Hope Christian Fellowship

Have you ever known someone who was a giving person? Most of the time, these kind of people are called nice,kind and many other complimentary adjectives. But proverbs ups the ante by saying that a generous person is actually someone who is WISE. In other words, when you really understand how to live and how life works, the natural outcome is that you are drawn towards giving .If that's true, w...

“Sticks and stones….”  If you’ve ever heard the playground rhyme, you know the rest.  The message behind it is that words cannot hurt us.  In some sense that is true; we decide to a large degree how much the words of others impact us.  But Proverbs teach us that words have a power of their own.  It isn’t the same as the power of physical action, but that does not mean they are powerless.  When was...

How are you at reading people?  Can you pick out the con artist right away, or do you have to get taken advantage of a few times before you figure it out? There are all kinds of people in our lives, and knowing the difference between the helpful and the hurtful is a huge key to life.  But what kind of person are you?  Proverbs describes the difference between people who are wise and people who are...

You’ve probably heard that “God is love”. That comes from a letter the apostle John wrote that wound up in the New Testament.  That saying can give the impression of a God who is always gentle and soft.  But did you know that there are things God hates?  If God is Almighty King and judge, wouldn’t it be important to know what these things are?  As we continue traveling through the book of Proverbs...

My apologies, but the last 10 minutes of Chick's lesson somehow was corrupted and we are unable to save that portion of the lesson. We have kept as much as possible and we hope you enjoy what Chick has to tell us from God.

So many mothers feel inadequate.  Not every day, and not all the time, but somewhere in the back of their minds this kind of doubt lives.  I don’t know what to do, I’m not doing a good enough job, I’m not a good mom (or as good of a mother as I think I should be). On really bad days or in some of the really hard seasons of life, these doubts seem almost inescapably real. This experience isn’t uniq...

Topics: Spiritual Gifts , Tongues

This recording has fixed a problem with the last 5 minutes that was evident on the upload done on Sunday. Topics: God's Plan , marriage , sexualilty

Topics: Spiritual Gifts

Would you put your money in a bank that had no locks and no guards?  If not, it probably has something to do with the fact that you don’t want your money stolen.  Unguarded valuables are never a good idea.  Proverbs tell us to guard our heart.  And it tells us why we should do this.  It also tells us to guard instruction.  Underlying these commands is an understanding that these things are both va...

Here’s a spoiler: magicians don’t actually have magical powers.  While it can seem like they have otherworldly powers, the reality is that they are very clever and skilled in performing illusions that seem to have no possible explanation.  If you simply believe what your eyes see, you will be tricked!  Spiritually this is also true.  We have to decide if we are going to trust what we see, what mak...

Topics: 1 Corinthians

Waiting for someone to keep their promise can be a frustrating experience. Depending on how well you know the person, you may have trouble waiting for a long time without doubting whether or not they are going to stay true to their word.  God made a promise to humanity back in the Garden of Eden – pretty much right after mankind rebelled and broke everything. That promise waited thousands of years...

If you look back on your life, you may have one or two regrets… maybe more! Many times, regret is connected to something you did even though someone tried to warn you not to do it.  If you’ve been on the other side of this dynamic, you know the sadness and frustration of trying to help someone avoid trouble who isn’t interested in what you have to say.  Proverbs talks about this reality.  It advis...

Have you ever been at a party where everyone is talking at once and it is hard to hear the person you’re talking to?  Some people say it’s hard to even think when it is that noisy.  Lots of noise and talking can actually become a barrier to communication.  The answer is to go to a place with less noise so that you can tune into the person you’re actually having a conversation with.  In life, there...

This is the day we celebrate together the most powerful and transformational event of all time: the resurrection of Jesus Christ.  Many think this is just a fable meant to teach us some philosophical truth.  But those who were closest to Jesus did not believe that; in fact, they were killed because they wouldn’t back down from their testimony that He had risen.  Today, we’re going to start with an...

Holidays generally have some meaning behind them.  People often treat them as just a day off work (or a day of holiday pay) but throughout time, holidays have been based on something that the culture felt was important enough to remember. As we finish the story of Esther, we’ll see that God’s deliverance of the Jews was supernatural and stunningly complete.  In response, the Jews create a new holi...

Many of us know the frustration of working hard to finish only to find that we missed something. The relief that can flood our mind when we feel 'done' is quickly replaced with a deeper level of exhaustion than before. Whether it is a school project that we thought was complete, or our personal to-do-list, realizing that the finish line is still a bit further up the road can really be demo...

Have you ever had to deal with a decision someone else made without your input?  Those moments can be filled with fear, frustration, and disappointment.  If it is someone in charge of you, you can feel helpless over your own life.  In Esther’s story, the king has made a decision that will affect Esther and her entire nation.  She has decided to make an appeal to him about this decision, hoping tha...

Many picture God as an angry, kind-of-grumpy, old man.  Others see Him as a great big heart that is mushy and soft.  But God is much more complex than any of our cartoonish ideas of Him. In fact, as we read the stories in the Bible, we sometimes get a glimpse into His humor!  As we read this story, we’ll notice that God clearly knows how to inject a note of levity into very serious matters.  And u...

Week 8 of an extended 5-6 week study on what the Bible has to say about the end of the world.  We’ll be looking at books like Revelation and Daniel as well as many other passages in the Bible. Our topics will include the tribulation, the rapture, heaven and hell, the Second Coming, as well as Jesus’ rule on earth as King.  Since there are so many different ideas about what the Bible says, we’ll tr...

We hear a lot about self-centered people and how awful it is to be around someone like that.  But what does it mean to be ‘all about you’?  And what if it turns out that every one of us struggle with seeing life through a self-focused view?  Haman is the villain in the story of Esther, in large part because he is selfish.  But as he interacts with his family over the way he’s treated, we can see t...

Week 7 of an extended 5-6 week study on what the Bible has to say about the end of the world.  We’ll be looking at books like Revelation and Daniel as well as many other passages in the Bible. Our topics will include the tribulation, the rapture, heaven and hell, the Second Coming, as well as Jesus’ rule on earth as King.  Since there are so many different ideas about what the Bible says, we’ll tr...

Becoming Who You Are

Week 6 of a 5-6 week study on what the Bible has to say about the end of the world.  We’ll be looking at books like Revelation and Daniel as well as many other passages in the Bible. Our topics will include the tribulation, the rapture, heaven and hell, the Second Coming, as well as Jesus’ rule on earth as King.  Since there are so many different ideas about what the Bible says, we’ll try to talk...