Thursday, January 8, 2009

Early Edition of New Hope E-News

Announcements

Due to the deluge, our Habitat for Humanity this Saturday is canceled. Make plans for working on February 7. Please contact Dorothy Piatt for more information.

$.02/meal due this Sunday!

Blood Drive will be Wednesday, January 14, from 5-8. There is a sign-up sheet in the narthex, but please come and bleed even if you haven’t signed up!

Rev. Don Kaller will be preaching this Sunday!

Pray for…

Peace in the Middle East

Links

From Client to Social Worker

A great story about cheering for the opponent.

Napping: Not just for students.

Good news for anyone in love.

We Play Green: “…the power we have to reverse the environmental crisis”

The road to peace in Guatemala.

Church History Quiz (Answer Below)

Q: Has the pope always lived in Rome?


Text for Sunday, January 11

Matthew 28:16-20

Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

John 20:24-29

But Thomas (who was called the Twin), one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe.”
A week later his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were shut, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe.” Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.”

A Reading from the Confessions

THE LARGER CATECHISM 7.186

Q. 76. What is repentance unto life?
A. Repentance unto life is a saving grace,1 wrought in the heart of a sinner by the Spirit and Word of God,2 whereby out of the sight and sense, not only of the danger,3 but also of the filthiness and odiousness of his sins,4 and upon the apprehension of God’s mercy in Christ to such as are penitent,5 he so grieves for, and hates his sins,6 as that he turns from them all to God,7 purposing and endeavoring constantly to walk with him in all the ways of new obedience.8

The Monastic Moment
(from The Monastic Way.)

January 8
In order to pray more and better we must often do less, let go of more things, give up numerous good intentions, and be content to yield to the inner pressure of the Spirit the moment it bubbles up in us and tries to win us over and take us in tow. Ultimately all our attempts at prayer and all our methods must come to a dead end and wither away in order that the Spirit of Jesus may facilitate and validate his own prayer in our heart.

Church History Answer

A: No. From 1309-1377 Avignon, France served as the seat of the papacy. The conflict between Rome and France had grown to such a point that Pope Boniface VIII was prepared to excommunicate the French King in 1300 when a small French army kidnapped the Pope and humiliated him by forcing him to sit backwards on a horse and parade him through town. After several other events the pro-French party succeeded in having Clement V elected Pope in 1305, who did not visit Rome once during his pontificate. He moved to Avignon in 1309 and his successor had a great palace built there.
(Answer taken from Justo Gonzalez’s The Story of Christianity, Volume I, pg. 329-334)

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