Thursday, November 15, 2012

11-15 E-News


Announcements
Thanksgiving Lunch—Thursday, Nov. 22 @ 2:00 at the church. Please talk to JoAn Wright if you're interested in joining this wonderful tradition.

Wednesday Night Suppers—There will be no Wed. Night Supper next week, Nov. 21. The following week, guests associated with Fair Trade products will present on the work of the church through fair trade, and they'll also bring some products to sell that would be great Christmas gifts!

New Hope News

Sunday School—This Sunday, the adult class with discuss generosity.

Pray For:

The new elders of New Hope—Larrie, Walt, Pete & JoAn.

Give thanks. Think about how you might display your gratitude to the world.

Pray for those who do not know Christ.

Links





The Grateful Gobbler is November 22. (Monies raised go to support Chattanooga Regional Homeless Coalition.


Keith's Random Thoughts

I don't ask for prayers very often, but I would be most grateful if you would take a moment or two to lift me up before our God in heaven. See, I'm going to be spending a few days at Gethsemani Abbey, a Trappist monastery in Kentucky. It's a place of silent retreat, meant to cultivate the growth of the soul. I'm greatly looking forward to my time there, hopeful that Christ will do a work in me—I'm hoping that He will slow me down, calm me down, enough to hear his voice.
I have many hopes for my time there. I hope to have my sins revealed, that I may repent of them and turn from them. I hope to see where my own brokenness is preventing Christ's work through me, that I may get out of the way of grace. I hope to vision forward, to see how the Lord is calling me to serve. I hope to rest, secure in the love of our eternal God.
I have many hopes, but I also need to set them aside and let God do a work. I want to let God lead me, to use the time as God sees fit. I could effectively design a retreat that left out room for God, therein defeating the entire purpose. I'm taking some books and journals, but in the end I simply desire stillness before God, that the love and power of God may surround me and entice my soul to lay down the burdens it has picked up and revel in the amazing love of God. I hope to worship unencumbered, to be without restraint, to listen without anxiety and grow as a disciple.
So I ask for your prayers. I shall spend much time in prayer there, and perhaps the Lord might speak to all of us, calling us back to him, back to faithfulness, and together we might walk the road that Christ has set before us.
Thank you.



Text for this Sunday
2 Kings 2:1-13

Now when the Lord was about to take Elijah up to heaven by a whirlwind, Elijah and Elisha were on their way from Gilgal. Elijah said to Elisha, “Stay here; for the Lord has sent me as far as Bethel.” But Elisha said, “As the Lord lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” So they went down to Bethel. The company of prophets who were in Bethel came out to Elisha, and said to him, “Do you know that today the Lord will take your master away from you?” And he said, “Yes, I know; keep silent.” Elijah said to him, “Elisha, stay here; for the Lord has sent me to Jericho.” But he said, “As the Lord lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” So they came to Jericho. The company of prophets who were at Jericho drew near to Elisha, and said to him, “Do you know that today the Lord will take your master away from you?” And he answered, “Yes, I know; be silent.” Then Elijah said to him, “Stay here; for the Lord has sent me to the Jordan.” But he said, “As the Lord lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” So the two of them went on. Fifty men of the company of prophets also went, and stood at some distance from them, as they both were standing by the Jordan. Then Elijah took his mantle and rolled it up, and struck the water; the water was parted to the one side and to the other, until the two of them crossed on dry ground.


When they had crossed, Elijah said to Elisha, “Tell me what I may do for you, before I am taken from you.” Elisha said, “Please let me inherit a double share of your spirit.” He responded, “You have asked a hard thing; yet, if you see me as I am being taken from you, it will be granted you; if not, it will not.” As they continued walking and talking, a chariot of fire and horses of fire separated the two of them, and Elijah ascended in a whirlwind into heaven. Elisha kept watching and crying out, “Father, father! The chariots of Israel and its horsemen!” But when he could no longer see him, he grasped his own clothes and tore them in two pieces.


He picked up the mantle of Elijah that had fallen from him, and went back and stood on the bank of the Jordan. He took the mantle of Elijah that had fallen from him, and struck the water, saying, ‘Where is the Lord, the God of Elijah?’ When he had struck the water, the water was parted to the one side and to the other, and Elisha went over.


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