Hope Alliance Bethlehem

The true beauty of Christmas is the realization that the light of God has invaded the darkness of our world. In so doing, we are called out of the darkness through the incarnation of Jesus to be sons and daughters of God, children of light. ** This teaching includes personal stories of light coming into darkness from our Hope family. Thanks to Regina, Maura, Jesse and Michelle for sharing your stories!

Growth can be slow and gradual or happen in spurts. But when it happens, it is the Spirit's work of changing us to be more like Jesus. Even though this is true, the Bible still calls us to cooperate with the Spirit's work. We cannot do this personal improvement projects where we stop doing wrong things and start doing right things. We have to get to the foundation of our behavior and bring the gospel to bear on our belief.

Doubt is a common and universal reality. In fact, our call to faith implies the presence of doubt. Rather than turning away from God in pride or stuffing our doubt deep inside to be more religious, God receives those who humbly and honestly acknowledge their doubts to him. And in so doing, we actually find more of him.

For followers of Jesus, mission is something that is meant to intentionally define as aspects of our lives. No matter what we are doing, we believe God has providentially placed us there is order to reflect his image and his gospel to those around us. And so it becomes critical for us to become aware and active in the spheres of influence.

Loving others is foundational to Christian faith, yet difficult to live out. In this talk we look at the origin of Christian love and some practical ways to try and grow this character trait in partnership with the Holy Spirit working in us.

God is generous. And he calls his people to be generous people. True generosity is found in the gospel and in a life lived in response to the gospel. We are called to a radical, sacrificial generosity because we are made in the image of a radically and sacrificially generous God.

Prayer was never meant to be some religious activity for the spiritual elites. It is actually one of God's means of welcoming us into his loving arms. In prayer, we reflect on who God is and what he has done. And in light of those realities, we speak honestly with him about our lives and trust in his goodness. Rather than trying to prove ourselves as spiritual people, we come to God in prayer simply to be with him and to acknowledge our helplessness without him.

In this talk we look at how the Holy Spirit works in both dynamic and subtle ways to make us "Heaven and Earth" people that reveal God to the world around us. This was God's intent as prophesied in Ezekiel 36 and 37 (among other places) and fulfilled in Acts 2. Furthermore, the Spirit also fills us and transforms us as we see in Ephesians and Galatians 5.

Faith is not just a set of beliefs or an internal feeling. More than anything it is action. Action on the basis of hope. When Scripture calls us to faith, it is calling us to act on the hope we have in God's love for and divine rescue of us. When we find our identity in this story, we take holy risks - big and small - living into what it means to live by faith.