Hope Alliance Bethlehem

The gospel is the true declaration that Jesus is the victorious, rightful and eternal King who has brought peace to earth through his incarnation, death and resurrection.  We access this peace through repentance and belief - deposing the would be kings of our lives and turning in active faith to the rule and reign of Jesus.

Followers of Jesus should be known by their love of their neighbors.  This has always been God's design - that his people would be a blessing to the world.  In order to be intentional about loving our neighbors - we want to BLESS them through prayer, listening, eating together, serving and sharing our stories.

One of the first realities we see of disciples of Jesus is that they are inviting other people.  Specifically they are telling their friends and even those throughout their village to "come and see."   Most of us are not evangelists or apologists, but we are all witnesses.  And disciples of Jesus are always asking others to "come and see."

To be the church God is calling us to be, we need everyone serving.  This means serving each other, serving those in need and serving the church.  And as we do this, even if its unglamorous at times, we are quite literally building something together for the glory of God.

To be the church God is calling us to be, we need everyone engaged.  That means we are intentionally in - not dragging our feet or reluctant, but diligent and empowered by the Spirit.  And it means we are active - not just hearing, but doing.  

At Hope we are committed to making disciples to the glory of God.  To be intentional about this, we embrace a simply Jesus identity and a multi-congregational structure that desires to see the gospel within reach of every single person in the Lehigh Valley (and beyond). 

Jesus said that we bring glory to God by finishing the work he gave us to do.  What is the work of the church?  To make disciples.  This means introducing people to Jesus, helping them embrace the gospel and enabling them to grow in their faith.  To glorify God we need to make more disciples and mature disciples.

The glory of God is the reason we exist as humans.  And it's the reason the church exists.  The glory of God enables the world to know God and to worship God.   As we take up this divine purpose, we are charged to be fruitful and multiply - to grow, so God's glory increases.

As the book of Numbers concludes, once again the character of God is on full display, namely in his gracious care for his people.  He shows his care for the insignificant, for those carrying a special calling or burden and for those in dire circumstances.  This care points directly to Jesus, the ultimate manifestation of the care of God for his people by laying down his life.

The Israelites were called to engage the Canaanite enemy and lay claim to the entire land of promise on the basis of God's faithfulness.  Though they fell short, Jesus came and announced the defeat of the actual enemy - sin and death.  And on the basis of our union with him, he calls us to engage in the battle against sin.  This fight is largely fought, as the apostle Paul reminds us, through...

Just as the nation is ready to lay hold to the land God has promised, two tribes express their desire to settle east of the Jordan River.  Moses' response shows us their folly.  In settling down, they are actually settling for less than God has offered.  Just like them, we tend to get bogged down by our stuff, weary from the journey and comfortable where we are and thus settle for less of God...

In Numbers 31 God brings judgement on the Midianites for their opposition to His kingdom advancement.  In His providence He has mercy on Israel but condemns Midian.   When we really analyze God's judgement, we find that we can either die to self because of His love or die in our sin because of our guilt.

A life centered on God's rescue helps us remember who we are in light of who God is and what he has done.  This is why we must be intentional in creating a rhythm of life as a response to God's grace and to engage in our communion with him.

With a new census, we once again see the faithfulness and the goodness of God.  And both of these are even more apparent when God resounds to the daughters of Zelophehad.  Though their father's sin had led to their deprivation, God welcomed them into an inheritance that legally wasn't theirs to share.  In the same way, God has welcomed us into the inheritance of enteral life through Jesu...

Failing to realize God's promises, the Israelites on the precious of entering the land fall into temptation.  Sexual immorality for sure, but at its core cheating on God with other gods.  Into this mess steps a man named Phinehas with zeal for God who stops the downward spiral.   On an ever greater scale, Jesus stepped into the downward spiral of this world and through his zeal for God took j...

The narrative of Balak gives the reader of Numbers an important question to ponder: what kind of king do I want to serve?  One who provokes, tempts and is destined to defeat.  Or one who blesses by by walking among his people and fighting for them til ultimate victory.  The king we need is divine, not human.  Our king is God, who himself became the human king we needed in Jesus.

In that day, Balaam was clearly the go to guy if you found yourself in a tough spot.  But this famous story of Balaam and his donkey shows us that his broken humanity makes him an incapable rescuer. It is God who shows perfect power, vision and loyalty.  And it is ultimately Jesus, our servant rescuer, who demonstrates this rescuing power for the world. 

A new generation is on the move toward the land of promise.  But this new generation is just as corruptible as the last one.  And their impatience and ingratitude, rooted in a desire for self-rule and slavery, invite deadly snakes into their midst.  It is only through the grace of God that the serpents that bring death are defeated.  And it is only through Jesus that the ultimate serpent that brin...

With the Israelites still ungrateful and grumbling, Moses has a very public meltdown.  His self-righteousness has caused him to become impatient with God's patient redemptive plan.  And we see that Moses is neither the hero of this story, nor the rescuer that God's people ultimately need.  God is the hero and he sends Jesus as our ultimate rescuer who gives us living water that finally q...

The new creation work of Jesus means that peace can be in bloom in our world.  More than just a feeling or experience, peace is a culture of healing, security and prosperity enabled by the just and righteous rule of Jesus.  In a world pulled apart by anxiety, this peace protects our hearts and minds and sends us boldly into the world as ambassadors.

The resurrection means that love is in bloom in the new creation of Jesus.  Love is volitional -gracious, self-giving, restorative actions toward others.  When we encounter God's love regularly, it moves us to worship and on the basis of worship into love toward others.  This love not only gives us a deeper knowledge of God, but makes an invisible God tangible to an onlooking world.

More than an emotion or experience, joy is a deep assurance of victory found in the gospel.  When we lean into the gospel in obedience our experience of joy increases and works to transform our perspective and counteract our pain.  The new creation announced in the resurrection of Jesus means that joy is in bloom in our lives and in our world.

The gospel of John reminds us that the resurrection isn't just factually true, but also the climax of God's grand narrative of creation.   And so its no surprise we find Jesus in a garden being mistaken for a gardener where he has just defeated sin and death and the curse they brought.  And in their place has cultivated the soil for new creation to bloom.

God continues to respond to the rebellion of the Israelites with grace.  In this case, he graciously reaffirms the role and responsibilities of the Levites and the role and function of the priests to protect the people.  Moreover, he gives them a readymade source of cleansing when the encounter death.  In Jesus, the ultimate high priest, God brings us near to him without fear and offers us final a...

Korah leads a rebellion assuming that his standing means he can assert himself as a priest.  But God reminds all of Israel that he has chosen rightly with Aaron.  Whereas Korah attempted to elevate himself and in so doing put the people at risk, the true high priest puts his own life at risk in order to rescue the people.  How much more is this true of Jesus who has once and for all rescued humani...