New Hope Church

FAITH WORKS AND WORKS GIVE EVIDENCE TO FAITH What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? —James 2:14 So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. —James 2:17 For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead. —James 2:26             Fellow follower of Jesus, “we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do” (Ephesians 2:10).  So, a person who says they have faith in Jesus should also be active in…

BE STEADFAST! Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable…

GOD HAS NO PLEASURE IN THE DEATH OF THE WICKED! Have I any pleasure in the death of the wicked, declares the Lord GOD, and not rather that he should turn from his way and live? —Ezekiel 18:23 Again, when a wicked person turns away from the wickedness he has committed and does what is just and right, he shall save his life. Because he considered and turned away from all the transgressions that he had committed, he shall surely live; he shall not die. —Ezekiel 18:27-28 For I have no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Lord GOD; so turn, and live. —Ezekiel 18:32 Jesus Christ is the…

CONSIDER JESUS AND DON’T GROW WEARY OR BE FAINTHEARTED! Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted. —Hebrews 12:3             How is it that we can keep from growing “weary or fainthearted?”  It is by looking to Jesus “who endured from sinners such hostility against himself.”  Consider all that He went through from those who hated Him.  If He went through all that for us, don’t be surprised when you experience hostility against you for Him.  “You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary” (Revelation 2:3).  When we keep our eyes “fixed…

BEWARE OF LIARS By lying to my people, who listen to lies, you have killed those who should not have died and have spared those who should not live. —Ezekiel 13:19  Because you disheartened the righteous with your lies, when I had brought them no grief, and because you encouraged the wicked not to turn from their evil ways and so save their lives, therefore you will no longer see false visions or practice divination. I will save my people from your hands. And then you will know that I am the Lord.’ ” —Ezekiel 13:22-23             Lies kill people.  People that should not have died.  Lies spare people.  People that should…

FAITH IS NOT BLIND! Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. —Hebrews 11:1 And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him. —Hebrews 11:6 Do you have faith?  Are you assured of the things we hope for as spoken by our Lord?  Are you firmly convicted of those things He has told us but we presently do not see?  Are you certain with the evidence of the things spoken of, but are not seen? Do you have faith?  Without it you cannot…

ENCOURAGE SOMEONE TODAY! And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near. —Hebrews 10:24-25             As the Day of Jesus’ return draws nearer and nearer, whenever it may be, there are some things we are to be considering. We are to: Be considering each other Stir up, provoke, encourage, stimulate, be concerned for, promote, show, rouse, motivate arouse, excite, help each other all the more to love Stir up, provoke, encourage, stimulate, be concerned for, promote, show, rouse, motivate…

DON’T WAVER— HOLD FAST TO OUR HOPE! Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. —Hebrews 10:23             Are you holding fast to your confession of hope in our Lord Jesus?  Are you wavering?  Are you forgetting His promises?  Or, are you believing His promises?  Where is your focus— on the eternal hope or a temporary hope?  If you focus is on the temporal hope… well that won’t last.  But… the eternal hope will last forever and ever!  What joy!             Your focus will determine how you live.  Do you believe He has a race marked out for you?  If so,…

FELLOW FOLLOWER OF JESUS— YOUR SIN IS CANCELLED BY HIM! For Christ has entered, not into holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true things, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf.  Nor was it to offer himself repeatedly, as the high priest enters the holy places every year with blood not his own, for then he would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world. But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. —Hebrews 9:24-26             Sin has…

OUR HOPE IS IN OUR LORD JESUS! “My endurance has perished; so has my hope from the LORD.” Remember my affliction and my wanderings, the wormwood and the gall! My soul continually remembers it and is bowed down within me. But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. “The LORD is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in him.” The LORD is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him. It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of…