New Hope E-News

Announcements

We’ll have a golfing outing on March 28—talk to Dewey if you are interested in that. A signup sheet will be in the narthex.

The children will be working here at the church on a service day on March 7. Please speak with Gerry Kaller if you have any questions about that.

Interested in giving blood? March 31 is Bloodanooga ’09! They’re targeting 1600 donors in 16 hours.

Pray for…

Those without homes, help or hope

Links

Resources for Lent from the PC(USA)

Christian Filmmakers

The End of Alone

A new movie that looks interesting

Church History Quiz (Answer Below)

Q: What conclusion did Luther come to based upon Romans 1:17?

Text for Sunday, February 22

Mark 1:9-15

The Baptism of Jesus

In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. And just as he was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove on him. And a voice came from heaven, ‘You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.’

And the Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. He was in the wilderness for forty days, tempted by Satan; and he was with the wild beasts; and the angels waited on him.

Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.’


A Reading from the Confessions

THE SCOTS CONFESSION 3.12

Our faith and its assurance do not proceed from flesh and blood, that is to say, from natural powers within us, but are the inspiration of the Holy Ghost; whom we confess to be God, equal with the Father and with his Son, who sanctifies us, and brings us into all truth by his own working, without whom we should remain forever enemies to God and ignorant of his Son, Christ Jesus. For by nature we are so dead, blind, and perverse, that neither can we feel when we are pricked, see the light when it shines, nor assent to the will of God when it is revealed, unless the Spirit of the Lord Jesus quicken that which is dead, remove the darkness from our minds, and bow our stubborn hearts to the obedience of his blessed will. And so, as we confess that God the Father created us when we were not, as his Son our Lord Jesus redeemed us when we were enemies to him, so also do we confess that the Holy Ghost does sanctify and regenerate us, without respect to any merit proceeding from us, be it before or be it after our regeneration. To put this even more plainly; as we willingly disclaim any honor and glory for our own creation and redemption, so do we willingly also for our regeneration and sanctification; for by ourselves we are not capable of thinking one good thought, but he who has begun the work in us alone continues us in it, to the praise and glory of his undeserved grace.


The Monastic Moment (from The Monastic Way.)

February 28

Abba Pambo asked Abba Anthony, “What ought I to do?” and the old man said to him, ‘Do not trust your own righteousness, do not worry about the past, but control your tongue and your stomach.’ (Abba Anthony)


Church History Answer

A: That the righteousness, or justice, of God does not refer to the punishment of sinners but rather that the justice of the righteous is not their own, but God’s. The ‘righteousness of God’ is that which is given to those who live by faith. It is given solely because God wishes to give it. It means that both faith and justification are the work of God, a free gift to sinners.
(Answer taken from Justo Gonzalez’s The Story of Christianity, Volume II, pg. 19)



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