Hope Wesleyan Church - Independence, Iowa

It began with a kiss in the garden. Torches flickered. Swords clashed. Friends scattered. Jesus was arrested under the cover of night, led from one trial to another — accused, mocked, struck, and condemned. False witnesses spoke. Crowds shouted. A governor washed his hands. And the One who could have called down angels… stayed silent. He carried His cross through jeering streets, climbed a hill called Golgotha, and was lifted between earth and sky. This was not a tragedy spiraling out of control. It was a rescue unfolding on purpose. Arrested. Tried. Crucified. Not because He was powerless —but because He chose to save us. We would be delighted if you could join us in person for our Sunday morning worship service! It starts at 10 am every Sunday, and there are multiple Sunday School options available before the worship service. Children’s Church is also available during the worship service.Hope Wesleyan Church505 4th Ave NEIndependence, IA 50644

Today we continue our series of sermons entitled "Easter People". This series delves into the encounters Jesus had with individuals on his journey to the cross. These people did not actively seek Jesus out; instead, He met them where they were.He swore he would never fall.When others hesitated, Peter spoke boldly: “Even if everyone else leaves You, I won’t.” Loyalty was his language. Courage was his claim.But courage sounds different in the dark.In the courtyard of the high priest, beside a charcoal fire, the questions came — small, simple, dangerous. “You were with Him, weren’t you?”And three times, the fisherman who once walked on water said, “I don’t know the man.”Then the rooster crowed.In a single moment, confidence collapsed into conviction. Strength gave way to tears.Peter’s denial isn’t just a story of failure — it’s a mirror. A reminder of how quickly fear can silence faith… and how even our worst moments are not the end of the story.We would be delighted if you could join us in person for our Sunday morning worship service! It starts at 10 am every Sunday, and there are multiple Sunday School options available before the worship service. Children’s Church is also available during the worship service.Hope Wesleyan Church505 4th Ave NEIndependence, IA 50644

Today we continue our series of sermons entitled "Easter People". This series delves into the encounters Jesus had with individuals on his journey to the cross. These people did not actively seek Jesus out; instead, He met them where they were.He sat by the roadside, blind and forgotten.But when Bartimaeus heard that Jesus was passing by, something inside him refused to stay silent. He cried out, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”The crowd told him to be quiet.They tried to silence him.But he only shouted louder.Because sometimes the miracle comes to the one who refuses to give up calling.Bartimaeus couldn’t see Jesus —but he believed Jesus could see him.And that faith changed everything.We would be delighted if you could join us in person for our Sunday morning worship service! It starts at 10 am every Sunday, and there are multiple Sunday School options available before the worship service. Children’s Church is also available during the worship service.Hope Wesleyan Church505 4th Ave NEIndependence, IA 50644

Today we continue our series of sermons entitled "Easter People". This series delves into the encounters Jesus had with individuals on his journey to the cross. These people did not actively seek Jesus out; instead, He met them where they were.She came to the well at noon — alone.An outcast in her own town. A woman with a past. Five husbands, a broken story, and a reputation that kept her walking to the water when no one else would be there.But that day, someone was waiting.A Jewish rabbi who shouldn’t have spoken to her, Jesus the Messiah. A man who crossed cultural lines, social barriers, and personal shame with a simple request: “Give me a drink.”Then Jesus offers her something she never expected.“Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again… but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst.”Living water. Not drawn from a well, but flowing from God Himself—water that satisfies the deepest thirst of the human soul.What begins as a quiet conversation at a well becomes a moment of transformation… as a woman who came in shame leaves with hope—and runs to tell her entire town about the man who knew everything about her, and still offered her life.Today we step into that powerful encounter at the well… and discover the living water that only Jesus can give.We would be delighted if you could join us in person for our Sunday morning worship service! It starts at 10 am every Sunday, and there are multiple Sunday School options available before the worship service. Children’s Church is also available during the worship service.Hope Wesleyan Church505 4th Ave NEIndependence, IA 50644

Today we continue our series of sermons entitled "Easter People". This series delves into the encounters Jesus had with individuals on his journey to the cross. These people did not actively seek Jesus out; instead, He met them where they were.A young man comes running to Jesus with a question that has echoed through the centuries: What must I do to inherit eternal life?He has done everything right—kept the commandments, lived a good life, followed the rules. Yet something is missing. Jesus looks at him and gives an answer he never expected: Sell everything you have. Give it to the poor. Then come, follow me.In that moment the question isn’t about rules anymore… it’s about the heart.The man walks away, burdened not by what he lacks—but by what he cannot let go of.And Jesus turns to His disciples with a warning that still challenges us today: it’s easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for the wealthy to enter the kingdom of heaven.Today we explore a question that confronts every one of us: What are we holding onto that keeps us from fully following Christ?We would be delighted if you could join us in person for our Sunday morning worship service! It starts at 10 am every Sunday, and there are multiple Sunday School options available before the worship service. Children’s Church is also available during the worship service.Hope Wesleyan Church505 4th Ave NEIndependence, IA 50644

Today, we commence a new sermon series as we approach Easter Sunday. This series delves into the encounters Jesus had with individuals on his journey to the cross. These people did not actively seek Jesus out; instead, He met them where they were. A Pharisee. A ruler. A man with status, certainty, and answers — except for one question that wouldn’t leave him alone: Who is Jesus?In the darkness, Nicodemus hears words that shake his world: “You must be born again.”He doesn’t understand. Not yet.But the man who first came in secret will one day step into the light — publicly honoring the very One he once questioned.Nicodemus is the story of a soul moving from curiosity to courage...from fear to faith.We would be delighted if you could join us in person for our Sunday morning worship service! It starts at 10 am every Sunday, and there are multiple Sunday School options available before the worship service. Children’s Church is also available during the worship service.  Hope Wesleyan Church 505 4th Ave NE Independence, IA 50644 

When the music played and the pressure rose, everyone bowed.Everyone — except three men who chose the fire over compromise.In  Daniel chapter 3, the furnace was heated seven times hotter. The threat was real. The flames were not symbolic. And their answer was steady: “Our God is able to deliver us… but even if He does not, we will not bow.”They were thrown in bound.But when the king looked again, he saw four men walking in the fire — and one looked like the Son of God.Uncertain times will test what we believe.The heat will reveal where we stand.But the story of the fiery furnace reminds us:God may not keep us from the flames —but He will meet us in them. We would be delighted if you could join us in person for our Sunday morning worship service! It starts at 10 am every Sunday, and there are multiple Sunday School options available before the worship service. Children’s Church is also available during the worship service.Hope Wesleyan Church505 4th Ave NEIndependence, IA 50644319-334-7148

Sometimes the answer is silence.Sometimes it’s delay.And sometimes… it’s no.A door closes. A prayer goes unanswered the way we hoped. The path we mapped out  disappears beneath our feet.But God’s “no” is not rejection. It’s protection. It’s redirection. It’s a larger story unfolding beyond what we can see.We trust Him easily when He says yes. We learn to trust Him deeply when He says no.Because faith isn’t believing God will follow our plan — it’s believing His plan is better than ours.We would be delighted if you could join us in person for our Sunday morning worship service! It starts at 10 am every Sunday, and there are multiple Sunday School options available before the worship service. Children’s Church is also available during the worship service.Hope Wesleyan Church505 4th Ave NEIndependence, IA 50644319-334-7148

Anger knocks hard.It pounds on the door of the heart, insisting on justice, demanding reaction. And in Ephesians 4:26–27, we’re told something both honest and urgent: “Be angry, and do not sin… do not let the sun go down on your anger, and give no opportunity to the devil.”Anger itself isn’t the enemy.But when we let it linger — when we nurse it, replay it, justify it — it becomes an open door. A foothold. A crack wide enough for bitterness to move in and make itself at home.The warning is clear:Feel it, but don’t feed it.Acknowledge it, but don’t allow it to own you.We would be delighted if you could join us in person for our Sunday morning worship service! It starts at 10 am every Sunday, and there are multiple Sunday School options available before the worship service. Children’s Church is also available during the worship service.  Hope Wesleyan Church 505 4th Ave NE Independence, IA 50644 319-334-7148 

The house was full. The preparations urgent. The responsibilities real.In Luke 10:38–42, one sister hurried through the kitchen, distracted and overwhelmed. The other sat still at the feet of Jesus.Both were serving in their own way. But only one chose what mattered most.Martha was busy for Jesus.Mary was present with Him.And in a world that praises productivity, Jesus gently reminds us: the most important priority is not what we do for Him — but whether we are with Him.Because sometimes the better choiceis simply to sit stilland listen.We would be delighted if you could join us in person for our Sunday morning worship service! It starts at 10 am every Sunday, and there are multiple Sunday School options available before the worship service. Children’s Church is also available during the worship service.  Hope Wesleyan Church 505 4th Ave NE Independence, IA 50644 319-334-7148 

We would be delighted if you could join us in person for our Sunday morning worship service! It starts at 10 am every Sunday, and there are multiple Sunday School options available before the worship service. Children’s Church is also available during the worship service.  Hope Wesleyan Church 505 4th Ave NE Independence, IA 50644 319-334-7148 

We would be delighted if you could join us in person for our Sunday morning worship service! It starts at 10 am every Sunday, and there are multiple Sunday School options available before the worship service. Children’s Church is also available during the worship service.  Hope Wesleyan Church 505 4th Ave NE Independence, IA 50644 319-334-7148 

We would be delighted if you could join us in person for our Sunday morning worship service! It starts at 10 am every Sunday, and there are multiple Sunday School options available before the worship service. Children’s Church is also available during the worship service.Hope Wesleyan Church505 4th Ave NEIndependence, IA 50644319-334-7148

We would be delighted if you could join us in person for our Sunday morning worship service! It starts at 10 am every Sunday, and there are multiple Sunday School options available before the worship service. Children’s Church is also available during the worship service.Hope Wesleyan Church505 4th Ave NEIndependence, IA 50644319-334-7148