Living Hope Lakeport

09/06/2026

What are you adding to Jesus?

Join us this morning as we launch a new series on Christ's supremacy and sufficiency in Colossians. Paul writes to a church caught in a spiritual performance trap—trying to add rules, philosophies, and special requirements to their faith in Jesus. But Paul delivers a liberating truth: the gospel is Jesus plus nothing. God has nothing else to give us than what He gives us in Jesus. Discover three marks of a gospel-awakened heart: renewed hope, the promise of more in Christ, and a deepening understanding of grace.

📖 Colossians 1:1-8

Service Times
✅ 9 AM Service (Nursery available for birth through age 5)
✅ 10:45 AM Service (Nursery through grade 5 available)

Announcements
✅ Hospitality Appreciation & Training Breakfast: for current and future team members! Join us September 19 at 9:00 a.m. in Fellowship Hall. Sign up on our website today!
✅ Discovery Class: Curious about membership? Join Discovery Class Sundays, Sept 27–Oct 18 at 9am in the Fellowship Hall. Engage, Establish, Equip, Evangelize!
✅ Welcome Luncheon: New to Living Hope — or joined within the last year? You're invited to our Welcome Luncheon, Sunday, October 25th after second service. No sign-up needed!
✅ Trunk or Treat is coming Oct 31st! We need 15 decorated trunks, crockpot meals & candy. Volunteer sign-ups open soon — more details ahead!

Can't make it in person? Watch our livestream at https://livinghope603.org/livestream/

Share this post with someone who needs to hear this message today!

09/03/2026

Ten Takeaways

1. Forgiveness is just the start; healing is the finish line. Forgiveness wipes the slate clean, but complete restoration is what actually renews us for God's purpose and makes us useful again.
2.Mistakes don't have to define your future. You don't just need forgiveness for what you have done; you need restoration from what failure has done to you.
3. When you blow it, run toward Jesus, not away. Retreating into your old comfort zones after a setback isolates you. Running to Christ leads straight into His grace.
4. Be a person who "cooks breakfast" for failures. Instead of condemning people who mess up, extend restorative grace. The world is full of broken people looking for a safe place to rebuild.
5. Trust what God knows, not just how you feel. Emotional shame will lie to you and convince you that you're too far gone, but God sees the true posture of your heart.
6. Godly sorrow heals; worldly sorrow traps. Real repentance looks to God for healing and repair, while self-pity and shame keep you stuck managing the damage.
7. Let the Great Surgeon do His work. True restoration can hurt because it requires facing past mistakes, but that temporary pain always serves a higher purpose.
8. Never write off your usefulness. Jesus entrusted the care of His flock to Peter after Peter’s biggest failure. God isn't finished using you just because you stumbled.
9. Don't hang a "Gone Fishing" sign on your heart. Avoid sitting on the sidelines of life because of past regrets—there is always a "what's next" waiting for you.
10. God rebuilds lives out of discarded pieces. Like instruments crafted from landfill trash, God redeems our brokenness to create something beautiful for His glory.

Listen to the full sermon on our podcast!

https://livinghope603.org/back-to-the-future-john-2115-19-pastor-brian-green/

09/02/2026

Are you just enduring life's trials, or are you allowing them to transform you? 🏃‍♂️🎹 Just like wearing running shoes doesn’t make you a runner, simply going through hardship doesn't automatically mean we grow. God uses life's difficult moments to discipline and train us for a harvest of righteousness and peace—but only if we submit to the process!

Read Pastor Brian's full message in this week's Epistle on our website to discover how to find purpose in your pain:

https://livinghope603.org/weekly-epistle-9-2-26/

09/01/2026

Many know they’re forgiven, but still carry the sting of past failure. Listen to the latest message as we look at John 21 to see how Jesus heals our regret and restores us for a useful future! Listen here:

https://livinghope603.org/back-to-the-future-john-2115-19-pastor-brian-green/

08/30/2026

What if your greatest failure is not the end of your story?

Join us this morning as we conclude the series "Forgiven to Forgive" with Jesus and Peter at the Sea of Galilee. After Peter's devastating denials, he's hiding, broken, running back to fishing. But Jesus meets him on the shore with a fire, a meal, and three life-changing questions. This is the story of restoration—not just being forgiven for what we've done, but being healed from what our failure has done to us. Discover three truths that will transform how you move from broken to beautiful.

📖 John 21:15-19

Service Times
✅ 9 AM Service (Nursery available for birth through age 5)
✅ 10:45 AM Service (Nursery through grade 5 available)

Announcements
✅ Prayer Walk at Laconia High School: TODAY at 1PM! Join local pastors for our 7th Annual Prayer Walk, praying over students, staff and community
✅ Discovery Class: Curious about membership? Join Discovery Class Sundays, Sept 27–Oct 18 at 9am in the Fellowship Hall. Engage, Establish, Equip, Evangelize!
✅ Women's Bible Studies: Ladies, join a fall Bible study: Daniel & Esther (Thursdays, Sept. 10) or Philippians with Julie Wirth (Sept. 21). Scan QR code to sign up!
✅ Hospitality Appreciation & Training Breakfast: for current and future team members! Join us September 19 at 9:00 a.m. in Fellowship Hall. Sign up on our website today!

Can't make it in person? Watch our livestream at https://livinghope603.org/livestream/

Share this post with someone who needs to hear this message today!

08/27/2026

10 Lessons on Radical Forgiveness from the Book of Philemon

1. The gospel changes how we view people. In Christ, someone is no longer defined by their past mistakes, failures, or labels—they are a new creation.
2. True forgiveness cannot be forced. We cannot manipulate or mandate reconciliation; it must come willingly from the heart.
3. Forgiveness isn’t amnesia. Forgiving isn’t pretending the past never happened; it’s releasing the power that the past has over your present.
4. God can use our deepest wounds for good. Just like Joseph and Philemon, our pain can be used by God to accomplish a redemptive purpose we can’t yet see.
5. Hurt reveals our character. Suffering often exposes hidden pride, bitterness, and anger that God wants to heal and refine.
6. Steward your pain; don’t surrender your tomorrows. Holding onto resentment gives yesterday’s injury the power to ruin the next 15 years of your life.
7. Forgiveness is a one-way street; reconciliation is a two-way street. You can choose to forgive unilaterally, but rebuilding a relationship requires mutual repentance and repair.
8. God doesn’t just pardon us; He welcomes us back. Gospel forgiveness doesn’t settle for cold distance—it calls us to tear down the walls of estrangement.
9. Our debt was charged to Jesus’s account. Just as Paul offered to cover Onesimus's debt, Christ took all our sin upon Himself so we could be credited with His righteousness.
10. When we refuse to forgive, we minimize our own debt. We cannot honestly look at how much Jesus paid on our behalf and still demand that others pay us back down to the penny.

Listen to the full sermon on our podcast!

Explore four biblical lessons from Philemon on how Christ's grace transforms how we view wounds, release debts, and pursue radical, gospel-centered relational reconciliation.

08/26/2026

Ever looked at a situation—or a person—and thought, "That's completely impossible"?

In this week's message, Pastor Brian looks at the story of Zacchaeus in Luke 19. Zacchaeus was isolated, deeply disliked, and far from God, yet Jesus met him right where he was. The truth is, man’s greatest need is always spiritual, and God specializes in changing what we think can never be changed.

Before you give up on an impossible situation or write someone off, take a moment to read this week's Weekly Epistle!

👉 Click the link below to read the full Weekly Epistle on our website! https://livinghope603.org/weekly-epistle-8-26-26/

08/25/2026

Are unresolved hurts or past offenses driving wedges into your relationships?

🎧Tune in to our latest message to hear how the gospel breaks through our pride and offers a radical path toward true forgiveness and reconciliation.

Listen to the full sermon here:
https://livinghope603.org/a-case-study-in-forgiveness-part-two-philemon-12-25-pastor-brian-green/

08/23/2026

What if God had a purpose in your pain?

Join us this morning as we conclude A Case Study in Forgiveness with the second half of Philemon. Paul reveals a stunning truth: when the gospel truly settles in our souls, it transforms how we view others, how we view our wounds, how we approach the work of reconciliation, and how we view the debts owed to us. Discover four transformative life lessons that will change the way you forgive—and the way you live.

📖 Philemon 12-25

Service Times
✅ 9 AM Service (Nursery available for birth through age 5)
✅ 10:45 AM Service (Nursery through grade 5 available)

Announcements
✅ Community Groups Expanding: This fall, Community Groups are expanding—new groups, new areas, new nights. More options, more connections, more chances to grow together. Sign-up in the back of the Sanctuary
✅ Discovery Class: Curious about membership? Join Discovery Class Sundays, Sept 27–Oct 18 at 9am in the Fellowship Hall. Engage, Establish, Equip, Evangelize!
✅ Prayer at Laconia High School: Join local pastors August 30 at 1PM for our 7th Annual Prayer Walk at Laconia High School, praying over students, staff and community
✅ Hospitality Appreciation & Training Breakfast: for current and future team members! Join us September 19 at 9:00 a.m. in Fellowship Hall. Sign up on our website today!

Can't make it in person? Watch our livestream at https://livinghope603.org/livestream/

Share this post with someone who needs to hear this message today!

08/20/2026

10 Key Takeaways from Sunday’s Message on Philemon & Forgiveness 📖✨

1. Reconciliation is always worth the cost: When it comes to restoring broken relationships, there is truly no price too high.
2. Watch your communication: A missing word, a misplaced comma, or a slight shift in tone can completely change perception and plant seeds of offense.
3. Find your role in the story: In any conflict, we are either Philemon (called to forgive), Onesimus (called to make things right), or Paul (called to mediate and advocate).
4. Encouragement beats flattery: Flattery inflates pride for personal gain; genuine encouragement points out God’s active grace in someone else’s life.
5. Cultivate a ministry of refreshment: Live in such a way that people leave your presence spiritually renewed, encouraged, and energized.
6. Grace invites; it never coerces: You cannot force true repentance or mandate forgiveness—real reconciliation requires a willing heart motivated by love.
7. Stand in the gap for others: Like Paul (parakaleo), be an advocate who comes alongside hurting people rather than demanding immediate compliance from a distance.
8. The Gospel knows no hopeless cases: Onesimus was once deemed "useless," but grace transformed him into someone vital, faithful, and fruitful.
9. Your story isn't finished: Just like Roy Riegels in the 1929 Rose Bowl, when you're tempted to quit over past mistakes, remember: the game is only half over.
10. Fix your eyes on the face of Christ: As Leonardo da Vinci learned, you cannot reflect the character of Jesus in your life while painting someone else with the dark colors of bitterness and revenge.

Listen to the full sermon on our podcast!

Discover how the Apostle Paul’s appeal in Philemon offers a blueprint for healing relational wounds and extending grace through the power of Christ.