A Prayer for Joseph Biden
During this inauguration week, and on behalf of our new president, I offer this important prayer.
A Simple Practice for the New Year
I got the kindest email yesterday from a woman deeply grateful for how God is using our church family to change her life. She also asked me for some counsel on how to draw closer to the Lord during these next few days that she has off from work. Wonderful question! Here is my response. Perhaps it can encourage you, […]
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 fact, this note isn’t going […]
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 his people to “fast throughout […]
Four Prayer Habits I Learned from My Mother
When I was a little boy my dad and mom would gather our little family in our living room each evening for a brief time in the Scriptures and for prayer. Though this was over 40 years ago, I remember these moments as if it were yesterday. Significantly, I recall at least four habits that my mom either told us to implement, or, at […]
The Shepherd’s Prayer
Folded into the midst of of the sixty-ninth psalm is a remarkably simple prayer that ought to capture the attention of every pastor, parent, coach, and shepherd. Let not those who hope in you be put to shame through me, O Lord GOD of hosts; let not those who seek you be brought to dishonor through me, O God of […]
