Daily Dose of Hope

April 27, 2026

Scripture: Titus 1

Prayer: Breathe in me, O Holy Spirit, That my thoughts may all be holy. Act in me, O Holy Spirit, That my work, too, may be holy. Draw my heart, O Holy Spirit, That I love but what is holy. Strengthen me, O Holy Spirit, To defend all that is holy. Guard me, then, O Holy Spirit, That I always may be holy.

Welcome back to the Daily Dose of Hope, the devotional and podcast that complements the New Hope Church daily Bible reading plan. We have been journeying through Paul's letters and we have made great progress. Today, we are starting pastoral letter #12 out of 13.

Our reading for today is Titus 1. This is a letter from Paul to his dear friend, Titus. Paul had left Titus on the island of Crete to organize the church there and carry on the work that was started. One of his main tasks was to appoint elders or overseers for the local churches; this means basically choose some pastors. There were specific characteristics for the pastors that Paul outlines in this chapter, including being blameless, being faithful to a single wife, and not being prone to anger or drunkenness. These are consistent with the lists for elders in Paul's other letters as well.

This first chapter highlights that the false teachers have made it to Crete as well. The circumcision group refers to Jewish Christians who are vehemently promoting the idea that to be a Christian, one must be a Jew first, which includes becoming circumcised. Paul wants this group silenced. They are teaching against the Gospel, which clearly states that we are saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ alone. All that is required for salvation is faith; anyone who adds to this is a false teacher.

Think about the world we live in. False teachers are everywhere. They may not be promoting circumcision as a prerequisite for salvation but other ideas that are equally damaging. How important it is for us to grow our roots down deep into God's Word so that we won't be swayed by the many ideas out there, the many voices that are vying for our attention. One voice matters-Jesus.

Blessings,

Pastor Vicki

Daily Dose of Hope

April 24, 2026

Scripture: 1 Timothy 6

Prayer: Lord Jesus, Help us be productive members of your Kingdom. I know we fall short. I know we mess up. Call us, let us hear your voice, and we will respond. We will say yes. Give us the courage and boldness to be the people you called us to be. We love you, Lord. In Your Name, Amen.

Welcome back to the Daily Dose of Hope, the devotional and podcast that complements the New Hope daily Bible reading plan. We are currently walking through the letters of Paul and today, we are finishing our eleventh letter, I Timothy.

Today's reading is 1 Timothy 6. As we close Paul's first letter to Timothy, we find more advice reflecting the time, place, and culture of Paul and Timothy, specifically regarding slaves having respect for their masters. Paul's words in NO WAY justify or encourage slavery. Slavery was certainly a reality in the Roman Empire (scholars estimate possibly a third of all people living at the time were slaves). People sold themselves and their families into slavery simply to have access to food. It was an ugly existence. But throughout Scripture, including Paul's letters, there is much talk of freedom and equality in Christ. While Paul was pretty revolutionary in many of his teachings, as far as we know, he didn't tackle the institution of slavery. He did try to create parameters around it, however, but his primary objective was to spread the Good News of Christ. I'm grateful for the many Christ-followers who came hundreds of years after Paul and did make a stand against the institution of slavery. Their courage and determination also came from their faith in Jesus and they used Jesus' teachings and also many of Paul's writings to oppose the ownership of other humans.

Slavery is still a reality around the globe. The Global Slavery Index estimates that over 40.3 million people are currently trapped in modern day slavery, the vast majority being women and children. (globalslaveryindex.org) This includes what we typically think of as human trafficking but includes forced labor around the world, including in many of our supply chains. It is a multi-billion-dollar industry. As Christ-followers, we should be actively working against human trafficking and other kinds of slavery. Slave owners and human traffickers prey especially on the poor and vulnerable. Jesus clearly taught and demonstrated that every single human life has value. He lifted the status of women and children and demonstrated extraordinary love toward the poor and oppressed. Paul wrote in Galatians 3:28, There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

Paul closes the letter with another warning about false teachers. Anyone who teaches something contrary to Jesus, then they are "conceited and understand nothing." Those are Paul's words. He also says to beware of people who encourage conflict and quarrels, or those who are overly interested in financial gain.

And then there is a final charge to Timothy. He wants Timothy to focus on righteousness and encourage others to do so as well. Again, Paul emphasizes that Timothy command those who are rich to not be arrogant and to put their trust in what has eternal value.

Blessings,

Pastor Vicki

Daily Dose of Hope

April 23, 2026

Scripture: 1 Timothy 5

Prayer: Dear Heavenly Father, I come before you today with humility. You are holy, you are perfect, and I am painfully flawed. Forgive me, Lord, for the way I fall short over and over again. Forgive me for not being loving, patient, and kind. Jesus, I want to follow your example. I want to have a clean and pure heart. How I need you. Create in me a pure heart, Lord, and renew a right spirit within me. I love you. Amen.

Welcome back to the Daily Dose of Hope, the devotional and podcast that complements the New Hope daily Bible reading plan. We are currently walking through the letters of Paul and we are in 1 Timothy, our eleventh letter.

Today's reading is 1 Timothy 5. Paul is back to giving very specific instructions for how the church is to treat its people. Again, this is culture-specific and seems to be in reaction to particular situations. He wants to be sure seniors are respected, that there are specific guidelines around the care of old and young widows, that the elders/pastors are given proper reverence, and that Timothy drinks a little wine to settle his upset stomach.

Overall, Paul is demonstrating that he cares. He loves Timothy and he loves the church. He wants the church to deal with its conflicts and problems in an effective way. Sometimes, Paul's solutions seem a little odd to us in 2026 but we can be assured that Paul was quite revolutionary in his thinking. Finally, his primary motivation was to lead more people to Jesus.

A few questions for us:

-Do we have this kind of love and care for those in our church family? What do we do well and what needs to be improved?

-What kinds of advice do we give today that might seem really strange to the early church?

-What is our primary motivation as we deal with issues at church? Is it to lead more people to Jesus or something else?

Blessings,

Pastor Vicki