Ladies of Hope

We had a wonderful Saturday morning at Gift of 5's last week complete with a delicious breakfast buffet, good conversation, a thoughtful devotional, and a fun gift exchange!  Charlotte challenged us to not miss Jesus this Christmas and to invite him in. She pointed us to the innkeeper. A character created by story and tradition, but never actually mentioned in the Bible. We all just assume there was an innkeeper. And though the innkeeper made room for Jesus in the stable, Charlotte wondered if years later when he learned that Jesus was the Son of God, if he didn't regret the opportunity to provide Mary and Joseph the best room in the inn.  We are fortunate to know that Jesus came to die for our sins. That God sent His only Son to redeem a broken world, and every year at Christmas we are reminded to make room in our homes and lives for Jesus. Charlotte encouraged us to not get lost this Christmas in the stories and traditions, the shopping and lights, the cookies and to-do list...

We enjoyed another wonderful Soup & Scripture event this month where ladies were able to laugh, connect, and grow closer to God together. Thank you to all the ladies who came out (and to those that brought food) - the spread of food was delicious as always!  For November, we kicked off the night with some Turkey trivia ( did you know that a turkey has approximately 3,500 feathers and can fly at 55mph! ). We also heard from Liz Keefer, who shared about her life experiences that shaped her love for food. She reminded us of the many times that the Bible talks about food and encouraged us this holiday season to embrace and celebrate the opportunities to share a meal with those around us. She did caveat this with a reminder to not disregard good health and moderation, but nonetheless to remember that a good meal is a gift from God and a wonderful tool to bring people together. She also shared a family recipe for " Plops " (included at the bottom), which her family makes every ...

Thank you to all the ladies who came out (and brought food) for our monthly Soup & Scripture event!  For October, we had a "Socktober" theme (complete with roses made from socks as the centerpieces) to collect socks for the Hope for the Homeless ministry. Socks are often one of the most needed items and we so appreciate the ladies who brought and were able to donate 84 pairs of new socks to those in need this fall! If you missed out, Hope Kidz is also partnering with Hope for the Homeless this month and has a collection basket for new socks located outside of the Clubhouse/Garage that you can drop off a donation of socks any Sunday in October.  Chuck & Patty Hasenstab attended and shared with us more information about their ministry - Hope for the Homeless. Chuck gave us some background as to how they got started, how they serve today, and ways for women at Hope Church to get involved. To learn more about the work they are doing for the homeless in downtown Cleveland,...

We had a wonderful kick-off to our Soup & Scripture series! Thank you to everyone who came out and joined us!  Ally Brennan began our year long journey through the Sermon on the Mount by providing context for Jesus' famous teaching found in Matthew 5-7. She also gave an overview of the beatitudes, where Jesus taught the attitudes we should have in order to experience happiness. She reminded us, that the common translation to "blessed" really refers to an unshakable happiness, persistent in all circumstances.  We then spent some time studying the first Beatitude found in Matthew 5:3 -  Blessed are the poor in spirit,   for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. After studying the meaning of "poor in spirit" and "kingdom of heaven" - Ally showed us how the first Beatitude (and Jesus' very first teaching in his public ministry) is a summary of the gospel message. Unless you humble yourself, and recognize that you have nothing to offer God, only then can...

We had around 30 women attend our Ladies of Hope Night this month! It was great to be able to connect and reconnect together. Faith courageously shared her story of hurt, heartbreak, and healing and reminded us that God is with us through it all.  Ally reminded us that we often confuse God's love with our sanctification. Through a lifelong pursuit of our holiness we forget that God's love pours out on us unconditionally, independent of our actions. We must only accept it. We cannot hide from God's love, do not need to change for God's love, and there's nothing we need to "do" to earn God's love. Sanctification is a response to his love. But God's perfect love will meet us right where we are at. And from that love, we can love others unconditionally as well. Thank you to all the ladies who joined us, a special thank you to Faith for sharing her Hope Story, and we hope you make plans to join us next month on June 8th   at 7pm!

Thank you to all the ladies who joined us Tuesday night for our craft night and a big thanks to Casey for planning, preparing, and teaching the crafts.  Enjoy the pictures below -- if you weren't able to make it, we hope you'll join us next time!

Thank you to all the ladies who joined us for our Ladies of Hope March Event! For those that attended in person, we passed out card kits to take home and make homemade cards. Liz also shared more information about how you can support the card ministry. See our previous post for details about how to make the cards or obtain a kit. We sincerely hope that you enjoy making the cards and that you take the time to give them to someone in your life or donate them to the card ministry to bless others in the community. Ally Brennan then shared with us the lessons she has learned from the past year of the COVID-19 pandemic. This week marked the one year anniversary of the first case of COVID-19 in Ohio and one year since the first time we closed church and moved into a season with many unknowns. Many of the lessons she shared have been hard to learn and were hard for her to share, but they remind us to check our hearts and encourage us to stay rooted in Christ.  Here are some of the lessons ...

'UNFINISHED' - Missions Conference at Hope Church Tuesday, February 9th How easy it is to focus on only our daily lives. This small corner of the map that God has put us in. We may broadly say Northeast Ohio, but somedays (especially now during a pandemic) it may feel even smaller to just Brunswick or Medina or your neighborhood or (if you're like me) some days even just your house.  It is so helpful to have others lift our eyes and broaden our perspective.  This week as part of the Hope Church Missions Conference we had two missionary women join us to share their experiences and hearts. It was the first time that we hosted a 'hybrid' event with 23 ladies attending in person and 9 who joined from home via Zoom. This provided an opportunity for women to connect, while also allowing those who are most at-risk, unable to drive at night, or needed to be home to care for others to still participate.  First, we heard from Hazel who has been serving with her husband as mis...