New Hope Church

BE DEVOTED TO PRAYER And when they had entered, they went up to the upper room, where they were staying, Peter and John and James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot and Judas the son of James. All these with one accord were devoting themselves to prayer, together with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers.  In those days Peter stood up among the brothers (the company of persons was in all about 120)… —Acts 1:13-15             I have to ask, “How devoted to prayer are you and I?”  Prayer is talking and listening to our…

SET YOUR HEART ARIGHT! For Ezra had set his heart to study the Law of the LORD, and to do it and to teach his statutes and rules in Israel. —Ezra 7:10 This is the disciple who is bearing witness about these things, and who has written these things, and we know that his testimony is true. Now there are also many other things that Jesus did. Were every one of them to be written, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written. —John 21:24-25             Through the ages, our Lord has had those who sought to be faithfully sharing His Word.  “Ezra had…

BE LOVINGLY OBEDIENT— WE ARE SENT BY JESUS TO SHARE THE GOOD NEWS! Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you.  As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.” —John 20:21 As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. —John 17:18 For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent?…

OUR LORD GOD’S CHOSEN VESSEL FOR HIS PURPOSES! In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom and also put it in writing: “Thus says Cyrus king of Persia: The LORD, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and he has charged me to build him a house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Whoever is among you of all his people, may his God be with him, and let him…

FAITHFUL FOR LIFE! For in the eighth year of his reign, while he was yet a boy, he began to seek the God of David his father… —II Chronicles 34:3 And the king stood in his place and made a covenant before the LORD, to walk after the LORD and to keep his commandments and his testimonies and his statutes, with all his heart and all his soul, to perform the words of the covenant that were written in this book. —II Chronicles 34:31             What a joy it is when a young person seeks the Lord God Almighty in their youth and that they make a commitment to follow…

GETTING THE ATTENTION OF THOSE WHO WON’T LISTEN The LORD spoke to Manasseh and to his people, but they paid no attention.  Therefore the LORD brought upon them the commanders of the army of the king of Assyria, who captured Manasseh with hooks and bound him with chains of bronze and brought him to Babylon.  And when he was in distress, he entreated the favor of the LORD his God and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers. He prayed to him, and God was moved by his entreaty and heard his plea and brought him again to Jerusalem into his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the LORD was…

PERSEVERE THROUGH DISAGREEMENTS AND ATTACKS—FOLLOWING THE EXAMPLE OF JESUS Jesus answered him, “I have spoken openly to the world. I have always taught in synagogues and in the temple, where all Jews come together. I have said nothing in secret. Why do you ask me? Ask those who have heard me what I said to them; they know what I said.” When he had said these things, one of the officers standing by struck Jesus with his hand, saying, “Is that how you answer the high priest?” Jesus answered him, “If what I said is wrong, bear witness about the wrong; but if what I said is right, why do you strike me?”…

JESUS’ PRAYER AND EXPECTATION FOR US I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world.  And for their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth. I do not ask for these only, but also…

THE GODLY WILL SUFFER PERSECUTION (II Timothy 3:12) Yet he sent prophets among them to bring them back to the LORD. These testified against them, but they would not pay attention. Then the Spirit of God clothed Zechariah the son of Jehoiada the priest, and he stood above the people, and said to them, “Thus says God, ‘Why do you break the commandments of the LORD, so that you cannot prosper? Because you have forsaken the LORD, he has forsaken you.’” But they conspired against him, and by command of the king they stoned him with stones in the court of the house of the LORD. Thus Joash the king did not remember…

HOLY SPIRIT EMPOWERED And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: concerning sin, because they do not believe in me; concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer; concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged. I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, for he will…