New Hope Baptist Church

06/19/2026

Your Divine Armor
The apostle Paul knew a thing or two about spiritual warfare. As a missionary and church planter, he regularly faced intense opposition. Sometimes that even included jail.

And it was in jail, guarded by Roman soldiers, that Paul gave us one of the most powerful Scripture truths about overcoming Satan: the armor of God. Just as a soldier would never have thought of going to battle without armor, so we shouldn’t go through our day without being fully equipped.

The list, found in Ephesians 6, helps us understand what we need to be protected against attack and able to fight back. As you read this list, I encourage you to ask the Holy Spirit to speak to you, revealing any areas where your armor might be missing or need an upgrade.

The first piece of armor is the belt of truth (verse 14). Truth is essential, because what we believe—about ourselves, about God, about life—dictates how we will act. Our beliefs need to be grounded in the truth of God’s Word.

The second is the body armor (or breastplate) of God’s righteousness (verse 14). Body armor covers our heart and other vital organs, protecting us from deadly blows. Spiritually, that body armor is Jesus’ righteousness. We are protected from guilt and condemnation by his righteousness, not our own.

The third is the shoes of peace (verse 15). Peace gives us steady footing amid the chaos and unpredictability of life. No matter what we face, we can stand firm in the peace of God.

The fourth is the shield of faith (verse 16). Faith deflects lies and other attacks like a shield blocks fiery arrows from the enemy. Our trust in God protects us from Satan’s attempts to deceive, discourage, or derail us.

The fifth is the helmet of salvation (verse 17). Salvation covers our mind like a helmet protects a soldier’s head, guarding our thoughts with truth. The more we understand God’s love for us, shown through Jesus, the more our mental health can flourish.

The sixth is the sword of the Spirit (verse 17). This is God’s Word. In the same way that Jesus fought Satan’s temptations with Scripture (Matthew 4:1-11), we also fight his lies and temptations with the truth of God’s Word.

Just like a soldier receiving his armor, Jesus equips us with his truth, righteousness, peace, faith, salvation, and power.

Are there any of these that you feel are missing or weak in your own life? Right now, tell that to God and ask for his help. The armor is his gift to you, and he is ready and willing to help you put it on.

Reflection Questions
Which of these articles of armor feels most present in my life today? How do I see them at work protecting me?
Which of these articles feels lacking or weak? What holes are in my armor? Am I believing any lies that are causing this, and if so, what truths from God’s Word can I use to quench those fiery arrows?

06/19/2026

06/19/2026

What an incredible week we’ve had at VBS! Thank you for trusting us with your kiddos! We’ve had a BLAST!

Our theme this year was “What a Mess!” and we’ve been learning how God can take the messes in our lives and turn them into masterpieces. We’ve laughed, learned, worshiped, played, and watched God work in hearts this week. We are so thankful for every child, volunteer, parent, and church member who helped make this week such a blessing!

Tomorrow night, Friday-June 19, is our Closing Service @ NHBC, and we’d love for everyone to join us!

🍽️ Meal begins at 5:30 PM
🎉 Followed by our MESSTIVAL — a fun-filled, messy celebration for the kids!

A few reminders:
🧺 Please bring a towel for your child.
👕 Wear clothes that you’re okay with possibly getting messy or ruined.
🧢 If hair is a concern, you may want to wear a bonnet, hat, or other hair covering.

Participation in the messy activities is completely optional—we just want everyone to come and have fun!

Thank you for making this VBS week one to remember. We can’t wait to celebrate all that God has done! ❤️

06/18/2026

Intimacy Unlocks Authority
Spiritual authority flows from intimacy with God. We don’t earn it by religious effort, spiritual performance, or reciting some secret formula. We receive it through our relationship with Jesus Christ.
In Luke 10:19, Jesus tells his disciples, “Look, I have given you authority over all the power of the enemy” (NLT). Interestingly, the disciples hadn’t asked for power. They hadn’t begged to know some mystical secret way to control the spirit realm. They had simply committed to follow Jesus. And as they followed, they grew in relationship with Jesus and began to share his heart for the world. The authority he gave them was so they could carry out his mission on earth.
That same authority is available to us today as part of our inheritance in Christ. We are not powerless, passive victims. Instead, in Christ we are more than conquerors (Romans 8:37) who can walk in the victory that flows from knowing Jesus intimately and living in the reality of our union with him.
Jesus emphasized this in John 15:5 (NLT): “Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing.”
Our authority comes from abiding in Christ. The more we walk in communion with him through prayer, worship, surrender, and obedience, the more we understand who He is and who we are in him.
That understanding affects us in two powerful ways. First, it brings humility. We realize that it isn’t our effort that gives us authority, it’s Jesus’ gift. James 4:7-8 links humility and spiritual power. “So humble yourselves before God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come close to God, and God will come close to you” (NLT).
Second, that understanding brings confidence. Because we are in Christ, Satan must retreat. 1 John 4:4 tells us that the Spirit who lives in us is greater than the spirit who lives in the world.
How connected are you to the life of Jesus? Is your relationship with him growing in intimacy? It’s worth the time and effort! As you draw closer to him, you will see the fruit of that in increased humility and confidence. You will be more aware of your authority in Christ and able to wield it effectively to resist Satan’s schemes.
Reflection Questions
1 How connected do I feel to the life of Jesus? What distractions or hindrances are keeping me from being even closer to him?
2 Are there any unsurrendered areas in my life right now?
3 Do I see the twin fruits of humility and confidence present in my life? When and where do they appear? Are there situations where one or both are missing, and what might the Spirit be asking me to do to grow in those areas?

06/17/2026

Stay Alert
The apostle Peter liked to say things exactly the way he felt them. His letters are full of strong exhortations about things he wanted people to understand. One of those is found in 1 Peter 5:8: “Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour” (NLT).

It’s no wonder that Peter said this so bluntly. A few years earlier, Peter had experienced probably the greatest disaster and shame of his life through his own failure to discern Satan’s attack.

On the night that Jesus was about to be betrayed and executed, Jesus told his disciples that all of them would abandon him that night. Peter vocally protested, promising that he would stand by Jesus regardless of what anyone else did. But hours later, when Jesus was arrested, Peter denied three times that he even knew Jesus.

Jesus forgave and restored Peter, just as he does when we fail. But Peter never forgot that night. No longer would he assume that he was too strong to fall victim to Satan’s attacks or too wise to be fooled by his lies. And he wanted his readers to be alert as well.

Satan hasn’t stopped looking for ways to distract us, tempt us, intimidate us, and—if possible-destroy us. He isn’t passively waiting for us to fall. He is actively hunting, looking for a weakness he can exploit.

He is not foolish or inexperienced. He has been attacking humanity since Adam and Eve, and he knows what works. If he can find a weakness in us, he will exploit it.

The apostle Paul, who had at one time been so deceived himself by the devil that he actively persecuted Christians and approved of their deaths, challenged the early church to act carefully and wisely “so that Satan will not outsmart us. For we are familiar with his evil schemes” (2 Corinthians 2:11, NLT).

The word “schemes” in the Greek is noēma, meaning “mind,” “thought,” or “purpose.”

It refers to mental attacks—plans to influence and twist your thinking away from truth.

He wants you to believe his lies, just as Adam and Eve did.

But that is not your destiny. The Holy Spirit lives in you, guiding you into “all truth” (John 16:13) and helping you avoid Satan’s traps.

Stay alert. Use the wisdom and discernment God has given you. You can stand firm in the face of the lion’s threats. And through the power of the Holy Spirit, you can silence the roar of the enemy with the voice of truth, the Word of God.

Reflection Questions
What is a time I fell victim to one of Satan’s traps? How did God restore me? What lesson did I learn from that?
In what areas of my life today do I need to be more alert to Satan’s schemes?

06/17/2026

Our annual Water Kick Ball game “kicked” off our VBS week! Thank you, Ricky Cohen for hosting such a fun event!

Video credit toCecily Ann Givens

06/16/2026

Two Kingdoms at War
Every person on earth belongs to one of two kingdoms: the kingdom of darkness, ruled by Satan, or God’s Kingdom of light. When we came to Christ, he rescued us from Satan’s kingdom and welcomed us into God’s Kingdom. Colossians 1:13-14 says, “For he has rescued us from the kingdom of darkness and transferred us into the Kingdom of his dear Son, who purchased our freedom and forgave our sins” (NLT).

But being rescued didn’t remove us from the war. If anything, it intensified it. Now we have two natures within us, fighting against each other. Our old sinful nature, defeated but still vocal, tries to drag us back into rebellion and sin. God’s Spirit gently and persistently challenges us to do what is right instead.

Making this internal battle more complicated, we exist in a world largely under Satan’s control that constantly tempts us with false promises. Satan’s tactics haven’t changed since the Garden of Eden—he still uses lies to entice us to come back under the control of darkness.

The apostle John writes, “for everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world” (1 John 2:16, NIV). If you find yourself craving sinful pleasures, coveting things that aren’t yours, or being tempted to elevate your own opinions and desires above God’s Word, you are experiencing that inner battle firsthand.

With the wisdom of God’s Spirit in you, you can identify those temptations and see them for what they are—lies from Satan meant to bring you back under the influence of the kingdom of darkness. And with the power of that same Holy Spirit, you can resist the temptations and experience the fullness of life in the Kingdom of light.

Right now, I want to encourage you to stop and thank God for bringing you into his Kingdom. Then, ask yourself if you are abiding there, or if the pull of the old kingdom is still present. Ask God to reveal any areas where you might be letting the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, or the pride of life draw you towards the kingdom of darkness that once held you in its power.

Then commit to obeying him in every area as his Spirit helps you live in freedom in the Kingdom of God.

Reflection Questions
What temptations have felt particularly strong this week? Why? How have I handled them so far? Is there anything the Holy Spirit is telling me about how to get victory in these areas?
We all face a daily choice between abiding in the Kingdom of light or veering towards the kingdom of darkness. In what areas have you had to make that choice recently? How did you respond, and what happened as a result?

06/15/2026

The Fall of Mankind
The Garden of Eden was humanity’s first home. It was perfect, without death or fear or shame. Adam and Eve lived there in a deep, intimate relationship with their Creator in a world untainted by evil.

In the middle of that garden, God placed a tree, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, which he told them never to eat from. The tree signified their choice. They could live in perfection, beauty, and obedience. Or they could rebel against his authority and try to define good and evil for themselves.

Satan, intent on destroying all God created, tempted Adam and Eve by casting doubt on God’s character and saying God was withholding good from them. After listening to his lies, they chose to eat the fruit. In doing so, they rejected God’s rule and set themselves on the throne of their lives. Like Satan, they tried to exalt themselves above their Creator.

Immediately, a new emotion entered the human experience, one we all know all too well: shame. Aware of their guilt and unable to make things right, they hid from God.

From that moment, sin became entwined with the core of human nature, and death entered our world. Sin and its effects have twisted everything and everyone since. We are all born with a sinful nature that resists God. Romans 8:7 says, “for the sinful nature is always hostile to God. It never did obey God’s laws, and it never will” (NLT).

This sin nature is why we struggle to do what is right, even when we desperately want to. It’s why we fall back into patterns we yearn to be free of. It’s why we can never fix ourselves.

But although Adam and Eve’s sin brought death, death was not the end. Through Jesus’ own death, burial, and resurrection, he defeated sin once and for all. He broke its power and gave us a new nature. When we receive Christ, we are made new from the inside out. God’s Spirit lives in us, giving us power to fight against temptation.

Victory in spiritual warfare begins with recognizing this saving power of Jesus in our lives. It wasn’t our righteousness, hard work, or intelligence that set us free from sin. It was Jesus! And it is Jesus who empowers us each day through his Spirit in us.

Today, take a minute just to pause and thank Jesus for what he did to reverse the effects of sin and to set you free. Thank him for his power in your life.

Then, commit to trusting him fully. He began a marvelous work in you, and he has promised to complete it (Philippians 1:6). No power on earth or in hell can stop his love for you!

Reflection Questions
Where have I seen the love and power of God transform my life from what it used to be?
Are there any old patterns of thinking or acting that God is working to change right now? How am I cooperating with him in that process?

06/14/2026

🎨💥 VBS STARTS TOMORROW! 💥🎨

We are so excited for our “What a Mess!” Vacation Bible School at New Hope Baptist Church! Get ready for a week full of fun, games, messy activities, music, crafts, Bible lessons, and learning how God can take our messes and turn them into something beautiful.

We can’t wait to see everyone next week! Invite your friends and help us spread the word!

👉 Register here: https://forms.gle/cev2ej658VRRQLzJA