Friday, August 10, 2012

8/10 E-News


Announcements

Family Camp!If you haven't yet signed up for family camp, please let the office know! We need to send a final head count pretty soon. Sept. 1-3 is the date. You are welcome to come for any or all of it!

Lookouts GameWe'll head down to catch a Lookouts game on Saturday, August 18th. Let Keith know if you're interested in joining us.

Family in Need--From Family Promise (Formerly Interfaith Hospitality) --The Scruggs family will be moving into their three bedroom apartment in the next week or two.  They are in need of beds, sofa, chairs for living room, end tables and lamps and coffee tables.  A dining table and chairs and four twin beds, one queen bed and a crib.  Dressers are a need as well.  Sheets, towels, dishes, silverware, drinking cups are needed too. The Furniture Bank is backed up with approximately 50 people in front of the Scruggs family for requests. If anyone has any of the above items, please contact Linda Smith our case manager at linda.fpg@epbfi.com or call her at 756-3891.

New Hope News

Sermon SeriesWe began a new sermon series last week. We'll be exploring the 'I Am' statements in John. It is my hope that we can learn about our own identity by focusing on what Christ says about his identity.

Sunday School—We'll explore Isaiah this Sunday @ 9:45.

Sunday Evening Prayer ServiceWe're back with a service of healing & wholeness this week! 6:00


Pray for:

Give thanks for the blessing of today


Links







Book Recommendation

Lately, I've been reading a lot of books focused on the spiritual life. I have a growing hunger within to know Christ and experience Christ's love more deeply than I could even imagine. I want my every single thought to be about him. I know it's not something I'll ever achieve, but I don't want to be satisfied by anything less. To that end, Thomas Ashbrook's Mansions of the Heart was recommended to me. It's an image of what spiritual progression looks like using Teresa of Avila's seven-story mansion to focus our development as disciples. It's a well-written, accessible book. I wouldn't necessarily start with it if you haven't read a lot of works on spiritual growth, but if you're looking for something that might help you view life from a different angle, it's a great book.

Random Thoughts

I was watching the Olympics the other night and Usain Bolt ran really, really fast. He's amazing to watch—I don't remember being captivated by a sprinter since watching Michael Johnson run the 200 & 400. (Back then, wearing brightly colored shoes seemed to be the exception rather than the rule. But that's another article.) I will admit that I was somewhat taken aback by something I heard about his run—someone had said that he had sprinted 'into immortality.'

Really?

I always struggle with statements like this. We hear them a lot around sports. There is always talk about how a certain game or team will be remembered forever, or how this particular moment will live on forever, or that a player going into the hall of fame has achieved immortality.

I don't try to be Debbie Downer, but I don't believe that Jesus Christ is going to have a wall in heaven dedicated to Usain Bolt because he can run really fast. I don't think that Christ is going to reach down into Cooperstown and pluck up all the statues in the baseball hall of fame to be sure they're still around when the earth is redeemed and we are ushered into the new creation. I'm fairly certain that God isn't adding a wing onto heaven for all the instant replays that have been declared to last forever.

We tend to blow certain things in life out of propotion, particularly sports, but many other things, too. Quick—who won the World Series in 2003? Who won the gold in Olympic sprinting in 2000? What was your bank account total in 2005?

Maybe you remember these answers, but I don't. What really matters is whether or not we're growing closer to Christ—because that is the relationship that will last forever. God is eternal, and he invites us into an eternal relationship with him.

So let's celebrate the wonderful things that happen here on earth, from sprinting to baseball to fireworks to puppies & flowers. They're good and wonderful things. But let's keep them in perspective and always remember that God comes first, and our growing relationship with him is what we need to keep our eyes and our hearts focused on as we go through life.

Text for Sunday, August 12

John 10:1-10

Very truly, I tell you, anyone who does not enter the sheepfold by the gate but climbs in by another way is a thief and a bandit. The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep hear his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. They will not follow a stranger, but they will run from him because they do not know the voice of strangers.’ Jesus used this figure of speech with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them.

 So again Jesus said to them, ‘Very truly, I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. All who came before me are thieves and bandits; but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the gate. Whoever enters by me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.











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