Announcements
Family
Camp!—If
you haven't yet signed up for family camp, please let the office
know! We need to send a final head count pretty soon. Sept. 1-3 is
the date. You are welcome to come for any or all of it!
Lookouts
Game—We'll
head down to catch a Lookouts game on Saturday, August 18th.
Let Keith know if you're interested in joining us.
Family
in Need--From
Family Promise (Formerly Interfaith Hospitality) --The
Scruggs family will be moving into their three bedroom apartment in
the next week or two. They are in need of beds, sofa, chairs
for living room, end tables and lamps and coffee tables.
A dining table and chairs and four twin beds, one queen bed
and a crib. Dressers are a need as well. Sheets, towels,
dishes, silverware, drinking cups are needed too. The Furniture Bank
is backed up with approximately 50 people in front of the Scruggs
family for requests. If anyone has any of the above items, please
contact Linda Smith our case manager at linda.fpg@epbfi.com
or call her at 756-3891.
New
Hope News
Sermon
Series—We
began a new sermon series last week. We'll be exploring the 'I Am'
statements in John. It is my hope that we can learn about our own
identity by focusing on what Christ says about his identity.
Sunday
School—We'll
explore Isaiah this Sunday @ 9:45.
Sunday
Evening Prayer Service—We're
back with a service of healing & wholeness this week!
6:00
Pray
for:
Give
thanks for the blessing of today
Links
Book
Recommendation
Lately,
I've been reading a lot of books focused on the spiritual life. I
have a growing hunger within to know Christ and experience Christ's
love more deeply than I could even imagine. I want my every single
thought to be about him. I know it's not something I'll ever
achieve, but I don't want to be satisfied by anything less. To that
end, Thomas Ashbrook's Mansions
of the Heart
was recommended to me. It's an image of what spiritual progression
looks like using Teresa of Avila's seven-story mansion to focus our
development as disciples. It's a well-written, accessible book. I
wouldn't necessarily start with it if you haven't read a lot of works
on spiritual growth, but if you're looking for something that might
help you view life from a different angle, it's a great book.
Random
Thoughts
I
was watching the Olympics the other night and Usain Bolt ran really,
really fast. He's amazing to watch—I don't remember being
captivated by a sprinter since watching Michael Johnson run the 200 &
400. (Back then, wearing brightly colored shoes seemed to be the
exception rather than the rule. But that's another article.) I will
admit that I was somewhat taken aback by something I heard about his
run—someone had said that he had sprinted 'into immortality.'
Really?
I
always struggle with statements like this. We hear them a lot around
sports. There is always talk about how a certain game or team will
be remembered forever, or how this particular moment will live on
forever, or that a player going into the hall of fame has achieved
immortality.
I
don't try to be Debbie Downer, but I don't believe that Jesus Christ
is going to have a wall in heaven dedicated to Usain Bolt because he
can run really fast. I don't think that Christ is going to reach
down into Cooperstown and pluck up all the statues in the baseball
hall of fame to be sure they're still around when the earth is
redeemed and we are ushered into the new creation. I'm fairly
certain that God isn't adding a wing onto heaven for all the instant
replays that have been declared to last forever.
We
tend to blow certain things in life out of propotion, particularly
sports, but many other things, too. Quick—who won the World Series
in 2003? Who won the gold in Olympic sprinting in 2000? What was
your bank account total in 2005?
Maybe
you remember these answers, but I don't. What really matters is
whether or not we're growing closer to Christ—because that is the
relationship that will last forever. God is eternal, and he invites
us into an eternal relationship with him.
So
let's celebrate the wonderful things that happen here on earth, from
sprinting to baseball to fireworks to puppies & flowers. They're
good and wonderful things. But let's keep them in perspective and
always remember that God comes first, and our growing relationship
with him is what we need to keep our eyes and our hearts focused on
as we go through life.
Text
for Sunday, August 12
John 10:1-10
‘Very
truly, I tell you, anyone who does not enter the sheepfold by the
gate but climbs in by another way is a thief and a bandit. The
one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. The
gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep hear his voice. He
calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has
brought out all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow
him because they know his voice. They will not follow a
stranger, but they will run from him because they do not know the
voice of strangers.’ Jesus used this figure of speech with
them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them.
So
again Jesus said to them, ‘Very truly, I tell you, I am the gate
for the sheep. All who came before me are thieves and bandits;
but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the gate. Whoever
enters by me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find
pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I
came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.
New
Hope on iTunes
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