Hope Christian Fellowship

When we hear about a ‘good Samaritan’ we have this picture of someone happening upon a person in need and being kind-hearted enough to help. This kind of event brings warmth to our hearts and in some cases even reassures us about the state of humanity. But when Jesus first told the story, it was offensive, shocking, and scandalous. He told this story to challenge His listeners to a different way o...

FIND REST FOR YOUR SOUL SERIES

There is a saying often repeated that says, “Nothing worthwhile comes for free.” Your experience probably bears this out to a large degree. When we want something that actually has value, there is a price to pay. Of course, we don’t hold back from paying that price if we really believe that what we get in return is of much greater value. Jesus spoke to three men who offered to follow Him, and His...

Find Rest for Your Soul Series Topics: freedom , God's Plan , Rest

If you were going to make an investment, you’d probably want to be pretty careful about where you put your money. Throwing cash around randomly would not seem to be the best way to maximize your returns. But we read a very famous story today that Jesus told where He describes a farmer recklessly throwing seed everywhere. There was a good chance that several of the places where seed landed would no...

Are you constantly worn out and racing from one thing to the next? Maybe this has more to do with the condition of your soul than the overload of your schedule. Join us on Wednesday nights in January and February as we look at what brings rest to our hearts and souls. It may change your choices in scheduling stuff, but it will probably go much deeper than that and invite you to a completely differ...

As a church, we want to share Jesus.  Sometimes we think of that as sharing Him with people “out there.” But our greatest privilege is to share Him with the next generation of Hopers!  Today, we get to have our teens take over our service and to receive ministry from them.  It reminds us of what is at stake in our efforts to reach our own kids.  And it encourages us to think about how we’re influe...

Mark Hartwell  brings tonight's study Topics: bad things , God's Plan

Suppose you wanted to grow apples… You’d probably need some land and some equipment.  You’d definitely need some information and know-how.  But unless you actually got some apple trees, you’d never produce any apples.  This is such an obvious truth that Jesus uses it to explain a spiritual truth.  You get what you grow.  You grow what you plant.  If you plant an orange tree, you’re not going to ge...

Are you constantly worn out and racing from one thing to the next?  Maybe this has more to do with the condition of your soul than the overload of your schedule.  Join us on Wednesday nights in January as we look at what brings rest to our hearts and souls.  It may change your choices in scheduling stuff, but it will probably go much deeper than that and invite you to a completely different life! ...

Are you constantly worn out and racing from one thing to the next?  Maybe this has more to do with the condition of your soul than the overload of your schedule.  Join us on Wednesday nights in January as we look at what brings rest to our hearts and souls.  It may change your choices in scheduling stuff, but it will probably go much deeper than that and invite you to a completely different life!

Our mission for 2017 is to share Jesus.  We are asking God to teach us how to share Him with those who are lost and those who have lost their way.  Today we have the privilege of hearing from someone that God has called to share Jesus for their living!  Josh Hallahan is our missionary to Uganda (as well as the brother of our youth pastor!) and he will give us an update on what God is doing there,...

Have you ever wondered how many ‘judge’ shows are now on TV?  Long ago, “The People’s Court” made it popular to look in on the way a court works.  We heard the evidence from each side, and then came to an opinion on which side should win.  Others followed in Judge Wapner’s steps, and now we have had dozens of shows where the entire program is litigation. Maybe the reason this became so appealing i...

Are you constantly worn out and racing from one thing to the next?  Maybe this has more to do with the condition of your soul than the overload of your schedule.  Join us on Wednesday nights in January as we look at what brings rest to our hearts and souls.  It may change your choices in scheduling stuff, but it will probably go much deeper than that and invite you to a completely different life!

Because we trust and follow Jesus, we thought it would be a great idea to take a walk through the gospel of Luke and dig into the words of Jesus Himself.  We’ll find them challenging and full of insight.  And with open hearts, we’ll allow the Spirit to instruct us on how we should walk as Christians in this world. Our loved ones are what gives our lives a sense of depth and meaning.  Those we are...

We kick off a new year filled with possibilities and hope.  What this year becomes depends largely on what we do with the time we’re given.  What goals will we pursue?  What will we value?  How courageous will we be?  Of course, many things are beyond our control, and we have to choose to walk by faith in those things.  But how do the words of Jesus affect how we look at life?  We’re going to star...

This Christmas day we have the privilege of worshiping the Savior who was born to rescue us.  All of the lights, gifts, and celebration are founded on the amazing gift that God gave to the world on Christmas morning.  We’re going to take an hour and read through the Biblical story of Christmas as well as singing some carols and hearing some music.  Then, we’ll open together the best Christmas gift...

(The video that we showed during the service can be accessed at this location: https://vimeo.com/183781814 Have you ever noticed that Christmas includes a lot of gift giving?  That’s probably a dumb question, but it’s significant that this time of year is connected with giving.  Obviously, giving one another gifts – often through personal sacrifice – is reflecting the gift God gave us in His Son J...

As the Christmas season kicks off, light displays begin filling our dark nights and familiar songs start to fill our ears.  In the air hangs a sense of a building celebration which will reach a full crescendo on Christmas day.  But it all starts with a story.  The familiar Bible account of the birth of Jesus. This story has been told over and over again, yet somehow the impact never seems to stop....

With our year rapidly heading towards a close, we’re going to take this Sunday morning and talk about what’s next for Hope.  The past few years have been full of growth and victories which are nothing less than a testament to the power and goodness of God.  He is the One at work in our church, and so we look to our Lord for direction about where we should turn our energy next.

Join us as we dig into 1Corinthians and gain a deeper understanding of God’s Word and its application to our daily lives. 

Trust can be a tricky thing.  You may be prone to distrust at this point in your life, but all of us are virtually required to start out life with complete trust.  We are helpless and entirely dependent on those taking care of us.  As life moves on, we experience betrayals of trust and we start to learn the dangers of opening ourselves up to the weaknesses of others.  This can bring doubt into our...

Join us as we dig into 1Corinthians and gain a deeper understanding of God’s Word and its application to our daily lives. 

If you watch the news on any given night, the chances are quite high that you will hear information on some type of danger that threatens you and your family.  Whether it is the type of food you buy, the places you go, or what is happening in the world, we all perk our ears up at a warning so that we know if we need to adjust something to increase our safety.  Solomon uses this human tendency to t...

Have you ever been walking along a sidewalk, quietly enjoying your stroll when suddenly you trip over something unseen?  Maybe it is an uneven seam in the concrete or some object you didn’t notice, but the front of your foot somehow found it anyway.  These tripping hazards aren’t big and certainly aren’t unavoidable, but their small size somehow contributes to their dark power to cause your downfa...