July 16: Insight Post by Rusty Coram

  -   July 16, 2025

Endurance in Hope: Hope in Christ gives us strength to endure challenges.

Wednesday Verse

So be truly glad. There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you must endure many trials for a little while. These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold—though your faith is far more precious than mere gold. So when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world. 1 Peter 1:6-7 (NLT)

Wednesday Questions

How has hope in Christ given me strength to persevere through difficult seasons? In what ways can I continue to rely on the hope of Christ to remain steadfast when faced with trials and challenges?

Wednesday Insight Post
by Rusty Coram

Reading the encounter Jesus had with Nicodemus, we see a lot we could dig into, but one thing has caught my attention this time. Nicodemus was a part of the powerful and influential group known as the Pharisees. This group generally controlled the teaching and worship of Jews and were known for their devotion to the study of the Old Testament and formulating traditions designed to keep people in line with their interpretation of it. The Pharisees were very powerful and saw themselves as defenders of the Jewish faith. Paul was one of them in his pre-Christian life, and he zealously sought to eliminate the church as it was against the Pharisaic beliefs.

To have someone with this background and authority come to Jesus with questions was totally unexpected. Nicodemus risked his reputation and standing, so he came secretly. He was struggling to balance his loyalty to his group and profession while trying to reconcile the power and teachings of Jesus. And this is what makes Nicodemus different: his humility. Instead of hiding in the safety of his status and training, he was willing to rethink his positions in light of new and conflicting data.  “After dark one evening, he came to speak with Jesus. “Rabbi,” he said, “we all know that God has sent you to teach us. Your miraculous signs are evidence that God is with you.” John 3:2 (NLT) Nicodemus is being gracious because clearly not all (nor many) of his group thought this about Jesus. However, what is clear is that this Pharisee was a man of humility, which opened him up to finding the truth.

Humility is a rare attitude that is often misunderstood. To some, it is a weakness that just goes along to get along. To others, it reflects a lack of conviction, fear, and flimsiness. In truth, humility is an attitude that allows a person to learn and grow by being open to understanding new ideas and testing them against their current convictions. Humility doesn’t mean constantly changing beliefs, but rather regularly inspecting them to ensure they are sound and healthy. In Nicodemus’ case, he wanted to make sense of what he saw in Jesus and not let his preconceived ideas blind him to the truth he needed to learn.

“God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” James 4:6 (NLT)

Rusty Coram
Senior Pastor

New Hope Church
Lorton, Virginia
www.newhope.org