Announcements
Kids' Musical—Sunday!!!!
Potluck—Sunday!!!!
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.
Plastic Spoons
Paper Napkins
8 oz. Styrofoam bowls
New
Hope News
Sunday
School—This Sunday, the adult class will study
Philemon.
Pray
For:
John
L. Wright
Jacob
Geerlings, who graduates from Columbia Seminary on Saturday
Those
in the midst of change, welcome or not
Links
Keith's
Random Thoughts
The Powerball lottery is apparently up to $475 million today. No one
won the measly $350 million last night, so we're ratcheting up the
stakes. (I can't help but wonder what would happen if they said,
“We're going to leave it at $350 million, because that's more money
than anyone needs anyway, and give the other $125 million to various
homeless shelters around the country, because that money will make a
bigger difference there.”)
Of course, every one of us instantly thought to ourselves about
exactly what we would do with $475 million, because that's how we
work. I haven't got it all spent, but you could leave messages with
suggestions that I would be happy to return when I got back from Bora
Bora. (We're called to enjoy the beauty God has created in this
world!)
The reality is that you're probably not going to win. (Best I can
tell, the odds are about 1 in ~175,000,000)
But that doesn't mean that all those thoughts have to go to waste.
As Christians, when we think about the ideal life, it should be
different than how others think about the ideal life, because we
believe that it's not all about us. We believe that the goal of life
isn't a life of luxury and ease, but a life that joins in with the
work God is doing to expand His Kingdom. When we sin, we typically
do so to advance our own kingdom. When we are faithful, we are
looking to the Holy Spirit for guidance on how to live for God's
kingdom. When we are living at our best, we are considering what God
has in store for us long before we are considering our own plans and
designs. We look to God.
And Scripture tells us that wealth is not bad unless we covet and
treasure it. If you are rich, the Bible says in 1 Timothy, you are
to do good, to be rich in good works, generous and ready to share.
Wealth can enrich the entire community, the entire world, if it is
used responsibly. A lottery windfall might support missionaries in
the field as they proclaim the Gospel. It should support the local
church, and it can also support other missions. It can bless others
who are in need of money and stressed out by the lack of it. A
windfall can bless so many people in so many ways, doing much to
advance the message of the Gospel in the world.
So dream your big dreams. And then look at the list you've come up
with. I promise that there will be a few things on that list to keep
you busy while you're waiting for the lottery company to call and
give you the good news. Whether it's giving time or money, I bet we
can all take steps deeper into the generous life if we are willing to
share the blessings we have now, be it our health or our wealth,
rather than just wait until the oversized check arrives in the mail.
Text
for this Sunday
Acts
2:1-13
When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one
place. And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a
violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting.
Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested
on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and
began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.
Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven living in
Jerusalem. And at this sound the crowd gathered and was bewildered,
because each one heard them speaking in the native language of each.
Amazed and astonished, they asked, ‘Are not all these who are
speaking Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each of us, in our
own native language? Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and residents of
Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and
Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and
visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabs—in
our own languages we hear them speaking about God’s deeds of
power.’ All were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, ‘What
does this mean?’ But others sneered and said, ‘They are filled
with new wine.’
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