Blessed Hope Church

As Jesus continues to help us see sin for what it is – a matter of the heart – he reframes the issue of lust, sexual sin, and divorce. These sins take root in the heart and it’s only when we understand their origin that we can hope to cut them out of our lives […]

In this episode, we dig further into Matthew 5:17-26, discussing both Old Testament ceremonial laws & sinful/unsinful anger.

Jesus ended the last chunk of Scripture with the clear call for our righteousness to surpass the Pharisees and teachers of the law…and that if it didn’t, we would not enter the Kingdom of God. Why not? Because the righteousness that God requires is first and foremost a matter of the heart. And the lesson […]

Many Christians struggle with the line between faith and works. Following God’s law as a way of being “OK” with Him vs. trusting God’s grace. But the truth is that the most basic question, “How much do we need to do to make sure we are really saved?” shows us that we don’t really understand […]

In this episode, we spend some time discussing what it means to be salt and light.

As we see in The Beatitudes – we are called to the blessed life – which is a life that is surrendered to Christ and is completely countercultural to how the world lives. So by our nature – Christians are called to live a different…and effective kind of life. The Bible describes that as Salt […]

In the Beatitudes Jesus tells us that the only blessed life is found in Him and through the Gospel. The power of the Gospel is not just to save us but the power to radically transform our lives in every way possible. With the rest of the Beatitudes, Jesus reveals how we are changed after […]

In this episode, we unpack the first week of our Sermon on the Mount sermon series.

The blessed life…everyone wants it and there are countless opinions on how to get it. But Jesus begins the most significant sermon ever given by clearly establishing where the blessed life comes from. These are not isolated statements made by Jesus but the roadmap to the blessed life through Him by a surrendered life to […]

Disobedience is a powerful thing that we constantly underestimate. For some inexplicable reason, we never assume that small disobedience today will lead to bigger problems tomorrow. But, as we see with Israel during the time of the Judges, little disobediences often ultimately lead to destruction. It’s the natural consequence of doing whatever seems right in […]

In today’s episode, we wrap up our discussion on the book of Judges.

Without an absolute standard of authority – morality will always be a moving target. And the reason is simple – because when there is nobody “over” me…then I’m the one who gets to decide what’s right for me – and nobody gets to tell me that what I think is right is really wrong! So […]

It’s a simple truth that we teach our kids – there is a difference between being sorry…and being sorry that you got caught. As Christians, we know that God is so gracious and that he forgives us freely when we make mistakes. Unfortunately, too many of us have gotten in the habit of abusing God’s […]

In this episode, we take a closer look at a few of the judges that God raised up to deliver Israel.

Every single one of us struggles with sin. There are areas of our lives where we know what God requires…but we decide to go our own way anyway. And of course, instead of making us happy – things begin to get worse and eventually the choices or things that we swore would make us happy […]

We push pause on our Judges series today to remember God’s faithfulness.

In this episode, we lay the foundation for the book of Judges and look ahead at the sermon series. ApologetiX “Welcome to the Judges” parody.

The parents from the previous generation didn’t do the best they could do…they did the best they would do. They neglected God’s commands and in doing so, they introduced their children to idols. And they can’t be shocked that the idols they refused to get rid of in their lives became the idols that their […]

The book of Judges begins in the middle of Israel taking control of the Promised Land which God has informed them again that it was theirs for the taking. The issue? The first chapter sets up the rest of the book because they left the project unfinished, and we discover the consequences of their actions.

In this episode, we share our favorite books, podcasts, & resources of the year, & just reflect on 2021. Resources: Matt’s Book picks: Recovering Redemption – Matt Chandler The Secular Creed – Rebecca McLaughlin Didn’t See It Coming – Carey Nieuwhof Cherish – Gary Thomas Gospel Driven Church – Jared Wilson Matt’s Podcast picks: The […]