Daily Dose of Hope

February 11, 2026

Scripture: I Corinthians 14

Prayer: Almighty God, Thank you for a new day and a new chance to give you glory and praise. You are an amazing God. How incredible it is that you, who created everything, know my name. You know every hair on my head. While I am so grateful for your love and care, it is sometimes difficult for me to adequately wrap my brain around your expansive love and mercy. Help me be a better reflection of you, Lord. Help me see others through your eyes. Help me be merciful, kind, and good. Lord, I know I fall short. So often. But I want to do better. In these next few moments of silence, Jesus, hear my prayer... In Your Name, Amen.

Welcome back to the Daily Dose of Hope, the devotional and podcast that complements the New Hope Church daily Bible reading plan. We are journeying through Paul's letter in the New Testament. We are currently on our fourth pastoral letter, I Corinthians.

Our reading for today was I Corinthians 14. This chapter is all about order in worship. A lot of the text has to do with the speaking of tongues. I want to be clear that Paul is not against speaking in tongues. However, he is clear that tongues benefit the speaker more than the listener. Prophecy, on the other hand, benefits the listeners. This is a passage often taken out of context. Yes, tongues are a gift of the Spirit and for many people, tongues provide an intimate way to communicate with God. But within the context of worship, tongues (spoken publicly) are appropriate only if there is an interpreter. According to Paul, the question to always ask is "Does this build up the body of Christ?"

Speaking of taking passages out of context, the second half of this chapter about good order in worship has been misused by many. Is Paul saying that women need to always be silent in church? No, he isn't, as he is supportive of women's participation in worship in other passages. Just a few chapters before this, in I Corinthians 11:5, Paul mentioned women praying and prophesying aloud in worship.

What does he mean in today's text? Keep in mind, this is a pastoral letter that is addressing a specific situation in a specific place. Corinth was a wild, out of control place. These women have grown up being influenced by this environment. Don't get me wrong, the Greek and Roman world was still highly patriarchal and women had little if any rights or privileges. But in the church, women were valued and had a certain degree of freedom. They could learn, speak, pray, and work alongside the men in many ways. Most likely, in this situation, there was confusion and disorder in the church worship and Paul needed to address it. The Greek word used in the text for speak actually is better translated "chattering." Most likely, these women were interrupting worship with their constant chattering. Maybe they were asking questions. Maybe they were talking amongst themselves. We really don't know.

This leads to an important point. We cannot pick certain Scripture verses and pull them out of their contexts, trying to force an application today. What's important is to look at what the whole Biblical narrative says about a certain topic. Does the whole Biblical narrative insist women be silent in worship OR do we see women lifted up by Jesus, involved in the ministry of the early church, and working as effective prophets, leaders, and teachers (often praised by Paul)? When one or two verses seem out of place, contradicting the rest of the Biblical narrative, then there is probably a deeper meaning behind them. The key is go deeper, study, learn the context and background, and try to discern the author's original intention.

Blessings,

Pastor Vicki

Daily Dose of Hope

February 10, 2026

Scripture: I Corinthians 13

Prayer: Today, let's pray from Scripture. Dear God, Your Word says that, Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. This is certainly who you are, Lord. Help us live this kind of love out in ways that make a difference in the lives of those around us. More of you, less of me. We pray this in the mighty name of Jesus, Amen.

Welcome back to the Daily Dose of Hope, the devotional and podcast that complements the daily Bible reading plan at New Hope Church in Brandon, Florida. We are journeying through Paul's pastoral letters. Currently, we are in I Corinthians.

Today's passage is I Corinthians 13. This is going to be a pretty familiar chapter for many of you. It's often called the "love" chapter and it is read at weddings and funerals. It's absolutely beautiful prose but we often get Paul's intention wrong when we read it.

Remember, the Corinthian church was a total mess. They were arrogant, there were strong divisions between rich and poor, there were petty arguments and serious factions, and as we learned yesterday, they were holding up certain spiritual gifts as better than others. Let's just say it wasn't a picture of Christ's love and grace.

It's in the middle of all of this that Paul tells them what it means to really love one another. This isn't romantic love (eros), brotherly love (philia), but rather agape love. What is agape love? It's the love that God demonstrated to us and calls us to demonstrate to others. It is unconditional, sacrificial love. There is no selfishness in agape but only a concern for the what is best for the other. Paul is outlining this love to the Corinthian church to give them a word picture of what it could look like. Agape is not a feeling or emotion but rather a choice. We make a choice to love others this way and it requires commitment, faithfulness, and sacrifice without requiring anything in return.

Paul, at the end of his discussion about spiritual gifts, wants to make a very important point. Yes, you can have a gift of prophecy or a gift of tongues, but if you are using it without love, then it is totally useless. And, you have missed the point. These gifts were gifts of grace from the Holy Spirit to uplift and equip the body of Christ. The body of Jesus on earth should be a picture of his love. If it isn't, we have a really big problem. Jesus is love and we are called to be as well.

One of my seminary professors, when teaching on agape love, encouraged all of us to do what he called the Wal-mart exercise (I've spoken of this in previous sermons). Really, you can go to any place the public gathers. It could be the mall, Target, or Publix. He suggested sitting down on a public bench and just watching people go by for five minutes. For every single person you see, say "Jesus died for this person. He/she is infinitely loved by God. I'm called to love this person as well." For me, this is challenging. I have to be very intentional about not falling into the trap of judging the person because of how they look but truly looking at them, trying to see them as God sees them, and then focusing on how God wants me to love them unconditionally too.

This has changed me. God's agape love for me is real. My love for others should be too. What would it look like if all of us who are part of New Hope started to "agape" each other? How would this change us as people? How would this change our relationships? How would this change us as a body of believers and our witness to the world?

Blessings,

Pastor Vicki

Daily Dose of Hope

February 9, 2026

Scripture: I Corinthians 12

Prayer: Dear God, You are amazing! How awesome it is that you who created all things are also so intimately involved in our lives. We give you glory and praise for who you are. We are so thankful for your love. We want to know you more. We want and need to hear your voice. Help us set aside our scattered thoughts and focus on you. In these next few moments of silence, Lord, hear our prayers... In Your Name, Amen.

Welcome back to the Daily Dose of Hope, the devotional and podcast that complements the daily Bible reading plan at New Hope Church in Brandon, Florida. We are journeying through Paul's pastoral letters. Currently, we are in I Corinthians.

Today's passage is I Corinthians 12. Paul starts by reminding the believers of their former ignorance. Afterall, there was a time not too long ago that they didn't know about the one true God but worshiped idols. Now, they know Jesus and have the Holy Spirit within them – the Spirit of the Living God inside their physical body! One of the many transformations that happens to us when we accept Jesus as Lord and Savior is that the Holy Spirit gives us a spiritual gift (sometimes even more than one.)

A spiritual gift could be seen as a God-given capacity that allows each believer to serve and uplift the body of Christ. And how do you get into this body of Christ? In verses 13-14, Paul writes, For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many. The body of Christ is Jesus' church.

The specific word that Paul uses here for gift is charisma, which comes from charis, which is the Greek word for grace. A spiritual gift is a gift of God's grace. It's not something we have earned or developed. But there is a wide diversity of gifts that the Spirit offers, and Paul lists many of these, including the gift of preaching/teaching, prophecy, apostleship, evangelism, and shepherding. There are even more specific gifts under these main headings.

But while there is diversity in gifts, there is unity in purpose. The body of Christ requires all these different people with different and unique gifts to be working together to ensure that Jesus' mission continues to be carried out in the world. One gift is not more important than another but they are all essential to have a fully functioning body.

The Corinthians knew about the spiritual gifts. This would not been new information to them. But the problem was how they were using the gifts. Certain gifts were being lifted up as more important than others. And there appears to be a bit of a free for all in how the gifts are being used. So, Paul wants them to know a different way. He wants them to understand that all the gifts work together to bring unity to the church. In fact, the church needs all of the gifts to be fruitful and effective. He doesn't want the Corinthians to stop using their spiritual gifts, but he wants them to do so with maturity. And as we will see in the next chapter, he wants the church to use their gifts with love (rather than arrogance or pride.)

Do you know what spiritual gifts you have been given? If not, I strongly encourage you to pray about that today. There are some really good spiritual gifts assessments that are free online as well. God has given us gifts for the purpose of building up the body of Christ. If you know your gifts, are you currently making use of them at New Hope or in your local church? There are many parts but one body. Your gifts are needed to form a fully functioning, healthy, thriving community of faith!

Blessings,

Pastor Vicki