Hope Christian Fellowship

Have you ever thought you saw someone you knew only to realize when you approached them that you were mistaken? Something about what they looked like resembled your friend so much that you were sure it was them. While those misunderstandings are generally low-stakes, the passage we read today is about the highest stakes. Do we recognize Jesus? Some people think they know who He is, but they are mi...

Planning a party can be stressful. Imagine that you are hosting something and you don’t know how many people are coming. What if it could be 50 people – or 100 people – or 1000 people. How do you get ready for something like that? In this story, the disciples didn’t even know that a party was coming – and then Jesus told them to feed everyone. It seems like the disciples thought Jesus was joking a...

Being a father is a high calling. It takes courage, strength, integrity, and honor. Unfortunately, many of these are in short supply today. But perhaps the greatest secret is that most fathers wonder if they have what it takes to step into all that they want to be as a dad. The ache in our soul is there, but is it possible to find a way to be all of that? What we read today teaches us that Jesus e...

We all know what hopeless looks like and feels like. We witness it from afar, hearing about things broken beyond repair in someone else’s life. But it hits differently when it’s our own life. Most of the time, it shocks us because we never thought we would be facing something like this. Some of the time, we have lived with the problem for long enough that it feels settled: we will always have this...

What would you do if Jesus Himself walked into your kitchen as your family was sitting down to dinner? There would probably be a million thoughts running through your mind at the same time. You might wonder if you’re in trouble, if He is here to give you something, or if you are hallucinating. You may try to figure out what to say or what He might want to eat. You’d probably get a chair for Him at...

We often call trials and struggles in our lives “storms.” It is a word that seems to fit because it describes the feeling of danger and chaos. It also sums up our powerlessness in the face of the circumstances. Since this is such an easy-to-understand picture, it is not a mistake that several stories of Jesus’ time on earth have to do with storms. In this one, Jesus give direction right into a sto...

In this second installment of the famous parable, we are going to take a closer look at the different types of people that Jesus describes. He makes it clear that the difference in fruitfulness is not a difference in sower or seed, but in the type of soil it lands on. Jesus explains this parable to His disciples to show what He is illustrating with each type of soil. The clear question to us is th...

The story that Jesus tells about the Sower and the Seed is one of the most famous in the Gospels. It is found in three of the four of them. In Luke, it takes up a lot of space, so we’re going to take two weeks to try to digest the message of Jesus in this parable. This week, we’re going to focus on the invitation that is embedded in the story. Some people think that only certain people are eligibl...

As we set aside a day to celebrate and give thanks for the mothers in our lives, we recognize that the One who came up with the whole idea of motherhood is God Himself. Most moms feel overwhelmed with the responsibility of caring for a precious child. Likewise, it is not unusual for dads to feel unprepared and unqualified. But what we’re going to see in Scripture today is that this feeling is a re...

(Hosea 1:2-3, 5:4, 6:6, 7:11, 2:14-20, 3:1-3) Golden calves, statues of giant bulls, some guy named Baal: it can be all too easy to laugh and belittle the idol worship of the Old Testament. How could anyone bow down or devote themselves to a man made thing? Meanwhile we nervously check our bank accounts, meditate in front of endlessly scrolling social media feeds, and evangelize our politics onlin...

Many people come to Hope and talk about how it feels to come for the first time. We love the feedback that our church feels welcoming and warm. We are thrilled that Hopers own the calling to step towards someone they do not know and try to help them feel like they belong. But this feeling does not happen by accident. It is something we intentionally build. We are going to have a different service...

Can you imagine if you were sick and needed some life-saving treatment, but had no way to pay for it? It would be torture to feel doomed while knowing that it was just money in the way of having what you needed. Now imagine that some person with lots of money stepped in to pay for everything. You receive the treatment and you are saved. How grateful would you be? When the stakes are high and but r...

Communicating with others is a challenge. They don’t think like you do and they don’t express themselves in your ways, so it can be hard to hear them and for them to hear you. Misunderstanding is at the root of so much of the conflict that happens in our lives. Mature people know how to backtrack and figure out where things got disconnected and misconstrued. As we celebrate Easter, we are going to...

As we begin Passion Week, we are coming into our celebration of the most important events in the history of the world. The death and resurrection of Jesus demand response. Jesus confronted people all through His ministry on their need to respond to Him. In this episode, we see two different responses. One group embraces Jesus and the other rejects Him. Jesus points out the hypocrisy of their rejec...

Falling as an infant or toddler is a part of life. Falling as an elderly person can mean the end of your life. Not all falls are the same, but all of them stop our forward progress. Jesus uses the picture of stumbling to describe what can happen when a person looks at Jesus but misses out on the Good News. That is the most catastrophic fall of all time. Instead of recognizing the One who can save...

Everyone knows what it feels like to be hopeless. All the way back in school, there were times we felt like we’d never understand what we were supposed to be learning or we’d never remember what we studied for the test. Throughout life, we are faced with too little time, too little money, too much conflict, and too much hurt. Hopelessness is almost an old friend, or it would be if it weren’t so po...

Who is in charge? In any formal situation, that is a question that demands an answer right away. At work, you need to know who is in charge of what you will be doing. In homes that effectively raise children, it must be clear that the parents are in charge. When people reject this concept, chaos reigns. For God’s people in Jesus’ time, they believed that they were acknowledging God’s authority by...

In so many parts of our lives, titles are given to define roles, assign responsibilities, and maintain a sense of order. Navigating life and the many lanes that we operate in can feel overwhelming, whether it be with family, friends, work, church, or even in our neighborhood. Jesus, by his life, gave us a road map on how to live a life that is worthy of our calling, in whatever space we occupy. Th...

Whether it is fair or not, we tend to evaluate a person’s character by what they say. The words that come out of our mouths are thought of as a good indication of what we are all about. Jesus has some comments about how words can both expose what is inside of us and/or can be an attempt to deceive others about what’s inside of us. For all of us who follow Him, His words here are convicting. They a...

Most people assume that being color blind means that a person only sees in black and white. But the truth is most colorblindness is about being unable to distinguish between reds and greens. There are glasses that can correct this issue and enable someone to see the full spectrum. Imagine what changes in a person’s mind when everything they have been looking at suddenly looks drastically different...

When people don’t like you, it is normal to not like them back. When someone makes you their enemy, the natural response is to defend yourself and to fight back. Somehow, Jesus has an entirely different take on all of this. For those of us who choose to follow Him, we will need to pay attention to the instructions He gives. But we need to pay even more attention to the reasons He gives because we...

We can go to churches or watch online and hear all kinds of ideas about God’s blessings. It seems like most people think that blessings are when God makes your life exactly like what you want. Bills are paid. Loved ones are healthy. Problems are far in the rearview mirror. But Jesus talked about those who are blessed in a very different way. In fact, His description is so shocking, it is hard to r...

Jesus’ mission on earth was the most important ever undertaken. He came to give His life for our redemption, but He also came so that people would know the way to the Father. His plan included appointing twelve men to be apostles. With so much at stake, it would be wise for us to look at how Jesus made these selections. What do we learn about the kingdom of God from the men that Jesus chose and th...

Communication is always a challenge. Every person you talk to is different than you are. We generally do better when we know each other, but our conversations can go off the rails anyway. Throughout time, humans have struggled to understand our Creator. Some people try to build their understanding of God from what makes sense to them. Others actually read God’s Word for themselves, but they don’t...

“This is the way we’ve always done it.” How often have you heard something like that to reject a new idea? It can be frustrating if you are the person most affected by the unwillingness to consider change. Of course, all of us get stuck in old ways. This is true even in religion and in church. Jesus came to Israel with the Good News, but many of them saw it as something to fear or to silence. They...