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This past Sunday, we continued our teaching series in Acts 2:42-47 exploring some of the core aspects of “Being the Church.” This week, we explored the practice of bearing witness to Christ through the Word about Jesus and the Way of Jesus. While there are plenty of cultural challenges to sharing our faith, we are called to embrace the Word of the Cross as the power of God to change people's lives, even when it is seen as foolish in the eyes of the world. We also bear witness to Christ by practicing his way,  representing his character, and obedience to his teachings. In both word and deed, we desire to invite lost people to see Jesus as who he said he was: “The Way, The Truth, and the Life.” (John 14:6). 

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Please excuse some minor audio interruptions in this recording.  

In this sermon, we delve into the theme of selfless community. Fellowship, or "koinonia," embodies sharing lives and resources within a community, exemplified in Acts 2:42-47. It's an invitation to embrace  God's abundant provision, where scarcity turns to abundance. Embracing God's fellowship reflects the joy and generosity of the Trinity, offering us a taste of Heaven on Earth as we bring what we have to God's table with unwavering trust in His abundant provision.

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This past Sunday, we continued our teaching series in Acts 2:42-47 exploring some of the core aspects of “Being the Church.” We looked at two more core practices of the early church: prayer and the breaking of bread. We explored the transformative power of prayer,  both for and with other believers and the ancient Christian practice of communion or the Lord’s Supper. Both of these practices are essential in binding us together as the church and centering us on the reality of Christ. 

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This past Sunday, we began a new teaching series in Acts 2:42-27 exploring some of the core aspects of “Being the Church.” Among the first things listed in the description of the early church is a devotion to the “fellowship” and the “apostles teaching.” Christian fellowship is far more than simply socializing with other believers; it involves mutual participation in one another’s lives through practices like encouragement and confession. Our fellowship is ultimately rooted in the common truth that binds us together, the gospel of Jesus, passed on by the apostles and recorded in the Scriptures. At Hope Church, we remain committed to each of these essential aspects of the Church as we seek to practice the way of Jesus until it is in Nashville, as it is heaven. 

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This past Sunday, we looked at one of the most well-known and uncomfortable moments in the life of Abraham. God asks Abraham to offer up  Isaac, the long-awaited child of promise, as a sacrifice to test the quality and endurance of Abraham’s faith. While this story presents several challenges and questions to us as modern readers of the Bible, Abraham’s complete trust in the character of God on Mount Moriah is a vivid portrait of what it looks like to entrust our most cherished blessings to the Lord. When we read this story as finding fulfillment in Jesus, we see that God was tangibly demonstrating to Abraham the sort of sacrifice that would be required to secure our salvation. 

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This week, we looked at the birth of Isaac - the long-awaited child of promise - in Genesis 21. In his birth, we see God's grace in action through His faithful fulfillment of this promise to Abraham and Sarah. The fulfillment of this promise also points toward another child of promise and has real-life implications for us today as we live in the same grace that Abraham and Sarah experienced.

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This past Sunday, we continued our teaching series through the life of Abraham, picking up in Genesis 15, several decades after God’s initial call of faith to Abraham and Sarah. God enters into a formal covenant with Abraham and invites him to trust his character even when his experience of his promises is incomplete. We explored how Abraham was counted righteous because of his faith (Gen 15:6) yet questioned how he could be certain God would be faithful (Gen 15:8), illustrating the tension of faith and doubt. Finally, in the covenant ritual, we are given a portrait of God’s unwavering commitment to his purposes of redemption and the sacrifice required to secure it. 

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This past Sunday, we began a teaching series through the life of Abraham, exploring his initial “call of faith” in Genesis 12. Though Abraham lived in a land and among a people who did not know the Lord, he was willing to respond in obedience to God’s call on his life. In both the Old and New Testaments, Abraham is viewed as an example of faith, and his life illustrates some important aspects of what it looks like to be faithful to God’s leading. As we reflect on his call, we’re challenged to consider where God may be calling us to act in faith and what “gods” or “idols” we may need to cast off to do so. 

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This past Sunday, we explored the corporate significance of our salvation in Christ and our commitments to one another as his body. While we affirm the importance of our individual relationship with God, we should never forget that the redemptive work that God is doing in the world is fundamentally communal. In Christ, all people are invited to become a part of the “people of God” (1 Pet 2:9-10). At Hope Church, we demonstrate our commitment to the body of Christ through four pillars: Gathering, Practicing, Serving, and Giving. As we exercise these things, the church grows in unity and power as a witness for Jesus and his kingdom. 

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