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 ScheduleThursday, April 17: Maundy Thursday service @ 6:30. Sunday, April 20: Easter Sunrise service @ 7.

Sunday SchoolDon Kaller is going to be teaching the adult Sunday School class in March & April.

Easter Egg HuntSunday, 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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