Hope Notes 9-15-2011

Hello Friends of Hope!

 

This is Pastor Mark.  Lois and her family are away on vacation this week, so I thought I'd take the opportunity to fill in for her and send everyone a note this week.  I want to remind you about some of the things coming up and encourage you to join with us as God does amazing things at Hope!

 

First of all, this Sunday is going to be powerful.  We are talking about small groups at Hope this week.  I'm excited to invite everyone who is a part of Hope to help us expand our sense of community by helping us form small groups.   We'll take a look at how the Bible emphasizes God's plan for us to grow and be healthy through relationships within our spiritual family.  I'll also explain how we do small groups at Hope – which is different than any other church program I've ever seen.  For our small groups to work, we need each of you to embrace our core values of inclusion, teamwork, relationships, and even sacrifice.  We need YOU to help us form the community God calls us to.  So I'm asking for your help – and offering the opportunity to see God's incredible power do unbelievable things as we step forward in faith.

 

Then, after church, we will be fellowshipping together at our church picnic.  If you signed up to bring food, please remember it.  If you didn't sign up, just bring a dessert or a side to share.  And if you can't bring anything (or forget), just bring yourself!  It looks like it will be a great day for a picnic, and we're going to have great food, and stuff for the kids to enjoy.  Don't miss this!  And invite out some friends. If you've missed seeing someone for a while, this is the perfect opportunity to reach out to them and let them know you're hoping to see them at the picnic.

 

Monday night is our Young Adults meeting (7:30 at the church).  We just started doing two meetings each month as we explore our faith (and our questions) together.  Dana and I are asking anyone who is a part of Hope and is in the age group (post high school through early thirties) to come out and be a part.  And please bring a friend.

 

We also have our baptismal service coming up on October 2^nd (at 1:30 that afternoon at Calvary Bible Church in Deptford).  If you've received Jesus as your Savior and need to be baptized, please see me to get a copy of the book I need everyone to read.  We will have two classes at my house (6 East Ave, Clayton) on September 22 and 29 at 7 pm.  I need everyone interested in being baptized to plan on being at both classes.  Of course, if you're just exploring this idea, you are welcome to get a copy of the book and come to the classes and then decide if you're ready.

 

We are about to begin our preparations for the kid's Christmas program this year. The kids will be practicing on Sundays this year.  Practices will begin for the elementary (1^st-6^th grades) on September 25^th.  We're again inviting the 6^th graders to join our program to help us make it even better.  Our Toddler and Pre-school classes will be working together and will begin practicing on October 9^th.  We all love to have the kids on stage for the program (which this year will be on December 18^th), so please make sure they are at church each Sunday to practice so that they can be a part of the program that day.

 

Ladies, you have a fellowship luncheon on Saturday October 8^th.  There is a sign up in the resource room to help with food.  I hope that all our ladies can come out and spend some time together.  Hopefully, the Lord will use an event like this to create some new friendships and to strengthen some long standing ones!

 

There are a few other things we need your help with.  First of all, we need teams of workers for our Wednesday night kids program for next semester (spring) starting in January.  We'd hate to have to go without a class for lack of workers, so please pray that the Lord will stir in our hearts to step into this chance to reach our precious children.  Also, as we mentioned in August, we need you to be praying about our youth group situation – that the Lord would direct us in the process of looking for a youth pastor.  We also need you to faithfully continue to invest in the ministry of Hope by giving sacrificially and regularly each Sunday so that we have the money to hire another staff member.

 

The Lord has been at work in our church in ways that really blow me away.  I hope you're noticing it too.  Sometimes, I can feel very overwhelmed with all that is going on.  But then I remember that He is the one doing it!  Dana and I were walking the other day, and she pointed out a hawk that was soaring high above us.  We were amazed that it didn't need to flap its wings for such a long time.  Of course, it was riding the wind currents and using the energy of those winds to power its flight without almost any effort.  I remembered the words of Isaiah about soaring on wings like eagles (or hawks) and I started to realize how we see wind in our lives (or storms) as something to hide from or to run from or to curl up into a ball to protect ourselves from.  But that hawk does something different when the wind comes – it faces the wind – points his face right into it – and then spreads his wings and uses the wind to soar.  It seems to me that God is encouraging us not to be scared in the winds that blow and howl around us.  Instead, He wants us to face into those winds by faith and soar on them.  The only question is whether we will see the winds in our lives as an opportunity to engage our faith, or if we will try to hide from it.

 

I believe God is calling us to step up as a church this fall.  Don't miss out on what He has in store!

Pastor Mark