New Hope E-News

Announcements

Interested in going ice skating? The youth will be going ice skating on January 25 at Hamilton Skate Place from 2-5. RSVP, please.

It’s time for the Souper Bowl of Caring! We’re going to do it a little differently this year—the food will be taken directly to the Chattanooga Rescue Mission on February 14 (what better way to celebrate love?), while the money will go to the Food Bank. Food will be collected from Feb. 1-8.

There will be a women’s Bible study on Thursday, January 22, at 7 PM at the church.

Calling all young adults (21-40)! If you’re interested, or know anyone who would be interested, in taking part in a young adults group, we’re having a kick-off Super Bowl party at Keith & Rachel’s house. We plan to meet weekly, usually on Saturdays. Activities will include Bible Study, local events (concerts, bowling, etc.), outdoors stuff (hiking, rafting, etc.), and whatever else the Spirit might lead us towards!

Pray for…

Mike Bryant
President-Elect Obama as he transitions to power.

Links

Did you know Martin Van Buren was the first president not born a British subject? Other inauguration info here.

An atheist’s take on Christianity in Africa.

Want to smell like Burger King? Dreams become reality.

They have encroached on the project…


Church History Quiz (Answer Below)

Q: Why was the Bible translated to English?

Text for Sunday, January 18

Jonah 1
Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah son of Amittai, saying, ‘Go at once to Nineveh, that great city, and cry out against it; for their wickedness has come up before me.’ But Jonah set out to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. He went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish; so he paid his fare and went on board, to go with them to Tarshish, away from the presence of the Lord.
But the Lord hurled a great wind upon the sea, and such a mighty storm came upon the sea that the ship threatened to break up. Then the mariners were afraid, and each cried to his god. They threw the cargo that was in the ship into the sea, to lighten it for them. Jonah, meanwhile, had gone down into the hold of the ship and had lain down, and was fast asleep. The captain came and said to him, ‘What are you doing sound asleep? Get up, call on your god! Perhaps the god will spare us a thought so that we do not perish.’
The sailors said to one another, ‘Come, let us cast lots, so that we may know on whose account this calamity has come upon us.’ So they cast lots, and the lot fell on Jonah. Then they said to him, ‘Tell us why this calamity has come upon us. What is your occupation? Where do you come from? What is your country? And of what people are you?’ ‘I am a Hebrew,’ he replied. ‘I worship the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land.’ Then the men were even more afraid, and said to him, ‘What is this that you have done!’ For the men knew that he was fleeing from the presence of the Lord, because he had told them so.
Then they said to him, ‘What shall we do to you, that the sea may quieten down for us?’ For the sea was growing more and more tempestuous. He said to them, ‘Pick me up and throw me into the sea; then the sea will quieten down for you; for I know it is because of me that this great storm has come upon you.’ Nevertheless, the men rowed hard to bring the ship back to land, but they could not, for the sea grew more and more stormy against them. Then they cried out to the Lord, ‘Please, O Lord, we pray, do not let us perish on account of this man’s life. Do not make us guilty of innocent blood; for you, O Lord, have done as it pleased you.’ So they picked Jonah up and threw him into the sea; and the sea ceased from its raging. Then the men feared the Lord even more, and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows.
But the Lord provided a large fish to swallow up Jonah; and Jonah was in the belly of the fish for three days and three nights.

A Reading from the Confessions

THE HEIDELBERG CATECHISM 4.057-8

Q. 57. What comfort does “the resurrection of the body” give you?
A. That after this life my soul shall be immediately taken up to Christ, its Head, and that this flesh of mine, raised by the power of Christ, shall be reunited with my soul, and be conformed to the glorious body of Christ.

Q. 58. What comfort does the article concerning “the life everlasting” give you?
A. That, since I now feel in my heart the beginning of eternal joy, I shall possess, after this life, perfect blessedness, which no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man conceived, and thereby praise God forever.

The Monastic Moment (from The Monastic Way.)

January 15
We see that we cannot partake deeply of the life of God unless we change profoundly. It is therefore essential that we should go to God in order that he should transform and change us, and that is why, to begin with, we should ask for a conversion.
Conversion in Latin means a turn, a change in the direction of things… Conversion means that instead of spending our lives in looking in all directions, we should follow one direction only. It is turning away from a great many things which we value solely because they were pleasant or expedient for us. The first impact of conversion is to modify our sense of values. God being at the center of all, everything acquires a new position and a new depth. All that is God’s, all that belongs to him, is positive and real. (Anthony Bloom)


Church History Answer

A: It was the followers of John Wycliffe that made this a reality. He argues that while Scripture is the possession of the church, the church is the body, and therefore the Bible should be in the hands of all the members of the church in their own language. His followers were called Lollards, which was derived from a word meaning ‘mumblers’. They were convinced the Bible belonged to the people and should be returned to them.

(Answer taken from Justo Gonzalez’s The Story of Christianity, Volume I, pg. 346-8)



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