Series: The Gospel of GodScripture: Romans 1:8-15

“I never wanted to follow Jesus.

I never wanted to follow Jesus.

I never wanted to follow Jesus.

He rescued me, He rescued me.

No turning back, no turning back.” – Red Mountain Music

“There’s a direct correlation between the accuracy of our memory and the effectiveness of our mission. If we’re not teaching people how to be saved, it’s perhaps because we’ve forgotten the tragedy of being lost. If we’re not teaching the message of forgiveness, it may be because we don’t remember what it was like to be guilty. And if we’re not preaching the cross, it could be that we’ve subconsciously decided that—God forbid—somehow we don’t need it.” – Max Lucado

“It is very common in Christian circles to assume that “the gospel” is something just for non-Christians. We presume that the gospel is a set of basic “A-B-C” doctrines that Christians do not need to hear or study once they are converted . . . Belief in the gospel is not just the way to enter the kingdom of God; it is the way to address every obstacle and grow in every aspect. The gospel is not just the “ABCs” but the “A-to-Z” of the Christian life. The gospel is the way that anything is renewed and transformed by Christ — whether a heart, a relationship, a church, or a community. All our problems come from a lack of orientation to the gospel. Put positively, the gospel transforms our hearts, our thinking and our approach to absolutely everything.” – Tim KellerThe post The Eager-to-Preach Gospel! first appeared on Hope Church PCA.

Series: The Gospel of GodScripture: Romans 1: 1-7

“Fundamentally, the gospel is news. It’s good news—the good news about what our triune God has accomplished for His people:

the Father’s sending His Son, the incarnate Jesus Christ, to live perfectly, fulfill the law, and die sacrificially, satisfying God’s wrath

against us that we might not face hell, thereby atoning for our sins; and raising Him from the dead by the power of the Holy

Spirit. It is the victorious announcement that God saves sinners . . . The gospel is good news, not good advice or good

instructions, just as J. Gresham Machen wrote: “What I need first of all is not exhortation, but a gospel, not directions for saving

myself but knowledge of how God has saved me. Have you any good news? That is the question that I ask of you.”

Burke Parsons

“But He gives more grace (James 4:6). This is one of the most encouraging verses in Scripture. It tells us that whatever we forfeit

when we put self in the place of God, we cannot forfeit our salvation: ‘He gives more grace.’ No matter what we do to Him, God

is still not beaten. Our salvation depends not upon ourselves and is not in an ultimate sense threatened by our self-centredness,

because He gives more grace. Even when we break the heart of God, His response is this, to give more grace . . . That is, even if we

were to turn to God and say, ‘The supply I have had so far is not enough to carry me through in this process of cleaning up my life

until it is pleasing to you’, God would reply, ‘Well, you may have more.’ His resources are never at an end. His patience is never

exhausted. His initiative never stops. ‘He gives more grace.’”

Alec MotyerThe post The Gospel of God: There is a Church in Rome! first appeared on Hope Church PCA.

This was a delightful celebration of God’s faithfulness to Hope Church in the 25 years since it began. Enjoy some oldies but goodies, hear from our first two pastors, and reflect on all that God has done!The post 25th Anniversary Celebration first appeared on Hope Church PCA.

Series: Becoming the Church Jesus Longs ForScripture: John 13: 34-35; Galatians 5:13-15;Galatians 6:2

“There has been a long tradition which sees the mission of the Church primarily as obedience to a command.  It has been customary to speak of ‘the missionary mandate.’  This way of putting the matter is certainly not without justification, and yet it seems to me that it misses the point.  It tends to make mission a burden rather than a joy, to make it part of the law rather than part of the gospel.  If one looks at the New Testament evidence one gets another impression.  Mission begins with a kind of explosion of joy.  The news that the rejected and crucified Jesus is alive is something that cannot possibly be suppressed.  It must be told.  Who could be silent about such a fact?” 

Lesslie Newbigin

“In service which Thy will appoints, there are no bonds for me;

For my inmost heart is taught “the truth” that makes Thy children “free;”

And a life of self–renouncing love is a life of liberty. 

Anna Waring

“The purpose of our lives is to remove the veil from the Father’s face and to display something of God’s glory to the world.”

Dale BrunerThe post Becoming the Church Jesus Longs For: Bearing Each Other’s Burdens first appeared on Hope Church PCA.

Series: Becoming the Church Jesus Longs ForScripture: John 13: 34-35; Ephesians 4: 1-6

“Getting saved is easy; becoming a community is difficult – damnably difficult.”

Eugene Peterson

“If we do not give thanks daily for the Christian fellowship in which we have been placed, even when there is no great experience, no discoverable riches, but much weakness, small faith, and difficulty; if on the contrary, we only keep complaining to God that everything is so paltry and petty, so far from what we expected, then we hinder God from letting our fellowship grow according to the measure and riches which are there for us all in Jesus Christ.”

Dietrich Bonhoeffer

“The biggest problem people have in searching for the perfect community is just that. You don’t find community; you create it through love. Look how this transforms the way you enter a room of strangers. Our instinctive thought is, “Who do I know? Who am I comfortable with?” There’s nothing wrong with those questions, but the Jesus questions that create communities are, “Who can I love? Who is left out?” 

Paul MillerThe post Becoming the Church Jesus Longs For: Forbearing with One Another first appeared on Hope Church PCA.

Series: When You PrayScripture: Colossians 1: 9-14

“To be right with God the judge is a great thing, but to be loved and cared for by God the father is a greater.” 

J.I. Packer

“No matter how little you think you are, in God’s hand you will be used to accomplish his will in eternally significant ways. There are no little people and no big people, only consecrated or unconsecrated. The call on every Christian’s life is to seek the lowest place of service to God which he will then transform into consecrated leadership.”

Francis Schaeffer

“Prayerlessness leads to a strange powerlessness, emptiness, and burnout even in successful churches. Prayerfulness leads to an equally strange power, fullness, and energy, in even discouraging environments.” 

Paul MillerThe post Week 11 – When You Pray: Saints on the Move first appeared on Hope Church PCA.

Series: When You PrayScripture: Jude 17-25

Christianity is not clay in the hands of the world-spirit to be molded by it, but is itself to be the moulder of public sentiment and everything else.

Rev. Francis Grimke 

Contemporary people tend to examine the Bible, looking for things they can’t accept; but Christians should reverse that, allowing the Bible to examine us, looking for things God can’t accept.

Dr. Tim Keller 

I will build my church. 

JesusThe post Now & Forever first appeared on Hope Church PCA.

Series: When You PrayScripture: Luke 18: 9-14

 “The world is drowning in its efforts at life; it does not need lifeguards who swim to it carrying barbells.”  

Robert Farrar Capon

“The religious see God as useful; gospel-believing Christians see God as beautiful.” 

Tim Keller

“I am throwing all my good works overboard, and lashing myself to the plank of free grace; for I hope to swim to glory on it.”  

Charles SpurgeonThe post Week 10 – When You Pray: Upside Down Turned Right Side Up first appeared on Hope Church PCA.

Series: When You PrayScripture: Luke 18: 1-8

“To persevere is to succeed.”  

Thomas Sutcliffe Mort

“By the mercy of God, we do not lose heart . . . We do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light and momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison.”  

2 Corinthians 4:2, 16

“I believe that I shall look upon the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living! Wait upon the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord!”  

Psalm 27: 13-14The post Week 9 – When You Pray: Don’t Lose Heart first appeared on Hope Church PCA.

Series: When You PrayScripture: Matthew 6:5-13

“You  have said, “Seek my face.” My heart says, “Your face, Lord, do I seek.” 

Psalm 27: 8

“All shall work together for good. Everything is needful that he sends; nothing can be needful that he withholds.” 

 John Newton

“O Lord, you who own the cattle on a thousand hills, preserve us from living in an economy of scarcity where nothing and no one is good enough, causing us to live stingy and self-absorbed lives. Fill our hearts instead with your abundant life, so that we may be generous-spirited in all that we do and with everyone whom we meet. In the name of the One who makes more than enough.”  

“A Prayer for Being Generous-Spirited” by David O. TaylorThe post Week 7 – When You Pray: Two Dead-ends and One Way to Life first appeared on Hope Church PCA.