Hope Alliance Bethlehem

Care is not a Christian obligation. It is a way of life for those who have been changed by the gospel. We have been formed into a family where we give and receive care in the way of Jesus.

Community is not just an interesting idea. It is an absolute necessity. The beauty of community is that we are able to build something together. This imagery is so beautifully seen in the story of Nehemiah and the reconstruction of the wall around Jerusalem. Just like in this story, as we seek to build our lives in light of the gospel we do it side by side with those around us, experience mutual i...

Multiplication is at the core of what it means to be a disciple. It defined the existence of the early church in the book of Acts. Likewise, we want it to define us as not only a value, but our vision. This is why we are beginning the process now to be able to plant another church in the next few years. And our ultimate goal is a regional network of churches partnering together to advance God&apos...

As followers of Jesus, we are called to let people know that God has won the ultimate victory for humanity in and through Jesus. We do this through our actions, choices and conduct. But we also do it through our words. We're to be ready to share about our hope and always seeking opportunities that God gives us. However, this is never about being pushy, obnoxious or religious. Its about speaki...

John the Baptist had a singular calling. He was preparing people for the kingdom of God. Martin Luther said that John was famous for his finger which was always pointing to Jesus. The truth is that this is also what every disciple is called to do. We have the opportunity to point to Jesus with every choice and action we make. Unfortunately, more often than not our finger is point at ourselves rath...

Jesus said that people would know we follow him if we love like he loved. Love is to be a singular definer of the church. For this to be so, our love must be real and consistent. It cannot be shallow or contingent on what we receive in return. This kind of self-sacrifice demands that we be totally committed to love as our way of life.

The Bible is not a rule book. And its not an owner's manual. It is the beautiful story of God meant to envelope each of us. We read it to be taught the truth of the gospel and trained to live in response to the gospel. In the midst of a broken world and our broken lives, the Bible constantly pulls us back to the person and work of Jesus and the eternal love story of Creator God for the world.

For many Christians prayer is a hard reality. The truth is we aren't sure we know how to do it. That unfortunate reality has more to do with how we have seen people pray in church then what prayer truly is. When the disciples asked Jesus how to pray, he taught them a memorable means of prayer which can serve as a wonderful paradigm to launch us into meaningful prayer.

How should followers of Jesus respond to the racial tension in our world? First, we must lament that this world is not the way God intended it to be. Second, we must have a vision of God's intention for humanity - unity through diversity. This reality is only possible through the gospel. Finally, we must act. We are called to embody God's future in the now so that everyone might know the...

True worship is way more than the songs we sing on a Sunday. It comes knows God and values him above all other things. From this comes not only our songs of praise, but an entire way of life - a posture of submission, adoration and service to God. In this way, worship is holistic. Its any every moment reality that includes every part of us.

Central to our identity as followers of Jesus is our call to go and make disciples. Contrary to the regular practice of the church, going is not just for some - it is for everyone. Going is not an option and it is also not geographically bound. Most of us will not be called to foreign lands, but we are still very much sent to the neighborhoods, workplaces and spheres of influence in which we find...

In closing his letter to the Corinthians, Paul hits on some really important points for the church. As God's people, we must think beyond ourselves. We must learn to follow God and not simply our heart. We must value character over charisma. We must hold tightly to the gospel. And above all, we must love pervasively.

The Lord's Supper is meant to be a unifying reality for the church and yet the Corinthians were using it to be divisive - honoring some above others. Paul reminds them that this is the very meal which symbolizes Jesus being shamed so that we might be honored as children of God. The only proper way to approach the communion table is as one unworthy and yet one graciously welcomed!

In this often confusing passage about head coverings and hair length, Paul is emphasizing three centrally important realities for the Jesus follower. First, our cultural context matters and we should do our best to offer the gospel in context. Second, God created men and women not only for each other, but more importantly to better bear his image to the world. Finally, we must constantly ask ourse...

As the Israelites moved from the Exodus to the Promised Land, they found significant struggle in the wilderness. Paul relates the Christian life in many ways to the wilderness - a place where our heart is divided in its allegiance to God and our former life. And his urgent plea to the Corinthians and to all Christians is to not look back to where we've come from so as not to be tempted into o...

Paul loves to use the metaphor of a race to describe life. And for him the race well run is the gospel-centered life. How do you live this kind of life? You have to prepare now for the future and learn from the past. Knowing that not everyone makes it to the finish line, it is imperative that we put in the hard work of discipleship now.

Paul is a truly remarkable testimony. His heart is centered on pursuing the glory of God and as a result he engages in ministry by embracing his sent-ness and sacrificing his rights and preferences to make the gospel known. Why does he do this? He has a deep love for God and a deep love for those who don't know God's love. How might are lives be different if we shared the passions of Pau...

The Bible gives us plenty of direction, but what about the ares it doesn't speak directly to - places where we don't have a right and wrong? In his letter to the Corinthians, Paul is helping them deal with this reality. His urge is to say "no" to license and "no" to legalism, while embracing liberty. Liberty won't acquiesce to legalism, but it values the glory of...

The Corinthian church had lots of questions for Paul. Is sex bad? Should we get divorced? Should we not bother with marriage at all? Paul uses his experience and the teaching of Jesus to effectively answer these questions. But his greater purpose is to show them that true identity comes from the gospel, not a marital status or lack thereof. In fact, it is our identity defined by the gospel that sh...

The beauty of the gospel is that even though we have built an identity as sinners, we have been joined with Christ. This means we have a re-newed identity as sons and daughters of God. It also means that we have access to the wisdom of God and are quite literally the dwelling place of the Spirit of God. Therefore, we have the ability to choose well. In fact, the gospel not only gives us a new iden...

The resurrection is not just a nice ending to a good story. It changes everything! The resurrection means that God has accepted Jesus' sacrifice and therefore gives hope to the entire world that they can be accepted too. It assures us of the power over death and offers us the freedom of life now and in the future.

The church today tends to value intellect or the Spirit over the other one. This unfortunate binary reality is smashed by the gospel which demands intellectual belief and a dependence upon the Spirit. Likewise, the life of Christian faith must engage in the mind and be dependent upon the Spirit. Personal experience is not normative, nor is personal intellect. However, the gospel and the Spirit abs...

The primary aim of the Spirit is the proclamation of Jesus and the primary product of the Spirit is love. This poetic chapter on love which is often referenced is really a reflection on God himself. God is love and our only hope to live into this reality of love is through the gospel - the reality that he loved us first. This is the product of the ministry of the Spirit: to become a people who lov...

Sometimes we end up valuing gifts more than the giver. This unfortunate reality was prominent in the church at Corinth and is prominent in our church today. The gifts of the Spirit are good, but they are secondary to the Spirit himself who works primarily to make Jesus our Lord and to affirm us in our uniqueness while pulling us together as a church, the body of Christ to the onlooking world.