Mount Hope | Belmont Campus

When it comes to driving or traveling, we often use mile markers or GPS to know where we are headed and more importantly, if we are headed in the right direction. It is crucial to know that we are going the right way. This is no different in our Christian walk. But this isn't always as simple as reading a mile marker or following the GPS. So how do we know in our walk if we are headed the right way? How do we know if we are on God's path?

As believers, we love Jesus and want to serve Him. We do our best to live lives that are pleasing to Him. But what about the seasons when we aren't walking as we should in our relationship with Christ? What about when our actions don't align with following Jesus? We follow Jesus but we still sin. As we continue in our "I Follow Jesus" series, we continue to dig into God's Word to understand who the Holy Spirit is and how he works in our lives. In this walk with Christ, we will battle our sin, but we are comforted in knowing that we don't have to do it on our own. The gift of the Holy Spirit is for us.

In this life, there can be somewhat of a letdown after a holiday or a significant event in our life. Once that time is over, we often wonder, "now what?" We can imagine that this question would have gone through the disciples' minds after the death and resurrection of Jesus. After Jesus had died a cruel death, after the veil was torn in the temple and after He rose again on that glorious day, now what? How were they to move forward? Just like we move on with our lives on Monday after a worshipful Sunday, they went on to do the things that they knew. They went back to their fishing and their daily living. But we learn from God's Word that He didn't leave them there alone. Join us in our new Sermon Series, "I follow Jesus..." to learn more about what it actually meant for Jesus to ascend from this earth and leave us with the gift of the Holy Spirit and how that impacts everything in our daily living.

Explore the three days starting with Jesus' trial and crucifixion on Friday, a day of silence on Saturday, and the resurrection on Sunday.

Toddlers are not the only ones who want to stake claim or ownership on the things around them. We too, as adults, want to hold onto things or relationships. But what happens when what we hold onto comes into conflict with what God has for us? What if holding on too tightly prevents us from our purpose? There is a tension between what we have and what God has for us.

Our past has a way of defining who we are and how we interact with the world around us. Our relationship with God is so often affected by our past failures and brokenness. Oftentimes, we write off God’s promises and goodness to us because we do not feel worthy of God’s goodness. As imperfect people, how do we accept God’s perfect promises?

It is good to ask questions. In many circumstances, we are taught how to ask good questions in order to learn. Inquiring through questions helps us gain knowledge, teaches us new skills and aids us in getting to know another person. Yet, we aren't always comfortable asking our tough questions about life and our circumstances. There was a time in Abraham's life when he had to ask God some questions. He inquired of the Lord God Almighty in order to understand more of who God was, His justice and what His plans were. We see that it is okay to ask questions and that we don't have less faith because we ask tough questions. Listen in to this week's sermon to learn more from Abraham about why it is important to approach the Lord with our questions and concerns.

As believers, we know that God has a plan for our lives and for our days. God's Word makes this truth very clear to us. However, even as believers, we do not always understand His plans. We don't see the whole picture like God does so we assume that, because of our circumstances, we can't be used by Him. But God's Word shows us differently. As we continue walking along Abraham's journey with him, we see that even Abraham questioned God's plans and promises. And like many of us, he even laughed at times. But also like Abraham, we see God working through these difficult moments and through our obedience to Him. Listen to this week's sermon to grasp just how great and how big our God is as He moves in our lives.

Often times in this life, we have to go through periods of waiting. Whether it be waiting in the doctor's office for a check-up or waiting on a life changing situation like moving or a promotion, waiting is a part of the world we live in. But what about when God asks us to wait? How do we respond? When I am in the "waiting room", does my faith weaken or does it grow?

As we approach Easter this year, we would like to take a closer look at the season of Lent. While we typically don't observe Lent, it is practice of the Historical Church. A practice where the individual and the church observes to focus on the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus. Join us as we explore Lent and how God uses it in the church today.

Many of us know what it's like to have too much "stuff." Often, we look around and wonder how we accumulated so much stuff in the first place! Should we even have bought that particular item? Was it really worth bringing it home? Should we just have said "no" to buying it in the first place? In our series on Abraham, we have been learning about the origins of our faith and what it means to trust God and His promises. This matters when it comes to what we hold on to and what we release.

Faith certainly isn't easy but as believers, we know that it is fundamental to our walk with Christ. As we continue in our series and look at the life of Abraham, this week we watch him step out in obedience. And with that obedience comes a few challenges. As followers of Christ, we can relate. When we step out in faith, there are times when we will also be met with opposition. So how do we hold onto God's promises even in the midst of difficulties?

Have you ever considered your origin? In many ways we are intrigued with where we come from and what our origin story is. How about the origins of your faith? Scripture traces our faith back to Abraham. God's call to Abraham required him to step out in faith in some extraordinary ways. How do you continue this legacy and live out our faith as Abraham did?

Prayer is foundational to our relationship with Christ and to our Christian walk with one another. This week, join us as we dive into God's Word to learn how we are to pray. God is extremely clear on in His instructions to pray and outlines what it should look like in our lives. And not only is it important to pray on our own but it is important in our growth as a Christian to pray with one another. Listen to this week's sermon to be challenged in building your faith in 2022.

As we begin the year of 2022, we also begin a new sermon series here at Mount Hope. Our Foundations Sermon Series is going to help us take a closer look at how we can draw closer to Christ in this new year. Join us this week to listen in what the Word has to say about reading the scriptures together and some practical ways as to how we can make that a part of our walk with Christ this year.

Nobody particularly likes to be told what to do. This begins at even a young age. People like to make their own choices and not have others make choices for them. However, we live in a world with authority. We have bosses at our job, leaders in our business world and government in our country. So when we take a look at Peter's charge to "honor the emperor", what exactly does that mean? And how do we live that command out when we naturally don't want to be told what to do?

As we grapple with the question of who God wants us to be in a secular and divided world, it is important for us to understand and live out God's call for us within the Church. The last year presented many challenges for the Church. It was a messy time in which we disagreed, argued, and even broke fellowship with each other. But it was also a time where we grew, blessed, and loved each other. As we move forward, it is important that we love each other in the ways that God calls us to. Listen in as we consider what it means to love the Brotherhood.

Peter calls the Church to honor everyone. However, we live in a time where people treat each other poorly in politics, on the news, online and in real life. Families are often in turmoil because of a lack of respect between parents and children. Employees are often put down by their employers, and employers are often undermined by their employees. In such a state, it can be disheartening to the Christ follower who is called to honor all people. So what do we do? How do live out this command?

Join us for our latest sermon series in the letter of 1 Peter through which we will have a series of family conversations within Mount Hope. Our goal is to seriously consider what sort of person God wants the Christ-follower to be in a culture that is secular and divided. Our conversations will move past the popular opinions on this matter to explore what God wants for His people. Our hope is that you are challenged to live out God's desire in your life.

Ed & Kim Nye have served as global outreach workers in the Muslim World for nearly 20 years working towards Church Planting Movements among all the people groups in their area. Their passion has always been mobilizing and equipping more people into the far corners of the harvest field. To that end, they currently serve as the Director of Mobilization and Pipeline Coordinator for Eurasia (North Africa, Middle East, Central Asia, Russia, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and India).