New Hope Church

FIND YOUR STRENGTH IN OUR LORD OUR GOD! When David and his men reached Ziklag, they found it destroyed by fire and their wives and sons and daughters taken captive. So David and his men wept aloud until they had no strength left to weep. David’s two wives had been captured—Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail, the widow of Nabal of Carmel. David was greatly distressed because the men were talking of stoning him; each one was bitter in spirit because of his sons and daughters. But David found strength in the Lord his God. —I Samuel 30:3-6             When David and his men return home to Ziklag they found it totally destroyed and all their…

SERVE “Suppose one of you has a servant plowing or looking after the sheep. Will he say to the servant when he comes in from the field, ‘Come along now and sit down to eat’? Won’t he rather say, ‘Prepare my supper, get yourself ready and wait on me while I eat and drink; after that you may eat and drink’? Will he thank the servant because he did what he was told to do? So you also, when you have done everything you were told to do, should say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty.’ ” —Luke 17:7-10             None of us deserved God’s favor upon us.  We…

YOUR ETERNAL DESTINY! And he said, ‘Then I beg you, father, to send him to my father’s house— for I have five brothers—so that he may warn them, lest they also come into this place of torment.’ But Abraham said, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.’ And he said, ‘No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’ He said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.’ ” —Luke 16:27-31             This “rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day”…

RESPONSIBILITY GIVEN US FROM OUR RISEN KING! “Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much. So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches? And if you have not been trustworthy with someone else’s property, who will give you property of your own?  No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.”  —Luke 16:10-13             Today is resurrection Sunday. …

JOY AND REJOICING! I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent. —Luke 15:7 Just so, I tell you, there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents. —Luke 15:10             When was the last time you rejoiced over someone who repented and called on Jesus to be saved?  How awesome this is that when “one sinner who repents” causes rejoicing in heaven!  Angels know the joy in heaven when a sinner repents!  When was the last time you knew there was joy and…

THE BATTLE IS THE LORD’S! The Lord who rescued me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will rescue me from the hand of this Philistine.” —I Samuel 17:37 All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the Lord saves; for the battle is the Lord’s, and he will give all of you into our hands.” —I Samuel 17:47             Our Lord is ultimately in control.  We are not!  We may think we are, but that is not the case.  Yes, we have responsibility to carry out, but that is only under the sovereignty of our Lord God Almighty.  How those two works…

HE WILL DO THROUGH MANY OR FEW!  Nothing can hinder the Lord from saving, whether by many or by few. —I Samuel 14:6 Then panic struck the whole army—those in the camp and field, and those in the outposts and raiding parties—and the ground shook. It was a panic sent by God. —I Samuel 14:15 Then Saul and all his men assembled and went to the battle. They found the Philistines in total confusion, striking each other with their swords. —I Samuel 14:20 So on that day the Lord saved Israel. —I Samuel 14:23             Our Lord saves according to His purposes.  He can work through many or few.  Let us not forget that.  He…

LEADERS OF INTEGRITY Here I stand. Testify against me in the presence of the Lord and his anointed. Whose ox have I taken? Whose donkey have I taken? Whom have I cheated? Whom have I oppressed? From whose hand have I accepted a bribe to make me shut my eyes? If I have done any of these things, I will make it right.”  “You have not cheated or oppressed us,” they replied. “You have not taken anything from anyone’s hand.”  Samuel said to them, “The Lord is witness against you, and also his anointed is witness this day, that you have not found anything in my hand.”  “He is witness,” they said. —I Samuel…

MOTIVATION FOR GOVERNMENT LEADERSHIP  Samuel told all the words of the Lord to the people who were asking him for a king. He said, “This is what the king who will reign over you will claim as his rights: He will take your sons and make them serve with his chariots and horses, and they will run in front of his chariots. Some he will assign to be commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties, and others to plow his ground and reap his harvest, and still others to make weapons of war and equipment for his chariots. He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers. He will take the best of…

BE A FAITHFUL AND WISE MANAGER OF WHAT HE HAS GIVEN YOU!  You also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect. —Luke 12:40  And the Lord said, “Who then is the faithful and wise manager, whom his master will set over his household, to give them their portion of food at the proper time? Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes.” —Luke 12:42-43  Everyone to whom much was given, of him much will be required, and from him to whom they entrusted much, they will demand the more. —Luke 12:48  You hypocrites! You know…