Cheryl Stewart

In his book, God Distorted, John Bishop describes the common phenomena in endurance sports of runners and athletes “hitting the wall.” He quotes an article in Harvard Health which appeared one day before one of the Boston Marathons. It describes what would happen to thousands of runners: “Come tomorrow morning, about 27,000 runners will begin the annual 26-mile, 385-yard (42,195 kilometers) mass run from suburban Hopkinton to Boston. But if past marathons in Boston and elsewhere are any indication, perhaps up to 40 percent of these optimistic and determined souls will slam into a sudden sensation of overwhelming, can't-do-this fatigue several miles (typically about five) before they get a chance to experience the glory of crossing the finish line.” Life is an endurance race, in which we all will at some point "hit the wall" and want to quit. We will all experience our own Heartbreak Hill where the steep challenges and disappointments of life drain our spiritual strength. So what should we do when we hit that wall of discouragement? Let’s talk!

Discouragement. It’s the dark cloud that drifts in and blocks the sunlight after prolonged times of difficulty. Maybe it’s a health challenge or a financial burden. Maybe it’s a wayward child or perhaps the unfulfilled desire to have children. We begin to pray with great hope and expectation, but nothing happens. Time marches on and we continue to pray, but our fervency gradually dwindles. Slowly the cloud of discouragement casts a shadow over our waning faith. So what do we do when faced with demoralizing discouragement? Join us for part 1 in the series "Persevering Faith"

God is totally other. Because God is infinite, every aspect of His being is infinite. His knowledge, His power, His presence—none of His attributes have limitations. We cannot even begin to grasp the totality of His nature! Think for a moment about the universe. God spoke it into being. And even as you read this blog, God upholds every star, every galaxy, every celestial body in our cosmos. The combined energy of the cosmos pales in comparison to the infinite power of God. In addition, God is completely sovereign over all. When we think about history—from world-changing events to the tiniest flap of a butterfly wing, God is sovereignly in control of all things. God is totally other. But we can mistakenly think that because God is infinite, He is impersonal, distant, and/or difficult to relate. How so?

A couple of months ago, my wife purchased some nectarines from Aldi. They were surprisingly good—juicy, sweet, and not mealy at all. In fact, the real challenge in eating them was that they were so juicy that when you bit into them, the juice would run down your hand. We liked them so much, that we purchased at least 3 more bags in the following weeks. Naturally, I told other people about them. In fact, when my sister came to visit I told her that she needed to try them. So I pulled one out of the refrigerator and cut it up and gave her a piece. Without thinking, I became an evangelist, sharing the “good news” of nectarines sold by Aldi! When you think about it, we all become evangelists at some point. Whether it be a new gadget with which we are pleased, a new cleaning product, a great bargain, or the discovery of a new favorite restaurant, we all evangelize others. So why are we so hesitant to share our faith? Let’s talk!

We have all seen Olympic athletes perform and do things that amaze us. But performing at that level requires a lot of determination and desire. For many it's a desire to be the greatest in the world at what they do. But isn't the desire to be great narcissistic? And what if your child or grandchild says to you, "I really want to be great in the Kingdom of God!" How would you respond? Join us Saturday at 5pm, as we continue our series "Reimagining Hope!"

Dr. Larry Crabb in his book "Connecting" writes this: "Ordinary people have the power to change other people’s lives… "The power is found in connection, that profound meeting when the truest part of one’s soul meets the emptiest recesses in another and finds something there, when life passes from one to the other.... The power to meaningfully change lives depends not on advice, though council and rebuke play a part; not on insight, though self-awareness that disrupts complacency and points toward new understanding is important; but on connecting, on bringing two people into an experience of shared life…. "I have come to believe that the root of all our personal and emotional difficulties is a lack of togetherness, a failure to connect that keeps us from receiving life and prevents the life in us from spilling over onto others. I therefore believe that the surest route to overcoming problems and becoming the people we were meant to be is reconnecting with God and with our community. But reconnecting, at its most healing levels, is no simple matter. In our fast-paced, get-it-done culture, it is rare…." So how can we foster this life-changing community within Hope?

Dr. Larry Crabb in his book "Connecting" writes this: "Ordinary people have the power to change other people’s lives… "The power is found in connection, that profound meeting when the truest part of one’s soul meets the emptiest recesses in another and finds something there, when life passes from one to the other.... The power to meaningfully change lives depends not on advice, though council and rebuke play a part; not on insight, though self-awareness that disrupts complacency and points toward new understanding is important; but on connecting, on bringing two people into an experience of shared life…. "I have come to believe that the root of all our personal and emotional difficulties is a lack of togetherness, a failure to connect that keeps us from receiving life and prevents the life in us from spilling over onto others. I therefore believe that the surest route to overcoming problems and becoming the people we were meant to be is reconnecting with God and with our community. But reconnecting, at its most healing levels, is no simple matter. In our fast-paced, get-it-done culture, it is rare…." So how can we foster this life-changing community within Hope?

During the depression of the 1930's, a man named Yates struggled to keep his west Texas sheep ranch financially solvent. Like so many at that time, he was in danger of losing everything. He resorted to government subsidies, but still found himself in financial trouble. Around that time a seismographic crew asked permission to drill a wildcat oil well. At a little over 1000', they struck oil, Texas gold! At first the well yielded a little over 80,000 barrels a day. But subsequent wells produced more than twice that amount. Yates instantly went from rags to riches. Yates had been living on the verge of financial bankruptcy, while all the time he was sitting on the resources of a multimillionaire. Today, many Christians can identify with Yates. Some feel spiritually bankrupt. Some struggle to live the Christian life. Some struggle to find victory over sin. Others find it difficult to experience joy. Yet all the time, God says we possess the resources to live a spiritually victorious and even supernatural life. So where do we find the power to live the Christian life?

Using Old and New Testament passages, we see what God wants for us by desiring Him above all.

I recently read a brief article that said in 2016, the Barna Group released the results of a 6-year study entitled "The Bible in America: The Changing Landscape of Bible Perceptions and Engagement." The study reports that 62 percent of the people in the communities surrounding our churches would like to read the Bible more. Another study reports 87 percent of the people in our churches want help understanding the Bible better. However, Bible reading is waning. Recent studies demonstrate that in one generation the number of occasional Bible readers has fallen by 20 percent—the equivalent of 700 people per day. The article concluded that it seems that the average person wants the Bible more but he actually reads it less. The brief article was unclear on whether Bible reading was waning with people who actually attend church—hopefully not. But one thing is clear, if we don’t clearly value Scripture, we won’t read it. So what is the value of consistently reading & studying the Word of God?