Posts by Pastor Hope (Page 2)

We have all had those moments in life when we have felt less than, unseen, or even unimportant. As a Christian growing up in the church, I thought this feeling of less than might have been the result of a lack of faith. I also wondered if it was related to not being close enough to God or not as actively engaged in the church community as I could have been. Possibly it was my human nature of not admitting…

In today’s society, it seems like everyone is striving endlessly to be strong.  Whether it is emotional, spiritual, or physical, the world seems to reward strength and discourage weakness. Throughout the years of my life, I have faced many challenges as all of you have.  Some of those challenges I was experiencing, people weren’t even aware of until after I walked through the battle without any Christian friend by my side. After making it through those difficulties of life I…

Last Wednesday night the SFNAZ children and pre-teens used different translations of scripture in order for the children to determine how the translations differ, but more importantly which translation they can relate and apply to their lives today. Below I have shared a verse that has been weighing heavy on my heart this week. As the weeks, months and year have gone by, we have been given new information on how we need to approach life.  This is a time…

Last night at church during the devotional with the children we discussed Mark 4:35-41. We focused our discussion around verses 38 and 40. Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?” Mark 4:38   He said to his disciples, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?” Mark 4:40 As we began our discussion I asked the children to identify what…

From an early age, I always looked forward to going to church because I loved to worship.  Throughout my years growing up in the church I was in the choir, sang specials, and helped lead worship. For me, worship was always connected with joining a group of people singing or just singing in front of a group of people with some of my favorite worship songs.  As I grew up I realized that worship wasn’t just raising my voice in…

This week began our Lenten season together as we walked through our Journey to the Cross stations on Ash Wednesday. During the evening it was such a blessing to see multiple generations come together to reflect on what might be holding us back from our connection to Christ or discovering what needs to be refocused in our relationship with him. One of the stations that were incorporated into the evening was a breath prayer. This week as we start our…

During these days at the start of this year, I am sure many of you have felt like I have.  When the year started I was looking forward to a new start and leaving 2020 behind me.  The problem with leaving 2020 behind me is that I am not reflecting on what happened, how to learn from it, and what I am called to do moving forward.  During 2020 many of us felt as if we were just trying to…

As we approach Christmas day this year many of us have experienced more loss, heartache, distress, and confusion than any other year. As we head into the Advent season it is revealed that we as Christians can simply rest in the truth of the Hope, Peace, Joy, and Love that Christ’s birth provides us.  It is comforting to know that even though the world can fall apart around us we know that these things are already provided for us. As…

With information at our fingertips, it is so easy to feel like we are well informed, we have the answers, and we are all a part of the bigger picture. While we are certainly a part of the larger story of what happens in our larger world, wouldn’t it be great to simply look to our left and right and make a difference for Christ in our own small world? In a time when our world is tracking who we…

I am sure the title of this devotional caught your eye in a way that it wouldn’t have a year ago.  You see the way we think about things is affected by our life experiences. A year ago in the month of October, you may have been thinking this title of my devotional was about the upcoming outreach event we are having for this season. Although at this moment in time we have all heard the debates around “mask or…

My family and I just returned from our vacation to Glacier National Park.  Usually, I am a planner and I get everything organized down to the last minute as to what we will do during our vacation.  This always leads to the “planned anticipation” of what we are going to be doing each day.  Well, this year wasn’t like that at all. Honestly, I wasn’t even anticipating the trip.  We had just returned from Arizona from grieving my aunt’s death…