All Resources
Small Group Accountability – A Helpful Tool (I.D.G.F)
One of the pillars of Hope Community Church small groups is accountability. During this accountability time, we hope to create an environment where people feel free to share all the ups and downs of life and point each other toward Jesus. As small group leaders, it...
The Gospel Turn in Small Groups
We can find ourselves hearing things and believing those things which can change our behaviors or habits. These are what we often talk about in our small groups. "I wish I could stop doing this" "I want to be more like this" "I think God is asking me to take this...
Gospel Accountability
Last fall our small group leaders zero’d in on how the gospel is the center of how we think about accountability. This is true for us as a church, but particularly within our small groups. For those unfamiliar, our small groups are built on three ideals –...
Accountability in Small Groups
Hope Community is not merely a place, but a group of people who desire to live as followers of Jesus and to make a difference in our city for Christ. Effective use of gospel centered accountability in small groups is vital to the growth and health of group members. As...
Creating & Maintaining Community in Small Groups
Creating a comfortable and welcoming environment for a small group is vital to the success of the group in general. The reasoning is pretty simple - people return to environments where they feel welcome and accepted. People also feel freer to be themselves in a...
One Man’s Minority Perspective on Being a Racial Minority
I was born in Seoul, South Korea, adopted at the age of 4 months old by a white family, and grew up in China. My mother is of Scottish descent, and my father has Italian ancestry. To put it another way, I look nothing like my family. Now it can be the case that...
Seeing God in Chinese School
The Chinese language primarily relies on pictographs to communicate. Supposedly, there are over 100,000 Chinese characters, although most experts agree that you need to know about 3,000 to 4,000 to be considered “literate”. The cool thing about pictographs is they...
Both & Neither
As a mixed race person, my experience with understanding my own racial identity has forced me to uncomfortably exist between two sides. When interacting with either side of my heritage, it’s hard to not feel like an illegitimate misfit. Even now as I write this...
What is Your Name and How Do You Pronounce It?
Being Asian American in the United States, I often get asked these questions: “Where are you from?”, “Are you Chinese?”, and “What is your name and how do you pronounce it?” My usual reply is that I am ethnically Hmong while being born and raised in Milwaukee,...
Cultural Clashes, Air Fryers, and How to Celebrate the Beauty of God’s People
In the trailer of Crazy Rich Asians, the two leading co-stars, Rachel and Nick, have been dating and are about to travel to Singapore to meet Nick’s family. When they get to the airport, Rachel is surprised by the first-class treatment and is shocked to find out that...
How Do We Worship on Easter?
In less than a month, we will be celebrating Good Friday and Easter Sunday. I didn’t grow up with a strong Christian foundation. I’d overhear comments at church about special days, services, terms, and theology and wonder about their significance. What is Lent? Or Ash...
Cutting Into the Onion of Moralism
This article originally appeared on redtreegrace.com. Red Tree is a multi-church ministry effort started by Hope Community Church in order to connect the clarity of God's grace to our otherwise confusing lives and attempts at reading the Bible. When I was growing up,...