Psalm 31:1-8
Common English Bible (CEB)
31 I take refuge in you, Lord.
Please never let me be put to shame.
Rescue me by your righteousness!
2 Listen closely to me!
Deliver me quickly;
be a rock that protects me;
be a strong fortress that saves me!
3 You are definitely my rock and my fortress.
Guide me and lead me for the sake of your good name!
4 Get me out of this net that’s been set for me
because you are my protective fortress.
5 I entrust my spirit into your hands;
you, Lord, God of faithfulness—
you have saved me.
6 I hate those who embrace what is completely worthless.
I myself trust the Lord.
7 I rejoice and celebrate in your faithful love
because you saw my suffering—
you were intimately acquainted with my deep distress.
8 You didn’t hand me over to the enemy,
but set my feet in wide-open spaces.
********************
What's your rock?
When everything else has failed you and you've fallen through every support that you thought would hold you up, what's your rock?
In my head, I picture the movies in which the hero always falls through a window on a roof, then through a thousand other objects before finally settling softly onto a conveniently placed mattress. The same is true of us--everything else in life will eventually not be able to save us. Only God is worthy of our complete and final trust.
If we recognize that now, we can live in peace and security. To believe otherwise is to open ourselves up to a life of turmoil and hurt.
May the security of God give you peace today.
Friday, April 4, 2014
Thursday, April 3, 2014
April 3 New Hope E-News
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.
New
Hope on iTunes
Keith's
Blog
& Devotionals
for your Kindle
Psalm 30
Psalm 30
Common English Bible (CEB)
30 I exalt you, Lord, because you pulled me up; you didn’t let my enemies celebrate over me. 2 Lord, my God, I cried out to you for help, and you healed me. 3 Lord, you brought me up from the grave, brought me back to life from among those going down to the pit. 4 You who are faithful to the Lord, sing praises to him; give thanks to his holy name!
5 His anger lasts for only a second, but his favor lasts a lifetime. Weeping may stay all night, but by morning, joy! 6 When I was comfortable, I said, “I will never stumble.” 7 Because it pleased you, Lord, you made me a strong mountain. But then you hid your presence. I was terrified.
8 I cried out to you, Lord. I begged my Lord for mercy: 9 “What is to be gained by my spilled blood, by my going down into the pit? Does dust thank you? Does it proclaim your faithfulness? 10 Lord, listen and have mercy on me! Lord, be my helper!”
11 You changed my mourning into dancing. You took off my funeral clothes and dressed me up in joy 12 so that my whole being might sing praises to you and never stop. Lord, my God, I will give thanks to you forever.
***********************
When you're sick, it's easy to believe that you'll never get better. You can give up hope pretty easily, because the minutes drag by and a day feels like a week. Contrast that to moments of joy, which always seem to fly by too quickly.
Here, the Psalmist reminds us that God promises to turn mourning into joy. It may be a long night when we are weeping, but the night will break, and day will come, and all will be well.
May we have the confidence to trust God and to believe that morning will come, that joy will overwhelm, and that pain and tears will fall away!
May the Spirit remind you of the promises of God today!
Common English Bible (CEB)
30 I exalt you, Lord, because you pulled me up; you didn’t let my enemies celebrate over me. 2 Lord, my God, I cried out to you for help, and you healed me. 3 Lord, you brought me up from the grave, brought me back to life from among those going down to the pit. 4 You who are faithful to the Lord, sing praises to him; give thanks to his holy name!
5 His anger lasts for only a second, but his favor lasts a lifetime. Weeping may stay all night, but by morning, joy! 6 When I was comfortable, I said, “I will never stumble.” 7 Because it pleased you, Lord, you made me a strong mountain. But then you hid your presence. I was terrified.
8 I cried out to you, Lord. I begged my Lord for mercy: 9 “What is to be gained by my spilled blood, by my going down into the pit? Does dust thank you? Does it proclaim your faithfulness? 10 Lord, listen and have mercy on me! Lord, be my helper!”
11 You changed my mourning into dancing. You took off my funeral clothes and dressed me up in joy 12 so that my whole being might sing praises to you and never stop. Lord, my God, I will give thanks to you forever.
***********************
When you're sick, it's easy to believe that you'll never get better. You can give up hope pretty easily, because the minutes drag by and a day feels like a week. Contrast that to moments of joy, which always seem to fly by too quickly.
Here, the Psalmist reminds us that God promises to turn mourning into joy. It may be a long night when we are weeping, but the night will break, and day will come, and all will be well.
May we have the confidence to trust God and to believe that morning will come, that joy will overwhelm, and that pain and tears will fall away!
May the Spirit remind you of the promises of God today!
Wednesday, April 2, 2014
Psalm 29
Psalm 29
The Message (MSG)
29 1-2 Bravo, God, bravo! Gods and all angels shout, “Encore!” In awe before the glory, in awe before God’s visible power. Stand at attention! Dress your best to honor him! 3 God thunders across the waters, Brilliant, his voice and his face, streaming brightness— God, across the flood waters. 4 God’s thunder tympanic, God’s thunder symphonic. 5 God’s thunder smashes cedars, God topples the northern cedars. 6 The mountain ranges skip like spring colts, The high ridges jump like wild kid goats.
7-8 God’s thunder spits fire. God thunders, the wilderness quakes; He makes the desert of Kadesh shake. 9 God’s thunder sets the oak trees dancing A wild dance, whirling; the pelting rain strips their branches. We fall to our knees—we call out, “Glory!” 10 Above the floodwaters is God’s throne from which his power flows, from which he rules the world. 11 God makes his people strong. God gives his people peace.
********************
Imagine that you've lived your entire life in a desert, having never seen more than a bucket of water at once. Then, one day late in life, you're picked up in a helicopter that carries you out to an island in the middle of the ocean. The sheer volume of water would be astounding, unlike anything you've ever been able to fathom or imagine. Perhaps you had heard stories of such places, but until you witnessed such abundant water you could not grasp it.
I believe that's similar to how God is. In this life, we get a basic understanding of God. God's glory shines around us, in the natural world and through the selfless love of people. We read Scripture and begin to see how amazing God is, and we hear stories and sermons that illustrate the truth about God.
But God is so much greater, so much grander than we can begin to fathom or imagine. His abundance and love are beyond any idea we can begin to think, no matter how bold it may be. As Paul says, now we see dimly, but then we shall see face to face. One day, we shall be immersed in the vastness of his love, and his majesty will overwhelm us forever.
May the grace of God astound you today
The Message (MSG)
29 1-2 Bravo, God, bravo! Gods and all angels shout, “Encore!” In awe before the glory, in awe before God’s visible power. Stand at attention! Dress your best to honor him! 3 God thunders across the waters, Brilliant, his voice and his face, streaming brightness— God, across the flood waters. 4 God’s thunder tympanic, God’s thunder symphonic. 5 God’s thunder smashes cedars, God topples the northern cedars. 6 The mountain ranges skip like spring colts, The high ridges jump like wild kid goats.
7-8 God’s thunder spits fire. God thunders, the wilderness quakes; He makes the desert of Kadesh shake. 9 God’s thunder sets the oak trees dancing A wild dance, whirling; the pelting rain strips their branches. We fall to our knees—we call out, “Glory!” 10 Above the floodwaters is God’s throne from which his power flows, from which he rules the world. 11 God makes his people strong. God gives his people peace.
********************
Imagine that you've lived your entire life in a desert, having never seen more than a bucket of water at once. Then, one day late in life, you're picked up in a helicopter that carries you out to an island in the middle of the ocean. The sheer volume of water would be astounding, unlike anything you've ever been able to fathom or imagine. Perhaps you had heard stories of such places, but until you witnessed such abundant water you could not grasp it.
I believe that's similar to how God is. In this life, we get a basic understanding of God. God's glory shines around us, in the natural world and through the selfless love of people. We read Scripture and begin to see how amazing God is, and we hear stories and sermons that illustrate the truth about God.
But God is so much greater, so much grander than we can begin to fathom or imagine. His abundance and love are beyond any idea we can begin to think, no matter how bold it may be. As Paul says, now we see dimly, but then we shall see face to face. One day, we shall be immersed in the vastness of his love, and his majesty will overwhelm us forever.
May the grace of God astound you today
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