Welcome
I’m glad you’re here! There’s so much going on in every day of every life that it’s hard to take time for things that are really significant and if you think about it, your spiritual life is pretty significant!
The Tampa Bay area is undoubtedly one of the most beautiful areas in the world! There’s so much around here– and Sundays are one of the best days to get out and do some of them. We know that at Hope, and recognize that your time is valuable– not just to you, but also to God. Some folks go to church out of obligation– they feel like it’s just “the thing to do.”
That’s not the way it’s supposed to be– we should go for two simple reasons– to give and to get: To give to God something precious– our time and energy and to be with other people who want to do the same! You get some of the best friends you will ever have out of relationships formed at Church. My promise to you is to make sure that every worship experience, every small group meeting, everything we do is worthwhile and life-changing.
We hope you have found at Hope a place where you will want to bring your neighbors, your friends, your parents and your children and share the hope, because we all need hope!
Why is hope so important?
We are all hopers, aren't we? Hope is why people get married. Hope is why people have kids. Hope is why they pay to send their kids off to college. Hope is why we buy ab machines. Hope is why kids go nuts on Christmas morning. The human spirit can survive just about anything, but it cannot survive without hope.
Hope is essential for a vital life. One of the wisest individuals that ever lived wrote this proverb:
“Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but when dreams come true there is life and joy.”
(Proverbs 13:12 NLT)
Hope is essential to life. Without it we do things we wouldn't normally do, to think things we wouldn't normally think and we quit when we really need to go on. Hope - when it's deferred, it effects the core of our being. So . . . here's the million dollar question: Where are you putting your hope? In what are you placing your hope? How about the next generation of kids? Know any middle school and high school students? Each day they are looking to their left and to their right and say, "What's going to pay off? Where can I put my hope?"
Hope doesn't disappoint - at least not REAL HOPE. False Hope does - and if you are disappointed in your life, if you are discouraged, you need real hope. And God says you can develop the right kind of hope in your life.
"Let our faith and love be like a suit of armor. Our firm hope that we will be saved is our helmet." (1 Thessalonians 5:8 CEV)
Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Mike Jones
Lead Pastor
