Hope Alliance Bethlehem

As a leader, God told Joshua to be strong and courageous. This courage was actually rooted in his obedience to God. And in Jesus we see this courageous obedience that delivers the promises of God to his people.

In Jesus' parable of the mustard seed, he tells us that the kingdom of God starts improbably, but becomes and undeniable reality. As we consider the impact God wants to have through us, this is the vision of the kingdom that he wants us to grasp. Using this picture of multiplication, our vision for the coming year is to see God use each of us to see one for one growth!

Jesus came as a king. This is why he said that the kingdom of God has come near. And his urge to those who heard him was to repent. True repentance is not regret, but a change of mind that brings about a change in action. When we truly believe that Jesus is our king, we become people who desire to follow him and make his ways our ways.

Jesus came to as a man to heal what humanity could not. He entered deeply into our story, not to condemn us, but to rescue us and to call us to a whole new way of living.

In this talk we we continue our Advent series by looking at how "Jesus came as a light in the darkness, to those waiting, as a man and as a king." Specifically we look at the story of Zacchaeus and how he was actively waiting for Jesus and how Jesus came to seek and save the lost.

In this talk we kick off our 2016 Advent Series. We cover the first part of a four-part statement: "Jesus came to be light in the darkness, to those waiting, as a man and as a king."

The atoning work of Jesus on the cross for us covers our sins and offers us a whole new way of life. A big part of this is the availability of healing through Jesus work of atonement. Just as he took up our sin, so too he took up our pain and sickness. Jesus moves for healing according to his will and for his glory. We cannot manipulate him, nor make demands of him. However, we should pursue him with expectation, just never with assumption.

How do we respond to the aftermath of a crazy election cycle? We need to learn to listen. Listen to God when he reminds us he is sovereign and therefore our only hope for the salvation and security we all so long to feel. And listen to each other has people given to gentleness which seeks fairness and justice for each other.

On November 6th, our church became an accredited church with the Christian & Missionary Alliance. One this important day, we considered Jesus' caution against trading mission for comfort and were reminded that we are a family on mission.