Sermons

Bible Text: Isaiah 61 | Preacher: Pastor Daniel Roels This week we have a chance to hear the gospel again, coming to us in the metaphoric clothes of… clothes. There are many passages that speak to taking off our old life of sin and putting on our new life in Christ, but Isaiah 61 makes clear that being spiritually well-dressed is more than a matter of how to live. It’s a matter of being worthy to show up at the feast.

Bible Text: 2 Thessalonians 3 | Preacher: Pastor Daniel Roels The Thessalonian Christians were under pressure – false teaching, persecution, and anxiety about the end-times challenged their young faith. But Paul writes to them to remind them from where they can receive the perseverance and the peace to do the next right thing. As long as they keep relying on God in faith and love, they’ll make it through. So will you.

Bible Text: 2 Thessalonians 2 | Preacher: Pastor Daniel Roels Thinking of the “end times” and trying to clearly interpret Biblical prophecy and vision about them often raises our anxiety. In 2 Thessalonians 2, there is talk of rebellion and lawlessness and a restrainer, but it is very difficult to be sure who is who and what is when. How can we rest if we don’t have the answers?! The same way Christians have always been told to rest: keep the faith in Jesus.

Bible Text: 2 Thessalonians 1 | Preacher: Pastor Daniel Roels This week the message will be “in-house.” New Hope Church needs to be reminded of its strengths and why it continues on the difficult road of mission and vision – obedience to God! We can take courage that while we may not always “succeed” in terms of getting the results we want, that if we stay firm in faith, God will vindicate and glorify His own.

Bible Text: Matthew 2:1-12 | Preacher: Pastor Daniel Roels The magi from the east got the invitation. It glittered and they accepted. But accepting the invitation to meet the King of the Jews meant a long journey, nearly falling into a political trap, and visiting a poor family on the fringes of Bethlehem society who was soon to flee for their lives. Accepting God’s invitation to know Jesus will not lead you to a simple and neat party. It will confuse your life, rattle what was normal, and lead you into obedience you couldn’t have imagined. But the invitation stands. How will you respond?

Bible Text: Matthew 1:18-25 | Preacher: Pastor Daniel Roels What if God came to us in a perfect story? Born into a nice family who has it all together, Jesus’ birth is only cause for rejoicing and an darling gender reveal post. He becomes the prom king, then takes on the family business from his father and earns success by hard work and skill. Then, after a transcendent experience in baptism, just like how it’s usually painted, He does God’s Will… That would be a nice story, but it’s not the true one. We need the true one because if God’s rescue comes through a mess, it gives us realistic hope for what God can do with our own real messes.

Bible Text: Joshua 2 | Preacher: Pastor Daniel Roels It’s one thing to learn from our mistakes or come to accept and peace that God can use our mistakes. But what about those mistakes that follow us, cling to us, and come to define us? What about those sins that root shame deep in us? Today, we’ll hear two stories of shamed women who have become part of God’s plan. The third story is up to you – will you let God’s grace redeem your shame?

Bible Text: Exodus 2 | Preacher: Pastor Daniel Roels We heard how God can make the ordinary beautiful by being present in the midst of the ordinary. This week, we take a deeper step: God can make our messes and mistakes beautiful by making them serve His purposes in us. That’s what He does in the life of Moses, the boy who lived, a killer, and an exile, who becomes the leader of liberation for God’s people.

Bible Text: Exodus 26:1-7, 14-15, 30-37 | Preacher: Pastor Daniel Roels From Exodus to an advent series about God making beautiful things.  This week, we’ll consider the meaning of the materials used in the tabernacle. They sound extravagant, but come from very common sources along the Israelites’ route out of Egypt toward God’s promised land. That way, every time they went to worship, they’d remember the story of what God had done for them. If you could take a small bag with simple items in it to remember and tell your story with God, what would you take? (Exodus 26)

Bible Text: Exodus 19:1-8, Exodus 20:1-21 | Preacher: Pastor Daniel Roels | Series: Exodus Series When we read the laws in the Old Testament, sometimes we get the impression that the Israelites had to live up to the rules in order to be God’s people. That would be relating to God on the basis of how good someone is, in other words, “works-righteousness.” But in fact, the Israelites already ARE God’s people when they receive the law. They were saved by grace, too, and the law is how they were to live once they had been delivered from Egypt. So God has worked the same way throughout history, and that means we have another reason to trust him.