Living Hope

Ephesians 5:15-20

Time management. It’s something we all need more of and can never hope to master. Time is in short supply and no matter how much we wish we could just “buy back” more time, that’s not exactly how it works. Time marches on and takes us with it. Since time is a limited resource

we want to be wise in our use of it. God gives his own time management plan in Ephesians 5 and points us to the best use of time we could possibly have.

1 Peter. 5:6-11

Ever struggle with anxiety, stress, worry or depression? If you don’t you just might be one-of-a-kind. Everyone deals with anxiety. When squeezing a stress ball just isn’t enough, how will you find relief? God knows how to deal with anxiety. He tells you to throw it all on him!

Acts 8:26-39

Sometimes God will bless us with opportunities to share our faith that are just too good to pass up! Today, we see Philip seizing an opportunity to explain God's Word to an Ethiopian eunuch and even to baptize him right away along the road. Our guest pastor, Wayne Uhlhorn, will share how we can apply this account to our own lives and the opportunities God places before us.

2 Corinthians 9:8-11

God has called us to ministry. He asks us to reflect his love in meeting the physical and spiritual needs of others. Believers want to serve others in those ways. By providing for us, God meets our need to meet others’ needs. This week Jesus promises that he will provide the resources

necessary to conduct meaningful ministry.

Mark 6:30-34

We get to see Jesus’ heart today. He and the apostles were exhausted, having worked long hours without food or rest. They try to pull away, but the people are desperate and follow. Jesus’ heart goes out to crowd. He can’t not help no matter how tired he may be. His ministry flows from compassion. And that compassion is produced in us when see Christ’s compassion for us.

2 Timothy 2:8-13

Even if God’s people are hampered, silenced, imprisoned or chained up, still God’s Word can’t be held down. The words of God’s holy Law cannot be ignored and, even better, his gracious promises will never pass away. This Word will break your chains too. God’s promises will set you free and give you joy. His gospel is an emancipation proclamation for your soul – no matter what has you feeling imprisoned by sin or despair. God’s Word is unchained!

2 Timothy 2:1-7

The apostle Paul lays out a profile of what ministry in the lives of God’s people will look like. He talks about approaching ministry as a soldier, an athlete, and a farmer. He encourages the focus of a soldier, the ethic of an athlete, and the hard-working nature of a farmer. None of

those roles will be easy. They all take a measure of sacrifice and diligence. But Christ gives us his grace as our true strength to carry out the personal ministry he’s placed before us.

Mark 5:21-24, 35-43

As Christians we might not be all that afraid of death. Our faith in our risen Savior gives us confidence to face off with death when it comes. But what we may fear much more, as Christians, is actually the death of our loved ones. We’re afraid of losing those whom we’ve built our life

around.

Jesus may not raise our loved ones from the dead like he did for Jairus in Mark 5. But he steps in with compassion to meet us in our grief. He reframes death for us as merely sleep. He shows his power to conquer death with a word and holds our loved ones by the hand. Those actions may not bring our loved ones physically back to us right now but they give us what we need to press onward today. So we can cast fear aside and simply believe.

Acts 27:13-26

God promises to be with us through all the

storms of life. Sometimes he removes them. But when he doesn’t, it’s only because he has plans to use even storms for our eternal good.

Ezekiel 17:22-24

We need God to give us the top-down faith that grasps the fact that kingdom of God advances in ways that are imperceptible and unexpected. Through something that seems insignificant to

most—the gospel—the King of kings establishes his reign in human hearts. As the seed of the gospel is planted, the largest of all kingdoms grows.