Hope Christian Fellowship

Ephesians Bible Study

The Sunday before Easter has been celebrated throughout the history of Christianity as the beginning of Passion Week. It is such a vivid contrast to the way the week ends. Jesus rides into Jerusalem as a king, to the cheers of the crowd. We have just finished looking at the Sermon on the Mount where Jesus describes His Kingdom. And now He arrives as the ruler of that Kingdom. Yet, what the crowd e...

Building on Solid Ground (Matthew 7:21-27) A few years ago, a hurricane was bearing down on New Jersey. For those of us who had lived here for a long time, this was a rather unique event. A major storm projected to make landfall on the coast of our state was unsettling and we didn’t quite know what to expect. When the storm hit, it did unbelievable damage: blowing homes from their foundations and...

Ephesians 1 – God is Sovereign

We are bombarded by advertising every single day. Restaurants serve us pictures of food that bears little resemblance to what actually shows up in front of paying customers. Amazing deals are advertised only to be undermined by the ‘small print’. With all the sensational promises we hear, it is hard for us to know how to sort through which ones to believe, and which ones to ignore. Christianity is...

When you play sports, coaches have a bunch of sayings they use to try to get the players to reliably perform well. The short quips summarize some wisdom from years of experience, and help players stay on track in split-second decisions they have to make in the course of a game. Whether a player accepts them or decides to ignore them will likely have a huge impact on their performance (and probably...

Ephesians Bible Study

Wednesday night Bible study on Ephesians 1.

If you've ever read the book or watched the movie, there is a scene in The Lord of the Rings where the whole group is stuck in front of a door while they try to figure out the magic words to open the door. Of course, while they are waiting, danger lurks. And soon after they enter, they are very aware that there is more danger inside. Jesus uses the picture of a closed door to invite people to...

Being unfairly criticized is a terrible feeling. No one likes to be wrongfully accused of anything. Having been on the wrong side of an accusation, there’s nothing like the truth coming to light to clear the air. In John 18, Jesus stands before Pilate and is asked an extremely profound question, What is truth? In our world truth is perceived to be relative, let’s take a look at what the Bible says...

Don’t Judge ( Matthew 7:1-6 ) Does anyone remember the OJ trial? High powered attorneys piled up on one side, with all of the resources of the District Attorney’s office on the other side. But no matter how rich or powerful, each person had to submit to Judge Ito. In retrospect, Judge Ito may have surrendered more control in his courtroom than was healthy for the process. But as the judge in the c...

Ephesians 1 Bible Study

Back in the 80s, a very popular song suggested “Don’t Worry, Be Happy”. The catchy tune coupled with a very simple formula for a carefree life was quite appealing. But it did seem to oversimplify the process of letting go of worry. For many of us, worry is a constant companion. We don’t want harm to come to the people we love. We don’t want to lose what is important to us. So we are drawn into wor...

Back in the day, boys would trade baseball cards. Most of us didn’t think it was important to keep the cards pristine. In fact, some even used them to recreate a motorcycle sound by putting them in the spokes of their bikes. Later, baseball cards became a legitimate hobby, and collectors drove the price of certain cards to unimaginable heights. Of course, if a little boy knew how much that card wo...

Just Hunger Youth Sunday Do you love Chinese food? I love Chinese food. but what I've found is that it doesn't matter how much of it I eat, within a few hours I am hungry again. This is true of most foods that are high in starches and/or carbs. Jesus plays on this reality multiple times throughout the gospels, calling himself "the bread of life" and "living water". We d...

The Lord’s Prayer – Part 3 One of the hardest parts of any relationship is forgiveness. Each of us is desperate to be forgiven; our eternal destiny hangs in the balance. But in human relationships, forgiving those who hurt us, and asking for forgiveness when we hurt others are two of the most difficult tasks. In Jesus’ prayer, He talks about forgiveness. He starts by talking about our need for God...

Many people think of prayer as a way to get God to do what the prayer thinks He should do. Yet, as Jesus prays, He seems to take an entirely different approach. Instead of starting with all kinds of requests about the circumstances of life, Jesus begins by declaring that He wants God’s way to unfold. He teaches us to see prayer as a way to align our hearts with our Lord’s heart. We learn that citi...

Praying is one of the most basic parts of being a Christian. When you’re first a believer, you might feel like you don’t know how to pray ‘correctly’. While prayer is actually not that complicated, it had gotten very twisted up in Jesus’ time. So Jesus takes the opportunity while speaking to a crowd on a hillside, and teaches them how to pray. Some people today may be surprised to learn that the i...

There’s a saying that cryptically asks “if a tree falls in the forest, and no one is there to hear it, does it make a sound?” That question has been used in many different debates, but we’re going to look at one way it can be applied. People like for others to see when they perform well. It feels good to be noticed, and it feels like it actually makes more of a difference when our good deeds or ac...

For our last Sunday of the year, we have a special treat: we get to have Lauren Pupchik come and share with us about her ministry in Guatemala, and to introduce us to an opportunity that we have to send some Hopers to work with her for a week in the new year. You don’t want to miss Lauren – she is always such an incredible blessing to us, and her heart for Jesus shines through so clearly. Then we’...

When someone damages you in any significant way, it not only causes you suffering, it also can make you feel powerless. The natural anger or sadness that comes from loss joins together with a desire to regain control of your life. So often, we think through ways to get revenge. It may not bring back what we’ve lost, but it will definitely give us the sense that we’re back on top. Jesus, our King,...

Who would like to be the perfect mom? Or dad? We long to measure up to the highest standard in roles that matter to us. So whether we are trying to be the perfect student, teammate, employee, or citizen, we can all understand the desire to eliminate mistakes and do everything right. But the nature of being human is that we all mess up – no one escapes this reality! So we come to the end of the fir...

some people can’t be believed. Maybe you have someone like this in your life: they have made promises or told stories that later turned out to be empty words or inflated truths. It is a struggle to be connected to someone you can’t believe in any kind of deep relationship. You’re always guessing what is actually true and what is just said for effect. Jesus talks about how our words should carry tr...

We’re going to set aside this morning from our study in the Sermon on the Mount to talk together as a church family. We want to sync up on who we are and where we’re headed. In order for us to function well as a body, we all need to understand what God has called us to and how we approach the work He’s given us. So today, we’ll dig into some of the keys to our ministry and put our hearts and minds...

Cheating On Your Spouse ( Matthew 5:27-30 ) Some of us have taken this path and faced the devastation that follows. Others of us watch depictions of this storyline with fascination. It is incredible that something that causes so much pain to so many is the subject of story after story in our entertainment. Jesus takes on this topic with some startling words. In fact, these words are so shocking th...