8 Great Ways to Honor Your Wife: Encourage Her Gifts
A Moment of Hope
by David Chadwick I want to see biblical manhood reflected in the church. I want husbands to know how to honor their wives, creating strong marriages. I want to see strong, healthy families who love the Lord with all their hearts, souls, minds, and strength. I believe a strong family starts with a strong marriage. And a strong marriage starts with humble men who know how to honor their wives. We are looking at 8 great ways for husbands to develop a culture of honor with their wives. Here is the next tool: encourage her gifts! Your wife has a call from God that he has given her to accomplish...
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8 Great Ways to Honor Your Wife: Be a Man of God
A Moment of Hope
by David Chadwick A toolbox packed full of different tools gives someone the confidence to step into a variety of situations and bring a solution. If you only have a “hammer” and you find a situation that needs a “screwdriver,” you will not get very far. Over the next two weeks, we are exploring 8 Great Ways to Honor Your Wife. I want to give you, husbands, tools to strengthen your marriage. My prayer is that God strengthens your marriage as you put these “8 Greats” into practice in your home. Today’s tool: be a man of God! This is an absolute must for all husbands. You are to be...
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8 Great Ways to Honor Your Wife: Trust Her Gut
A Moment of Hope
by David Chadwick I want to teach you principles for developing biblical love and honor within a marriage. I love pithy statements that help to easily remember things. Marilynn and I have found the term “8 Great” to be a very easy way to remember Godly principles for different areas of life. Over the next two weeks, I want to share 8 Great Ways to Honor Your Wife. Each day, I am going to give you, husbands, a new tool that you can put in your tool belt. Different situations require different tools and my prayer is that you will become more equipped to lead and love your wife with HONOR....
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8 Great Ways to Honor Your Wife: What is Honor?
A Moment of Hope
Honor. Such a powerful word. To honor is defined as this: “to regard with great respect, to prize, to admire, to give special recognition, to demonstrate high respect or great esteem for someone." In historical biblical culture, the word “honor” carried tremendous weight. Even today, there are cultures around the world that place a high value on honor. In God’s original intent, honor is a tool to bestow on one another, to bless, to prefer someone else over ourselves. Unfortunately, in the modern American Christian culture, people seem to gravitate to one of two extremes regarding...
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Descriptions of a Faithful Friend: “Your Minister to My Needs”
A Moment of Hope
Faithful friends are hard to come by and the ones you find are worth keeping. Paul had a faithful friend named Epaphroditus who he describes in detail in Philippians 2:25. I pray that Paul’s description helps to show you what characteristics to look for in your friendships. Epaphroditus was a brother, a fellow worker, a fellow soldier, and a messenger. And today we will look at the fifth and final characteristic where Paul calls Epaphroditus “your minister to my needs” (verse 25). Epaphroditus was a minister of the church at Philippi, sent to Paul in a Roman prison to meet his needs....
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Descriptions of a Faithful Friend: “Your Messenger”
A Moment of Hope
Faithful. This word is defined as “steadfast in affection or allegiance, loyal, constant, devoted.” Paul describes his faithful friend Epaphroditus in Philippians 2:25. He uses five terms to describe him. A brother. A fellow worker. A fellow soldier. And today’s description: your messenger! Paul calls Epaphroditus in these verses “your messenger” (verse 25). The Philippian church sent him to encourage Paul with a gift. We don’t know what the gift actually was but their message must have helped Paul feel encouraged in his prison trial. How do you strengthen a friendship? Become a...
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Descriptions of a Faithful Friend: "My Fellow Soldier"
A Moment of Hope
Proverbs 18:24 says, “A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.” Do you know what I have found to create the deepest of bonds between faithful friends? Even more than being a brother or a fellow worker? Someone who is a fellow soldier! It is the third term Paul uses to describe Epaphroditus in Philippians 2:25. A faithful friend who is a fellow soldier understands that we are at war. There is a battle raging for souls until Jesus returns. A fellow soldier counts the cost of what is happening and sees the eternal victory. A fellow...
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Descriptions of a Faithful Friend: "My Fellow Worker"
A Moment of Hope
Faithful friends are hard to come by! They are the rare ones who weep when you weep and rejoice when you rejoice (Romans 12:15). They bear your burdens (Galatians 6:2). They challenge you to grow out of your sin and move into righteousness (Proverbs 27:6). Paul had a faithful friend named Epaphroditus. He described him very intentionally in Philippians 2:25. First, as a brother. And secondly as “my fellow worker.” What does this mean? As a fellow worker, both Paul and Ephaphroditus both shared in the common labor of loving and serving Christ. They worked together first in Philippi and then...
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Descriptions of a Faithful Friend: “My Brother”
A Moment of Hope
How many of you have a faithful friend? Someone who loves you, champions you, and desires God’s best for your life. Or maybe you are blessed enough to have two, three, or even more! Faithful friends are hard to come by and can only be proven through seasons of both trials and victories. The apostle Paul had a friend like this. His name was Epaphroditus and you’ll find their story in Philippians 2:25-30. Paul described him in verse 25 as his “brother and fellow worker and fellow soldier, and your messenger and minister to my need.” Epaphroditus came from Philippi to bring Paul a gift of...
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Bad Guys of the Bible: Zimri and Cozbi
A Moment of Hope
This week we are sharing some of your favorite Moments of Hope from 2024. Thank you for taking a moment of your day to grow in your discipleship journey with us. To explore additional resources from Moments of Hope Church, please by David Chadwick We have looked at some hidden heroes from the Bible this week. People who are probably not as known, but had a significant impact on the storyline of the Bible. But I want to wrap up this week with another couple of bad guys. These are two individuals who tried to thwart all of the good in God’s story. Yet, in spite of...
info_outlineby David Chadwick
You can’t have good news without first having bad news. You can’t come to bring light unless there is darkness.
Jesus came to the cradle and the cross. He came to give abundant life and to destroy the works of the devil. He came to bring light.
He also came to bring judgment. This reason for Jesus’s coming is a bit more solemn, but nevertheless is true and needs to be noted during the Christmas season. He could never have offered mercy without first bringing judgment.
Jesus told us that his message would divide people, even family members (Matthew 10:34). Among friends. Within society and culture. Think especially of the persecuted church worldwide. It has already happened. It will continue to happen. Jesus told us it would.
Look at the following Bible verses.
Jesus said in John 9:39, “For judgment I came into this world, that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind.” And in Matthew 10:34, he says, “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword.”
Jesus came to bring judgment upon this world so that the blind will see and those who think they see will become blind. What does this mean? It’s referring to spiritual sight. Jesus came to open up people's spiritual eyes so they can walk in truth. He also came so that people who walk in darkness--evil and sin--will be judged. We live in a world where it seems that people get away with anything and everything that’s sad, bad, and evil. But one day Jesus will bring perfect justice!
As for division with family and friends, please know during this Christmas season that Jesus knew it would happen. It’s one of the reasons that he came. One day, he will make all things new. He will overcome all evil. In heaven, there will be no division. Only perfect unity. In the first coming, he came in love, but in the second coming, he will come in judgment and justice. His love and judgment fit perfectly together.
Until then, we have the church. The family of God on earth. And for those cast out by an unbelieving family, there’s a new set of brothers and sisters in Jesus’s church.
That’s the power of the Christmas story.