Sunday Recap - 10-10-10

Sorry I've been so sporadic about posting the Sunday recaps lately but there has been a lot going on in a number of areas and this is the one thing that can wait.

Sunday I was able to teach the kids in Kidmo again and share with them about God's plan to invite them into His family. The writers for Kidmo really did a great job and the kids seemed to respond well to what was being taught. Some great questions along with some typical silliness for the kids made it a really enjoyable time.

Then we transitioned over to worship mode and helped the praise band bring "Today Is The Day", "He Reigns", "I Will Rise", and "Change My Heart Oh God." We were missing our drummer and bass player and it definitely seemed to sound different on stage, but the folks out front sang out and the vocalists were right on it. Great job guys!

We had just celebrated the Lord's Supper last week, but I was really convicted about the way we tagged it onto the end of the service and wanted to come back to worship with the Lord's Supper at the center. So "Nexus" was born out of the desire to help people see that the Old Testament covenant and our New Testament age of grace meet in the symbolism of the communion table. It was some pretty heavy theology but I pray that God delivered everything He wanted to the congregation.

Sunday night we began our "The Forgotten God" small group at our home and the turn out was outstanding and the discussion inspirational. Great group embarked on a worthy mission. Pray for us as we close the gaps in our understanding of the Holy Spirit and what God wants from each of us and from our church.

One last thing - Bunny got a great letter from The Full Belly Project this weekend and once she shares it with the girls on Wednesday night, I'll come back and share it with you. Bottom line is this - New Hope is DOING SOMETHING about those in Africa who need God's people to step up and love them.

Sunday Recap 9/26/10

Had a great day at New Hope Sunday. I was excited because I was going to get to teach our Kidmo kids about loss and God's answer to the pain and grief. Can't tell you how impressed I was to see that the Kidmo writers not only tackled the issue of death, but how they did it for these elementary aged kids. We need more Biblical teaching about real life events as early as the kids can grasp it. Good job, Kidmo guys.

The class went well, with the kids telling me about losses of pets, uncles, and in one case, their father. We learned that it was okay to be sad - Jesus was too. But we also learned that God had given us Jesus who conquered death by rising from the dead, and had given us all a place in heaven if we believed in Him. They actually drew a map to heaven and it began with Jesus.

It all begins with Jesus, doesn't it? If we could just get everyone - whatever age - to begin every day following Jesus wherever we went, the Kingdom of God would advance faster.

The worship set:

Holy Is the Lord
God You Reign (first time we have sung this - love the words)
Forever
A Shield About Me (so worshipful)
Amazing Grace

The message finished our walk through Colossians 3 with a call to work for God no matter who your earthly boss is or whatever your earthly job is. In this military community, I tried to draw a distinction between "Employed" and "Deployed." We might be employed by McDonald's or the Air Force, but we are deployed by God to be His agent there.

Had some folks back from extended vacations which was awesome. New Hope together is a force for God. On that note, our Child2Child girls' efforts on behalf of the Full Belly Project netted over two hundred dollars which will help the group help the poor to rise up and provide for their families. Great job again girls!

Here's the powerpoint, the sermon audio should be up later.

Sunday Recap on Tuesday for May 30, 2010

Memorial Day weekend is one of those times when you know that you're going to be missing people on Sunday. We had people spread out all over and because we had prepared for it, were able to get everything covered. I had an awesome time in Kidmo with some great kids, and then got to go over to worship and get recharged.

Here's the worship set. I thought that everyone did a great job,

How Can I Keep From Singing
God With Us
In Christ Alone
Amazing Grace

The message Sunday was about the amazing faith of a Roman Centurion. Great vibe from the congregation. Can't wait to see what Summer is going to bring us at New Hope.



Looking forward, we've got the Mission Trip to Kentucky, the Moving Wall service opportunity, movies in the park, Royal Ambassador camp, and lots more. Come and see!

Sunday nights are for thinking

We've had two back to back full weekends at New Hope. Last weekend it was Saturday in the Park. This weekend was the rain-cancelled Relay for Life and the Worship Workshop. It's been busy, busy, busy. New Hope's people have stepped out to serve and up to learn more about how to worship Jesus.

Saturday in the Park, though shortened by rain, was still one of the most fun events I have ever been a part of, with the most impact. We're still seeing results from it in both the response from people and the continuing purchase of items that we sell with 100% of the proceeds going to organizations that are doing something about changing the lives of those in need around the world. Hunger, clean water, human trafficking, orphan care - these are areas that we at New Hope cannot possibly fix. But we can DO SOMETHING! and we are.
As much as doing something is part of who we are though, being someone who lives with the heart and mind of Christ has to balance that out. It's not faith or works - it's faith AND works.

So I'm sitting here tonight praying and reflecting on what we have done and will do that builds faith in individual members and that builds up the congregation's faith. We took a step in that direction with the worship workshop. Melanie Winter brought a deep love of Jesus and a skill set that is at the level that we want to get to as a worship team. She challenged us and prodded us to look at what we were doing, and what we could do to improve. It meant change. We changed a few things and more are to come. But I really believe we improved in worship today and will make more strides as time goes by. Thanks Melanie!

There's more to do though.

We have to build on the love that motivates us to do. We have to grow in our ability to disciple kids, youth, and adults of all ages. Our Kidmo children's program and the coming children's church time has really upped our impact in that area. I dropped in there this morning and the room was full. Few sights warm a pastor's heart more than seeing dedicated and caring teachers pouring out their love through discipleship. Since we began Kidmo, we have people looking for ways to get in there.How cool is that? Turns the old "nominating committee" on its head when people rush toward working in what typically can be tough to fill.

As a result, we may be looking at other changes in our discipleship strategy. How can we best help young minds and hearts be opened to the call of Christ to come and follow? Who are the right people to gather into groups and who would be the best at pointing them into the Word and toward faith in Jesus? When should they meet and where? What materials should be used?

Changes. Changes. Changes.

Why? We have an awesome group of people at New Hope who are DOING SOMETHING about the things that break the heart of God. Once you are part of the New Hope family you step into an embrace of love as tight as any I have ever known. We LOVE being together. But we have to grow deeper - reach further. Love for Jesus doesn't reach a point and stay there - if it's real, it grows all throughout the life of the believer.

5 So don't lose a minute in building on what you've been given, complementing your basic faith with good character, spiritual understanding, 6 alert discipline, passionate patience, reverent wonder, 7 warm friendliness, and generous love, each dimension fitting into and developing the others. 8 With these qualities active and growing in your lives, no grass will grow under your feet, no day will pass without its reward as you mature in your experience of our Master Jesus.
2 Peter 1:5-8 (MSG)

"Building on what you've been give..." is exactly what we need to do. Seeing believers grow from initial curiosity about Jesus, to love for Jesus, and through to maturity is what we need to make sure we are constantly seeing. We are seeing it now, but we can do better.

So pray with me. Pray that the God Who began His work in us would draw us deeper to Him.

Sunday Recap March 28, 2010

It's Palm Sunday today, and the first weekend of a long Spring Break that will include Easter as well. We sent a lot of people out on vacation this weekend, two men on deployments, and had others dealing with physical issues. So we were off by a third. Ouch! The really bright light though was the kids turn-out for our preview of our new Kidmo program for children. It was great and so were they. I really enjoyed helping out over there this morning.



When I was preparing this week's message, I tried to go in the traditional direction of talking about Jesus' entry into Jerusalem. Even started on the sermon. But I was drawn to a face in the crowd that day instead. The story of Jesus' encounter with the Samaritan woman just gripped my heart, and I could just see her and some of the people with her that day winding up in Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. Not because "that's what we have always done" like many people, but because they truly wanted to draw close to God. So we looked at John 4, and I tried to frame the text in the concept of "defining moments."

What if one of those defining moments in our life comes today, or tomorrow? What if we meet Jesus and He changes everything? So I tried to lead people to put themselves into the moment that the Samaritan woman's life changed and begin to decide whether they were open to the same sort of change. Jesus didn't come into this world to remodel it - He came to change it forever. Likewise, He doesn't approach us with the idea of rearranging some things and leaving others alone. He wants total repentance and total renewal. A new life.

I'm praying that someone found that new life today, or a renewed faith and walk in Jesus.

We chose these songs for worship - "Hosanna" by Baloche, "How Can I Keep From Singing?" by Tomlin, and "Here I Am To Worship". Our hymn of commitment was "Just As I Am."

I'll be trying hard during the week to come to comprehend deeper than ever before the awesome grace poured out on the cross, the miracle of canceled sin, and the hope that is Easter. Pray with me, and for me.

New Hope folks - invite! invite! invite! invite! - call, text, tweet, email, whatever it takes but get your family, friends, neighbors,  coworkers, and random strangers you run into to New Hope for Easter Sunday. Do it!

Grace and peace to you all - David