New Hope Church - Podcast

Even anger is a gift from God. Healthy anger can help us identify injustice and even motivate us to initiate change. Unhealthy anger can be harmful to ourselves and others. God wants us to focus our anger on the sin in our lives, while allowing Him to help us find peace.

Praise is an emotional response to things we’re passionate about. It’s natural to feel that way about people we admire, accomplishments we achieve, and even possessions we acquire. The Bible teaches us how to prioritize the things we treasure - especially in relation to our Savior who deserves the best of our praise.

God doesn’t want us to live dull lives. Every day we’re presented with opportunities that shape our perspective. How we choose to respond to those opportunities is our choice. Living with enthusiasm is available to all of us.

Understanding love is key to having a successful and fulfilling life. Unfortunately, the feeling of love isn’t enough to sustain us. True love has an emotional component but is so much more!

Laughter is good for us. It’s usually associated with joy, and often times involves sharing that joy with others. There are studies that show various health benefits occur when we laugh, due to chemicals and endorphins released into our bloodstream. We need to keep in mind that our laughter should never be used in hurtful or harmful situations.

We all feel sad at times. It’s a normal response to the difficulties of life. Even Jesus experienced moments of great sadness. The important thing for us to remember is that Jesus understands how we’re feeling and is ready to comfort us when we turn to Him in prayer.

So much of what we do is in the pursuit of feeling happy. We need to be careful, however, that our efforts to feel good don’t distract us, leaving us lost along the way.

This weekend we’ll celebrate baptism in all of our services. Why is baptism so important? Because it signifies our inclusion in God’s family. Baptism declares our faith, shares in Christ’s burial and Resurrection, symbolizes our death to our old life and announces our new life in Christ. It publicly announces to the world, “I am not ashamed to be a part of God’s family.” Jesus commanded this beaut...

Summertime is finally here! Bring on the warmer weather and longer daylight. Some of us have big plans for vacation and travel. Others are looking forward to doing things closer to home. What we all have in common is being surrounded by opportunities unique to summer that can make a huge difference in our lives and those in our circle of influence. Come join us as we look at simple ways we can all...

Bees play a big role beyond their own colony. When bees pollenate, the benefits are vast. Staying true to their purpose allows countless plants to grow and thrive, which benefits us all. A thriving community can be infectious in the same way. There are ripple effects that make our world a better place for everyone.

Every colony relies on a queen for survival. The church is absolutely dependent on Jesus for our life, unity and direction.

We are created by God to be involved in meaningful activity that benefits ourselves and others. Discovering what God has planned for me to be and do, will lead to success.

Family – we were created to belong with others. Whether it’s our biological family or close network of friends, having healthy relationships is essential - like a healthy bee colony.

There is power in numbers. When we join together as brothers and sisters, united by our faith in God, we can and will make a huge difference in the world. He hears our prayers and answers them when we earnestly seek His will.

We’ve all heard the phrase, “There’s no ‘I’ in team.” The truth is, there are on God’s team. We’re all unique creations, individually designed to serve him in ways we alone can. But, we’re only effective when we humbly team together and encourage each other.

God wants us to join His team. Not because He needs our help, but because He loves us and wants us to partner with Him. In fact, you don’t even have to try out. As believers, we’re already on the roster.

The Easter story is a roller coaster of emotional highs and lows. Those who followed Jesus during that time knew He was the only hope of the world. When He died, they experienced a crushing feeling of loss and discouragement, because they weren’t privy to the rest of God’s plan. The same is true for us today. How do we maintain faith and hope when it sometimes feels like all hope is lost?

Anxiety is a word we seem to hear with growing urgency. Our fast-paced world is overwrought with the pressures of social media, family and relational difficulties, a contentious political climate, and distressing reports on the evening news. It’s easy to understand how a growing segment of our population lives in a constant state of anxiousness and worry. This feeling isn’t unknown to Jesus. Toget...

Pride is dangerous and epidemic. By definition, it means to have a very high opinion of one’s importance, merit or superiority. We have an enemy that consistently reminds us to feed our own egos. Scripture tells us time and again that humility, obedience and putting the needs of others above ourselves are the character traits that God is most interested in.

As followers of Jesus, we are promised the blessing of eternity in heaven, but that in no way guarantees our lives will be pain and trouble free. In fact, a life led by faith in God almost guarantees an uphill battle. When the fight feels hard, cynicism and bitterness can easily take root if we don’t follow God’s lead to resist and replace them!

Unhealthy fear can be paralyzing, robbing us of our ability to think and act rationally. Fear can also lead us into a survival mode that feeds off of self-preservation rather than life-giving faith. The Bible gives us many examples of how keeping our focus on Jesus can give us unlimited peace, strength and courage.

There are two basic kinds of anger. The first is righteous anger that condemns injustice. Jesus was no stranger to this. The second is self-righteous anger that stems from an array of sinful behaviors involving arrogance, pride, judgment and more. We can’t control all situations, but with God’s help we can control how we react to them, and how we treat people in the process.

This weekend we’ll celebrate baptism in all of our services. Why is baptism so important? Because it signifies our inclusion in God’s family. Baptism declares our faith, shares in Christ’s burial and Resurrection, symbolizes our death to our old life and announces our new life in Christ. It publicly announces to the world, “I am not ashamed to be a part of God’s family.” Jesus commanded this beaut...

While our time on Earth might not always be easy, we have a great promise and a hope that cannot be taken from us.

None of us have it all together. Even the wisest and most mature get out of line and need correction. The Bible shows us where we are wrong, and then how to get back on the right track.