Living Hope Bible Church

In this chapter, Micah prophesies about the future hope for Israel. Though they face war and exile, God promises to grant them a better kingdom than the one they have built. In our lives, we will face many trials, but we have hope that God will provide a better place for us through His Son.

In this chapter, Micah pronounces God's judgement against unjust rulers. Those who were supposed to be upholding justice were corrupting it instead. Our call is to speak the truth of God's Word with courage in a world that loves evil.

In the first two chapters of the book of Micah, God pronounces His judgement on the sinful actions of His people. Micah tells how God will destroy the high places, idols, cities of Judah, and the greedy. In the midst of this judgment, Micah also gives us hope that a Deliverer will come to save us in the midst of our hardship.

In the final chapter of Habakkuk, the prophet responds to God in song. In sharp contrast with the complaint in the first chapter, Habakkuk's song sings of God's past work and faithfulness. When God didn't change Habakkuk's circumstances, He did change the prophet's heart towards his hardships.

Habakkuk cries out to God because he sees injustice being done that seems to go unpunished. Habakkuk 2 is God's response, and in it, God declares that He will judge the wicked. God is in control, and we need to be patient as we wait on Him to bring justice to our lives.

The prophet Habakkuk cries out to God because of the sinful state of his nation. God responds by revealing His plans to bring justice to Judah by sending an enemy nation to destroy them. This reply shocks Habakkuk, but through it all we learn that we can trust God's character even when His actions don't make sense to us.

This week, Pastor Mark and Pastor Josh preached together on how to help those in need. Instead of focusing on the need, the Bible teaches us to focus on the person and what led them to this state they are in. We seek to help them in ways that transform them to be more like Christ, rather than simply sustaining them in the life they are living. This concept is based on the book "Redemptive Compassion" by Lois Tupyi.

Throughout the Bible, there are many passages that record God sharing a meal with His people. It is a time of intimacy and unity, and the culmination of this is communion. It is a time to remember what Jesus has done, and to realign our life to be more like His. 

This week guest speaker Chaplain Tim Hadley broke down the importance of waiting on God. We need to trust God, because He can see the whole picture. We should be actively growing in our faith while we wait, because God is using the waiting to strengthen us. And finally, our waiting reveals God's goodness and patience towards us.

In John 8, the religious leaders bring a woman caught in the act of adultery before Jesus in the middle of His teaching. Their goal was not to bring justice, but to entrap Jesus. But, with patience and love, Jesus brings grace to the woman who was caught in sin, and lovingly guides her to leave behind her sinful life.