Announcements
$.02/meal—This
Sunday, we'll be collecting this money. Remember—we use this to
help feed hungry kids!
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
Colossians.
Pray
For:
Christine
Dyer
Pete
Savard, whose mother passed away Monday at the age of 93.
Connie
Robinson
The
Meulenbergs
Links
Keith's
Random Thoughts
It's
been 45 years since Martin Luther King, Jr.'s voice was silenced by
hatred in Memphis, TN. For 45 years we've been wondering what might
have been, how God might have continued to use him to be a voice for
justice. King wasn't perfect, but he was filled with passion, and he
was willing to be a leader in a movement. His voice spoke with
authority and conviction. He wanted to stand up for what was right.
A man filled with hatred silenced his voice.
I
can't help but think of the ending of Mark's Gospel. (Not the part
about the snakes.) The last verse, 16:8, says So they went out
and fled from the tomb, for terror and amazement had seized them; and
they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.
Here we have women who were silent out of fear, saying nothing to
anyone. The voice of the angels, proclaiming the resurrection, had
fallen silent, and there was no one willing to say anything.
And
yet, the story was told. The story did not end here at the tomb
because there was no one willing to lend their voices and tell the
story. The truth of resurrection was proclaimed. Silence was
broken. The women eventually
overcame fear and spoke.
In
the same way, other voices picked up when silence took over after
Martin Luther King, Jr.'s death. Others spoke up for justice and
freedom and equality. Silence might have won the day, but other
voices soon came in and spoke.
As
God is building his kingdom here on earth, he needs people willing to
lend their voices, to speak up for justice and peace. God needs you
to offer your voice to tell the story. Other voices have fallen
silent. In many ways, the institutional church no longer speaks with
the same volume and authority, and many people ignore it when it does
speak. God needs individuals to speak up, to use their voices and
proclaim the Truth with their lives, to tell the story of God's love
and Christ's selfless death. God needs people to overcome
fear and tell the story of
God's radical, redeeming love for all.
God needs you to offer your voice, however small it may feel, in the
midst of this loud word, that the people around you might hear.
Many
voices have fallen silent, and we are called to carry forward the cry
of the Good News.
Text
for this Sunday
Matthew
4:1-11
Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be
tempted by the devil. He fasted for forty days and forty nights, and
afterwards he was famished. The tempter came and said to him, ‘If
you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of
bread.’ But he answered, ‘It is written,
“One does not live by bread alone,
but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.” ’
Then the devil took him to the holy city and placed him on the
pinnacle of the temple, saying to him, ‘If you are the Son of God,
throw yourself down; for it is written,
“He will command his angels concerning you”,
and “On their hands they will bear you up,
so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.” ’
Jesus said to him, ‘Again it is written, “Do not put the Lord
your God to the test.” ’
Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all
the kingdoms of the world and their splendor; and he said to him,
‘All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.’
Jesus said to him, ‘Away with you, Satan! for it is written,
“Worship the Lord your God,
and serve only him.” ’
Then the devil left him, and suddenly angels came and waited on him.
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