Though weary, we rejoice, for Christ our Savior has come. READ MORE
New Hope Church
A Personal Note to Our Seasoned Saints
The following is a personal letter I recently passed along to the hundreds of women and men among our older generations with New Hope Church. It gives a glimpse of a shepherd’s heart, the complexities of our day, and the gift which are our senior saints. Dear Friend, This isn’t your normal church letter. In READ MORE
Remarks Following the Death of George Floyd
Pastor Matthew shared the following remarks with the New Hope Church community during the time of lament in the worship gathering on Sunday, May 31, 2020, less than a week after George Floyd was killed in Minneapolis. These past several days I’ve been in Tennessee because, as many of you know by now, my mom READ MORE
My Platform Response to Ahmaud Arbery’s Death
Here are my comments regarding the Ahmaud Arbery shooting and subsequent video, shared from the platform of New Hope Church on May 10, 2020: I have to take just a moment and acknowledge something that has dominated the headlines these recent days, and, if I may say, should have been dominating the headlines these recent READ MORE
An Invitation to Fast
An invitation: In light of the COVID-19 pandemic I am inviting the New Hope Church family to set aside Wednesdays as a day of fasting and prayer during which we seek God’s mercy for these uncertain and grievous days. -Pastor Matthew Responding to an existential threat from an approaching army, one ancient monarch, Jehoshaphat, called READ MORE
The Beauty of Penal Substitution
Not long ago a helpful book regarding the problem of mass incarceration was shared around our community–Dominique Gilliard’s work, Rethinking Incarceration: Advocating for Justice that Restores. His writing does a noble job of highlighting many of the tragic dynamics shaping what I tend to think of as the “Incarceration Complex.” I commend the work to READ MORE