​Hey Friends…

 
I wonder if you’re up for turning the page. Not just in our teaching--we’re moving this week from the “bad news” of Romans chapters 1 and 2 into the good news of chapters 3 and 4—but also in the specifics of your personal life. Do you want to turn the page into an entirely new way of living? It is absolutely possible, and the Word of the Lord revealed in Romans 3 will unlock it for us. But there is a reason very few of us have turned this page just yet. I’ll tell you more about it in Deeper Thoughts below…
 
But first…we’ve got several exciting things happening the next few weeks at Mt. Hope:
 
·      Ladies: NEXT Saturday, February 24 from 2:00 – 4:00 p.m., we will be creating “Baskets of Love” to share with those in need—for welcome, caregiving, well-wishing, or simply encouraging. Click here for more info and to RSVP!
 
·      Men: Let’s not get left behind by our God-seeking women. It’s time for us to step up into a focused set of challenges to follow Jesus Christ with passion and power. TWO Saturdays from now—March 2 at 8:30 a.m.—join us for a men’s ministry kick off breakfast sure to harden our arteries and soften our hearts before the Lord. Click here for details and to RSVP (required)!
 
·      Mark your calendars for a power-filled Palm Sunday celebration on Sunday, March 24. We will be sharing in a life-altering testimony and baptism you will not want to miss, followed by a yummy and joyful fellowship luncheon right after church. More details to come!
 
·      Coming Soon: an all-day Saturday event this April for prayer, discussion, and teaching with Chris Campbell to discover our Freedom in Christ. We will discover with certainty our fullest identity in Christ and absolute freedom from that which has kept us from that fullness. More details to come!
 
·      On a personal note: Sherri and I are going to take a much-needed rest break this coming week. We will be entirely “unplugged” and unreachable from Monday through Saturday, February 19-24. For any needs that arise during that time, our Elder Team will be available to pray, encourage, care for, and support you. Please contact Kristie Zoller at [email protected] or 703-999-3156 (c) to reach the Elder Team.
 
OK…that’s it today for you email skimmers and those who prefer to stay stuck right where you are.  BUT…
 
 
Some Deeper Thoughts…
 
May I have your permission to be a little punchy…or perhaps better phrased “a little direct” with you?
 
Thank you. Here we go:
 
I am amazed at how much we complain about the negative circumstances and conditions in our life, but then we do not take the necessary steps to make an actual positive change.
 
Ouch. Read that a second time, will you?
 
Notice I very intentionally use the words “we” and “our”, as I see this same maddening pattern in my life just as much as I do in yours. I bumble along sometimes for months or even years in unhealthy and painful situations that I actually know how to fix, but I just don’t fix them.
 
I’ve known for years that I need to lose a little bit of weight. My doctor tells me--and so do my eyeballs—that I’m carrying about two dozen more pounds than I should. I know exactly what to do: eat better, exercise, and sleep right. Check. But do I do it?
 
I’ve complained for months about my stress levels and over-scaled pace of life. I know specifically what to do: make hard decisions and draw boundaries to my schedule, reduce my expectations, and take intentional sabbath every week. Check. But do I do it?
 
I wish I had more vibrant intimacy with God. I’ve tasted seasons of the overwhelming presence of God where joy, peace, clarity, and hope were unmistakably real. And I know precisely what to do to stay in that place: be in His Word every single day and lay before Him in surrendering prayer. Check. But do I do it?
 
You? You with me in this?
 
If you are a follower of Jesus Christ who has paid any attention to your favorite Bible teachers, you--along with me—know precisely how and what to surrender to God. We often claim we have no idea how to break through to God. But I’d like to challenge that: We’ve been taught this clearly. Perhaps the real problem is that we do not like what the scriptures reveal must be done to break through to God. As a result, we simply do not actively surrender.
 
Why?
 
It’s almost as if we prefer the stalemate of a defeated life. I know that’s probably a bit of an overstatement, but you gave me permission a moment ago to be a little punchy.
 
If we indeed know what to do to have freedom and joy in our lives, why do we not do it? What do we gain from staying stuck?
 
There is, of course, the stability of the familiar, even if it’s a negative familiarity. And there’s the comfort we find in whatever habit we have chosen to medicate our pain (food, drink, smoke, social media, addiction, or [fill in the blank]…). If we’re super honest, there’s even a bit of an empowering energy to self-pity or pouting before God that He hasn’t stepped up to fix us instantaneously.
 
But God wants so much more for us. We want it too, but its elusiveness may have more to do with subconsciously choosing to stay stuck than actually being stuck.
 
Ephesians 2:8-9 tells us that we are saved by God’s mercy and grace—not by anything we do. We are rescued by God not because we stopped sinning or because we stepped up to do the things we know to do. The “good news” (Greek meaning of the word “Gospel”) of Romans 1:16-17 and 3:21-24 is that we are given a righteousness that is from God, not ourselves. Ephesians 2:10 tells us that we are “God’s workmanship”—His artwork—“created in Christ Jesus to do good works.”
 
According to this Word of revelation, we cannot create this new life. God must birth into us something new, by His workmanship, by His Holy Spirit quickening (bringing to life) our spirit.
 
The word “righteousness” simply means that things are right: things are as they should be. And we are given this from God.
 
You want to turn the page away from things that are not as they should be? You want to turn the page to all the fullness of what God can do for you and me? You want God to birth something brand new in you that creates life “as it should be?”
 
Then we need to look intently at God’s promise and His process as we continue our 20-week journey through the Book of Romans—“Uncharted Territory: Taking Life Where You’ve Never Been.”
 
We need to discover what God does within us and what is our part to step up and actualize the change.
 
There is a freedom, fullness, abundance, and joy waiting just on the next page if we will see it, choose it, and turn the page to it. Mmmmm…. This is going to be good!! 10:00 a.m. Sunday in-person (rocks!) or online livestream (decent…just not as fun as in-person!).
 
Carefully read Romans 3 & 4 before Sunday.
 
Can’t wait…
 
Chris Eads
Mt. Hope Pastor
Friend

Dear Friends…


In the last week, two very beloved saints from Mt. Hope passed into their boundless eternal reward in God’s presence. Late last week, retired pastor and beloved Walter Agnor passed peacefully; on Wednesday of this week, Delrae Dorrell also passed peacefully surrounded by family and some from our church. No date has been set for Walter’s memorial; a date for Delrae has been set and noted below. I’ll tell you much more in Deeper Thoughts below…


But first… a handful of important items:


·      This Sunday—something special for middle schoolers and a bit of PG-13 content: We’ve been planning to pull aside our 6th-8th graders for some separate content and experiences, and this Sunday’s message suggests it would be a great week to try it out!


o   In my teaching this Sunday, we will be studying Romans 1 which includes certain topics that if addressed fully and honestly, may be worth parents considering the readiness of their younger students to absorb.


o   SO… at the regular message time, both Kids Connect and Middle School will be invited to join Chris Bowen and Jess Sauder downstairs for a moment of joint worship and then separate age-appropriate content experiences.


o   Parents, if you feel your middle schooler would benefit from an adult discussion of the topics in Romans 1, they are certainly welcome to continue to attend with you.


·      A memorial service for Delrae Dorrell will be held NEXT Saturday, February 10 at 1:30 p.m. at Mt. Hope. All are welcome to attend and share in the celebration of this dear woman of God who has graced our church these past two years.


·      Ladies: Mark your calendar for our next women’s event, Saturday, February 24. Details to come!


·      We are a praying church…so let’s engage a NEW function: If you would like a prayer need shared with the church family via this Friday email, just email your need to my personal Gmail account listed in my signature line by Thursday of each week. I’ll include a listing of those prayer needs at the end of our weekly Friday email.


o   AND… don’t forget that we have a weekly prayer meeting every Sunday morning, 9:15 – 9:40 a.m. in the sanctuary. All are welcome to come storm the gates of heaven on behalf of our church family!




OK…that’s it today for you email skimmers and you who must avert your eyes from a beloved’s passing.  BUT…
 
 
Some Deeper Thoughts…


There are no two ways about it. The death of a loved one is just simply hard. And yet, the Lord calls it a precious thing… and simultaenously a curse. It can all be very confusing.


I’ve had the immeasurable privilege in recent months to be present with their families while two saints (Donald Beall and Delrae Dorrell) passed into glory, and to be in close conversation with saint Walter Agnor’s daughter shortly after his passing. To have a family’s trust to be part of these incredibly sensitive and personal moments is very meaningful.


In all of these situations, long and productive lives had been led. Their individual passing came late in life and their families could celebrate decades of health, love, presence, and joy with their beloved. But so much more importantly, all three of these saints led lives of undivided devotion and faithfulness to their Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.


I have noticed something common to all three of their stories: While it has been incalculably painful for each family to release their beloved to the next life, there has also been an unmistakable peace that is found nowhere else in all of human experience.


The scriptures record that “precious in the eyes of the Lord is the death of his saints” (Psalm 116:15). We certainly don’t feel it as such a precious thing. But we do not “grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope”. Rather, “we believe that Jesus died and rose again and… that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep [died] in him” (1 Thessalonians 4:13-14). Their transition to God's unfiltered presence is precious to God because they get to fully experience Him in all of His reality.


This hope changes everything.


God considers death an enemy, just like we do: “The last enemy to be destroyed is death,” Paul reveals in 1 Corinthians 15:26. We hate death for its inflexibility, its finality, and for how it takes our loved ones away from our immediate presence. We also hate it for the fear it personally brings each of us “…who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death” (Hebrews 2:15).


But in each of these scriptures, God reveals not only His identification with our hatred and fear of death; He also reveals His victory over it.


Consider: “Since the children have flesh and blood, he [Jesus] too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death—that is the devil—and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death” (Hebrews 2:14-15).


Consider: “According to the Lord’s own word…the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise…and so we will be with the Lord forever” (1 Thessalonians 4:15-17).


Consider: “Listen, I tell you a mystery…in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet…the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed…then the saying that is written will come true: ‘Death has been swallowed up in victory.” …Thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 15:51-57).


Consider: “Jesus said to her, ‘I am the resurrection and the life. He [she] who believes in me will live, even though he [she] dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?’” (John 11:25-26).


Friends, these are not just idle promises to recite at a funeral as “feel good” platitudes to ease our pain of loss. No! These words are the revelation of God—a revelation of reality that is far more stunning, far more real, far more concrete than anything we perceive in this life.


So, let us “therefore encourage one another with these words” (1 Thessalonians 4:18).




Oh…and does it strike you that I keep calling Donald, Walter, and Delrae “saints”?


If you grew up in a more traditional church, you were likely taught that “saints” are a special breed of Christian—someone who has lived a life of absolute purity, performed miracles, led the Church, and been someone entirely abnormal in their faith. But this is not what the scriptures teach at all. Each of us who surrender our lives to Jesus Christ are “called to be saints” (Romans 1:7).


So…are you standing in your sainthood in Jesus Christ? Are you prepared to “meet the Lord in the air?” Are you rejoicing in the security of your adoption into the Family of God through Jesus Christ? Are you filled with hope, peace, and joy—even while we mourn the present absence of our beloved?




Let’s meet this Sunday and continue our study of Romans— “Uncharted Territory: Taking Life Where You Have Never Been.” Spend some time in chapter one beforehand. We’re going to learn a lot about how we got in this mess in the first place!


Can’t wait! Much love to you all…


Chris Eads
Mt. Hope Pastor
Friend​


---


Some additional prayer needs for the Family of God at Mt. Hope… Please stand in biblical faith for:


Randy House has a co-worker whose son has been missing in Stafford for many days. His parents are pastors from Ghana leading a church here in Northern Virginia. Click here for a news article on the situation.