Penhold Church of Hope

As Jesus begins his public ministry, John the Baptist continues to point his followers to the Lamb of God and Jesus offers a glimpse of his glory with his first miracle at Cana.

Through suffering and testing, not only did Jesus learn obedience and become our High Priest (Heb  4:15; 5:8), we showed us how we can confront and overcome the temptation of the devil today.

Jesus' identification with sinners through his baptism invites us now to identify with His redeeming death and resurrection in our baptism.

In taking on human nature, Jesus had to grow in wisdom and stature. If Jesus needed to spend time listening and learning in His Father's house, we ought to do likewise.

Talk of repentance often depressingly brings our sins to the forefront of our attention. But that is the wrong focus of repentance. David shows us that through our sin and brokenness we gain access to the mercy and joy of the Lord.

Despite the many unknowns and unanswered questions, the main point is clear: wisemen from the east were divinely guided through celestial signs and Herod's evil intentions to worship the newborn king. Will we do the same?

The angels' appearance to the lowly and despised shepherds reminds us that Jesus came to save sinners, not those who think they are righteous. 

No matter your age, the immediate obedience of the young teenager, Mary, in submitting to God stands to convict and encourage us to act in the same way, trusting God's leading even when he takes us in life-altering directions.

Through he appears only briefly in the pages of the Gospels, the character of Joseph as Mary's betrothed and Jesus's earthly father gives us an example to follow.

When Mary looked upon Jesus, she was beholding God incarnate, the eternal Creator of the universe.

The ideas of fear and worship at first seem contradictory. Yet, as we find in Scripture, the fear of God is the proper starting point for worshipping the Lord Almighty.

After a curious absence of God in David's story during his time with the Philistines, David turns to God and finds both strength and abundance.

Through God's providence, David and his men escape from having to fight with the Philistines against the Israelites only to find their hometown raided and families kidnapped. With everything lost and his men turning on him, David looks to his one source of unending strength.   Lyric video available here: https://youtu.be/7wCfHXgJbdg Song: Rescuer(Good News)  Artist: Rend Collective ...

Instead of waiting on God, Saul, the man once full of promise, violates God's commands to consult a medium and does not receive the answer he was wanting to hear.

Could you be content in a heaven without Christ? Heaven is not the absence of sorrow, suffering and death; it is found in God's all-encompassing presence.

Despite experiencing and trusting in God's providence as he was pursued by Saul, David now falls prey to despair and the trap of his own deception as he listens only to his own advice.

Saul's worldly sorrow is on display as he returns to hunting down David who shows us how a true child of God acts toward his enemies.

Abigail courageously and graciously confronts David rushing toward a murderous mistake.

From 1 Samuel 25, one man acts according to his reputation and the other man acts against his. Both have lessons for us today. 

Guest speaker Bruce McCaskell shares his work with Northern Canada Evangelical Mission and Pine Ridge Bible Camp while reminding us to serve as imitators of God.

Just as in the days of Noah, so people now are living life as usual even as the day of Christ's return approaches.

With his pursuer at his mercy, David shows that he is a man after God's own heart.

With Saul rounding the hill and closing in, David comes to know that place, and God, as the Rock of Escape.

The fugitive David acts more like a king than the king that is pursuing him and in the process reveals God's nature and expectations.

Just like our strengths and talents, our weaknesses are given for the purpose of perfecting God's power.