Hearing That Leads to Obeying

Eric Thompson •
August 11, 2026

2 Minute Read

Focus Verse: Luke 6:46

"Why do you call me 'Lord, Lord,' and do not do what I say?"

There is a difference between hearing words and truly receiving them. In ancient Hebrew culture, to hear God's word was to obey it - the two actions were inseparable. You could not claim to have heard something you refused to act upon. That understanding cuts straight through the comfortable distance many of us keep between what we know and how we live.

Jesus pressed this same point. He did not ask why people failed to call him Lord. He asked why they called him Lord but then lived as though he were not. The title without the surrender is an empty sound. This applies to every area of life, but it lands with particular weight when it comes to raising children. You can know every verse in Deuteronomy 6 and still never sit down with your child and open a Bible together. Knowledge without action is not really knowledge at all, not in the Hebrew sense, and not in Jesus's sense either.

The good news is that the gap between knowing and doing can be closed today. One small act of obedience is worth more than years of intention.

Today's Challenge: Ask yourself honestly: is there one thing God has already shown you about discipling the people in your home that you have heard but not yet done? Write it down and take one step toward it before the day ends.

Prayer: Father, I do not want to be someone who calls you Lord only with words. I ask you to move what I know from my head into my hands and feet. Give me the courage to do the thing I have been putting off.

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August 11, 2026 • 2 Minute Read

Hearing That Leads to Obeying

Focus Verse: Luke 6:46 "Why do you call me 'Lord, Lord,' and do not do what I say?" There is a difference between hearing words and truly receiving them. In ancient Hebrew culture, to hear God's word was to obey it - the two actions were inseparable. You could not claim to have heard something you refused to act upon. That understanding cuts straight through the comfortable distance many of us keep between what we know and how we live. Jesus pressed this same point. He did not ask why people failed to call him Lord. He asked why they called him Lord but then lived as though he were not. The title without the surrender is an empty sound. This applies to every area of life, but it lands with particular weight when it comes to raising children. You can know every verse in Deuteronomy 6 and still never sit down with your child and open a Bible together. Knowledge without action is not really knowledge at all, not in the Hebrew sense, and not in Jesus's sense either. The good news is that the gap between knowing and doing can be closed today. One small act of obedience is worth more than years of intention. Today's Challenge: Ask yourself honestly: is there one thing God has already shown you about discipling the people in your home that you have heard but not yet done? Write it down and take one step toward it before the day ends. Prayer: Father, I do not want to be someone who calls you Lord only with words. I ask you to move what I know from my head into my hands and feet. Give me the courage to do the thing I have been putting off.

Eric Thompson

August 3, 2026 • 2 Minute Read

Marriage Calls for Selfless Focus

Focus Verse: 1 Corinthians 7:33-34 "But the married man is anxious about worldly things, how to please his wife, and his interests are divided. And the unmarried or betrothed woman is anxious about the things of the Lord, how to be holy in body and spirit. But the married woman is anxious about worldly things, how to please her husband." Paul makes a statement in this passage that is easy to miss because it is tucked inside a larger argument about singleness and marriage. He says the married man's concern should be how to please his wife, and the married woman's concern should be how to please her husband. That is not a throwaway line. In a culture that tells everyone to put their own needs first, this is a revolutionary instruction. Marriage in God's design is not primarily about having your needs met. It is about becoming the kind of person who is genuinely occupied with meeting someone else's needs. When both people in a marriage are oriented this way — each one asking what the other needs rather than cataloguing what they themselves are not receiving — something remarkable happens. Resentment loses its foothold. Bitterness does not get the room it needs to grow. This principle applies whether you are newly married or have been married for decades. The question is not whether your spouse is meeting your needs. The question Paul presses you toward is this: are you genuinely concerned about theirs? Today's Challenge: If you are married, spend five minutes today thinking carefully and specifically about one practical way you can please or serve your spouse, and then do it without announcing that you are doing it. Prayer: Father, forgive me for the moments when I have entered my marriage focused on what I am receiving rather than what I am giving. Soften my heart toward my spouse today. Make me someone who is genuinely concerned with their flourishing.

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July 31, 2026 • 2 Minute Read

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July 28, 2026 • 2 Minute Read

Leaving and Cleaving Together

Focus Verse: Genesis 2:24 "Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh." This verse is ancient, yet Paul quotes it in Ephesians 5 and Jesus quotes it in Matthew 19. When the same truth is repeated by the Author of the Law, the Son of God, and the apostle who wrote half the New Testament, it is worth slowing down to receive it. God established the pattern of leaving and cleaving from the very beginning of human history, and he has never revised it. Leaving is not just a physical act of moving out of your parents' home. It is an act of the will. It means you stop organizing your life around every relationship that came before your marriage and you reorganize it around your spouse. Cleaving means you hold fast, you stay, you press in even when pressing in is hard. Many couples in difficult seasons simply drift. They keep all the outward appearances of marriage while quietly moving further and further into separate emotional worlds. God's design is the opposite. He is calling you toward oneness, and oneness does not happen by accident. It happens when two people keep choosing each other, again and again, in every ordinary season of life. Today's Challenge: Identify one habit, distraction, or outside attachment that is quietly pulling your attention away from your spouse, and take one concrete step today to address it. Prayer: Father, I ask you to show me where I have stopped truly cleaving to the person I married. Give me the courage to leave behind whatever is competing for the place that belongs to my spouse. Teach me what it means to hold fast.

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July 27, 2026 • 2 Minute Read

Marriage Mirrors Christ's Love

Focus Verse: Ephesians 5:25 "Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her." Paul is doing something remarkable in Ephesians 5. He is not merely giving husbands and wives a list of rules. He is drawing a picture, and the picture is Christ. Six times in just a handful of verses, Paul mentions the church, and that repetition is not accidental. He wants you to see that your marriage is meant to be a living, breathing illustration of the greatest love story ever told. Think about what that means for a Monday morning, when the romance has faded and you are sitting across the breakfast table from someone who left their socks on the floor again. The call on your life is not to feel love in that moment but to choose it, the way Christ chose the cross not because it was easy but because the covenant demanded it. Your marriage is not primarily about your happiness. It is a testimony, a visible sign to a watching world of what sacrificial, faithful, covenant love looks like. That is a high and beautiful calling. Today's Challenge: Read Ephesians 5:22-33 slowly and count every time the word "church" appears, then ask yourself what that repetition is meant to teach you about your own marriage. Prayer: Father, I confess that I often reduce my marriage to what I get from it rather than what I can give to it. Open my eyes today to see my spouse the way Christ sees the church, as someone worth sacrificing for. Let my love be a reflection of yours.

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July 13, 2026 • 2 Minute Read

Family Fun Day

Summer is Here 😎 Family Fun Day is coming up on Sunday, July 26th and we could not be more excited! Get ready for an exciting Sunday together! Bring a friend and join us as we kick off our brand new family series “Family Life” during the 11:00 AM service.... The fun doesn’t stop there! Stick around right after for an awesome time of food, fellowship, and fun in the water for everyone! Don’t forget your towel!👌 Bring your favorite potluck dish to share 🌭, we can’t wait to enjoy it together! **There will be a sign up sheet located at the Guest Services table. ** Our Sunday Kids Church curriculum kicks off with a brand new 8-week series, “Back-to-School Survival Guide.” The kids will learn how to make this school year the best ever as they see how to listen and hold on to instruction. “I also want to spotlight 🤩 our incredible Hope Kidz team, who have faithfully served Sunday after Sunday! Thank you for making disciples… who make disciples in Hope Kidz!” - Pastor Eric Do you have a passion for kids and a heart for helping them grow in their faith? Do you enjoy teaching children about Jesus and making disciples? Hope Kidz would love to have you join our team! If you're interested in serving or would like to learn more, please reach out to Valerie for additional information.Sign up to join Hope Kidz Coming up 🔔

Eric Thompson