New Hope Fellowship Chico

01/12/2021

Be in a church where the gospel is preached. It's essential. And to our church family: if you have friends and family who are unable to be in church because of health reasons, be sure to share this with them. In Christ, Angela

09/07/2020

New Hope Fellowship Chico

08/30/2020

08/30/2020

08/17/2020

Saying Goodbye

One of my favorite times is when our whole family gets together for dinner at our house. Usually our grandson Silas does not want to go when his parents are ready to leave. Often, he will end up spending the night with us. When this doesn’t work out, he can become upset. What best tempers his discontent is the promise that he will get to come and stay on another day.

Saying goodbye can be extremely hard at times. When people we love and care about leave us for a time we have a sense of loss. We will miss them but find solace in the promise that we will be together again.

This week I and many others had to say goodbye to a good friend Efrain Lopez. Efrain died last Tuesday. But like Silas, I take comfort in a promise that we will be together again. It is what the Apostle Paul meant when he wrote in 1 Thessalonians 4:13:

"And now, dear brothers and sisters, we want you to know what will happen to the believers who have died so you will not grieve like people who have no hope."

He did not say we would not grieve, that we would not miss them. But our sorrow is tempered by the knowledge that those who have received Christ have an eternity together to look forward too.

"It will happen in a moment, in the blink of an eye, when the last trumpet is blown. For when the trumpet sounds, those who have died will be raised to live forever. And we who are living will also be transformed. For our dying bodies must be transformed into bodies that will never die; our mortal bodies must be transformed into immortal bodies. Then, when our dying bodies have been transformed into bodies that will never die, this Scripture will be fulfilled:

“Death is swallowed up in victory.
O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?”
For sin is the sting that results in death, and the law gives sin its power.
But thank God! He gives us victory over sin and death through our Lord Jesus Christ.
1 Corinthians 15:52-57

Goodbye Efrain. I will see you later!

08/10/2020

One of the most disconcerting things about our present circumstances is how quickly they
change. What was not allowed yesterday is allowed today. But hold on, tomorrow they may be
prohibited again. While it seems to be magnified with the pandemic this instability is
symptomatic of life in general. Once we gain our footing and have stability something comes
along and knocks us off balance. It is as if we are standing on shifting sand. This reminds me of
the hymn that declares; “On Christ the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand, all
other ground is sinking sand”.
The book of Hebrews tells us; “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever”. Here
are three areas I thought of in which Jesus continues to be who and what he was 2,000 years ago.
1) Purpose
Jesus said he had come to seek and save those who were lost (Luke 19:10) in other words,
to bring them into relationship with God. He told Nicodemus, that God so loved humanity
that He gave His son Jesus so those that believed on him would spend eternity with him.
That desire remains, no matter the ethnicity, the gender, nor social standing of a person,
Jesus invitation is still “come unto me”.
2) Provision
The Apostle Paul wrote, “My God shall supply all your need according to his riches in
glory by Christ Jesus.” Imagine that, the infinite creator of all things draws from his
reservoir of supplies to provide for us. He is not limited by world economics, inflation
does not affect him, there is no concern of a delivery snafu. For that matter, if he did not
happen to have what you needed in stock, he could just speak it into existence.
3) Power
Jesus said, “all power is given me in heaven and in earth”. John wrote that, “all things
were made by him”. Paul prayed, “Now to him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly
above all that we ask or think”. That power has never diminished. There are no blackouts.
It cannot be short circuited. And the most amazing thing is Paul said that power works in
us!
We do have something we can count on, a firm foundation to stand upon. There is an absolute,
a constant unchanging sure thing. Jesus promised he would never leave nor forsake us. He
knows us, he sees us, he loves us. Count on it.

Pastor Steve

06/02/2020

The Privilege, Problem, and Power of Choice

I. The Privilege:

1) Nothing else in creation has the opportunity to choose to the extent that we humans have. Did your cat wake up worried about what it was going to wear today? Can the almond trees choose to produce apples instead? Or can the sun just determine it isn’t going to shine? Choice came in the package when God said let us make man in our image.

2) Our nation has fought many wars and millions of our soldiers have died to gain and sustain our independence, our right to choose. A right many nations don't have.

3) Can you imagine the disappointment of going to Shubert's if all they offered was vanilla?

II. The Problem:

1) So many choices. Once when my son Zack was about 7 we were at a gas station and I had him pick out a candy bar. He would choose one then stop, put it back, and pick up different kind. He did this 5 or 6 times. Even as I started to pay for what I thought was the final choice he ran back and switched to another one. The next time he and I were at that station and I offered for him to get candy he told me to go in alone and pick one for him. He said it was too hard to make a choice. So it is in life, there are so many choices to make and most are far more important than what candy to pick. It can become paralyzing.

2) We can make a bad choice. Just one more drink before I hit the road. I’ll spend more time with the wife and kids once I get all this other stuff settled. I think I’ll take our life savings and invest it in a video store.

3) Our choices affect others. Whether it’s the drunk who chooses to get behind the steering wheel and swerves into oncoming traffic, the parent who chooses to pursue their own pleasure rather than the well being of their child, or thousands of other choices we can make, they have a rippling effect.

III. The Power:

1) It is a parent's greatest fear! You can love, teach, bribe, threaten, and beg but as your child grows older you cannot control what they choose.

2) I love this statement Victor Frankel made to his N**i captors while in their hellish concentration camp;

You can beat me, strip me, starve me, and even kill me, but you cannot control how

I choose not to hate you.

We may not be able to choose all the situations we have to face in our lives but we do not have to let them dictate who we are. Another quote that I find to be very true is by Chuck Swindoll;

“The remarkable thing is I have a choice every day of what my attitude will be. I cannot change my past. ... The only thing I can change is attitude. Life is ten percent what happens to me
and ninety percent how I react to it.”
IV. Where There is No Choice

1) Romans 3:9,10,23
...all people … are under the power of sin. As the Scriptures say, “No one is righteous— not even one.... For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard.

2) But Jesus makes it possible to choose to be in right relationship with God!

Romans 3:24-25
Yet God, with undeserved kindness, declares that we are righteous. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins. For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin. People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed his life, shedding his blood….

3) He also patterned, taught, and leads us through the MAZE of life’s choices.

Pastor Steve

05/25/2020

What Not to do When Your Ship is Sinking

Mark 4:35-39

On the same day, when evening had come, He said to them, "Let us cross over to the other side." Now when they had left the multitude, they took Him along in the boat as He was. And other little boats were also with Him. And a great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat so that it was already filling. But He was in the stern, asleep on a pillow. And they awoke Him and said to Him, "Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?" Then He arose and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, "Peace, be still!" And the wind ceased and there was a great calm.

This is one of my favorite stories in the life of Jesus. The reason it stands out to me is I so relate with the actions and responses of the disciples. They made two critical mistakes. Mistakes I have previously made in facing one of life's “storms”. Maybe you can relate also.


Mistake #1 Trying to deal with the storm while leaving Jesus asleep in the boat.

Several of the disciples were fishermen, expert sailors, and no doubt they figured they could deal with the storm. They didn’t wake Jesus until the boat was filling, in other words sinking!

There have been times when faced with a significant challenge that I have tried to solve it on my own. Not seeking Christ in prayer, not considering how to apply the principles he taught into my actions, nor using the help he provides through other believers. I have found that in doing this it leads to the same thing the disciples experienced; frustration, fear, and getting very tired.


Mistake #2 Trying to get Jesus to help them do what they think should be done

When they woke Jesus and he miraculously calmed the sea they were totally shocked! They never expected that. So why did they wake him? I believe so he could grab a bucket and help them bale out the water.

Today our approach to Jesus is through prayer. Unfortunately we can be misguided in that approach. Thinking prayer is the means to convince Jesus to do what we want when we want, and the way we want it done. “Hey, Jesus grab a bucket and help us bale water!” Then if he doesn’t perform the way we think he should we, like the disciples, wonder does he care about us.

Prayer is a means to express our concerns, but it is also to release those concerns into his hands and trust him. To build confidence that he is with us and will work it out for good for us, and in us no matter how the situation goes. What the disciples didn’t understand is Jesus doesn’t have to bale water, he commands the sea. After all he created it. So it is with us and our challenges. He doesn’t need a bucket to bale us out of the current life storm, he commands life. After all he created it.


My guess is Peter, who often seemed to stick his foot in his mouth was the one who actually asked Jesus “do you not care”. But it also was Peter after years with many hardships, now sitting in a dungeon waiting to be crucified, said concerning Jesus, “cast all your cares on him, for he cares for you”.

My prayer for you is one the Apostle Paul made...

I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit. Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God. Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think.
Ephesians 3:16-20

Pastor Steve

05/17/2020

4 Things to Remember in the Midst of a Problem.

#1 You’re Not Alone
Often, when we are faced with a problem these words from the old song communicate how we feel “nobody know's the trouble I’ve seen, nobody knows my sorrows”. We can isolate ourselves and in doing so negate one of God’s greatest provisions for our help. Scripture instructs us to bear one another’s burdens and in 2 Corinthians tells us:

God is our merciful Father and the source of all comfort. He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When they are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us.

# 2 It’s a Matter of Perspective
The apostle Paul dealt with challenges far greater then most of us will ever face. Many sought to kill him, he was beaten with rods, pummeled with rocks, shipwrecked, imprisoned multiple times, ultimately he was beheaded. How does a guy deal with all that? He knew this is not all there is! He had an eternal perspective. Note his words in 2 Corinthians:

though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day.
For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.

# 3 It’s About Attitude
I like this quote: “I may not be able to change the world I see around me,
but I can change the way I see the world within me.”

Proverbs 23:7 says as a man thinks in his heart so is he. You see our attitude cannot stop our feelings but it can keep our feelings from stopping us. Problems, hardships, pain, they are a fact of life on earth. But, we do not have to allow them to dictate who we are, how we treat those around us, nor rob us of the myriad of joys Christ offers us.


# 4 Our Hope is in Jesus

And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them. Romans 8:28

It doesn’t say all things are good! There are just some rotten, cruddy, stinky, things that happen in life! What it does promise is God can take the worst of the worst and use it to produce something of eternal value for us. So, no matter how dire your circumstances seem, place your hope in Him. Trust Jesus.

Ephesians 3:20
Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us,

Pastor Steve

05/13/2020

Mom, give yourself a break
I loved my mom, she truly was a wonderful person. Many of the core values I hold today had their foundation in what she taught and lived. To love God and know He loved me. The wealth of knowledge gained in reading the bible, and the immeasurable value in a consistent prayer life. The commitment to family and legitimately, often sacrificially, caring for others outside of the family. But, mom wasn’t perfect. She had her idiosyncrasies, she made mistakes, she was human!

Often motherhood is exalted to such a high level, described with embellishment and hyperbole, that it establishes an impossible standard for moms to live up to. Take a look at some of the quotes I found and my observations:

“The future of society is in the hands of the mothers...she alone can save it.”

(save society? They're too busy keeping the 2-year old from sticking something in the receptacle and electrocuting themselves)

"Mother is the name for God in the lips and hearts of little children."

(but mom when was the last time your teenager worshiped you)

"Men are what their mothers made them."

(I know some good moms whose kid made bad choices, sometimes free will stinks)

"Motherhood: All love begins and ends there."

(really, really? Mom your not in this alone)

“God could not be everywhere, and therefore he made mothers”.

(actually, the opposite is true, mom trust God to go where you can’t)

Here are a few quotes I find to be more realistic:

"Motherhood is the greatest thing and the hardest thing."
Ricki Lake

"You don't take a class; you're thrown into motherhood and learn from experience."

Jennie Finch

"If evolution really works, how come mothers only have two hands?"

Milton Berle

Moms thank you and give yourself a break. You have or will make mistakes, you will get tired and probably frustrated, you are not perfect. But there is a God who is. Lean on Him, , draw strength from his promises, and follow the advice of the apostle Peter “cast your cares upon him, for he cares for you”. And he cares for your kids too.



Happy Mothers Day,

Pastor Steve



Proverbs 23:25
So give your father and mother joy! May she who gave you birth be happy.

05/03/2020

One of the most disconcerting things about our present circumstance is the disruption of our daily routine. We cannot do everything that we use to do or at least the way we use to do them. Things have changed and change is hard on most of us. This got me to thinking about the challenge of personal change. Change that would help us be better spouses, parents, friends, or disciples of Jesus. So, I have listed five roadblocks to such change.

1) Change is not self-initiated.

It takes a calculated, conscious, effort on our part. I love this quote by Max Depree;

“In the end, it is important to remember that we cannot become what we need to be by remaining what we are.”

2) We would rather change others or our circumstances than ourselves

I have garnered this wisdom from Charles Shultz’s Peanuts comic strip:

Charlie Brown: “Perhaps you can give me an answer, Linus, what would you do if you thought no one liked you?”

Linus:” I’d try to look at myself objectively and see what I could do to improve. That’s my answer Charlie Brown.”

Charlie Brown: “I hate that answer.”

3) Fear of the Unknown:

Many of us live by the sixteenth-century proverb: “better the devil you know than the devil you don't know”. There can be a false sense of security in the familiar that locks us into thought patterns or behaviors that are unhealthy or even toxic. So, we let them continue because it is what we know.

4) Fear of failure

“The greatest mistake a person can make is to be afraid of making one.”

Elbert Hubbard

Again, a quote from Charlie Brown: “There’s no problem so big I can’t run from it”. Often, we can be paralyzed by the fear that we cannot change and if we try and fail it will be even worse. To overcome this fear, it is imperative to remember two of the Lords promises:

“Fear not for I am with you” and “The Holy Spirit will guide you into all truth”.

5) Narrow Mindedness

If we are not careful, we can become myopic living as though we have blinders on. Only seeing things for how they affect us. But one of the most common themes in the New Testament is our connectedness to others. To “care one for another” to “prefer others above ourselves”, to “love our neighbors as ourselves”.

Here are a few questions we can prayerfully ask ourselves to facilitate needed change in our lives:

Why am I doing/thinking what I am doing/thinking? (This includes how I see myself, how I treat others, how I view God.)

What do I do to become who I should be? (Identify correct actions and thought processes.)

How should I do what I should do to become who I should be? (This is the practical day to day steps to take to create the change.)

If after answering the first question you identify the need for change you may need some help to answer and implement the next two. Find someone you trust who demonstrates success in the area of your challenge. Allow them to prayerfully advise you on the what and the how. Possibly you'll need an accountability partner to help keep you on track till the change becomes the norm. Ultimately trust these words from the apostle Paul in Philippians:

"And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns."

Pastor Steve

04/29/2020

I'm Thankful For...

I just picked up lunch at one of my favorite Mexican restaurants. I picked it up because I wasn’t allowed to sit there. Right now, it isn’t hard to notice all the things I can’t do they stare at me right in the face. I am reminded of them constantly by media, posted signs, and cautionary words from my daughter the nurse. It would be easy to allow all the “can’t do that’s” to dominate my thoughts and shape my attitude. But instead, I have determined to put into practice the instructions the apostle Paul gave in 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18;

Always be joyful.

Never stop praying.

Be thankful in all circumstances,

for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.

Note he did not say be thankful for all circumstances but in all circumstances. In other words, don’t let your circumstances dictate your attitude, instead consider the things God has given that you are thankful for. This is what David, someone who had experienced a lot of “can’t do that’s” in his life, declared in Psalm 107:21:

Oh, that men would give thanks to the LORD for His goodness,

And for His wonderful works to the children of men!

So, I made a list of some of the things I’m thankful for;,

Color: that everything is not in black and white, the multiple shades of blue in the ocean, the yellows, pinks, and purples of a sunset, the thousands of varieties of flowers

Taste: that eating isn’t just for sustaining life but there can be such delightful pleasure in different flavors (I think of the reaction Ellie Skillin had eating her first ice cream cone)

Sound: birds chirping and singing, the roar of ocean waves, jazz, the joyful call of “Pops”

Friends: people who have chosen to be a part of my life and allowed me to be a part of theirs

Family: parents who forged their way through incredible hardship to make available a better life for my siblings and me. A wife that is a true-life partner. Two daughters and 3 sons who challenge me, encourage me, and make me laugh. Two perfectly imperfect grandsons and a third on his way.

Jesus: as the old hymn says:

Many things about tomorrow

I don't seem to understand

But I know who holds tomorrow

And I know who holds my hand

Why don’t you make your own list and when you start to get bogged down by all the “can’t do that’s” pull it out, read it, and pray a prayer of thankfulness. It will do wonders for you.

Pastor Steve