Hope Notes 6/25/15

Dear Friends of Hope ~

Just a little reflection on summer time, vacations, and church attendance.  Sometimes, doesn't it seem like when summer rolls around, church gets a little bit emptier?  Of course there are those times when families take time away from their normal schedule to spend time together on vacation.  But I'm not talking about those times.  I'm referring in general to that strange phenomenon that occurs when people just simply 'take a vacation' from church!  I don't know why that is.  God certainly never takes a vacation from us!  Where would God GO on vacation, anyway?  He already lives in heaven complete with streets of gold, crystal seas, rivers of living water, and trees bearing all kinds of luscious fruits! (I am loosely paraphrasing Revelation)  Anyway, let's not get caught up in believing that summer relaxation requires filling your Sunday with other things besides church.  Hey, here at Hope we even have the early service (9:00) so that you can get your day started on the right path and still have plenty of time for other activities!  So there are no excuses!!  God deserves our time and our worship all through the year, including those lazy days of summer!

SUNDAY MORNING MESSAGE 

June 28 – Escaping the Vicious Circle (John 18:12-14, 19-24)

Many of the biggest fights we have are 'repeats'.  We've already had this fight numerous times, and each time the tempers get a little bit hotter and the voices get a little bit louder.  Somehow the key to escaping the pattern is elusive and we find ourselves stuck in a cycle that feels hopeless and unbreakable.  Jesus finds Himself on the night of His betrayal getting questioned about what He has been teaching.  Yet, the very reason He is there is BECAUSE of what He has been teaching.  So Jesus takes a different path than going backwards into a battle of words or who said what.  And in the middle of the process that will bring His terrible death, He teaches us how to break free from the vicious circles we find ourselves in with others!

 

SCHEDULE FOR TWO SERVICES

9:00 and one at 11:00

Here's a brief rundown of the times for our basic pre-service activities:

Ø  Prayer Huddle (for both services) 8:40-8:45 am Sundays

Ø  Prayer Time - 8:30 in prayer room

Ø  Teachers in Class/ Greeters at Posts - 1st service 8:45, 2nd service 10:45

Ø  Worship Team Morning Run Through - 8:15 am

 

MESSAGES AVAILABLE

Did you know that Sunday's worship service is available on CD immediately following the service for FREE?  Pick up a copy for yourself or for anyone you would like to share Hope with.  Pastor Mark's messages are also available on our website, www.hopechristianfellowship.org.

 

PRAYER HUDDLE

8:40 – 8:45 for Both Services

The prayer huddle is open to anyone who would like to come pray - but it is specifically intended for those who are serving on that Sunday.  So if you're scheduled to be in kids' ministry, greeting, in the tech booth, on worship team, or any other ministry role for a given Sunday, join us at 8:40 sharp to pray together for God's power in each of us.  We can do all things through Christ, and nothing of worth without Him, so let's come together each Sunday to ask for God's Spirit to fill us and use us!

 

SUNDAY MORNING PRAYER TIME
Our Sunday morning prayer time is open to everyone at 8:30 am in the Prayer Room. We pray for the services that morning and for the needs in the church. If you would like to participate, just show up!

 

OPPORTUNITIES FOR SPIRITUAL GROWTH

 

JUNE CHALLENGE VERSE

Proverbs 12:18

"The words of the reckless are like swords, but the tongue of the wise brings healing."

 

WEDNESDAY NIGHT BIBLE STUDY

Please Note:  Our Bible Study will be on hiatus until fall.  Look for VBS in July and August Family Nights coming up!

 

YOUNG ADULTS

7:30 in Youth Room

First and Third Monday of every month

Anyone who has graduated high school up to their early thirties is welcome. See Pastor Mark or Dana for more information. Childcare is provided.

 

OPPORTUNITIES FOR FELLOWSHIP

 

NEW FAMILIES CAKE 'N' COFFEE

Friday, July 17^th @ 7:30 pm

We like to host a get together once or twice a year for those of you who are fairly new to Hope.  Sunday mornings are just so busy that it's hard to connect with each other in a meaningful way.  We want each and every one of you to get to know us and we've found this to be a great way to do that!  You don't need to do anything except sign up so that we know how many to prepare for.  A signup sheet is in the lobby.  We look forward to the chance to meet with you all!

 

AUGUST FAMILY NIGHTS

Our family nights are coming back!  They were such a hit last year, we are doing it again!  Every Wednesday night in August, we'll have an activity for the whole family.  The last one (8-26) will be our church picnic!  Details will be coming.

 

MEN'S BREAKFAST

Second Saturday of Every Month

8:00 – 9:30am

Come and join us for a delicious breakfast and a good time of fellowship/sharing with the men of Hope.  Feel free to bring a friend!  Open to men 18 and older. See Steve Jones with any questions.

 

YOUTH NEWS

JUNE

28:       No Youth Group

JULY

05:     No Youth Group

12:     Combined Youth Group @ the Hallahan's 6:00pm – 8:00pm

19:     No Youth Group     

22      Combined Youth Group @ the Nolan's 6:30pm – 8:30 pm

27-31: VBS

 

UGANDA MISSION TRIP

July 2016

In July of 2016, we have the opportunity to bring a team of Hopers to Uganda to work alongside the Hallahan Family. As a church, we have supported Josh, Kelly, and their family through our prayer and our finances but we are very excited to be able to get feet on the ground with them in Uganda. The Young Adults are heading up this trip, but there are limited spots available to the entire church. If you are interested please see Dave Hallahan ASAP for more information. A financial commitment will be necessary to secure your spot within the next couple of weeks.

 

CHILDREN'S MINISTRY NEWS

 

EVEREST VBS

July 26^th – July 31st 

Embark with us on an icy expedition where kids overcome obstacles with God's awesome power. We will be exploring the rock-solid Bible truths that teach us how to deal with life's challenges.   

 

GO ZONE

Go Zone is our Sunday Morning kid's service! We are GOing for GOD, GOing for GROWTH, and GOing FOREVER! The Go Zone is a service entirely focused around the kids, in which we connect by playing games, worshipping with one another, and hearing a message from God's Word in fun, creative ways before heading off to Sunday school for the rest of the service.

Follow HopeKids! Ministries on Facebook at:  facebook.com/HCFHopeKids

 

                                             ANNOUNCEMENTS

 

ONLINE GIVING OPTION

Online giving is coming!  We are preparing to launch the ability to give to the church through our website.  Our target date for having the online giving feature on our website is June 28^th.  Givers will be able to set up recurring giving (like automatic bill pay).  And of course, there will be the ability to give one-time gifts as well. This will allow many of us to be intentional and faithful in our support of Hope.  More details to come!

 

TEE SHIRT TIME

We will have our HOPE tee shirts available at the back of the auditorium during the month of June.  Sizes S-L are $10 each, Xl are $12 and XXL are $14. These are cool and comfortable and a great way to advertise our church!

 

ENVELOPES FOR DESIGNATED GIVING

Sometimes, God lays it on our heart to give a little extra for His kingdom.  He may have provided the financial means for it or just the nudge in our hearts.  In order to help make this easier for you as the giver and Hope as the receiver, we have some envelopes in a wall mounted bin next to our regular offering slot.  If you'd like to give to a special project or ministry, just use one of these envelope and check off the correct category.  Please note that these envelopes are not for your usual Sunday offering. 

 

HAVE OUR ELDERS PRAY WITH YOU

The New Testament has this wonderful ministry for the elders of a church - PRAYER.  And we'd like to offer it to anyone who is in need of healing (physical or otherwise) or who needs the power of God to be at work in their lives in a special way.  If you or anyone you know would like to take advantage of this ministry, contact Pastor Mark to set up a time after one of our Sunday services for the elders to pray over you.

 

MISSIONARY MOMENT

 

 

OPPORTUNITIES TO SERVE

 

CONNECTING AND SERVING AT HOPE

There are so many places to connect and serve here at Hope.  For a little change of pace, we are going to spotlight a different ministry each week or so and also list any immediate needs (if any) in that area.  There truly IS 'something for everyone' and we want to make it easy for you to explore all the different options!

 

SOUND & MEDIA TEAMS

Do you like hearing our Worship Team sing and Pastor Mark preach?  Then give a round of thanks to our SOUND TEAM. They also produce the recordings of services on CD's and on our website.  Our MEDIA TEAM is responsible for getting those lyrics, scriptures, and various videos on the big screens up front.  Both teams are shorthanded and will gladly train you!  You just need a willing spirit and some time!

 

IMMEDIATE GREETER NEED

The greeters are down by at least three people!  Need to fill those spots, plus always looking to add to the team.  Contact debcaranci@gmail.com if you'd like to plug in.

 

IMMEDIATE NURSERY NEED

A praise and thank you that we had two people step up to serve in Nursery.  Still in need of at least one more volunteer.   Contact Alicia Heverly if you can help at Lilfeet21@hotmail.com

 

THIS WEEK'S WORKERS

Nursery 9:00                Sara Cartella, Anki Hill

Nursery 11:00               Don & Alicia Heverly

Toddlers 9:00               Karen Blythe, Julia Schmidt

Toddlers 11:00             Amanda Mills, Madison Winstel
Pre K – K 9:00              Bill & Griffin McGinness, Libby LeBeau

Pre K – K 11:00            Lauren & Elisabeth DellaRova
1^st & 2^nd – 9:00            Lisa Fiorile, Charlotte Zediker

1^st & 2^nd – 11:00         Kelly Louis, Lucy Muhlbaier

3rd - 5^th   9:00             Mary LeBeau, Donna Hoffman

3^rd – 5^th   11:00           Anne & Jim Jefferson
Counters                      Karen Jones, Kathy Berry

Ushers 9:00                 Bob Baumiester

Ushers 11:00                Bill Berry

Greeters                       Jon Pinero

                                     Mary LeBeau

                                     John Brazelis

                                     Janice Simpkins

Wed. Evening Nursery TBA

 

HOPES PRAYER TEAM
If you have a prayer request, please fill out a prayer request card and drop it in the offering slot at the back of the church on Sunday or use the Contact Us Form on our website.  http://www.hopechristianfellowship.org/contact/.  If you have any questions or would like to join the Prayer Team, please contact Bill Berry directly at billandkathyberry@comcast.net.

 

 

"And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord's people." Ephesians 6:18

 

Resting in His Embrace,
Lois

 

 

 

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