I can think of no greater burden for an individual to carry in their heart than unforgiveness. It has been well said that unforgiveness is like drinking poison and hoping that someone else dies. One of the most provocative teachings in all of scripture is found in Matthew 18 when the apostle Peter asked Jesus how many times he needed to forgive someone who had sinned against him. Perhaps Peter was thinking of the old rule, Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me, or the three-strike rule? Whatever his number was, I would guess he was thinking that he was being generous when he said to Jesus, “seven times?” But Jesus said, “seventy times seven,” or in other words, an incalculable number of times.

This Easter, I want to challenge you to consider who you might invite to join us for our services at Hope. We plan to communicate the gospel clearly. In our study of Revelation, there was a wonderful phrase used in chapter five: “Weep no more; behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered!” (Revelation 5:5b ESV) This simple phrase summarizes the beauty and hope of the gospel. We do not have to weep any longer because the One who conquered the grave through His resurrection can conquer our grave as well. This is a beautiful, powerful truth, and we need to be willing to share it.

As we prepare for Easter, I am challenging our Hope Church family in these weekly emails to do a little “soul spring cleaning.” I intend to help all of us prepare for what God wants to do in and through us this special Easter season. Jesus made a provocative statement in His Sermon on the Mount. He said, “So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.

(Matt. 5:23-24 ESV)

As the seasons change, it feels like the right time for us to do a little spring cleaning. Maybe you take advantage of the relatively nicer weather in Ohio this time of year to get rid of the clutter and residue of a long, hard winter. Interestingly, the Christian tradition of Lent has a lot to do with cleaning out the clutter that has crept into our lives.

One particular word stands out to me in our study of the seven churches in Revelation 2-3. The word is “repent.” I think we might avoid the word because it provokes images of harsh street preachers. If I am honest, I never like to be told that I am wrong, and by definition “repent” means admitting we have been wrong and need to change our minds.

Florence Chadwick was a world-famous swimmer. In her lifetime, she successfully swam several extremely difficult distances including the English Channel. She decided that she was going to be the first woman to swim the 26-mile span from Catalina Island, California to the California mainland. Florence went into the icy cold Pacific with several boats surrounding her, which would spot for sharks and report on her progress to the world as she attempted her historic swim. Hour after hour, she swam. Fifteen hours and 45 minutes into her trek it got very dark, a thick fog set in, and she could only see a few feet ahead of where she was swimming. Finally, she waved to the boats and said, “I can go no farther, the fog is just too thick. I am done.” They hoisted her out of the water less than half a mile from the coast of California. All that effort and yet she didn’t quite make it.

Have you ever been on a long water slide? I often think about one we would go on when we lived in the Bahamas. It was long and straight and it felt like you were going straight down. This particular one had the added experience of taking you into a real shark tank. Thankfully there were many layers of glass between you and the apex predators, but it gave a sensation of dropping right down into a pool of sharks. I admit that almost every time I rode the ride, about halfway down, I would think…Why am I doing this? This is dumb. This hurts…how can this possibly be fun? But that did not stop me from getting back in the line to do it again and again. I think sin works that way sometimes.

Talk about getting your attention! In His famous Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said something that would have been hard to ignore. He said, “If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body go into hell.” (Matthew 5:29-30 ESV)

Jesus said something quite profound when He told His disciples that they need to, “Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.” (Luke 12:1b ESV) This might be the type of warning that is easy for us to sort of skim over. It is hard for us to relate to. As a group, the Pharisees are one of the most prominent villains in the New Testament. They are constantly arguing with Jesus, attempting to trick and trap Him. They are deeply involved in the murder of Jesus. We have a number of recorded confrontations with them such as, “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people's bones and all uncleanness. So you also outwardly appear righteous to others, but within you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.” (Matt 23:27-28 ESV).

About 20 years ago, I had a conversation that profoundly impacted my life. It was with Dr. Ramesh Patel, who was teaching a class that I was auditing at Antioch University. The class was about world religions, and I was fascinated by it and by him. Dr. Patel had multiple doctorates in Eastern and Western Philosophy and Religion, and he devoted his life to learning about what motivates individuals to pursue God through different religions.

I fear that one of the greatest temptations we can fall into is when we sin and do not immediately notice overwhelming negative consequences. There have been many times when I saw the results of sin as it destroyed families, harmed churches, and caused great self-inflicted pain. I have often found myself thinking, God, why did you allow such evil to take place?…I point at that person’s evil and I think, God why did you not address their sin immediately? Maybe you should reinstate the old “fire from heaven” thing or some of the plagues you used in Egypt…a little “vengeance is mine” type action. But then I realize how glad I am that God does not do that to me.

Jesus often used parables or stories to help us understand His heart on something important. Parables make complicated concepts a bit easier to wrap our minds around. One story that I find particularly helpful is the Parable of the Wedding Feast as it is recorded in Matthew 22. In His teaching, Jesus spoke of a man who had prepared a wonderful wedding feast for his son. The text gets pretty specific – the BBQ was on! Fat calves were butchered, the dinner table was set, and the party was ready, but the guests’ responses were quite disappointing. “But they paid no attention and went off, one to his farm, another to his business…” (Matthew 22:5). Some even attacked the messengers who brought the invitation to the party. As Jesus taught this, the original hearers, like us, would have been shocked. How could anyone act so rudely to a kind and generous offer? The table was set, but the people on the guest list chose to reject the invitation. I think that we can relate to this on multiple levels.

I have been encouraged by a little book by R.C. Sproul titled, “Pleasing God: Discovering the Meaning and Importance of Sanctification.” In the book, Sproul emphasizes the role that God plays in our sanctification. We get to join in because this is God’s work. He describes this process as being like the healing of the blind man recorded in John 9…Jesus described our spiritual blindness, which is even more important than physical blindness.

You may have noticed that we are currently renovating our stage at the church. I thought that it might be a good time for us to study the way that God does renovations in our lives. In the Hope Church logo, there is a little budding leaf in the O, and it symbolizes growth. We believe that we can grow more and more in the likeness of Jesus Christ. That process has been described by theologians as “sanctification.”

I am excited to share with you that the first phase of a special Worship Center upgrade at Hope has begun. Over the next several weeks, you will notice some changes in our Worship Center. First, the carpet on our stage is being changed. We also plan to change the sound panels that surround the stage, do some painting, and upgrade our stage lighting. This will be an ongoing process that we have been looking forward to for some time. We do not anticipate that the construction will impact our Sunday morning worship services, but it might lead to us adjusting where we meet for the prayer meeting or The Chosen on Wednesday evenings. 

Happy New Year! 

New Year's Day gives us a special opportunity to look forward to 2025 and anticipate the good things God will do in and through us in the new year. Last month, in these weekly emails, I unpacked the prophecy of Isaiah in which he declared, “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon His shoulder, and His name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” (Isaiah 9:6 ESV) Today, I want to focus on the last part of that statement, that Jesus will be our ”Prince of Peace.”

Merry Christmas!

I hope you are having a very special day, and that you are enjoying the advent of our Lord Jesus Christ. When Isaiah prophesied 700 years prior to the birth of Jesus, about the gift of Jesus, he said, “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon His shoulder, and His name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” (Isaiah 9:6 ESV)

One of the most incredible words in all of scripture is Immanuel, which means God with us. The concept of Immanuel, that God became flesh and walked among us, is profound and overwhelming. The way that the hymn writer put it, the “fullness of God in helpless babe,” is a powerful way for us to understand that Jesus was truly Immanuel, the Mighty God, in the flesh of an infant. Jesus was like the 360,000+ babies that are born each day in our world – needy, vulnerable, and dependent. Jesus underwent the humility of being completely reliant on His mother for food, protection, and comfort.

Life has a way of putting us in some very challenging situations. I can think of few things that we need more these days than good counsel in our lives. I am convinced that with technology we have an abundance of counselors available. We have endless sources of information that tell us how to think, how to feel, and how to deal with life’s challenges. Judging by the number of mystical fortune tellers that exist in and around our community, we know that many people today are seeking spiritual answers to life’s greatest challenges. Thankfully, we have access to the one that Isaiah described as our “Wonderful Counselor.”

Can you remember knowing about a particular gift long before you received it? Perhaps you accidentally stumbled on it, or maybe you were a rascal like me and went looking to discover your hidden unwrapped gifts? Sometimes, knowing a gift is coming helps to build anticipation for the day that you receive it.