New Hope Church

DON’T BE NAÏVE! On that day King Ahasuerus gave to Queen Esther the house of Haman, the enemy of the Jews. And Mordecai came before the king, for Esther had told what he was to her. And the king took off his signet ring, which he had taken from Haman, and gave it to Mordecai. And Esther set Mordecai over the house of Haman. —Esther 8:1-2 Then they secretly instigated men who said, “We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and God.” And they stirred up the people and the elders and the scribes, and they came upon him and seized him and brought him before the council, and they…

YOU HAVE PURPOSE! For if you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” —Esther 4:14             “For if you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another place.”  Is this principle not true for us today as well?  Our Lord God Almighty has called us to be witnesses and disciple-makers.  If we are not faithful and keep silent He will work through someone else.  He does not need us,…

BEWARE OF DECEIVERS, MANIPULATORS AND DESTROYERS So the king took his signet ring from his hand and gave it to Haman the Agagite, the son of Hammedatha, the enemy of the Jews. And the king said to Haman, “The money is given to you, the people also, to do with them as it seems good to you.” —Esther 3:10-11 Letters were sent by couriers to all the king’s provinces with instruction to destroy, to kill, and to annihilate all Jews, young and old, women and children, in one day, the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month of Adar, and to plunder their goods. —Esther 3:13             There…

MEET THE NEEDS OUR LORD DESIRES YOU TO MEET! There was not a needy person among them, for as many as were owners of lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold and laid it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to each as any had need. —Acts 4:34-35             These believers in the early church lived in such a way that there “was not a needy person among them.”  They were truly concerned for each other and many of those who had assets sold them so the needs of others could be met.  These people owned lands or houses, but to help their…

RIGHT TO LISTEN TO GOD OR MAN— YOU JUDGE Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Rulers of the people and elders, if we are being examined today concerning a good deed done to a crippled man, by what means this man has been healed, let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead—by him this man is standing before you well. This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone. And there is salvation in no one else,…

THE ONCE IGNORANT BELIEVED! The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, the God of our fathers, glorified his servant Jesus, whom you delivered over and denied in the presence of Pilate, when he had decided to release him. But you denied the Holy and Righteous One, and asked for a murderer to be granted to you, and you killed the Author of life, whom God raised from the dead. To this we are witnesses. —Acts 3:13-15             There is much in these above verses! Jesus is a Servant (Philippians 2:5-11). The Jews delivered Jesus over to Pilate (John 19:28-32). The Jews denied Jesus in the…

WORKING GOD’S WORK So we built the wall. And all the wall was joined together to half its height, for the people had a mind to work. —Nehemiah 4:6 So the wall was finished on the twenty-fifth day of the month Elul, in fifty-two days. And when all our enemies heard of it, all the nations around us were afraid and fell greatly in their own esteem, for they perceived that this work had been accomplished with the help of our God. —Nehemiah 6:15-16             When God is in the work and people have “a mind to work” His work then great things can be accomplished.  As I have read that…

BEGIN/CONTINUE THE WORK GOD HAS GIVEN YOU VISION FOR! I also told them about the gracious hand of my God on me and what the king had said to me.  They replied, “Let us start rebuilding.” So they began this good work.   —Nehemiah 2:18             It only takes one person whom God has given a vision to stir others to join in the work that God is doing.  Nehemiah was that person and after He shared with the Israelites how God’s gracious hand was on him and what the king had said to him the people were ready to start rebuilding the wall.             The work was divided up with…

YOU WILL BE MY WITNESSES! “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” —Acts 1:8             Have you called on Jesus to be saved from sin, self and Satan to a relationship with God by calling on Jesus?  (Romans 10:13).  If so then “you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the…

GOD’S WRATH “The hand of our God is for good on all who seek him, and the power of his wrath is against all who forsake him.” —Ezra 8:22             So we have two groups according to this verse.  Those who seek the Lord God Almighty and want to live for Him is one group.  The 2nd group is those who forsake the Lord God Almighty and do not want to live for Him.  God’s good hand is on those who seek Him.  But on those who forsake Him His wrath is against them— “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see…