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

Daily Dose of Hope

April 22, 2026

Scripture: 1 Timothy 4

Prayer: Father God, hear our prayer this morning. We are awed by your power and strength. We are amazed by your love. Thank you, Lord, for the many ways you show in our lives to teach us and care for us. Help us gather our scattered thoughts right now and focus on you. In these next few moments of silence, help us (help me) be still and know that you are God...Come Holy Spirit, and help us walk through this Scripture in a way that honors you. Show up and help us discover whatever it is you want us to learn. This is your Word and we want to hear from you. In Your powerful name, Amen.

Welcome back, everyone, to the Daily Dose of Hope, a devotional and podcast that complements the New Hope Church daily Bible reading plan. As most of you know, we are well into Paul's letters at this point. In fact, we are in the middle of our eleventh letter, 1 Timothy. We are moving right along.

Today's Scripture reading is 1 Timothy 4. Paul makes some interesting and powerful statements in the beginning of the chapter about those who would leave the faith. He very astutely points out that just because someone initially commits to the faith doesn't mean they will stick with it. When things get tough, when false teachers rear their ugly head, when it is no longer convenient, then they may turn away. Paul seems to make the point that this is not an if but a when. This simply means their initial confession was not sincere. While I don't want to spend a lot of time on this topic, I think we often find this in modern faith circles. Just because someone has said the words of a sinner's prayer does not mean they actually know Jesus or understand what they have said. Something to think about for sure and speaks to the absolute necessity of discipling and nurturing new believers.

In the middle of the chapter, Paul is speaking directly to Timothy. He must have been a timid young man. Paul wants him to take authority and not allow people to dismiss him because he was younger. He needed to guide and lead the church both in his words and preaching but also in his lifestyle. Even as a younger man, Paul encourages him to lead by example.

While we give lip service to including young people in the leadership of the church, the reality is that we don't do it enough. We have lots of reasons for this (I've found myself giving excuses too). But God doesn't call the equipped, he equips the called. If God calls one of our teenagers or young adults to be a leader, then we need to embrace them, nurture them, and give them the space to lead. While I don't think we have that many young people who subscribe to the Daily Dose, but whoever is out there, please listen closely: You are called and God will empower you to lead! Want to serve in leadership at New Hope? Come and talk to me directly.

Blessings,

Pastor Vicki