Stories of Hope 2023

For a number of years in the spring, College Hill Reformed Church has held evangelistic services called "Stories of Hope." The services have this name for at least three reasons:

1) The Bible is telling the great story of Jesus Christ from the beginning of Genesis to the end of Revelation.

2) The preacher(s) uses a story from the Bible as the basis for his message, which encapsulates this great story the Bible is telling.

3) We believe that God is writing a story about His relationship with each person who attends these services. Our desire in these services is to ask the Spirit of God to connect His great story to the story of their lives as they listen to the message.

Our congregation plans and prays for these services, usually spanning two consecutive Lord's Day evenings, through the course of the year. "Mission briefings" occur each month through the school year, which are 8-10 minute times of exhortation where the congregation is urged to be more evangelistic. Praying, creating intentional times of friendship, sowing Scripture, sharing a testimony, etc., are encouraged. As the time for Stories of Hope draws near, prayers intensify for the time. People are chosen to share their testimony of God's grace in the service. The congregation is further spurred on to invite people through invitation cards and social media links. Plans are made for welcoming, seating, and having a beautiful reception afterward for our guests.

The Lord blessed this year's Stories of Hope, which was held on March 26 and April 2. He brought dozens of visitors in total through the two services. Calls to faith in Christ were repeatedly given. Rich interactions occurred following the times. Only time will tell what fruit will be born by the Spirit. We continue to pray conversions have and will happen.

Below are the messages Pastor Titus Martin and I preached those evenings in the order of the dates. If you choose to listen to one or both, and believe they could be of help to someone you know, please send them a link with a personal message from you. May we continue to sow the seed of the kingdom widely and abundantly!

Hidden Treasure (Matthew 13:44) | Barry York

Humble Beginnings (Matthew 13:31-32) | Titus Martin