Hope Christian Fellowship

Light is one of the most common metaphors used of Jesus and his followers. At Stellar VBS, our students heard all about the Light of the World and were encouraged to shine Jesus’ light for all to see. What are the characteristics of light and how do we embody them? Today we’ll take a look at a few passages where Jesus talks about light and see how we can be a light in the darkness.

Relationship advice is everywhere. It seems like people have opinions on what you should be doing in your friendships, your marriage, your parenting, and every other relationship in your life. Maybe you’d trust some of them more if their relationships looked healthy, but there does not seem to be a correlation between competence and the sharing of opinions.  Paul talks about his relationships with...

You’ve probably heard someone say that God will not give you more than you can handle. It is a well-intended statement, but ultimately it is misleading. God does indeed put us in situations that overwhelm us and cause us to despair. Paul tells the Corinthians that he and his friends experienced exactly this in Asia. And then he goes on to tell them how knowing Jesus transformed that experience fro...

We all like to be comfortable and try to avoid uncomfortable situations. This can be as normal and small as being socially uncomfortable for a few moments or as large as a major trial or loss that unsettles your whole life. Our minds fixate on what we think will be easy and enjoyable because we think there is too much to lose in discomfort. However, Paul opens the book of 2 Corinthians by talking...

The idea of surrender as a Christian can be offensive to people who don’t understand it. It sounds like giving up.  It sounds weak and desperate. It can cause those who are willing to be brave and bold to think that there is no place for them in following Jesus. But Jesus’ surrender showed us that yielding does not need to have anything to do with powerlessness. It can come from tremendous power a...

Life is challenging. In fact, it is so full of challenges that many people are convinced they can never find peace or joy or even hope. Yet God's people are invited to walk by faith in the power of God. One story that illustrates this perfectly is the story of Jericho. The army of Israel is essentially asked to just go through some seemingly powerless motions. The point of God's instructio...

We live in the United States of America.  But we probably don’t think about the irony of that name for the current state of the country we call home. There have always been disagreements and debates, but it seems that there are few times in our nation’s history when we have been more divided than we are now. We used to see tragedy join us together, but now even that seems to be another reason to a...

As believers, we recognize that our kids have to grow up in a world that seems so much more lost than anything we experienced. This can cause us to want to double down on protecting them and even isolating them from the world around them. While there is an appropriate level of insulation for our kids, we also have to recognize that part of our job is teaching them how to interact with their world....

On the best teams, the players are more interested in the team’s success than in their personal accomplishments. Sayings like “there is no ‘I’ in ‘team’” find traction over and over again because a team that is working selflessly together is a team that maximizes their abilities and strengths. Too often, Christians in churches miss this reality. They become more invested in what people think of th...

How many people can you think of who suffered mistreatment in their time, but later that same event was part of why their lives had a great impact? People like Martin Luther King Jr and Nelson Mandela who suffered imprisonment were later hailed as leaders beyond compare.  Their convictions and jail experiences were transformed from shame into honor. Many believers throughout history have had a sim...

There are many callings that God places on His children. We are called to share Jesus with others. We are called to love one another. Our job is a calling. Parenting is a calling. Marriage and singleness are callings. These may endure or may just be for a season, but while we’re in them, it is clear that God is asking us to serve His kingdom by being faithful in the place He has put us. Motherhood...

In 1988, the World Series featured two teams from California – the Dodgers and the As. Game 1 is remembered for one swing in the 9th inning that won the game so improbably that the announcer said “I don’t believe what I just saw.” Kirk Gibson who had injuries to both legs and could barely walk was summoned to pinch hit in the bottom of the 9th inning against a Hall of Fame closer named Dennis Ecke...

How much joy is in your life? You probably have a lot of reasons to be glad and full of gratitude, but that’s not the question. To what degree does your experience match up with a promise from Jesus of joy? On this night we’re studying, Jesus says some pretty surprising things about joy.  We probably make the same assumptions that the disciples did before this conversation. Joy comes when life is...

As believers, one thing that we receive that is both mysterious and powerful is the Holy Spirit.  There are many ideas about what the Spirit does in people, but on this night Jesus spends with His disciples, He actually takes some time to talk about the Spirit and His work. This group of men who were about to change the world seemed no more ready to have a historical impact than any of us. But Jes...

This is a morning that we celebrate together the resurrection of our Savior in power and glory. We are reminded again that nothing in this world compares to what He has done for us and what He can do for each person who believes. And in that simple truth comes a challenge. We’re not trying to get people to see us; we’re trying to show them Jesus. When some men came asking to see Jesus, Jesus had s...

On this day, we celebrate the triumphant entry of Jesus into the city of Jerusalem amidst cries of worship and honor. In that moment, it seems clear to all who watch (even Jesus’ enemies) that He can take over as King. Yet only a few days later, Jesus dies on a cross. What is the point of this episode in Jesus’ life and what did His disciples learn from it? It turned out that God’s work at that ti...

We all have those seasons where it feels like the harder you try to get ahead, the more you fall behind. You try to be more careful about your money and as soon as you begin seeing some extra in your account, an emergency hits that drains you again.  New Year was a time to set new goals on healthy eating, but at just the wrong moment, you have to go to a party and you wind up eating what you shoul...

Everyone wants to be liked, right? Disapproval and exclusion are powerful tools to pressure people to conform or fit in. Some people will do almost anything to gain the approval of others. It is such a universal reality in our world that many people get trapped in living for ‘likes’ or for the opinions of others. But we follow Jesus.  And on the night He was betrayed, He had some words for His dis...

How many times do we hear about the darkness of this world? Christians are presented with more and more opportunities to shine a light in the darkness, but how do we handle circumstances that are unfair or even painful? This week we will take a look at how the Apostle Paul endured being incarcerated for doing the work of the Lord.

Some people are really good with plants. Others are really bad with them. Whichever one you are, you understand the simple illustration Jesus gives His disciples about living in a way that changes the world. The spiritual reality is quite complex. It is hard to walk in what Jesus is instructing. But the picture He gives is simple, easy to understand, and gives us helpful insight so that we can kno...

Have you ever taken a minute to think about what it must be like to live in peace? Not for a minute or an hour, but as a normal mode of life – what would a life of peace feel like? Maybe it seems unrealistic because the only way we could figure out to live like that is to be superhuman (which none of us are) or to find some way to calm everything down around us. But Jesus tells His disciples that...

Nobody likes to need help. We’d rather be the ones giving help than receiving it. But life has a way of putting us in the position of need more often than we’d like to admit. Can needing help be more than just an inconvenient truth? Can it be part of changing the world? Jesus seemed to think so as He talks to His disciples at the Last Supper. He gives the disciples a few promises that seemed stran...

People have all kinds of ideas about God. Some think He is a distant old man sitting on a throne paying little attention to what happens in our world. Others imagine him to be an angry person ready to zap people who do the wrong thing. Still others pretend that He is a soft and warm guy who never gets upset and waves away any idea of right and wrong. All of these ideas (and more) existed when Jesu...

Is it possible to live in such a troubled world with an untroubled heart? We hope so… we want it to be true…  but most of us either don’t know how to get there or don’t believe that we can. At the Last Supper, Jesus has some very interesting words for His disciples that leads to one of the most famous statements He makes. How does Jesus being the Way, the Truth, and the Life connect to having hear...

Today, almost everyone agrees that love is one of the highest values that exist in human experience. The devotion of a parent to their child, the affection of a husband for his wife, the enduring connection of a friend – these are just some of the many examples in the real world of how precious we hold love. But love did not have such an elevated status when Jesus walked the earth. In fact, as he...