Hope in Christ Church Video Podcast Hope in Christ Church

I don’t know if you’re aware, but the word “Corona” is Latin for “crown”. It was given this name because when viewed under a microscope it looks like a crown! This weekend we celebrate Jesus coming to earth to wear a thorny crown for us. He took the plague of every evil upon Himself … so that we might be raised from the dead.
And He stands alive in the very air around us right now, ready to raise us up and empower us to overcome every evil thrown our way – from the coronavirus, to the disease of death and sin, to the virus of our own selfishness. He has conquered every evil we face! And He has come to infect us with His powerful new life!

Let us continue to redeem the times, for the days are evil (Ephesians 5:16). Each day we have is so special, and God has work for us to do! Much of that work begins right in our own souls and in our homes. Not knowing what the future brings can be unsettling. But it is another opportunity for us to die to ourselves and find that God is here, now. Perhaps He is saying to us that the comfort we have found in going out, watching sports, and being around people (human-based comfort) has been taken away because God wants to supply all our comfort Himself. He wants to be our everything. He wants us to know that He is enough.
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I encourage you to be faithful in prayer, for prayer is a powerful thing! Theologian, Walter Wink, wrote: “History belongs to the intercessors who believe and pray the future into being. Even a small number of people, firmly committed … can decisively affect the shape the future takes. These shapers of the future are the intercessors, who call out of the future the longed-for new present…. By means of our intercessions we veritably cast fire upon the earth and trumpet the future into being.”
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With President Trump encouraging Americans to avoid crowds of ten or more people, we have decided to cancel our Sunday morning worship service for the time being. In its place is a shorter service with songs of worship, prayer, and a devotional message. I encourage you to listen, pray for one another, and continue to reach out to support and encourage one another.
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A recent survey of 2,000 Americans found that the average adult will wake up in a bad mood 300 times a year. That means that on average we will only have 65 good mornings all year! Six days every week we will wake up on the wrong side of the bed. And friends, that is not how life in the kingdom of God is meant to be. If we are truly experiencing the life God wants us to have in His kingdom, 365 days a year we will wake up with the attitude that, “It’s a Wonderful Life.” And the people around us will say, “I want what he or she has.”
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Too many professed Christians today live as if God is our servant instead of us being His. Too many professed Christians today live as if the church is their servant instead of us being servants of the church.
Therefore, I think it needs to be said: Ask not what God can do for you – ask what you can do for God. Furthermore: Ask not what your church can do for you – ask what you can do for your church!
Click here to download the sermon outline