Announcements
A
Great Presentation--
Last
night, we were treated to a great presentation from Bob Mendelsohn
from Jews for Jesus. If you want to learn more about the
organization, go to JewsforJesus.org
Devotionals--
If you're interested in having all of the New Testament daily
devotionals on your e-reader, they can be purchased on Amazon. Just
click here for 6 years worth of devotionals that cover the entire New
Testament.
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 on the
bookshelf.
Plastic
Forks, Knives, Spoons
Dinner
Napkins
Heavy
Duty Sectional Dinner Plates
Dessert
Plates
New
Hope News
Holy
Week Schedule—Thursday,
April 17: Maundy Thursday service @ 6:30. Sunday, April 20: Easter
Sunrise service @ 7.
Sunday
School—Don
Kaller is going to be teaching the adult Sunday School class in March
& April.
Easter
Egg Hunt—Sunday,
April 20 @ 10. Please bring plastic eggs filled with non-chocolate
candy to the Narthex over the next few weeks!
Pray
For:
Norma
Capone
Peggy
& John L.
For
Nelson, Judy's brother
For
refugees, those who flee their homes with little to nothing in order
to save their lives.
For
the kids in confirmation class
Links
Keith's
Random Thoughts
Baseball season is here!
The long-awaited arrival of spring has arrived in the form of
baseball, and I am so grateful for its presence. I love the cadence
of listening to a game on the radio. It casts a nice atmosphere over
my evenings. (At our household, it is a nice distraction from
screaming children.)
But it's so easy to
criticize baseball. The Reds, too, leave plenty of room for
criticizing. The game moves too slowly. There are too many
commercials. Too many strikeouts. Lazy baserunning. Unwise
decisions. All these things grind on my nerves, and I'm perhaps
guilty of complaining.
See, I forget how great
it is just to have baseball. I forget that, just a week ago, there
was no baseball game on the radio. I forget about the long, slow
months of winter that lack baseball. I take it for granted that it's
on, and I forget just to be grateful.
It's easy to do—once
our blessings arrive, we forget that initial moment of gratitude and
start to take them for granted. That's why more stuff never
satisfies the soul—we stop being grateful and just assume we'll
always have this stuff. We forget what it was like when we didn't
have stuff at all.
The same can happen with
faith. Waves of gratitude wash over me when I contemplate the life
God has given me and the redemption in Christ he has freely offered
me. But these waves wear off, and pretty soon I'm wondering why God
didn't answer this prayer or that request. I start to ask God just
when he plans on doing exactly what it is I've requested. I wonder
if God listens at all.
So I need to remember
that this is all a blessing, that no one had to give this to me. I
need to remember gratitude, to remember that I peer up at God with no
standing to demand anything. Just as baseball arrives on its own
schedule, the grace of God and the answers to prayers show up on
God's time, not mine. May I have the wisdom to be grateful that it
shows up at all, and to give thanks for God's steady presence.
Text
for this Sunday
Acts
16:16-40
(Common
English Bible)
16
One day, when we were on the way to the place for prayer, we met a
slave woman. She had a spirit that enabled her to predict the future.
She made a lot of money for her owners through fortune-telling. 17
She began following Paul and us, shouting, “These people are
servants of the Most High God! They are proclaiming a way of
salvation to you!” 18 She did this for many days.
This
annoyed Paul so much that he finally turned and said to the spirit,
“In the name of Jesus Christ, I command you to leave her!” It
left her at that very moment.
19
Her owners realized that their hope for making money was gone. They
grabbed Paul and Silas and dragged them before the officials in the
city center. 20 When her owners approached the legal authorities,
they said, “These people are causing an uproar in our city. They
are Jews 21 who promote customs that we Romans can’t accept or
practice.” 22 The crowd joined in the attacks against Paul and
Silas, so the authorities ordered that they be stripped of their
clothes and beaten with a rod. 23 When Paul and Silas had been
severely beaten, the authorities threw them into prison and ordered
the jailer to secure them with great care. 24 When he received these
instructions, he threw them into the innermost cell and secured their
feet in stocks.
25
Around midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God,
and the other prisoners were listening to them. 26 All at once there
was such a violent earthquake that it shook the prison’s
foundations. The doors flew open and everyone’s chains came loose.
27 When the jailer awoke and saw the open doors of the prison, he
thought the prisoners had escaped, so he drew his sword and was about
to kill himself. 28 But Paul shouted loudly, “Don’t harm
yourself! We’re all here!”
29
The jailer called for some lights, rushed in, and fell trembling
before Paul and Silas. 30 He led them outside and asked, “Honorable
masters, what must I do to be rescued?”
31
They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you
and your entire household.” 32 They spoke the Lord’s word to him
and everyone else in his house. 33 Right then, in the middle of the
night, the jailer welcomed them and washed their wounds. He and
everyone in his household were immediately baptized. 34 He brought
them into his home and gave them a meal. He was overjoyed because he
and everyone in his household had come to believe in God.
35
The next morning the legal authorities sent the police to the jailer
with the order “Release those people.”
36
So the jailer reported this to Paul, informing him, “The
authorities sent word that you both are to be released. You can leave
now. Go in peace.”
37
Paul told the police, “Even though we are Roman citizens, they beat
us publicly without first finding us guilty of a crime, and they
threw us into prison. And now they want to send us away secretly? No
way! They themselves will have to come and escort us out.” 38 The
police reported this to the legal authorities, who were alarmed to
learn that Paul and Silas were Roman citizens. 39 They came and
consoled Paul and Silas, escorting them out of prison and begging
them to leave the city.
40
Paul and Silas left the prison and made their way to Lydia’s house
where they encouraged the brothers and sisters. Then they left
Philippi.
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