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Oh, friends… don’t miss this Sunday if at all possible! Way more than “Super Bowl” Sunday at night, this Sunday morning is our super-important Annual Celebration meeting! God has put a strong word on my heart that will tie together where we have been in our Old Testament study with where God is leading us in the weeks and months ahead. Read Acts 20 and Colossians 2 beforehand and let’s talk! More on this in Deeper Thoughts below.
But first… Here’s what we’ll be doing right after church: · We will receive 14 new Covenant Partners into partnership. · ALL Covenant Partners will renew their commitment to partnership. · We will consider the appointment of two new Elders to the church, as well as a couple of new members to our Board of Administration. · We will unveil the “final” design of our facility expansion plans (to include 3-D walk-around videos), share the final budget estimate, and prepare you for the next super-important decision to be made… which is a “go/no-go” decision in front of us. Please… everyone attend! Our Sunday morning service at 10:00 a.m. will tackle the Word of God for us; our Annual Celebration meeting after church 11:45 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. will tackle the various appointments and the building discussions. We will livestream both events for those who are out of town or sick… but if you’re here… please join us in-person!! Other important stuff to know: · Teens: FIRE Youth Worship Night TOMORROW… Saturday, February 7th, 6:00 – 8:30 p.m. – pizza, music, devotional, discussion, and sharing… a perfect opportunity for teens to build a deeper connection with God and each other! We’ll be INSIDE (‘cuz it’s super cold outside!). o And… no youth group Sunday morning, but plan to join us at the Annual Celebration meeting and learn all about where the church is going! · Ladies: Join us Saturday, February 21, 1:00 – 3:00 p.m. as we make prayer and gratitude journals to deepen our relationship with God. Click here for more info and to RSVP! o Men: While your ladies are out, join with us for an all-day men’s conference with Christian Fellowship Church and Reston Bible Church on Saturday, February 21, from 8:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. The focus is “Guys Growing Godlier.” Click here for more info and to RSVP! · Parents: We are putting the same challenge forward to kids to bring their Bibles every Sunday for Kids Connect. If you have questions or would like help with an age-appropriate Bible for your kids, contact Chris Bowen at [email protected]. · A memorial service for my stepdad and Mt. Hope member, Larry Motz, will be held on NEXT Saturday, February 14, at 11:00 a.m. All are welcome. · Young Adults: Come hang out with Chris and Sherri (and each other!) at their home, Friday night, February 27, 6:30 p.m. – whenever. Yummy food and great fellowship included. Text or call Sherri at 571-437-3127 for details and to RSVP! OK… that’s it today for you email skimmers and those who don’t want to hear any cool vision. BUT… Some Deeper Thoughts… I’ve told you a few times lately that God has gripped my heart. Hard. There’s a problem in our national context that He wants to solve… and indeed can solve. But far more importantly, God wants to solve a serious situation in your heart and mine. Oh… and in fact, if the latter gets done (my heart, your heart), it’s a small but mighty step towards solving the other, larger national problem. “There you go again, Chris. Way overselling.” Perhaps. But maybe not? Colossians 2:9 tells us that “all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form….” In other words, everything that makes God who God is was entirely embodied in Jesus Christ. OK, you got that, right? We’ve been taught that our entire Christian lives… Jesus is God in the flesh. Copy. But how does this solve anything here in America or here in my messy heart? That’s found in the very next phrase: “… and you have been given fullness in Christ” (Colossians 2:10). Whoa. Hold the phone. Slow down. Pause. Re-read. Did you catch it? Everything that makes God who God is has been embodied in Jesus, and in Jesus, all that fullness has been poured into… wait for it… you. Friends, this is not just symbolic hyperbole. This is not just warm fuzzy religious encouragement. This is the Word of the Living God. This is a profound promise of the Bible: that everything God wants to be and to do in your life and in our world is found in Jesus Christ, and when you and I choose to be in Jesus, all that “everything” God wants to do is right there available to us. We’ve been seeing hints of this throughout our Old Testament teaching series called “Knowing God.” Character after character over these last 40 weeks, we have seen men and women who encountered God in such profound and supernatural ways. Perhaps we are envious of their experiences. Perhaps we feel so much less than them as we look at our own journey and don’t see such life-altering encounters. OR… perhaps we just haven’t discovered yet how to “hear the voice of God,” and what the prerequisites are to experiencing this fullness. There’s a clue in the phrase “in Christ.” I’ll explain on Sunday. But first, would you slowly and carefully contemplate Colossians 2:1-12? See if the Lord can show you something in His own words well before you hear any of my words. I’m 1,000% certain that anything He speaks into your spirit will be WAY more transformative than anything I have to say. But like the Apostle Paul, my long-winded words (see Acts 20:7-9) come from a deep, deep burden for “declaring to you the whole counsel of God” (Acts 20:27, ESV). It’s burning in my heart. When we see it… when we step into it… when we live from it… everything changes. In me, in you, in our church, in our people… and maybe if enough of us truly live in Christ, even in our nation. Hmmm… I can’t wait to be in God’s Word with you. We’ll see you this Sunday, 10:00 a.m. sharp… Don’t be late… bring your Bible and a pen!! Stay warm… Much love to you all… Chris Eads Mt. Hope Pastor Friend [email protected]
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Hey, there, beloved… Wow… we missed being with you last Sunday with the snow, but SO many of you joined us online for our 35-minute special snow-day service (Click here if you missed it!). That was so fun and special!
It looks like the snow is staying away this Sunday, so let’s meet in person, shall we? AND… let’s “try this again” to get started on our “Hearing the Voice of God” teaching, baptism, and some amazing testimonies. Details and other stuff to know: · Ladies: We are POSTPONING our women’s event (originally scheduled for TOMORROW, January 31) to NOW be Saturday, February 21, 1:00 – 3:00 p.m. as we make prayer and gratitude journals to deepen our relationship with God. Click here for more info and to RSVP! o Men: While your ladies are out, join with us for an all-day men’s conference with Christian Fellowship Church and Reston Bible Church on Saturday, February 21, from 8:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. The focus is “Guys Growing Godlier.” Click here for more info and to RSVP! · Teens: No youth group this Sunday… BUT…. Join us for FIRE Youth Worship Night NEXT Saturday, February 7th, 6:00 – 8:30 p.m. – dinner, connection, worship, devotional and discussion… it’s sure to build deeper connections with God and each other. · Parents: We are putting the same challenge forward to kids to bring their Bibles every Sunday for Kids Connect. If you have questions or would like help with an age-appropriate Bible for your kids, contact Chris Bowen at [email protected]. · THIS Sunday we will continue our teaching series on “Hearing the Voice of God”… and we will be BAPTIZING Raegan Farley, one of our awesome teenagers. Way cool! o Also… we will interview Ryan and Jess Sauder and Samuel and Evelyn Sierra in consideration of their appointment as Elders of our church. o A Q&A and meet and greet with the Sauders and Sierras will follow the service for those who want to dig deeper into their stories and their faith. o Please note: The parking lot and sidewalks have been cleared of snow, but as with most pavement in the area, there is still some patchy ice in various spots. Please come prepared with appropriate footwear and use caution! We will have some extra greeter fellas in the parking lot to help escort anyone who needs an extra hand! · THEN… everyone please join us for our inaugural Annual Celebration and our next Covenant Partners business matters discussion, NEXT Sunday, February 8, 11:45 – 1:00 p.m. Everyone is welcome as we celebrate what God is doing at Mt. Hope, cast vision for what’s next, reveal next steps in our facility expansion, and our Covenant Partners will vote on key decisions! · A memorial service for my stepdad and Mt. Hope member, Larry Motz, will be held on Saturday, February 14, at 11:00 a.m. All are welcome. · Young Adults: Come hang out with Chris and Sherri (and each other!) at their home, Friday night, February 27, 6:30 p.m. – whenever. Yummy food and great fellowship included. Contact Sherri at 571-437-3127 for details and to RSVP! · For our faithful givers to Mt. Hope… thank you for your generosity and support of God’s work in our church! AND… giving statements for your tax records have been sent via email to those from whom we have good email addresses. If you would prefer a paper statement mailed by USPS, please contact Terre Morgan at [email protected]. If you haven't received a statement either way, check your email spam folder, and if it's not there, please reach out to Terre. OK… that’s it for now. We’ll see you this Sunday, 10:00 a.m. sharp… Don’t be late… bring your Bible and a pen!! Stay warm… Much love to you all… Chris Eads Mt. Hope Pastor Friend [email protected] Hey, friends… With over 6 inches of snow and ice scheduled to arrive from our Heavenly Father by mid-morning Sunday, and the Virginia governor’s declaration of a winter storm emergency asking us to stay off the roads, we are CANCELLING in-person worship services this Sunday morning. BUT… we are still going to meet “virtually” on the livestream at 10:00 a.m.!! Please join us… details below!!
Here’s the plan for Sunday: · We have a 35-minute pre-recorded worship and teaching service in the queue on our YouTube channel… AND… IMPORTANT… this will run as a livestream with the live / real-time chat open so we can connect with each other, give thanks to God, pray together, etc. o We encourage you to join us LIVE and on-time (it’s a super-short service)… I’ll be teaching right up front, kicking off our new mini-series called “Hearing the Voice of God”! You won’t want to miss it! Here’s how: · Click here to open the “Premiere” stream on YouTube which will open at 9:55 a.m. on Sunday OR… you can just go to our YouTube channel and find it there in the “Videos” tab or our YouTube “Home” tab. · Join us in the chat to say hello, give praise to God, offer prayer requests, etc. · I’m going to be super-short in my teaching… just 22 minutes (whaaaa???? Yep! Miracle. Anointing. God is moving…), and my teaching will begin right around 10:04 a.m., so don’t be late!! · Then we’ll have a few minutes of worship… wow, the worship team nailed it this week, and God’s anointing is on it. · We’ll pray, and we’ll be done! This will be a rich time in the Word, and the “virtual” worship and fellowship will be encouraging. NOW… a few other important things: · NEXT Sunday we will continue our teaching series… and we have a BAPTISM of one of our teenagers. Way cool! o Also… we will interview Ryan and Jess Sauder and Samuel and Evelyn Sierra in consideration of their appointment as Elders of our church. A Q&A and meet and greet will follow the service for those who want to dig deeper into their stories and their faith. · THEN… everybody please join us for our inaugural Annual Celebration and our next Covenant Partners business matters discussion, Sunday, February 8, 11:45 – 1:00 p.m. Everyone is welcome as we celebrate what God is doing at Mt. Hope, cast vision for what’s next, reveal next steps in our facility expansion, and our Covenant Partners will vote on key decisions! · Ladies: Join us NEXT Saturday, January 31, 1:00 – 3:00 p.m. as we make prayer and gratitude journals to deepen our relationship with God. Click here for more info and to RSVP! · Men: Join us for an all-day men’s conference with Christian Fellowship Church and Reston Bible Church on Saturday, February 21, from 8:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. The focus is “Guys Growing Godlier.” Click here for more info and to RSVP! · A memorial service for my stepdad and Mt. Hope member, Larry Motz, will be held on Saturday, February 14, at 11:00 a.m. All are welcome. · For our faithful givers to Mt. Hope… thank you for your generosity and support of God’s work in our church! AND… giving statements for your tax records have been sent via email to those from whom we have good email addresses. If you would prefer a paper statement mailed by USPS, please contact Terre Morgan at [email protected]. If you haven't received a statement either way, check your email spam folder, and if it's not there, please reach out to Terre. OK… that’s it for now. We’ll see you online this Sunday, 10:00 a.m. sharp… Don’t be late… bring your Bible and a pen to the table… and your cup of coffee… and your blankets… stay in your PJ’s… Can’t wait… it’s going to be fun!! Stay warm… Much love to you all… Chris Eads Mt. Hope Pastor Friend [email protected] Hello, Beloved… God has been convicting me of some things that need to change in my life and my walk with Him. Some of this may have an impact (hopefully good!) on you. Would you be willing to read about it in [a lengthier] Deeper Thoughts below, and pray with / for me? Thank you in advance!
But first…a few key updates: · Everybody: Join us for our inaugural Annual Celebration and our next Covenant Partners business matters discussion, Sunday, February 8, 11:45 – 1:00 p.m. Everyone is welcome as we celebrate what God is doing at Mt. Hope, cast vision for what’s next, reveal next steps in our facility expansion, and our Covenant Partners will vote on key decisions—to include the proposed appointment of Ryan Sauder and Samuel Sierra as Elders of our church. More details to come! · Teens: Youth Group will be a bit shorter THIS Sunday, 11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. Snacks, devotion, prayer & connection. Let Jess know if your student needs a ride home! · Ladies: Our NEW Ladies Bible study got postponed last week, so you’ve not missed the kickoff THIS Tuesday, January 20 at 7:00 p.m. at the church. We are following the book "The Circle Maker" by Mark Batterson, learning to pray in a new way—praying circles around our family, dreams, and the promises of God! Click here for more info and to RSVP! o Also… join us Saturday, January 31, 1:00 – 3:00 p.m. as we make prayer and gratitude journals to deepen our relationship with God. Click here for more info and to RSVP! · Men: I’ve been invited to be one of the keynote speakers at a combined all-day men’s conference with Christian Fellowship Church and Reston Bible Church on Saturday, February 21, from 8:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. The focus is “Guys Growing Godlier.” I would love to have you join me, and let’s make it a three-church combined event! Click here for more info and to RSVP! · A memorial service for my stepdad and Mt. Hope member, Larry Motz, will be held on Saturday, February 14, at 11:00 a.m. All are welcome. · Our “Daily Six” video series is going to morph for a few weeks as God is leading me through some important convictions. More on this in Deeper Thoughts below… OK…that’s it for you email skimmers and you who don’t want to know what God is challenging in my journey. BUT… Some Deeper Thoughts… Let me start with some good news… I think it is really good news. We’ve been analyzing the responses from the 93 of you who responded to our Discipleship Content Survey in December. The results are compelling and encouraging. Most notable to me is how the “needle has moved” in the area I’ve been most passionate about helping you with: your commitment and equipping you to be invested deeply in God’s Word on a regular, rhythmic basis. One year ago, when we did the exact same survey, 68.7% of our respondents reported spending focused time in God’s Word either every day or several days per week. One year later, that number has grown to 81.7%. Wow. This matters. I believe the most foundational building block of developing an abundant life in Jesus Christ is to consume, live from, and dwell in the Word of God. Faith is built first and foremost by absorbing God's Word (see Romans 10:17). God reveals that it is His Word that accomplishes His purpose in our lives and helps us distinguish between the spiritual life and the fleshly (soul-based) life (see Isaiah 55:11 and Hebrews 4:12). It is the Word of God that renews our mind, cleanses us of our worldly way of thinking, and brings down unhealthy imaginations and strongholds (see Romans 12:2, 2 Corinthians 10:3-5, and Ephesians 5:26). We’ve been relentlessly hammering our need to be in God’s Word. We’ve been investing hundreds of hours in preparing tools and resources for you to be in the Word. The results--and your passion to step up to this challenge—are stunning. (**Did you know that the national average among the most devoted Christ-followers in the U.S. is only 11% reporting daily or frequent time in the Word? This means that at Mt. Hope Church, this focus—and your pursuit of it—has grown beyond the “norm” by sevenfold. Wow. Wow. Wow.) I believe that our Daily Six video series has been an important part of this process, as we’ve grown together by being in the Word together—albeit virtually—and so many of you tell us how vital this daily video has been in opening you up to the habits, confidence, and understanding of God’s Word. About three-quarters of you are using this tool, and the correlation between this tool and such a wild sevenfold growth in the Word is fairly evident. Which leads me to what God is dealing with me about. As you probably recognize, it takes an enormous amount of time and energy to produce these videos. I love doing them, and so does Dave Firestone (who leads the technical and editing side of this project). Truth be told, in my 39 years of teaching God’s Word, there has never been a teaching effort that has borne such incredible fruit. Not by a mile! But God is dealing with me. As a result of the significant time investment and the recording responsibility that comes along with amazing regularity every single week, I’ve fallen into a rhythm that is not the best that God has for both you and me. Here it is: Many times, I have been recording these videos in my own strength and without the singular anointing of the Holy Spirit. Oh, He has been involved nonetheless and has tremendously used even these flesh-based efforts for great growth and impact in your life. That’s what God does… His Word accomplishes His intent no matter how it is sown or from what posture (see again Isaiah 55:11 and then Jesus’ explanation in Mark 4:26-29). But God needs me to learn once again to depend on Him for an anointing of the Holy Spirit, and to not depend on my communication skills, education, and personal passion to push out for you a quality product. While a good and useful tool in your life regardless of how much of my flesh is involved--precisely because it’s God’s Word and His power in it—can you imagine how much more useful it can be when it is anointed and empowered by the Holy Spirit in my heart and mind instead of my own strength? Here’s how God revealed this to me: On January 8, I set my mind to seeking God without any preconceived agenda. “What do you want to say to me, O God?” was my sincere and unfiltered prayer. I got quiet. I came surrendered. And then He spoke. I felt prompted to grab a pen and write. What flowed next was an instinct. An unmistakable presence. An impression of words flowing through my pen that were clearly not coming from my own mind. This was the voice of God. Subtle. Quiet. Inaudible. Internal. But clear. Here’s what He said… and told me to tell you: “Tell My people that it is My Daily Six, and the anointing shall return far stronger than before, but only after you [Chris] complete My assignment of surrendering your wisdom, efforts, passion, and muscle. This shall be an example to them that will explode their interest, for I have been stirring in them the same hunger [as you have] for an authentic Word from God. Tell them you will emerge from My prayer closet with a fresh anointing when I have finished a cleansing work in your heart. It may be some days and weeks, for My surgery is precise. It is loving. It is patient. It is gracious. I will be working this surgery in you, and I will also work this in My subscribers [to The Daily Six] as they learn to wait on me. “Tell them this and provide them printed handouts to use for the length that I will determine. If they are faithful to prepare themselves along these lines, when we return—and we will, for it is bearing My great fruit—they shall be a well-prepared remnant of Mine who seek My Word with unrivaled fervency. And the longing of their heart to hear My voice will be abundantly realized. “Tell them to print this email and post it in their prayer closets along with the handouts I shall reveal to you, and they that follow My Word in this manner shall bear My fruit—even if unseen.” So, there it is. We are going to pause production of any new Daily Six’s until God performs this surgery and His anointing manifests. This is not about managing fatigue or a thinning down a heavy workload. It is about aligning with the power of God and how He does things best. It’s about following Him, not me. In the meantime, would you do two things? First, pray for me. I need to boldly surrender to God in the closet of prayer and let go of my flesh and my strength (see 2 Corinthians 12:9)… a process which is quite useful to any aspect of our lives, not just video productions! Secondly—and far more importantly—will you do your own surrender and get in the Word of God every day on your own with God’s help? Do not depend on me--God is stripping us both of this—and search out His Word as He leads and empowers. This is so good. God is at work. With that, let’s meet in person!! We’ll be in Hebrews 13 once again this Sunday, 10:00 a.m. Don’t forget to bring your Bible and a pen! Much love to you all… Chris Eads Mt. Hope Pastor Friend [email protected] Hey all… let’s get to our Deeper Thoughts below super-quick today. It will be rich if you do a certain thing with it. More on that in a moment.
But first… · Take ownership of the future of Mt. Hope Church! Every believer who decides to make Mt. Hope their home is automatically a “member” of our church by virtue of belonging to Jesus. We are instant family. But beyond that immediate position as a family member of Mt. Hope, there are certain members who go further to make a covenant of partnership to help own and steward our church’s direction. If you would like to explore what our Covenant Partners do, who they are, and what it takes to join those ranks, come hang out with us after church on THIS Sunday, January 11 for a 90-minute orientation session—free lunch included! Click here for more info and to RSVP! o And everyone mark your calendars for our big Annual Celebration and our next Covenant Partners business matters discussion, Sunday, February 8. Everyone is welcome as we celebrate what God is doing at Mt. Hope, cast vision for what’s next, reveal next steps in our facility expansion, and our Covenant Partners will vote on key decisions—to include the proposed appointment of Ryan Sauder and Samuel Sierra as Elders of our church. More details to come! · Teens: FIRE Worship Night THIS Saturday, 6:00 - 8:30 p.m. Join us to grow deeper with God & others with pizza, connection, worship, devotion & discussion by candlelight! o Youth Group THIS Sunday, 11:30 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. Melissa Wiggins will be sharing her awesome God-story. Snacks, devotion, prayer & connection. Let Jess know if your student needs a ride home. · Ladies: A NEW Ladies Bible study kicks off THIS Tuesday, January 13 at 7:00 p.m. at the church. Join us with the book "The Circle Maker" by Mark Batterson and learn to pray in a new way as we draw prayer circles around our family, dreams, and the promises of God! Click here for more info and to RSVP! o Also… join us Saturday, January 31, 1:00 – 3:00 p.m. for a special event as we make prayer and gratitude journals to deepen our relationship with God. More info to come! · A memorial service for Larry Motz, Pastor Chris’ stepfather and Mt. Hope beloved, will be held on Saturday, February 14, at 11:00 a.m. All are welcome. · This week’s “Daily Six” continues our super-special six minutes each morning in the Word of God, Monday through Friday, on our Daily Six webpage as we focus on some “Best of The Daily Six,” looking back on content from years ago that still inspires where we are in our spiritual growth today. If you’d like to receive daily email reminders and you’re not already getting them, click here to sign up! OK…that’s it for you email skimmers and you who don’t want any richness from anything. BUT… Some Deeper Thoughts… You’ve heard me say it many times before: whenever you come across a “therefore” in scripture, you should ask “what’s the ‘Therefore’ there for?” The saying isn’t original to me. I believe it was Pastor Rick Hudgens, my first senior pastor I served right out of Bible college, who taught me this. His point was that anytime you see a “therefore” in scripture, it is pointing to what has just been revealed in the previous chapter or verses and then gives you a specific thing to DO as a result. It’s like the Divine version of my every-Sunday “So what am I supposed DO with this?” question that I hear many of you appreciate in our weekend teachings. OK. You get the point, right? “So, now… what am I supposed to do with this right here and right now in my Friday email from Chris?” I’m glad you asked. It will be rich if you do this. Here goes: Go get your Bible. A physical copy… not your phone or iPad. Get it open to Hebrews 12:28. You got it? Stop reading if you don’t… go get it… Now, you see the “therefore.” Check. So… what is it there for, and what is it asking you to do? We just finished last week with two Sundays exploring the “Stunning Outcome” promised in Hebrews 8, 9, 10, and 12 that reveals the grand stage-play the Old Testament tabernacle was designed to be. Chapter upon chapter of the Old Testament commanded the People of Israel to carefully construct a tabernacle—often called “The Tent of Meeting”—which would be where God would meet with His people in His manifest presence. If you missed any of these teachings, it would be worth your 40 minutes to take in last Sunday’s message by clicking here… you’ll get the picture. The stage-play is all about Jesus opening for us a stunning access to the Holy of Holies: the pure, perfect, and complete “manifest presence of God,” which is where God manifests Himself beyond the invisible into a very real, tangible, perceivable closeness with you right here and right now. In Hebrews 12:28, “therefore” speaks to what we DO with this great stage-play. It is what we do with an invitation into God’s unmasked presence. (NOTE: you’ll likely not see Him with your physical eyes… only a handful people in human history have gotten that privilege. But with your spiritual eyes—the impulses of your spiritual heart—you will be able to discern His presence is tangible, not by your physical senses, but by your inner person just knowing He is here and He is speaking.) When we break through into the manifest presence of God because Jesus has opened up the way to His Holy of Holies (see Hebrews 10:18-22), we can therefore DO exactly what is explained to us in Hebrews 12:28 and the following verses. Here’s my assignment for you today—and it promises to be a rich experience if you’ll take me up on it: Take Hebrews 12:28 and read it in your physical copy of scripture—with a pen—and keep reading through Hebrews 13:21. (Remember that when it was written, there was not a chapter break here… Hebrews 13:1 and following are a continuation of the “therefore” instructions.) As you read, take your pen and mark / circle / underline each specific instruction. There are a bunch of them. THEN… once marked, prayerfully go back through each instruction and ask the Lord to reveal to you what that instruction might practically mean in your immediate life. Let the Holy Spirit give you the revelation of a specific context for your present life today. This is rich… that God has revealed in His Word precise step-by-step application of what to do with His presence in our lives. And as we study the Word, His Holy Spirit can apply that into our actual daily experiences and circumstances. His application “spoken” to you will probably feel like a subtle impulse, an impression, an idea that just feels right. Try it. See what happens. Then, let’s meet!! We’ll be in Hebrews 13 this Sunday and next, 10:00 a.m… don’t forget your Bible and a pen! Can’t wait! Much love to you all… Chris Eads Mt. Hope Pastor Friend [email protected] Hey there, beloved… I pray you have had a wonderful holiday week as we reflect on the coming of Jesus (Christmas) and the coming of a new year (our present potential). You know the pithy little comments we all exchange this time of year—how we’re all destined to fail at and New Year’s resolutions we make by… oh… ‘round about January 8th or so. But I wonder: instead of making a New Year’s promise to yourself, could you look at a promise from Someone Else that might be entirely new to you? Can I tell you about it? Let’s talk in Deeper Thoughts below.
But first… a couple important reminders: · Would you like to take more ownership of Mt. Hope Church? Every believer who decides to make Mt. Hope their home is automatically a “member” of our church by virtue of belonging to Jesus. We are instant family. But beyond that immediate position as a family member of Mt. Hope, there are certain members who go further to make a covenant of partnership to help own and steward our church’s direction. If you would like to explore what our Covenant Partners do, who they are, and what it takes to join those ranks, come hang out with us after church on Sunday, January 11 for a 90-minute orientation session—free lunch included! Click here for more info and to RSVP! · Teens: Youth Group THIS Sunday, 11:30 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. Sharon Brown will share her amazing story with us. Snacks, connection and prayer. Let us know if your teen needs a ride home. · A memorial service for Dillion Eisele, son of David and Lynn, will be THIS Tuesday, January 6, at 6:30 p.m. All are welcome. · Ladies: A NEW Ladies Bible study kicks off NEXT week, Tuesdays, January 13 - February 17, 7:00 – 9:00 p.m. at the church. We will study the book "The Circle Maker" by Mark Batterson and learn to pray in a new way as we draw prayer circles around your family, dreams, and the promises of God! God can move in amazing ways! o Also… mark your calendars for Saturday, January 31, 1:00 – 3:00 p.m. for a special event as we make prayer and gratitude journals to deepen our relationship with God. More info to come! · Wanna help us love each other as we eat? We need new volunteers to help with Sunday snacks… it’s a fun and easy task and helps us connect with each other! Contact Joan Lyerly for more info: [email protected]. · This week’s “Daily Six” continues our super-special six minutes each morning in the Word of God, Monday through Friday, on our Daily Six webpage as we focus on some “Best of The Daily Six,” looking back on content from years ago that still inspires where we are in our spiritual growth today. If you’d like to receive daily email reminders and you’re not already getting them, click here to sign up! OK…that’s it for you email skimmers and you who don’t want anything in your life to be made new. BUT… Some Deeper Thoughts… I bet this Sunday’s teaching will be entirely new for many of us. Modern believers often shrink from the idea we’re going to discover in scripture because it seems so wildly unrealistic to the actuality of our daily lives. It seems unattainable. It looks like WAY too much work for our already weary, overburdened lives. We mistake the promise of God for a command to muscle up something more out of a life that is already depleted of time or energy to do any more muscling. In seeing the promise like this, we miss something new that God wants to do in you and me—and that He in fact is already doing. Most of us just don’t perceive it. I want to let my good friend and beloved Mt. Hope’r Ray Prescott do the talking today. God has gifted him with a tremendous anointing to write. His insights are important. Then, if you’ll allow me, I’ll do some talking on Sunday. But first, carefully read Hebrews 12:18-29. Also grab Hebrews 12:1, 10, and 14. Notice how Jesus is promising and forming “perfection” in us—holiness is what the scripture often calls it. Sound foreign to you? Maybe here’s why… in Ray’s words: From the beginning of Scripture, holiness is never presented as something God occasionally brings with Him. Holiness is presence. It is God Himself sustaining, filling, and holding creation together. When Moses stood before the burning bush, the ground beneath his feet did not suddenly become holy. It already was. What changed was Moses’ awareness. God did not arrive; God revealed Himself. Holiness was not introduced, it was uncovered. The same pattern unfolds throughout Israel’s story. The tabernacle was not built because God needed a place to live. Heaven and earth could not contain Him. The tabernacle was a mercy, a way for fragile, fractured people to learn how to stand before a holy God without being undone. Court by court, veil by veil, God taught His people reverence. Not because He was distant, but because the human heart was still learning how to remain present in His presence. And then Jesus came. In Christ, holiness did not withdraw from the world, it walked among us. He touched the unclean, ate with sinners, healed the broken, and welcomed the overlooked. Holiness no longer hovered behind curtains or thundered from mountains. It lived, breathed, wept, rejoiced, and loved in plain sight. Jesus did not teach us how to visit God. He showed us how God comes to us. When the veil was torn at His death, and when He rose from the grave, something decisive happened. Holiness did not expand; it was revealed. Access was not earned; it was opened. The separation we had learned to fear was undone, not because God became less holy, but because in Christ, humanity was healed enough to come near. This is why Scripture shifts its language after the resurrection. We are no longer sent to holy places. We are told that God dwells with us. That we are His temple. That Christ lives in us. That the Spirit bears witness within our hearts that we belong to Him. This is not coercion. It is invitation. Many people say they want to hear God, see God, or feel God. Beneath that desire is often a quieter question: Is He real to me? Is He with me? The resurrection answers that question, not with force, but with life. Faith is not chasing God as an event. It is learning to live in response to a living Christ, risen, present, faithful, and near. Not only in extraordinary moments, but in ordinary obedience, in trust, in repentance, in love. We are not asked to manufacture awareness or summon belief. We are invited to recognize what has already been given: a Savior who has entered our world, carried our brokenness, defeated death, and now walks with us by His Spirit. Holiness is not a destination we strive to reach. It is a life we are welcomed into. And the joy of the Christian life is this: we do not walk alone, searching for God in the distance. We walk with the risen Christ, who meets us where we are, teaches us how to live in His presence, and slowly awakens our hearts to the truth that has always been singing beneath our feet: “Surely the Lord is in this place… and now, in Christ, He is with us.” Powerful thoughts, eh? Now… let’s meet!! Sunday. 10:00 a.m… don’t forget your Bible and a pen! Can’t wait! Much love to you all… Chris Eads Mt. Hope Pastor Friend [email protected] Hey there, Beloved… Caution. Don’t glance too quickly at the manger. There’s a good chance you’ll see the wrong Jesus. Oh, he’s in there for sure…the little baby in swaddling clothes, just like you expected. But please don’t see him. You’ll likely mistake him for who he really is. Confused? Let’s talk in Deeper Thoughts below.
But first… four great things going on: · Teens: We’re going to try this again as the weather bumped us last Sunday…Youth Group Christmas Celebration THIS Sunday, 11:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m. Pizza, connection, plus fun & games! · Christmas Eve is Wednesday! Join us for one of two identical candlelight services on December 24—5:00 p.m. or 6:30 p.m. Invite your friends and family to a beautiful celebration of Jesus and presentation of the Gospel. Our service will be a tight one hour in length to make it navigable for your unchurched family and friends. o Parents: Nursery childcare will be available at 5:00 p.m. only; for preschool and older, please bring them into service for a wonderful Christmas experience. o Interested in singing in the choir? Click here to contact Ryan Sauder! · Please help me!! If you’re one of the 100 Mt. Hope’rs who have yet to do so (gulp!)… help!! Click here to take a super-quick but important anonymous survey to help us understand how God is working through Mt. Hope’s content and experiences, what we could do better, what we could stop doing, and what you perceive are your greatest needs. This survey will be invaluable to helping us (and me in particular) shape our plans for the winter season and beyond! · This week’s “Daily Six” continues our super-special six minutes each morning in the Word of God, Monday through Friday, on our Daily Six webpage as we focus on some “Best of The Daily Six,” looking back on content from years ago that still inspires where we are in our spiritual growth today. If you’d like to receive daily email reminders and you’re not already getting them, click here to sign up! OK…that’s it for you email skimmers and you who dislike manger scenes anyway. BUT… Some Deeper Thoughts… Honesty moment: I’m not super fond of teaching on Christmas. [Insert gasp here… “Oh, Pastor! The scandal!!”] Here’s the deal: The Jesus of Christmas is very predictable. He is cute, I’ll give you that. A precious little baby, constantly smiling in every manger scene I’ve observed (moms, c’mon… is that realistic?). Everyone around him is glowing with adoration, arms raised in an exclamation of joy. The shepherds, wise men, angels, and even the donkeys are having their best day ever. But when we look at the manger, when we talk about baby Jesus, when we sing the lovely Christmas carols, does anyone learn anything new? Are we gripped with conviction? Can we feel ourselves profoundly changing right before our very eyes? Is our faith reshaped and emboldened? Does everyone in attendance at church really want to be there? Or are we often just going through the motions--as pleasant and lovely as they genuinely are—regaling ourselves once more with the precious story of the birth of our Savior… who as a baby is, well, kind of adorable? I wonder in all those familiar motions—the carols, the candles, the donkeys, angels, and baby—if we miss something that should be radically transformative to our lives. We miss the Jesus who is absolutely worth giving up everything we possess to gain, and who asks us for precisely that. If what we see the Sunday before Christmas and on Christmas Eve is just the baby Jesus in the manger—and not the Jesus of the resurrection, the Jesus of fierceness and fire, the Jesus returning on his white horse to recapture his bride from the devil’s grip—we are missing Jesus. This baby in a manger was cute and cuddly for a moment. He was profoundly a demonstration of the limitless love of God (Samuel Sierra rocked a teaching on this last Sunday!), that God would stoop down to the lowliest point in the universe and take on the form of an infant who needed to learn how to walk, talk, use the bathroom, tie his shoes (sandals), and eat on his own. Philippians 2:5-11 reveals this so magnificently. But Jesus wasn’t the baby in the manger for long. He grew up. And then he became the Jesus of fire. Here’s how his cousin John revealed it: “One more powerful than I will come, the thongs of whose sandals I am unworthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire” (Luke 3:16). Oh, friends, when we only see the manger Jesus, we miss Jesus. The real and full and fire-filled Jesus—God boldly, powerfully, transformatively in the flesh, face-to-face, eyeball-to-eyeball with the whole of our life. This Jesus speaks a powerful word that burns away the dross, the brokenness, the sinfulness in our lives. This Jesus unmistakably reveals God’s love. This Jesus hands us a life of radical purpose. This Jesus calls us to repentance, to give up our lives for him and his mission, to love and serve the Lord with everything we have. Hebrews 12:1-2 tells us to lock eyes with him. Fiercely, passionately, intently gaze into who he is and take every step in our lives with precision along the race he has marked out for us. “…let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God” (Hebrews 12:1-2). Bam. Did you see it? He sits in the seat of eternal, supernatural power. His eyes flame with the fire of limitless love. His words pierce the innermost parts of our soul. His healing changes everything about us. This isn’t the cuddly baby in the manger. This is the resurrected Lord of the Universe. Friends, let’s meet to worship God and fix our eyes on this Savior! He is why the angels exploded with joy at his birth. They saw what was coming. It was way bigger than a baby. C’mon out… no snow this Sunday. 10:00 a.m… bring your Bibles and a pen! God’s Word to us will be good. So good. Much love to you all… Chris Eads Mt. Hope Pastor Friend Hey friends… Let’s move quickly. I have seven things I need to tell you. Can I stick with that?? We’ll see. But then I do have some Deeper Thoughts below for an eighth…
Ready? Here goes: · THIS Sunday is our Annual Mt. Hope Christmas Party, 5:00 – 7:30 p.m. Our Kids Connect and teens will lead us through the story of Christmas in a short and fun Christmas Pageant… BUT THEN… let’s all connect around a potluck Christmas dinner for rich fellowship with the whole church family! Click here to sign up for the potluck and bring some yummy treats! o Parents: TOMORROW (Saturday) is our final full rehearsal for the pageant, 10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. o Teens: No Youth Group this Sunday. For those helping with the pageant, rehearsal Saturday, 10:00 – 12:00 p.m. and arrival time on Sunday afternoon is 3:45 p.m. · Christmas Eve is coming! Two identical candlelight services on Wednesday, December 24 will give you options to invite your friends and family to a wonderful celebration of Jesus and presentation of the Gospel. 5:00 and 6:30 p.m. Interested in singing in the choir? Click here to contact Ryan Sauder! · Can you personally help me for five minutes? Click here to take a super-quick anonymous survey to help us understand how God is working through Mt. Hope’s content and experiences, what we could do better, what we could stop doing, and what you perceive are your greatest needs. This survey will be invaluable to helping us (and me in particular) shape our plans for the winter season… more on that in Deeper Thoughts below · Ladies: December Tea and Cookie celebration, NEXT Saturday, December 13 from 1:00 – 3:00 p.m. at the church. Join us for food, fellowship, games and fun as we celebrate the Christmas season. Click here for more info and to RSVP! · Did we miss the first Sunday of Advent? Yep. Sure did. Total biff. Last Sunday began the advent season, and somehow your theologically well-trained, biblically passionate, lover of Jesus, and usually intelligent pastor simply forgot to arrange for our traditional advent candle lighting and reflection this past Sunday morning. And while the Kingdom of God will certainly go on, let’s pick it up this Sunday and celebrate the coming Messiah! · This week’s “Daily Six” continues our super-special six minutes each morning in the Word of God, Monday through Wednesday, on our YouTube channel as we focus on some “Best of The Daily Six,” looking back on content from years ago that still inspires where we are in our spiritual growth today. If you’d like to receive daily email reminders and you’re not already getting them, click here to sign up! · Sherri and I want to thank you all SO much for the outpouring of love, appreciation, thoughts, and generous expressions of your care over this last month. We truly cherish our connection with you and are so grateful for how well you express that to us! OK…that’s it today for you email skimmers and you who’ve had enough of my seven thoughts and can’t stomach an eighth. BUT… Some Deeper Thoughts: It is time to refocus some things. It’s natural for us to leverage the new year to make fresh commitments, promise ourselves we’ll do better at some things, and then make resolutions that we honestly have no real plans to keep. I never make New Year’s resolutions for just that reason, and I’m not going to start now. But regardless of what time of year it is, I do feel a strong conviction from the Lord--and have been feeling this for quite some time—that an intentional adjustment to our focus at Mt. Hope Church is coming. For the last many weeks, our Elder Team meetings have been filled with this conviction. My prayer times with the Lord have been gripped with the Holy Spirit’s pressing. There has been what ancients used to call “a holy discontent” stirring in my gut. Here it is: We need to refocus our efforts on discipleship. Ugh. That’s a churchy word, isn’t it? Every church that has ever existed has used that phrase (sometimes quite boringly) to describe a wide range of activities, classes, events, catechisms, and programs. But most Christians I know, if we asked them what discipleship is, would give a half-hearted if not entirely inaccurate description of it. Discipleship is not a class. It is not a notebook. It is not a small group meeting. It is not a lecture series. It is not six minutes on YouTube, and it is not even six minutes more. Discipleship is not a Sunday sermon, a worship night, a volunteer program, or serving at a soup kitchen. Discipleship is not a list of twelve doctrines to know. It is not an event that can be completed. It is not a box that can be checked. It is not a program you graduate from and there is no diploma to be given. Discipleship is… well… being a disciple—a word we don’t use outside of churchy settings, and thus it has lost all its power to define for us what it means. A “disciple” is a historic idea from a culture long since passed. In fact, the concept really only existed for about 1,000 years as a societal norm in the ancient Greek, Roman, and Jewish cultures from roughly 500 B.C. to 500 A.D. Jesus lived about halfway through this millennia-long societal construct where people fiercely committed themselves to closely following a master (in our modern language a “mentor”) to gain command over a particular discipline—political theory, philosophy, religion, a trade, profession, or some specific intellectual pursuit. Rigid structures of constant togetherness with the teacher fostered an irreversible transfer of wisdom, skill, and experiences where at the end of the discipleship journey the disciple had become a carbon copy of the master, ready to disciple someone else. Jesus didn’t create the idea of discipleship. It was the way intensive education worked in his society. Every religion of his day had a discipleship model. So did all the politicians. And the academics. And the blue-collar tradesmen. And the financial moguls. Jesus simply leveraged the model of his society to transfer the entire essence of his life to twelve men he selected to become carbon copies of his identity. And then he told them to go into all the world and make more… make more disciples out of everyone (see Matthew 28:19). So, the Church today hangs onto the buzz word, even though its cultural meaning and structure has slipped into the shadows of history more than 1,000 years ago. And because it is not our common way of growth and learning today, we have no idea what it means. We say we are disciples of Jesus, but what that means and how we do it is nothing at all like what Jesus meant. So, we need to refocus. I do not know what that will look like, and I do not have a new program to announce. I’m calling on you to join me and the Elders of Mt. Hope to fervently pray that God reveals to us all how to be disciples in 2026… the way that Jesus meant. I’ve asked you to give me five minutes to take a survey (click here) that you’ll find is entitled “Mt. Hope Discipleship Focus Survey.” This is not the endgame of our refocus, as you’ll see what we are asking about is all the traditional stuff that every church calls “discipleship”—the content, classes, groups, sermons, and programs we are used to. But the survey will provide a tiny bit of valuable information for us to measure those traditional tools and their usefulness to us as we contemplate the bigger picture of what this refocus is leading us to. My call to you is more than a five-minute survey. It is a call to prayer. Would you begin to seek the Lord along with us to discover His blueprint for what this means for us today?? Then… let’s meet! 10:00 a.m. Sunday… bring your Bibles and a pen! God’s Word to us will be good. So good. Much love to you all… Chris Eads Mt. Hope Pastor Friend Hey friends… There are two things I hope you didn’t miss. If you did, both can be recovered. One will bless, inspire, and guide you in your personal growth. The other will—if you get it—revolutionize absolutely everything about your life. Am I overselling it? Nope. Curious? I’ll tell you more in Deeper Thoughts below…
But first, just a few reminders: · Join us for our Annual Christmas Pageant and Christmas Party, Sunday, December 7, 5:00 – 7:30 p.m. This extremely fun Christmas event has become a Mt. Hope favorite, with our Kids Connect and teens leading us through the story of Christmas followed by a great potluck Christmas fellowship dinner. Click here for more info and to sign up for the potluck and bring some yummy treats! o Parents: TOMORROW, Saturday, November 22 is our first full rehearsal for the pageant, 10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. · Teens: Youth Group Sunday, 11:30 – 1:00 p.m. Snacks, connection and deep dive discussion. Ping Jess Sauder for anything youth related… [email protected]. · Ladies: Join us for our December Tea and Cookie celebration, Saturday, December 13 from 1:00 – 3:00 p.m. at the church. Join us for food, fellowship, games and fun as we celebrate the Christmas season. Click here for more info and to RSVP! · THIS week’s “The Daily Six” continues our super-special six minutes each morning in the Word of God, Monday through Wednesday, on our YouTube channel. We’ll skip Thursday (Thanksgiving), and then Friday have some fun taking you behind the scenes as we produce The Daily Six. If you’d like to receive daily email reminders and you’re not already getting them, click here to sign up! OK…that’s it today for you email skimmers and you who actually enjoy missing things. BUT… Some Deeper Thoughts: We all miss stuff. Some of it matters; some doesn’t. When it’s a big deal we missed--an important meeting at work, an assignment, a major bill that was due—realizing we missed it can bring a good deal of embarrassment. When it’s something we would prefer to miss--a car accident, a dental appointment, a large hairy spider walking past—skipping it can be a real relief. Sometimes we don’t realize what we missed was indeed something of great value. The first of two things I hope you didn’t miss: On Thursday and Friday this week, two of my dear friends shared vulnerably and powerfully their personal stories of how God’s Word met them during tremendous hardships. Through perseverance and faith in God’s Word, they discovered strength, transformation, healing, hope, and victory. If you missed Thursday or Friday’s Daily Six episodes, PLEASE jump in with us… you will be blessed. Click here to see Melissa Wiggins’ testimony from Thursday and click here to see Mason Duckworth’s from Friday. It will be well worth it. I promise! The second thing you might have missed is far more powerful. And important. Here it is: It is a choice. Did you make it? Or did you miss it? One of the beautiful aspects of being created in God’s image is our ability to choose. Theologically, this is called “sovereignty.” In the common vernacular, we call it “free will.” You have been given the irrevocable privilege to set your own direction by choice. The outcome and results of that choice are often beyond your ability to control. But the decision to start down a particular course of action, thought, belief, or idea is entirely yours. Since some choices lead to better outcomes than others, God often has a strong opinion of what we should choose. He recommends those choices with firm instruction in His Word. But we still have the choice. I wonder if you might have missed the most important choice of them all. I know I miss it sometimes (often?). The choice is faith. · Joshua 24:15: “Choose this day whom you will serve…” · Proverbs 3:5: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding…” · Mark 11:22: “Jesus answered them, “Have faith in God…” · James 1:6: “But when you ask, you must believe…” All these instructions are stated in the imperative. By telling us to do it, it means it is our choice to believe. By telling us to do it, God is recommending this choice as the path to life and abundance. It is our choice, but He really, really wants us to make it. But here’s the twist: The choice to believe God is not to muscle up a mindset modification. It is not so much a choice to change your thinking. It is a choice to change your source. The Bible tells us that faith is a gift that comes from God (see Ephesians 2:8-10). But we are instructed to choose faith. The gift is in the source—where faith comes from. Our decision is to choose the source. Where does faith come from? Romans 10:17—“Faith comes from hearing, hearing the Word of God.” Faith comes from God’s Word. As we hear it—hear it deeply in our soul, listening to its wisdom, owning its truth—faith is formed. But that formation doesn’t happen by osmosis. It happens by choice. When we choose to receive the Word of God as a distinct and final revelation of truth, bold and power-filled faith in God occurs. When we choose to let our faith be guided by our emotions, experiences, expectations, culture, or anything in this world, we’ll have faith—but it will be faith in the things of this life, not in God. This Sunday, let’s meet and dig into this choice. Last Sunday, we talked about choosing the source of our confidence as the Lord and not our own strength. This week let’s open the next layer—choosing the source of our faith instead of being blown here and there by whatever worldly idea is circulating around us. Do a little advance reading if you can… Check out Hebrews 12:1-3, 2 Timothy 3:14-17, and James 1:19-25. Then… let’s meet! 10:00 a.m. Sunday… bring your Bibles and a pen! God’s Word to us will be good. So good. Much love to you all… Chris Eads Mt. Hope Pastor Friend [email protected] (*note the new email address!!) … three things you really shouldn’t miss. Hey there, friends… today’s Friday letter contains a profound word of encouragement for you. There is also a heartfelt honor we need to share. And there are three friends you MUST not miss. I’ll tell you more in Deeper Thoughts below…
But first, THIS weekend is big…so much going on: · Teens: Don’t miss FIRE Worship Night… TOMORROW, Saturday November 15 from 6:00 – 8:30 p.m. Join us at the Mt. Hope Firepit for pizza, connection, music, sharing, and prayer. PLUS, a campfire and s’mores! Invite a friend and dress warmly! o ALSO: Youth Group Sunday, 11:30 – 1:00 p.m. Snacks, connection and deep dive discussion. Ping Jess Sauder for anything youth related… [email protected]. · Ladies: TOMORROW, Saturday, November 15 is our annual “Friendsgiving” event--11:00 – 1:00 p.m. at the church. Join us for food, fellowship, games and fun as we celebrate our many blessings. Turkey and ham are provided; bring a side dish to share… oh, and bring a friend, too! Click here for more info and to RSVP! o Also… save the date for December 13 for our Christmas cookie exchange. More details to come! · TWO memorials for our loved ones this weekend: o Priscilla Shi was a beloved friend to many of our congregation who knew and worshipped with her at CFC and Bridge Community Church. Pastor Will Cravens will lead a memorial service TOMORROW, Saturday, November 15, at 3:00 p.m., at Christian Fellowship Church, 44505 Atwater Drive, Ashburn. All are welcome. o Our church family will celebrate the memory of our beloved Gordon Cavallero THIS Sunday morning through a brief segment during church. · It’s time to mark your calendars for our Annual Christmas Pageant and Christmas Party! This extremely fun Christmas event has become a Mt. Hope favorite, with our Kids Connect and teens leading us through the story of Christmas followed by a great potluck Christmas fellowship dinner. 5:00 – 7:30 p.m. on Sunday, December 7. Click here for more info and to sign up for the potluck and bring some yummy treats! · THIS week’s “The Daily Six” is going to be super-special– six minutes each morning in the Word of God, Monday through Friday, on our YouTube channel. If you’d like to receive daily email reminders and you’re not already getting them, click here to sign up! OK…that’s it today for you email skimmers and you who prefer to not know what I’m excited about. BUT… Some Deeper Thoughts: Three things that I am sure will bless you: 1) A profound word of encouragement; 2) an important honor to share; 3) three friends you MUST not miss. A word of encouragement: Have you felt a heaviness about the character-after-character, story-after-story study of the Old Testament we’ve been calling “Knowing God”? I know that I have. Literally every single person we have studied so far has been embroiled in either some great sin or some great tragedy or hardship in their lives. Adam and Eve started us off by gobbling on the forbidden fruit which poured evil into every human life to come. Yea, team! Smart move. From there, their first kids brought jealousy and murder to the table. Noah had to build a boat to save creation from God’s grand reset of humanity. Job picked his sores with broken pottery while trying to stay faithful to God after losing everything. Abraham impregnated his house maid. Isaac let his wife be taken by the king so he could go free. Jacob stole his brother’s birthright. Joseph was sold into slavery and ended up imprisoned for a crime he did not commit. Moses murdered an Egyptian and spent 40 years as a fugitive… On and on it goes. Tired yet? But so many of you have been telling me that oddly, the repetitive cycles of sin and rebellion we read over and over again in the Old Testament have given you hope. We read these Old Testament stories to learn how God relates with humans. We see ourselves in them—cycles of sin, rebellion, tragedy and hardship that are an inextricable part of our lives… thanks again, Adam and Eve! But more hopefully, we see God’s grace and mercy over them. Fast forward to Jesus. Beyond these sinful cycles, we read the New Testament to find out how it all works for us NOW, and who we can become NOW. You and I see ourselves in the Old Testament characters for sure. But the New Testament tells us we do not need to stay parked in their story. In fact, the New Testament is “confident of better things in your case—things that accompany salvation” (Hebrews 6:9). This Sunday, we will begin a new mini-series within the context of our larger study of the Old Testament. Circling through the New Testament book of Hebrews, we will discover the link between the Old and New covenants of God. We’ll see what this has all been building towards. “Confident of Better Things,” we’re calling this mini-series. Bring your Bibles and a pen!! An important honor to share: Gordon Cavallero was a core part of our church family for a number of recent years. Super-quiet, he was always faithful, generous, and loving. You probably met him either at the back sanctuary doors where he often served as a greeter, or at a church-wide workday which he never missed, or out in the parking lot with Jeff Lyerly being your first “hello” on Sunday. Shortly after he passed a few weeks ago, his family met privately to memorialize him. To offer you the chance to honor his memory and celebrate his life, we will focus about 10 minutes during our worship service THIS Sunday to remember Gordon. His family sent us some beautiful photographs and words to share with you. Three friends you MUST not miss: Starting THIS Monday, we will begin to air two weeks of our Daily Six video series that in my opinion will be some of the most meaningful content we’ve ever produced. I will sit with my wife, Sherri, and two of my great friends—Melissa Wiggins and Mason Duckworth—as we study the scriptures together. They will share their own stories of how the Word of God, and our Old Testament characters in particular, have transformed their lives. Their stories are compelling, encouraging, and convicting. You’ll have a hard time not opening your Bible after these episodes! Jump in with us each morning, Monday through Friday, on our YouTube channel. If you’d like to receive daily email reminders and you’re not already getting them, click here to sign up! OK… that’s it. Shall we meet up? 10:00 a.m. Sunday!! Much love to you all… Chris Eads Mt. Hope Pastor Friend |
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Jesus said, “Love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, & with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself.” - Matt. 22:37-39
42507 Mt. Hope Road
Ashburn, VA 20148
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703-729-2707