Announcements
Men's
Breakfast—Saturday!
We'll have pancakes and eggs, so come hungry. The weather looks...
exciting, so we won't plan on much outside work.
Playground
Dedication &
Easter Egg hunt—Sunday, March 24 @
12:15. We'll also have a hot dog social, so feel free to bring hot
dog side items to share! (It looks like those
prayers for sunshine didn't work very well. Perhaps we just weren't
location-specific enough... I suppose the sun will be shining
somewhere.)
No
Wednesday
Night—Next Wednesday, due
to Holy Week, there will be
no Wednesday night supper. Please skip directly from Wednesday lunch
to Thursday breakfast.
Community
Kitchen Spot
There are a lot of hungry and homeless children of God
and the community needs some help feeding them. If you would like to
help out, please bring the following items to church this Sunday &
put them in the grocery cart.
8 oz. Styrofoam bowls
New
Hope News
Sunday
School—This Sunday, the adult class will study
Ephesians.
Easter Schedule—Maundy Thursday, March 28 @ 6:30. Sunrise Service: 6:45. Cantata @ 10:45
Easter Schedule—Maundy Thursday, March 28 @ 6:30. Sunrise Service: 6:45. Cantata @ 10:45
Pray
For:
Christine
Dyer
Pray
for those who do not know Christ.
Links
Keith's
Random Thoughts
Today,
the NCAA tournament begins. To be honest, though, I'll probably only
watch the next four days. I think they're the best sports days of
the year—there are always multiple games on, and it's usually
wildly exciting and unpredictable. A team's entire season comes down
to 40 minutes, and when the game comes down the wire, it can come
down to one minute, one possession, one shot. Everything is on the
line.
It's
easy to start to believe our faith is like that. We think it all
comes down to one decision, one action, one choice. There are people
who live their entire lives regretting one moment, believing that
they blew their chance to be loved by God. There are other people
who refuse to forgive, who keep other people consigned to one
decision, one identity, one moment in their lives. We boil
everything down to singular moments.
The
reality is that you are constantly growing in Christ, and we're not
always growing in the right direction. Oftentimes, we start growing
in the wrong direction, and God prunes us, sometimes painfully, so
that we'll cease growing toward sin and grow back toward grace. John
15:2 tells us that God prunes branches so that they'll produce more
fruit. No one likes to be pruned, but it's necessary at times,
however difficult it may be.
Luke
2:52 says Jesus increased in wisdom and in years, and in divine
and human favor. We're called
to do the same—to grow in wisdom as we grow in years, so that we're
not the same in ten years that we are today. You aren't defined by
one moment or one decision—you are defined by God's grace and his
love. In Christ, we are a new creation, and we recognize that sin no
longer has power over us. We will continue to sin, but Christ's
grace is abundant. To continue to wallow in the misery of past sins
is to deny that Christ's grace has forgiven and overcome them. Let
us live as a people set free for Christ. Let us grow in grace,
allowing forgiveness, of ourselves and others, to dwell over those
moments of failure and sin in our lives.
Text
for this Sunday
Matthew
21:1-11
When
they had come near Jerusalem and had reached Bethphage, at the Mount
of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, ‘Go into the
village ahead of you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied,
and a colt with her; untie them and bring them to me. If anyone says
anything to you, just say this, “The Lord needs them.” And he
will send them immediately.’ This took place to fulfil what had
been spoken through the prophet, saying,
‘Tell
the daughter of Zion,
Look,
your king is coming to you,
humble,
and mounted on a donkey,
and
on a colt, the foal of a donkey.’
The
disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them; they brought the
donkey and the colt, and put their cloaks on them, and he sat on
them. A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others
cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. The crowds
that went ahead of him and that followed were shouting,
‘Hosanna
to the Son of David!
Blessed
is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!
Hosanna
in the highest heaven!’
When
he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was in turmoil, asking, ‘Who
is this?’ The crowds were saying, ‘This is the prophet Jesus from
Nazareth in Galilee.’
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