospel and God....
Keep ReadingSTARS Family services annual fundraiser....
Keep ReadingDownload flyers to give to friends and neighbors for our January 22 gathering at the Lombard Community Building....
Keep ReadingFrom the Crossway.com blog: Practicing Hospitality, Pat Ennis and Lisa Tatlock ...
Keep ReadingIf you are like me, you are always looking for something to share with family members who will be gathering for Christmas in order to talk about Jesus and the hope we have in Him. I wrote the following story, "A Question for Christmas"for a group of 3rd grade girls' "Christmas Cocoa" that a wonderful family at College Church hosted on Saturday, December 17, 2010. My desire...
Keep ReadingI have been working through The Theology of B.B. Warfield: A Systematic Summary. I thought this section in chapter 2 was helpful in defining apologetics. A Right Definition of Apologetics "Apologetics does not merely teach men how to defend Christianity; if it were only this, then it would belong to the discipline of practical theology. Nor does apologetics set out mer...
Keep ReadingThe Valley of Vision Prayer Guide by Joe Thorn...
Keep ReadingI am really excited aboutAll That Jesus Asks: How His Questions Can Teach and Transform Usby Stan Guthrie. It was released this month, but last April I did a series of posts in which I interviewed Stan about his forthcoming book.I find it really helpful in sermon preparation when authors look at scripture and collect all of what scripture says about a particular topic or...
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