Hope Christian Fellowship

Hero stories are some of the most compelling that we ever take in.  In today’s storytelling, the soon-to-be-hero is often unaware that they will become the one to save the day.  Or they are full of doubt and personal weakness, making their heroics all the more miraculous.  One of the great hero stories of the Bible is about a man whose faith was not very strong when God calls him to save his peopl...

Have you ever asked for God’s help?  At a moment like that, you knew that only divine power could address your need. And yet many times, we think God did not answer our cry.  What if we are thinking about God’s help all wrong? As Moses begins the work that will eventually result in the freedom of all Israel from slavery, God begins to show Moses how He will help. God takes normal, seemingly powerl...

Ephesians 2 Bible Study

Some days you feel like you can take on the world. They may not come very often, but we’ve all known the feeling of excitement and energy where we believe that we can handle whatever life throws our way. But more often, we feel small in comparison to the challenges we face.   Moses was no different.  As God unfolds His calling for Moses, Moses has some questions.  But the good news is that God had...

At the theme park, there are two types of people.  The ones who run to the roller coasters and the ones who wish they didn’t exist. We don’t often find people who are indifferent to the thrill rides. Those who love them are ready for the rush of energy and are very able to put aside any thoughts of danger or fear.  But in life, the thrills can often come with very real risk.  And those who live th...

Ephesians 2 bible study

Ephesians bible study – Ephesians 2

We know that our Creator made us with a purpose in mind. While many try to reject this idea, the language of our world reflects it regularly.  We hear that we are to ‘follow our heart’ and ‘find our passion’.  We are supposed to ‘do what we were made to do’. Disconnecting these ideas from a purposeful Creator doesn’t make a lot of sense.  But even when we understand the concept that we have a purp...

The term friend has been forever changed by social media.  Our ever changing technology has completely altered how we establish, keep, and grow our friendships. Today we will take a look at the life of Abraham and how his journey leaves the Scripture calling him a friend of God.  God put a unique calling on Abraham’s life, and despite the overwhelming odds that he faced, Abraham put his faith into...

Sometimes, we ask God for too little. Probably all the time. God is not the God of "just enough" or the "what you expected". He is the God of "more than we could ask or imagine". Yet, when we pray and try to hold on to that idea, our limited way of thinking and seeing so often overrides our faith. We can't quite believe that God would be impossibly good because we...

Church can be a place where people pretend that everything is fine.  We can imagine it as a place where we need to hide the hardships and struggles of life.  We look around and think that everyone else has a relatively smooth life and that it is easy for them to worship Jesus.  But if we get past the assumptions and shallow way of thinking about others, we realize that life is probably hard for al...

Closing out this month's discussion on Bringing Outsiders In, Pastor Mark turns our focus to the younger generations at Hope. If we truly want to be a church that knows how to include people, we must be a church that models this to our kids and for our kids.

In sports competitions, someone who is really performing at their peak is said to be ‘in the zone’. That phrase has expanded to other realms as well – academics, business, art, and so much more. Getting ‘in the zone’ is a way we talk about functioning as well as possible and seeing the best version of the results we’re shooting for. In church, we are aiming for spiritual progress and growth. It st...

SUNDAY MORNING MESSAGE – Finding My Way In Every person at Hope has a story. Whether this is your first week or you’ve been here for years, we all start as ‘outsiders’. While there are some personalities that are not bothered by this reality, most people find it uncomfortable and challenging. We’re going to hear from several Hopers this morning who will share their stories of finding their way ‘in...

The world in which we live is awash in virtual connection, but seems to not leave much time or energy for actual face-to-face connection. People have hundreds of friends or followers online, but spend most of their time interacting with people by typing words into their phone. Of course, we all feel how unhealthy and harmful this can be. But many of us don’t see any other way to live. As a church,...

Some people are ‘directionally challenged’.  Basically, they can get lost anywhere at any time. If you are heading out on a trip or adventure of some sort, you don’t want to put that person in charge of figuring out which direction to go. Spiritually, we’re talking about outsiders becoming insiders, which is a passion for our church.  But that’s a direction too!  Movement from outside to inside de...

Jesus Invites People In

Here at Hope we believe that our key mission is to share God’s redeeming work with everyone we can. We do this with everyone God has conveniently placed into our lives – family members, co-workers, and church family. But we also want to be sensitive to when God is calling us out of our normal circles to minister to those we would not normally interact with. Enter Kid’s Alley. As a church we have s...

SHARING JESUS One of our big goals as a church family for 2019 is to take a step forward in Sharing Jesus. This is a challenge for us as a church to increase our intention and skill level in reflecting Jesus. And it is also a personal challenge to each of us to grow in our calling as witnesses. So we’ll take a few weeks and talk through several ideas that can help us. There is no more directly ete...

God often calls us into positions where we feel inadequate. This feeling is probably strongest when it comes to raising up the next generation. Whether you are a parent, aunt or uncle, older cousin, teacher, ministry volunteer, or working with kids in any other capacity we all have a stake in the future. Each generation poses a different set of challenges, but this morning we’ll look at three bibl...

This is one of our FAVORITE Sundays of the year – the closing program for our VBS. The whole church has enjoyed an unbelievable week, and we get to gather one last time to learn, to sing, and to enjoy what the Lord has been doing all week in our kids and workers. After we get to watch our kids share what they’ve learned, we’re going to take a look at a story that Jesus told. His point was that peo...

High school can be a brutal time of life. For many teens, it is a time when the people with advantage use it against those without advantage. Many can feel left out, bullied, or invisible. At a time in their lives when many doubts about their own identity and personal worth come to the surface, this kind of social pressure can be overwhelming. But too often, our culture doesn’t stop this kind of b...

Have you ever had a really good story to tell? This kind of story is the type where you are excited about what happened and what it means. If you can’t think of one, imagine getting the job of your dreams or finding the person you want to marry. These are the stories we can’t wait to tell someone. You don’t just wait until someone asks you. Most of the time, you call someone to tell them the news...

If you can remember a time in your life when you tried to learn a new skill, you understand how frustrating it can be to continue to try when you fail time after time. Whether it's riding a bike, or learning a new math, or figuring out how to have a healthy relation ship, new abilities almost never arrive fully developed. There is a learning process that takes time and patience. The same idea...

Think of your favorite story – whether it is a movie, a book, or even a personal story from your own life. There are parts of that story that you just love because they fill your heart with emotions and joy. The storyline finds a way to bring you back to a moment of hope and happiness. But the chances are very high that your story included moments where all was not well. Some damage was done, or s...