Hope Alliance Bethlehem

All things are from God and through God and for God. Therefore, we join the apostle Paul in saying, "To him be the glory forever!" And our only proper response to the glory of God is a life sacrificed to him and lived worthy of his gospel. Our lives are to be lived for the glory of God alone.

Scripture alone is our final authority for life and practice. It governs us over and above the church in tradition and council because it is the purest presentation of the gospel, unaffected by the sinfulness and finitude of men. The Bible is not a hammer to attack those outside the church, rather it is the means by which those within the church stay centered on Jesus and the gospel.

"Christ alone" is the core message of Christian faith and belief. He is our only savior, the only acceptable and final sacrifice for our sins and the only mediator between God and man. Therefore, he must also be our only lord. The gospel demonstrates the endless grace and mercy of God and demands the active obedience of those who embrace it.

The gospel is a message of grace alone. It announces our miraculous conversion from death to life enabled by a lavishly kind God. Our God not only rescues us but welcomes us to his table and the full inheritance of his kingdom. This is a wonderful gift which we could never earn or deserve, but is available to us through the love of God and sacrifice of Jesus.

Faith alone refers to the understanding that we are saved by our faith in the person and work of Jesus, not in our good works, religion or upbringing. The Bible says that no one is righteous and this means that no matter how good, moral or religious we might be, it still will never be good enough. Jesus offers our only means to a restored relationship with God and we access this through personal f...

Since the 3rd century, Christians have used the idea of creating a rhythm of life to intentionally plan a life that enables us to be centered on Jesus and not this world. As we conclude this series on margin, the words of James pleading with his readers to not simply be hearers, but actually doers is so critical! Perhaps it is time in the midst of marginless existence to mine the gold of being pro...

Financial margin is much more about finding contentment than discovering how to budget. And true contentment happens when your realize and embrace what you have rather than what you think you need. Most importantly this comes in discovering the inheritance that is yours in God through the gospel. When we deal with this heart issue, then we are ready to consider how to live with financial margin.

We need margin in our life for ourselves. The constant pace and demand of life will assimilate us into the story the world wants to tell. But God calls us to "be still and know that he is God." One great way to live this reality is to enter into the practice of keeping a sabbath. This is not a legalistic or religious idea, but a way to be formed by a God who loves you for who you are, no...

Far too often we sacrifice relationships for tasks. Yet, God created us with an internal need for connectedness and community. In fact, we cannot live the life God created us for without them. The book of Acts gives us a picture of the beginnings of the church. Interestingly, this story has little to say about what they did and lots to say about how they shared life together.

Knowing about God is not the same thing as knowing God. We can spend lots of time reading and studying and learning and never really know God himself. The Bible shows that truly seeking God is leaning into this relationship with our Creator made possible through Jesus. And the only way this will genuinely happen is when we create margin in our life to do it.

Life is filled with choices - so many in fact, that it is often overwhelming. In order to make the most of our life and build margin, we have to know how to make the right choices. Scripture offers two critical questions to ask when facing choices and new opportunities. First, "Is it wise?" And second, "Is it the best?" In both of these, we often need to have the courage to say...

How our life's story unfolds is directly related to who we let tell our story. The world around us is trying to tell our story by asking, "What can you do for me?" This leads us to tell our own story by how we measure up. And all of this leads to a life without margin, always trying to prove ourselves. But God desires to tell an altogether different story - that you are loved simply...

When Jesus says it is blessed to be persecuted, he isn't referring to bringing on persecution in your own righteousness. That is simply being a hypocrite or being obnoxious. He says blessed are those who are willing to align themselves with me even at the cost of their own status in this world. Therefore, even in the face of persecution the follower of Jesus can rejoice because he knows his i...

Those who have received God's peace are naturally and intuitively peacemakers, calling others to peace with God and cultivating peace with people around them. A peacekeeper is someone who sees others with the mind of Christ and therefore pursues them like he would. If you find yourself lacking peace with others, the answer is always found in your personal peace with God.

In order to be a peacemaker, we must first receive peace. This is what it means to be called children of God. The gospel is the wonderful news that a God who we have made war against our entire life is willing to cross the battle lines and offer not just a cease fire, but a full reconciliation. In fact, at the cost of his own life, Jesus makes is possible for us to be called children of God - full...

To be pure in heart is to be free from sin. But to be able to see God we need to be pure in heart. Therein lies the central human problem - the very thing we were created to do and be we cannot do and be. The glory of the gospel is that Jesus was and is all that we cannot be and invites us into the presence of our Creator through his purity and his sacrifice.

Our mercifulness does not earn God's mercy for us. Rather our mercifulness is evidence that we have received God's mercy. So, just as God's mercy is driven by his covenant faithfulness and costly forgiveness and self sacrifice, so too should our mercy be driven to those around us.

To hunger and thirst for righteousness at its core is to seek acceptance and approval. This is a universal human reality. Far too often, we seek this through worldly affirmation or religious achievement. However, true acceptance is only found in the one who knows you for who you really - God himself. Jesus offers his own righteousness for those who hunger and thirst. And those who receive it will...

At first glance the word meek is so lackluster - who wants to be meek? But a closer look helps us see a person who remains powerful, but now under the influence of the Spirit and deeply formed by the gospel. And in the end, Jesus is really the only truly meek one. And therefore it is only through our connection to him that we enter the kingdom he offers.

Blessed are those who mourn...really? Definitely! When Jesus speaks these words he is not referring to a constant state of doom or negativity, but to a sorrowful awareness of sin. The presence of sin in our world and in us should give us a somber perspective that things are not the way God created them to be and there is nothing we can do to fix it. And then we experience the radical comfort of kn...

In this first beatitude, Jesus uses the imagery of utter destitution - a bankrupt and desperate beggar completely dependent upon others for survival. And he applies it to the entire crowd in regards to their spiritual merit and morality. The secret to entrance into the kingdom of God is spiritual bankruptcy. It is the spiritual beggars who will find and need the gospel of grace which Jesus offers.

The beatitudes are the beginning of an inauguration address to engage a wide ranging audience with the good new of the kingdom. This introduction sets the stage for our study of the beatitudes by showing that they are not a list of commands to be accomplished, but rather an ever increasing reality in the lives of those who follow Jesus.

David’s sin of adultery leads to a massive cover up. In response, the Lord sends Nathan to rebuke David. But this is not the end of the story. David, moving from cover up to repentance, experiences mercy from the Lord. God’s words to David, “The Lord has taken away your sin,” are the basis for David’s story beyond his moral failure. The same is true for believers today! There can be a redemptive (...

The call to make disciples is a universal call for all followers of Jesus, not just those who go to foreign lands. Where is God calling you to go? And are you trusting him by following. When we do, we find his statement that he will always be with us to be unbelievably true. So, in the words of Kierkegaard we should will only one thing - to go and make disciples.

Coming home on a massive high, David and his men return to calamity. The town is ransacked, their families are captured and the men are turning on David. How do you respond to turmoil in life? David responded by going to God and finding strength there. It was from this strength that he could set the right course for his life - a course of obedience met by the providence of God.