Hope Notes 9/29/16

 

Dear Friends of Hope ~

I went to a wedding this past weekend, and not just any wedding; it was my godson's wedding!  Hi mom and I have known each other for 59 years.  Her mom and mine were BFF's and so we were destined to be the same!  (OK, I guess babies don't really KNOW each other, but you get my drift.)  Anyway, being at the wedding and seeing all of this family together brought back so many memories for me.  It was quite the emotional weekend!  Not everyone is blessed to have a friend who truly knows your entire childhood; we fill in each other's memories.  We are each other's family.  The whole experience made me think of this verse in Psalm 68:6 – "God places the lonely in families…"  My own family life was not the best and her house became a safe haven for me.  It was a refuge and a place of calm.  My happiest memories revolve around that family. I would get through a holiday at my own house, and then head over to her house to really celebrate. Dinners at her house were harmonious and serene, unlike the chaos at my own house.  I never felt tension or fear.  I am so thankful to our God who knows our every need and who meets it beyond anything we could imagine.  Some may argue that if He was a loving God, He wouldn't have 'allowed' a child to be brought up in the environment I lived in.  I totally disagree; we live in a fallen world and sin has consequences. I also feel that my childhood made me into the person I am today, so I don't begrudge it.  God saw that I was suffering and He lovingly gave me exactly what I needed to endure.  Attending the wedding and seeing that there are now FOUR generations who remain family (blood or not) was proof to me of the beautiful legacy that only God could orchestrate. If you are feeling a deep need in your life, rest assured that your heavenly Father is aware of it and will meet it according to His purpose.

 

SUNDAY MORNING MESSAGE

10/2 – The Do Nots (Proverbs 23)

The book of Proverbs is all about wisdom.  Knowing how to take the truth and apply it to our lives is more valuable than words can describe.  Many times this means knowing the RIGHT thing to do. But often, wisdom means that we know what we should NOT do. Saying no to opportunities or something enjoyable can be one of the greatest challenges in applying wisdom to our decision making process.  In this chapter, we're going to look at four very practical 'do nots' and what they mean for our everyday lives.

 

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

8:30 in Pastor Mark's Office
Do you have a heart for prayer? Our Sunday morning prayer time is open to everyone. We pray for the services that morning and for the needs in the church. If you would like to participate, just show up!  Questions?  See Bob Baumiester.  "For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them." Matthew 18:20

 

OPPORTUNITIES FOR SPIRITUAL GROWTH

 

OCTOBER CHALLENGE VERSE

 Psalm 84:10

 "Better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere; I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of the wicked."

 

WEDNESDAY NIGHT BIBLE STUDY

7:00 pm

Join us as we dig into 1Corinthians and gain a deeper understanding of God's Word and its application to our daily lives.  Childcare is available.

 

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.  Contact Dave or Leah Hallahan at dmhallahan5@gmail.com.  Childcare is provided.

 

OPPORTUNITIES FOR FELLOWSHIP

TRUNK OR TREAT

Sunday, October 30 from 3:30 - 6:00pm

We're just a few weeks away from our 3rd Annual Trunk or Treat! Aside from decorating your car and handing out candy, we're inviting you to bring a sweet treat to share. You can sign up in the front foyer to bring cookies, brownies, donuts, Hawaiian punch and more! We want to be sure everyone who comes out - whether church family, friends, or neighborhood kids - gets to enjoy the warm welcome we are so used to here at Hope. More information will be coming soon regarding how to get your car registered for this super fun event!! See Dana Ott with any questions.

 

SMALL GROUP KICKOFF MONTH!

We are more than halfway through our kickoff month – if you haven't explored small group, now is the time! Our first two week window for small group meetings begins October 2^nd.  Our small groups are a great way to grow in your faith, share your life with others, and to see God work.  Each group has about 8-12 members that meet periodically (generally every other week) from October to April in someone's home.  The group discusses some spiritual topics, prays together, and shares some time in fellowship.  If you've been a part of a group before, you know how incredibly God uses them. And if you haven't, we encourage you to get in a group!  If you're already in a group, add some new members.  Or split your group and multiply by adding new members to each part of your group.

 

We want everyone to be a part of a small group! If you have a small group together, use a REGISTRATION FORM to list the when and where of your group as well as the people who are included.  Give that form to an elder or the pastor, or drop it in the offering slot. If your group needs some more members, post your partially filled group registration form on our 'Small Group" bulletin board so others can sign up for your group. 

If you're looking to get into a small group, we want to help you.  The Small Group bulletin board in the hallway at church has 'signups' for specific groups, plus a sheet that just says "put me in a group".  Of course, you're also welcome to form your own group by talking to a few people you know and coming up with a place and time to meet.  You don't have to figure out a topic, because we put out 'study sheets' every other week online and in the resource room that have questions you can discuss as a group.  If you need any help with small group, you can see any of our elders or pastors, especially Damon Briggs who coordinates this ministry for us.

 

MEN'S BOWLING LEAGUE

Monday Evenings

Hope's first church bowling league! Open to men ages 16 and up.  Signup sheet is on the table in the lobby.  See Bruce Clark for more info.

 

GOD'S GIRLS WOMEN'S GROUP

Mondays at 7:00

Contact Mary Lebeau (316-6301/marylebeau@verizon.com) for information.

 

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

ROOTED YOUTH GROUP

Our middle school and high school groups meet at the church on Sundays from 6:30-8:30.  Come out for another amazing year as we grow closer together and closer to God!

 

GROW GROUPS

Starting Oct 12th middle and high school Grow Groups will be meeting at the church from 7:00-8:15. We'll be starting a series called, 'Can I Really Ask That?' where we'll be looking at questions regarding doubt, hell, forgiveness, evil, sex, and more.

 

CHILDREN'S MINISTRY NEWS

 

GO ZONE

Go Zone is our Sunday Morning kid's service, planned especially for 1^st - 5^th graders.  Our goal is to encourage the kids to live with their focus on "GOing for GOD, GOing for GROWTH, and GOing FOREVER!" This service includes worship, games, and exploring important biblical truths in fun and creative ways before heading off to Sunday school.

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

 

ELEMENTARY STUDENTS CHRISTMAS PROGRAM

Christmas will soon be upon us, and come November, HopeKids will be gearing up for another great year of celebrating Jesus' birth, through a musical program!  We need volunteers who are willing to help with all of the preparation including teaching the songs and script, supervising practices and putting the program together.  Please contact Matt Russell if you are interested. 

 

                                                                                ANNOUNCEMENTS 

 

VOTING MONTH

October is Voting Month at Hope!  During this month, all partners are needed to vote for deacons and elder candidates.  Voting forms are available in the Resource Room. Please take one and vote for the partners that you believe would be good deacons or elders.  We need to grow our teams for the coming year and we need every partner to help us find the right people.  Please make sure that if you are a partner, you submit a voting form to Pastor Mark by October 30.

 

SEEKING ROOM FOR RENT

We are asking if anyone knows of or has a room for rent for a single mature man.  Anything close to the Woodbury area would be perfect.  See Pastor Mark with any info or questions.  

 

CHURCH DIRECTORY

Our directories have arrived!  Now you can finally place some of those elusive names with faces.  They will be on a table in the back of the auditorium; make sure you stop by and pick one up!  Please just one directory per family.

NOTES:

·         As hard as we try, errors still find their way into the directory.  If you have a correction that needs to be made, contact Lois Hartwell at foolsforchrist7@yahoo.com (or simply hit 'reply' to the Hope Notes).  I will be compiling an addendum to reflect the changes.

·         A digital pdf copy is available to download to your mobile devices – contact Lois Hartwell if interested.

 

ENVELOPES FOR DESIGNATED GIVING

If God has laid it on your heart to give a little something extra for His kingdom, we have provided envelopes for you to do so!  These are not for your usual Sunday offering; they are for you to use if you'd like to give to a special project or ministry.  The envelopes are in a wall mounted bin next to our regular offering slot.

 

ONLINE GIVING TO SUPPORT HOPE

It's easy and convenient!  Simply go to our website at www.hopechristianfellowship.org  and click Online Giving.  Text to Give is coming soon!  More information will follow.  Contact Damon (damon.briggs@mitchellandness.com) or LaTosha (usafinancial2000@hotmail.com) Briggs with questions.

 

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.

 

OPPORTUNITIES TO SERVE

 

CONNECTING AND SERVING AT HOPE

There are so many places to connect and serve here at Hope.  Keep your eyes on this section to be aware of all the different opportunities for you to effectively serve at Hope. There truly IS 'something for everyone' and we want to make it easy for you to know all the different options!

 

HOPEKIDS NEED YOUR HELP

If you have a heart to serve the 3-5 year olds, we are in need of a teacher for Wednesday nights, starting in October! 

We are also looking for volunteers to help with the 1st-5th graders, for HopeKids Hangout! We are looking forward to having a fantastic HopeKids fall semester! Come out and volunteer, so we can invest in our children's ministry and plant the seeds of Jesus' love in each child's heart! 

Please contact Matt Russell for information at matthewrussell@hopechristianfellowship.org.

 

MEDIA TEAM

Do you enjoy the announcements that play up front on our screens?  Or how about being able to see the words to our worship songs?  That's our Media Team's doing!  They could use some volunteers.  They will gladly teach you exactly what you need to know………..they promise it's not hard!  Contact Rick Mounce (rick861@mac.com) if you are interested, or just see one of the guys up in the sound booth!

 

BUILDING PRE-SERVICE CHECK TEAM

Looking for volunteers to do a basic check of our building before each service.  This includes checking the auditorium for trash, looking for lights that may be out, making sure restrooms are clean and stocked, etc.  After each service trash needs to be removed from the building.  This is done on a rotating schedule; each person only needs to be available one or two Sundays per quarter.  See Ken Blythe if you are interested or email him at kblythe99@gmail.com.

 

FIRST RESPONDERS SECURITY TEAM

We are in the beginning stages of establishing a Security Team here at Hope in the (unlikely) event of an emergency situation taking place during the service.  We want to be proactive and have people and a system set in place so that we are prepared to handle whatever circumstance may arise.  If you are a 'First Responder' (police, security, EMT, doctor, nurse, etc.) and are interested in being a part of this team, please sign up on the sheet in the lobby.  See Steve Jones with any questions.

 

CHILDREN'S MINISTRY NEEDS

Our elementary age Sunday School classes are looking for both teachers and helpers to serve. Please contact Matt Russell for more information.

                                             

THIS WEEK'S WORKERS

Nursery 9:00        Lorraine Koch, Lynn Shute

Nursery 11:00      Mark & Brenda Hallahan

Toddlers 9:00       Kim Haines, Leah Aureli, Katherine DellaRova

Toddlers 11:00     Rebecca & John Jacob, Natalie Mariani
Pre K – K 9:00      Linda Landis, Libby LeBeau

Pre K – K 11:00    Karen & Amanda Merriell
1^st & 2^nd – 9:00     Nina & Joe Mattera

1^st & 2^nd – 11:00   Ann Schweigart, Debbie Davis

3rd - 5^th   9:00      TBA

3^rd – 5^th   11:00    TBA

Ushers 9:00          Bob Baumiester

Ushers 11:00        Bill Berry

Wed. Nursery       TBA

Counters               Bill Berry, Damon Briggs

Greeters               Paul Hoffman

                             Donna Hoffman

                             Lisa Minner

                             Patti Tomasetti

 

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.

 

 

He is Our Living Water,

Lois

 

 

 

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