How would you feel if someone verbally attacked your spouse? How would you respond to someone who frequently ran down your spouse, demeaned them, ridiculed them, and pointed out their flaws? Wouldn’t it make you mad? Wouldn’t you rush to defend your spouse (and you rightfully should)?
Well as you know the Church is the bride of Christ! And Jesus loves His bride with all His heart, mind, soul, and strength! He loves His bride with the totality of His being!  Jesus is the lover, savior, provider, sustainer, protector of His bride! He is loyal, faithful, and true to her!
So can you imagine how Jesus feels when people talk about His bride? Can you imagine how Jesus feels when people nitpick His bride, point out her flaws, tear down parts of her body, and mocks and teases her?
This thought should give pause and should also lead us to some apologizing and repentance because let’s be honest…we have all, at one time or another and to various degrees, talked badly about the Church! We have all pointed out her shortcomings, we have all judged her effectiveness, we have all disliked parts of her body, we have all complained about how she is not giving us what we need or what we want. Shame on us!
As Christians, not only are we are a part of the bride but we are also people who are to help the bride, encourage the bride, equip the bride, build the bride, strengthen the bride, and love the bride!
Sure the Church is not perfect (if it was you and I would not be allowed to join), sure the Church has some shortcomings and some growing and improving to do, BUT it is also the beloved bride of the King of Kings! And Church is beautiful, special, holy, and a blessing and a privilege to be a part of!
So let us be careful how we speak of and treat the bride of Jesus, I don’t know about you but I don’t want to face the anger of an all-powerful Husband who decides to slap the mouth of one who talks badly about His bride!
Let us all rejoice in the fact that we are part of the beautiful bride of Christ and we are loved by Him! So let us love Jesus and His bride!
(Thanks to Brandon Rodgers who inspired this article with his devotional at the last deacon’s meeting we had)
God bless,
Pastor Matthew

Happy New Year, 2026 is here! New Year’s is often a time where many of us make new resolutions and new goals. Well, here at HBC we have also set some goals! Our church year starts in October, and we made some goals to help us measure if we are growing spiritually and numerically! Here are our goals:
100 First-time visitors
20 New members
20 New LifeGroup attendees
365 Gospel Conversations
 50% of Church Family active in ministries (Teams, Mission Projects, etc.)
10% Over Budget (offering and tithes that exceed what we need by 10%)
$150,000 raised for our Leaving a Legacy Fund
We are 4 months into our new church year and I’m sad to say that, just like most of our New Year’s Resolutions, after 4 months we have fallen behind in a few goals (On a positive note, we are doing great in others).
But there is one goal we are absolutely failing in and that goal is having 365 Gospel Conversations!  So, to help encourage you, I’m going to start a competition. Let’s see who can share the Gospel with the most people this year!
The top 3 “Gospel Spreaders” of the year (Church year October 1st- September 31st) will get a prize!
So, start sharing the Gospel and fill out your Gospel Cards. (Check with the Church Office to pick up some Gospel Cards if there are none on the tables outside of the sanctuary)
Let’s make 2026 the year that the HBC Family gets serious about sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ!
God bless,
Pastor Matthew

A local pastor shared these words to his Facebook page from a pastor he knows, and they were words that made me think, they were words that made me ponder and do some     self-reflecting. So I thought I would share them with you…
 “Every church member has it in them to either compliment or complicate the work of their church. One way you can rest assured to compliment it is to be committed to it.”
Wow! That makes you think doesn’t it. What type of member are you currently? You see we can go back and forth, so what type of member are you right now? Are you a “help” or a “hindrance”? Are you a “stepping stone” or a “stumbling block”? Are you a “complimenting” or a “complicating” member?
The pastor went on to say that one way you can be a “complimenting” member is to be a committed member, I couldn’t agree more! Let us all be committed to Jesus, committed to HBC, and committed to one another!
For more suggestions on how to be a “complimenting” member, I would suggest reading and applying what you learn in the book “I am a Church Member” and “I Will”. If you don’t have a copy of either book let me know and I can get you one!
 
God bless,
Pastor Matthew

Spring is inching closer and closer! The temperatures are slowly creeping up, the early springtime weeds are starting to grow, some of the early trees are starting to bud, and my allergies are acting up!
Spring is truly, minus the pollen, a beautiful time of year because it is a time of growth and a time of birth! Animals are giving birth and plants are starting to grow and everywhere we look we will see nature springing to life!
Well my prayer for each of you is that this Spring some of you will spring to life! I pray that this will be a    season where new spiritual births and spiritual growth will happen! I pray that this season at HBC will be a season where each of us will spiritually blossom, grow, and produce! I pray that everywhere we look we will see the people of HBC springing to life!
Right now at HBC we are in a “Spring Season”. We are seeing a lot of new faces in worship, we are seeing a lot of people grow in their faith, and we are having a lot of new ministries popping up! I encourage each of you to take advantage of this season; get plugged in, do something new, get outside of your comfort zone and grow! Join a LifeGroup, start attending Discipleship Training on Sunday evenings, try out our Hymn: Sing and Study on Tuesdays, volunteer to serve in one of our many ministries! Let us arise and follow Jesus!

10 My beloved spoke and said to me; “Arise, my darling, my beautiful one, come with me.11 See! The winter is past; the rains are over and gone.12 Flowers appear on the earth; the season of singing has come, the cooing of doves is heard in our land.13 The fig tree forms its early fruit; the blossoming vines spread their fragrance. Arise, come, my darling; my beautiful one, come with me. (Song of Solomon 2:10-13)
Love,
Pastor Matthew

We all face trials and tribulations in life. We all experience pain and problems, and we all deal with opposition and obstacles. These things can seem like unsalable, unmovable, unconquerable, and unpassable mountains!

Do you have any mountains in your life? Mountains, which are impossible for you to move past? Well, what are you doing about your mountains? If you're like most believers, you turn towards God and you pray and that is what you should do. But what are you praying for? You see, most Christians pray for God to move the mountain. We want God to supernaturally remove the mountain that is in our way. While others pray that God carries them over the mountain. While both of those are fine prayers, let me suggest another prayer. How about praying that God gives yu the strength and ability to climb the mountain?

I want you to know that there is no mountain, no matter how big it is, that you can't climb when God is with you and with God empowering you.

My favorite Old Testament verses are Habakkuk 3: 17-19. Look at verses 17-18 "Though the fig tree may not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines; Though the labor of the olive may fail, And the fields yield no food; Though the flock may be cut off from the fold, And there be no herd in the stalls--- Yet I will rejoice in  the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation."

Wow! Talk about some mountains! Habakkuk is saying that no matter how bad things get, no matter how big the mountains seem, he will still rejoice in the Lord because he knows that God will save him! And is that because he knows that God will move the mountain? Is that because he knows that God will carry him over the mountain? No, the answer is found in verse 19; "The Lord God is my strength; He will make my feet like a deer's feet, and he will make me walk on my high hills."

Church, when faced with mountains, pray! And as you pray, you need to thank God for giving you the feet to get over every mountain you face! God is the God of your salvation, so rejoice! He is your strength and He will give you what you need to get over, move past and conquer every mountain in your life!

Stop worrying about you mountains because with the Lord, you will tap dance your way over all of them

Love,
Pastor Matthew