When Jesus is asked why his disciples don’t follow the rules, he responds by calling an entire group of people hypocrites. This charged encounter ends with Jesus declaring that what makes someone unclean before God comes from within—from the heart. Yet remarkably, it is our hearts, not our rule-keeping ability, that God is after. We learn that it is an appeal to God’s mercy, not our own spiritual résumé, that leads to life.

Series: The Gospel of Mark
Speaker: Paul Stiver
Hope Community Church - North Lakes

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For more resources or to learn more about Hope North Lakes, visit hopecc.com/northlakes

This week's passage uses a phrase that seems to sum up modern life: making headway painfully. We're told and sold the idea that we are only one piece of advice or one product away from stepping into our fullest selves. What if our bigger problem is that our hardened hearts have failed to understand who God is and what he's come to do? Only when God's chosen Savior in our boat will our hearts soften and our lives be opened up to grace.

Series: The Gospel of Mark
Speaker: Paul Stiver
Hope Community Church - North Lakes

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For more resources or to learn more about Hope North Lakes, visit hopecc.com/northlakes

“Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy?” The prophet Isaiah asks this piercing question, and if our restless, unsatisfied hearts are any indication, it’s one we’re still asking today. Sociologists describe the paradox of choice and the hedonic treadmill as reasons satisfaction never seems to last, no matter how great the purchase or how lofty the achievement. So where can lasting satisfaction actually be found?

Series: The Gospel of Mark
Speaker: Paul Stiver
Hope Community Church - North Lakes

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For more resources or to learn more about Hope North Lakes, visit hopecc.com/northlakes

Where can we turn when hope feels lost? The Bible tells story after story of moments when defeat seemed inevitable—until God worked in unexpected ways to bring about redemption and victory. Following Jesus will often feel like losing, but in Christ we learn that it is always worth it.

Series: The Gospel of Mark
Speaker: Paul Stiver
Hope Community Church - North Lakes

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For more resources or to learn more about Hope North Lakes, visit hopecc.com/northlakes

When Jesus returns to his hometown to minister, he’s not greeted with a red carpet—he’s met with resistance. Rather than being honored, he’s rejected. The people who have known him the longest fail to truly see who he is. By reducing Jesus to a caricature of himself, they miss entirely the life-giving relationship he’s inviting them into.

Series: The Gospel of Mark
Speaker: Paul Stiver
Hope Community Church - North Lakes

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For more resources or to learn more about Hope North Lakes, visit hopecc.com/northlakes

Mark’s account of these two daughters gives us a timeless picture of the hardest realities of human life. In these twin stories, we stare disease and death in the face, and we feel the weight of true desperation. And yet, like a diamond hidden in rough stone, what emerges is something of immense value: weak, imperfect faith resting in a powerful Savior.

Series: The Gospel of Mark
Speaker: Paul Stiver
Hope Community Church - North Lakes

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For more resources or to learn more about Hope North Lakes, visit hopecc.com/northlakes

Jesus crosses the sea for one person—one broken, bound, hopeless man—and what follows is a breathtaking display of both divine power and divine compassion. And in that display, our self-righteousness is undone: about our own need, and about how generous or compassionate we imagine ourselves to be.

Series: The Gospel of Mark
Speaker: Paul Stiver
Hope Community Church - North Lakes

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For more resources or to learn more about Hope North Lakes, visit hopecc.com/northlakes

What is the grand story we are part of? What role does Hope North Lakes play in that story? How are we going to help more people start a relationship with Jesus in 2026? How are we going to help more people strengthen their relationship with Jesus in 2026? What will utter dependence look like? Jesus is not a reluctant Savior but one who rejoices over sinners coming home to God and we can trust in him to act.

Series: Vision 2026
Speaker: Paul Stiver
Hope Community Church - North Lakes

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For more resources or to learn more about Hope North Lakes, visit hopecc.com/northlakes