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Hey Friends…
Who wants some hope and good news? As the temperatures rise, pools open, schools wrap up, and a three-day holiday weekend marks the beginning of summer, our moods turn brighter. So, that’s nice. But I’m talking about something far more substantive. I’m talking about a hope, endurance, encouragement, and promise that overflows no matter the circumstance. Instead of shopping for a super deal on new car financing at Toyota’s Memorial Day sale, would you like to be given—just handed for free—abundant hope, encouragement, joy, and peace? Well, does God have a summer kick-off deal for you!?!? I’ll tell you more about it in Deeper Thoughts below… But first… we have some back-to-back weekends of summer joy! · Ladies: TOMORROW Saturday, May 25… 9:30 – 11:30 a.m. – Join us for breakfast and a prayer walk at Morven Park in Leesburg. Click here for more details! · NEXT Sunday, June 2, we officially kick off our summer with a few exciting happenings: o We will honor a number of graduates for completing incredible milestones—high school, trade school, university, graduate school. We think we know everyone in our church who has graduated this year, but just in case we’re missing someone, would you click here to email Sherri names of anyone who you know is graduating this year? o Then we’ll open the Word of God to launch our next Sunday teaching series-- “God’s Game Plan—Beginning, Middle, End: A Study in Biblical Prophecy.” This will be a compelling summer series to understand all the nuts and bolts, hopes and wonders of the prophets, the end times, the return of Jesus Christ, and the hope of His people! o We cap off the weekend with a powerful Worship and Prayer Night: Sunday evening, June 2… 5:30 – 7:00 p.m. (or whenever God is done!) – Join us for an unscripted evening of worship, togetherness, and prayer as we seek God for our church family, God’s direction for us, and God’s provision for our growth and capacity challenges. We will guide you through the experience and make it safe and relevant no matter where you are spiritually. The movement of the Holy Spirit will be thick, God’s presence very tangible. Don’t miss it! · The summer fun continues the following weekend: o Men: Saturday, June 8… 8:00 – 9:00 a.m. join us for another quick but mighty breakfast and challenge to become greater men of God! o And then let’s party at our Summer Kick-off Celebration and Carnival – Sunday, June 9… 11:45 a.m. – 1:30 p.m. Join us right after church for food, fun, fellowship, games, and activities. This will be super-fun for the kids with relay races, competitions, and games. This is also for the entire church family to gather for food and fellowship in the pavilion! (Rain date will be June 23.) OK…that’s it today for you email skimmers and those who prefer to pay full price for everything. BUT… Some Deeper Thoughts… Let’s not miss the real meaning of Memorial Day, shall we? While it’s easy to have our eyes on all the fun and enthusiasm of summer’s beginning, this Monday has a far more important purpose than 50% savings at your favorite retailer, or relaxing backyard barbecues, or splashing around the newly opened pool. Memorial Day was created in 1868 to honor the fallen U.S. soldiers who gave their lives to preserve our Union in the American Civil War. Slavery was also ended through the outcomes of that terrible conflict, unquestionably the most important step towards human rights and justice in our nation’s history. Over the years, Memorial Day evolved to honor all American women and men who have given the ultimate sacrifice for the cause of freedom around the world. I emphasize the word “given” on purpose. None of us have earned our freedom. We have been given it by someone else. Their cost to give it to us was often incredibly extreme. The same is true of everything we have in Jesus Christ. It has been given to us. For free. But at a monumental cost to the giver. Here’s some hope and good news: “His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness…” (2 Peter 1:3). There’s more: “In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope…” (1 Peter 1:3). Who wants a living hope? Well, there’s more! Romans 15:5 reveals that God “gives endurance and encouragement.” But wait! There’s more!! He also gives us a “spirit of unity… so that with one heart and one mouth” we can experience God’s fullest identity (His glory) in our lives. Can you hear my swell radio announcer voice as bold colors splash across your TV screen? Not only is He giving you all this stuff for free… but He will fill you right on past the brim, spilling goodness all around you!! “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit” (Romans 15:13). Living hope. Overflowing hope. That sounds like a pretty good deal, does it not? Look, if you need a new mattress this is a good weekend to go buy one. The mattress store is giving you a deal. But friends, seriously… you don’t need to go shopping for what God is giving away entirely for free and in overflowing abundance. He cries out in Isaiah 55:1, “Come, all you are thirty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy, and eat…without money and without cost!” Hope. Encouragement. Joy. Peace. Endurance. Promise. Unity. All of it absolutely overflowing. Given to you by God. Done. Invoice printed. No charge. Oh... and free delivery, too. All we must do is simply answer the door (you can see that fine print in Revelation 3:20). This Sunday, we wrap up our 21-week intensive study of the Book of Romans--“Uncharted Territory: Taking Life Where You’ve Never Been.” We will see from Romans 15 and 16 layer upon layer of the specific (and very practical) things God has abundantly given to us in Jesus Christ. The gift is absolutely free. But we do have a part to play: You can’t get your Memorial Day savings if you don’t go to the store. You can’t receive God’s overflowing provision if you don’t come to Him for it. So, let’s open the Word together and understand the gift and how to pick it up. It is a powerful word of hope. Overflowing hope. This will be fun to explore with you! Sunday morning, 10:00 a.m. in-person (always best!), or online live-stream for you out-of-town vacationers! Can’t wait to be with you whom we love so much… Chris Eads Mt. Hope Pastor Friend
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Hey Folks…
I have a love/hate relationship with road trips. How about you? I am writing you today from Interstate 70W as we head to Ohio to celebrate our daughter Rachel’s doctoral graduation. Where are you headed next? Oh…and I don’t just mean the next road trip to some far away destination. I mean where are you headed—where is God taking you next in your journey of life, purpose, and direction? I know that’s an ambiguous concept… I’m sure you’d tell me if you could. Isn’t it impossible to know? Well… yes… and no. We’ve got more clarity on that trip than we likely recognize. I’ll tell you more in Deeper Thoughts below. But first…. · Ladies: Saturday, May 25… 9:30 – 11:30 a.m. – Join us for breakfast and a prayer walk at Morven Park in Leesburg. Click here for more details! · Mt. Hope Worship and Prayer Night: Sunday evening, June 2… 5:30 – 7:00 p.m. (or whenever God is done!) – Join us for a powerful and unscripted evening of worship, togetherness, and prayer as we seek God for our church family, God’s direction for us, and God’s provision for our growth and capacity challenges. We will guide you through the experience and make it safe and relevant no matter where you are spiritually. The movement of the Holy Spirit will be thick, God’s presence very tangible. Don’t miss it! · Summer Kick-off Celebration and Carnival – Sunday, June 9… 11:45 a.m. – 1:30 p.m. Join us right after church for our “second annual” celebration of all things summer with food, fun, fellowship, games, and activities. While we’ll aim this to be super-fun for the kids with relay races, competitions, and games, this is for the entire church to gather for a great day in the pavilion! (Rain date will be June 23.) · Our next Sunday teaching series begins June 2—“God’s Game Plan—Beginning, Middle, End: A Study in Biblical Prophecy.” More on this in Deeper Thoughts below! OK…that’s it today for you email skimmers and those who never want to leave home. BUT… Some Deeper Thoughts… Our trip today is a grueling one. Eight hours of gruel. There is absolutely nothing out the windshield as we meander through every farm field between here and northwest Ohio. Rachel graduates on Sunday with her Doctor of Pharmacy degree from Ohio Northern University. We could not be more proud! While we’re gone, Mt. Hope’s beloved Randy Richardson will powerfully share the Word of God with us on Sunday. More on that in a moment… you won’t want to miss it. But first, let’s talk about road trips. And I mean the one that you and I are on together, not our insufferable I-70 slog through Nowhere, Ohio. If you are going to go anywhere, you’d better pack properly. For today’s family highway trip, this means a lot of snacks and caffeine; it also means being sure we didn’t forget our toothbrush, clothes, shoes, and all the other essentials. But when it comes to our lifelong road trip with Jesus, where are we going? What do we need to pack? And who are we traveling with? Romans 8:28-30 reveals the destination. Everything that happens in our life, every single turn of events, every hardship and bump in the road—all of this leads to one specific outcome. It’s been God’s travel plan for each of us since well before we were born. Where are we going? To a life that is just like Jesus. Sound a little lofty? Well, we’d better pack well, ‘cuz God’s train is moving and you and I are already on it (geez…can I come up with any more travel analogies?). The Word of God provides a ton of clues as to what should be on our spiritual packing list. Some are fairly generalized: be spiritually prepared; make the most of every opportunity; avoid evil; seek God’s Kingdom (see Matthew 25:1-13; Ephesians 5:8-17; Matthew 6:33). Other guidance is more precise: be filled with the Spirit; take every thought captive for Christ; immerse yourself in the scripture; put on the armor of God; pray boldly and fervently (see Ephesians 5:18; 2 Corinthians 10:3-5; 2 Timothy 3:14-17; Ephesians 6:10-18). Not only must we prepare ourselves and pack well for the journey with Jesus, but we must also be sure we are traveling with the right people. The Christ-centered spiritual life was never designed to be experienced in isolation. Acts 2:42-47 and Acts 4:32-35 model this quite specifically. Which leads us to Randy Richardson and this Sunday. If you’ve been around Mt. Hope for a bit, I know you’ve met him. He happens to be the tallest guy in the room. But he is also one of the most outgoing, loving, and engaging people in our church. This is not by accident. While Randy was still cooking in his mama’s womb, scripture records that God was knitting together a very unique man who would bear God’s image through his exceptional passion to connect people to one another. You see, when God shapes us in our mother’s womb (see Psalm 139:13-16), God is always forging at least one aspect of His character and nature into us. Since one of God’s most noteworthy attributes is how He profoundly loves each individual and then demonstrates that love by placing us in the Family of God (we taught on this last Sunday), God precisely shaped Randy to lead us to connect to one another. Around here, that manifests in Randy spearheading our small group life at Mt. Hope, along with other efforts to get us connected to the kind of togetherness God intends. Because of all manner of wounds and insecurities, most of us prefer to stay isolated and manage life on our own. But this isn’t how God truly wired us up. According to the scriptures, we were made to live in deep connectivity to one another—what the Bible calls “fellowship” (from the Greek word “koinonia”, which means to be deeply intertwined with one another). You can see the power of this life in places like Acts 2 and Acts 4. This Sunday, Randy will unpack for us Romans chapters 14 and 15. We will discover the practical specifics of a Christ-centered life built on the Word, in biblical community, and in support of one another. Do some digging around those two chapters in advance. One last thing about where we are headed: NEXT Sunday, we’ll bring our 21-week study of the Book of Romans to a close. Then, June 2, we launch into a “Summer of Hope,” fourteen weeks of discovering “God’s Game Plan—Beginning, Middle, End.” It’s a study in biblical prophecy—where we are headed towards the ultimate return of Jesus Christ and the great “reset” of humanity. But it is also a discovery of our roots in the Old Testament, our present New Testament spiritual life, how we should be living in view of Christ’s return, and what is the great joy awaiting us. Pack your bags… this is going to be an incredibly joyful, hopeful, and powerful summer together! Can’t wait to travel with you all… but for the moment, back to I-70… Chris Eads Mt. Hope Pastor Friend Hey Beloved…
Did you even notice that we skipped over it? It was purposeful, but it wasn’t for lack of importance. In fact, this has monumental consequence to us—more than most of us realize. Many Christians might find it mildly interesting. Most would struggle to see its relevance to our daily lives. But the entirety of our identity is wrapped up in this subject that we just sailed right past. Intrigued yet? I’ll tell you more in Deeper Thoughts below… But first…. · Women: You matter to us, and you matter to God. This Sunday is Mother’s Day, so of course we want to honor all women for their vital role in our families, our lives, and our society. BUT… even more than this, a particular Word from the Lord has recently been shared by the Holy Spirit in prayer with the women who are part of our Elder Team. So, in addition to the traditional honoring of women this weekend, we have a special prayer moment planned to share this prophetic Word and pray over you! · And more for the ladies: Saturday, May 25… 9:30 – 11:30 a.m. – Join us for breakfast and a prayer walk at Morven Park in Leesburg. Click here for more details! · Our Next Mt. Hope Worship Night – A few weeks ago, God met us powerfully in an unscripted worship and prayer night where we gathered to seek God for our church family, God’s direction for us, and God’s provision for our growth and capacity challenges. The movement of the Holy Spirit was thick; God’s presence was very tangible. Let's gather again! Sunday evening, June 2… 5:30 – 7:00 p.m. (or whenever God is done!). · Summer Kick-off Celebration and Carnival – Sunday, June 9… 11:45 a.m. – 1:30 p.m. Join us right after church for our “second annual” celebration of all things summer with food, fun, fellowship, games, and activities. While we’ll aim this to be super-fun for the kids with relay races, competitions, and games, this is for the entire church to gather for a great day in the pavilion! (Rain date will be June 23.) OK…that’s it today for you email skimmers and those who never wonder about who you are. BUT… Some Deeper Thoughts… Our identity is a complicated little critter, is it not? Our identity has two sides to it, and they are often wildly different. The one side is how others see us—our personality, our communication style, our skills, our passions, our connectivity and usefulness to whatever group they are viewing us from. While there are many facets the outside world looks at to determine who we are to them, it is relatively straightforward. We are perceived and defined by what is naturally observable and what is of interest to the observer. The other side of our identity is how we see ourselves. This is a little more complicated. We are typically not so good at self-assessment. On the one hand, we shy away from being honest about certain flaws and faults that might negatively impact someone else. We dodge responsibility for being rude or overbearing; we turn a blind eye to our sharp edges. We ignore the influence our frequent bad mood has on others. We blame negative outcomes on everyone else while some of the situation indeed belongs to our behavior. On the other hand, we shy away from being honest about the beauty and glory and goodness that others see in us. We blush or roll our eyes at a compliment. We dismiss the power of our talents; we conclude our abilities and strengths are useless because they are imperfect. We scorn the idea that we might be the most beautiful person to someone else because we cannot see that beauty ourselves. We beat ourselves up for our flaws and shortcomings. The “how we see ourselves” side of our identity drives everything we do because it drives everything we think. If we think we are not good at something, we will avoid it. If we think we are faultless about something, we will defend it. If we think we are not useful to someone, we will evade them. If we think our sharp edges are smooth as butter, we’ll keep spreading it on. In the Bible, God works really hard to define our identity for us. He poured a lot of energy into revealing our identity through prophets, miracles, and words. In fact, God organized the entire human race to reveal your identity to you. “Wow… um… isn’t that a little grandiose, Chris?” Hear me out. The Bible is the revelation of how God relates to every human being. While the Bible is a collection of 66 different books that tell a wide range of stories of God’s involvement with people, there is one overarching narrative--a word picture if you will—of God relating to every individual through how He relates to one specific family. That word picture is the backdrop of every story of the Bible: God chose a family and made a covenant with them. The relevance to you? God chose you and made a covenant with you. The family God chose was a wildly imperfect one, just like you and me. Abram and Sarah were a salty old couple with a mountain of troubles and ultimately a pretty whacked out bunch of kids and grandkids that came along late in life. We’ll spare the details for this letter; but suffice it to say that when God renamed His chosen family, He aptly called them “Struggles with God.” In Hebrew, that phrase is simply the word “Israel.” Their new name was their identity. You might be tempted to hear this as a negative identity. But for God, it was a revelation of how profoundly valuable they were to Him. In raw slang, we might say God named the family, “yeah… they got problems.” But in giving that name, He is also saying, “but wow… I love them. And I know exactly what I am going to do with them… and it is beautiful!” Israel’s God-defined identity immediately presented an honest assessment of both their flaws and their beauty. Their flaws would be dealt with in the first phase of the covenant—a call to obey His leadership (called “The Law” in the Old Testament). It would be followed by a promise to redeem those flaws by His own shed blood (called “salvation” the New Testament). It was a new phase of His promise—a “new covenant.” In our study of the Book of Romans, “Uncharted Territory: Taking Life Where You’ve Never Been”, we purposely skipped over Romans chapters 9 through 11. We did this to first understand the new covenant of God’s mercy and grace. But now, let’s look over our shoulders and grab the backstory. According to Romans 11, you and I have been grafted into this beautiful and yet whacked out family called “Israel”. And it defines everything about our present story. First read through, I imagine you’ll feel a bit lost. Those three chapters are really dense, and there’s a ton of unfamiliar history embedded in them. Let me help you make sense of it this Sunday. Be prepared to understand yourself in a whole new--and profoundly honest—light. Flaws and beauty combined. This Sunday, 10:00 a.m. in-person (best!), or online livestream (if you need… but be sure to say “hi” in the chat feature!). Much love to all… Chris Eads Mt. Hope Pastor Friend Hey Friends…
I’m wondering if you would trust me with a very delicate conversation. There is an aspect of our lives that many of us hold out as one of the last areas we are willing to hand over to Jesus. If we would follow Jesus into this corner of our thinking--which will undoubtedly force us to renew a few of our ideals—it is going to be a stretch. For some, the conversation could be somewhat uncomfortable. For others, it will be a massive breath of fresh air. For all of us, it is an incredibly necessary component to our discipleship as followers of Jesus Christ. You in? Do you trust me? I’ll tell you more in Deeper Thoughts below… But first… two reminders, and two NEW events: · Men: TOMORROW – Saturday, May 4… 8:00 – 9:00 a.m. a quick and focused men’s challenge morning. This will be a simpler continental breakfast (coffee, donuts, snacks) and a shorter, more focused discussion, prayer, and challenge time. Click here to RSVP! · Ladies: Saturday, May 25… 9:30 – 11:30 a.m. – Join us for breakfast and a prayer walk at Morven Park in Leesburg. Click here for more details! · Our Next Mt. Hope Worship Night – A few weeks ago, God met us powerfully in an unscripted worship and prayer night where about 50 of us Mt. Hopers gathered to seek God for our church family, God’s direction for us, and God’s provision for our growth and capacity challenges. The movement of the Holy Spirit was thick; God’s presence was very tangible. Let's gather again! Sunday evening, June 2… 5:30 – 7:00 p.m. (or whenever God is done!). More details to come! · Summer Kick-off Celebration and Carnival – Sunday, June 9… 11:45 a.m. – 1:30 p.m. Join us right after church for our “second annual” celebration of all things summer with food, fun, fellowship, games, and activities. While we’ll aim for this to be super-fun for the kids with relay races, competitions, and games, this is for the entire church family to gather for a great day in the pavilion! (Rain date will be June 23.) OK…that’s it today for you email skimmers and those who are terrified of what I might have to say. BUT… Some Deeper Thoughts… Over the last couple of weeks, we’ve hit some profoundly emotional heart-level subjects in our journey through the Book of Romans – “Uncharted Territory: Taking Life Where You Have Never Been.” From wrestling with our interpersonal relationships to a discovery of our Freedom in Christ at last weekend’s day retreat, the subjects have been both intense and personally sensitive. This week--partially to just give us all a break from gut-wrenching soul-searching, and partially because it’s “what’s next” in the text of Romans—we are going to pivot to a more cerebral topic. But it is going to be just as important and transformational… if we will let Jesus into this particular corner of our brains. Romans 12:1-2 reveals our need to reframe how we think. Precisely because of God’s mercy—everything we learned in Romans 1-8—we are called to lay down our lives as “living sacrifices” which are “holy and acceptable” to God. The word “holy” means “set apart.” It means to belong to someone other than ourselves. I don’t know about you, but I have a lot of strong opinions. I have a lot that I think to be true, a lot that I want to be true, and a lot that I try to make happen because I think it’s right. Every one of these things seem perfectly proper and truthful to me. In fact, full honesty: I’m pretty proud of all these ideas. Oh, and usually a bit stubborn about them. You? The scriptures warn us about this: “There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death” (Proverbs 14:12). Yikes. “Seriously, Chris? I thought you said this was going to be a little lighter this week.” Cerebral yes. Lighter… well… that depends. Romans 12:2 tells us that not only do we need to be set-apart for (belonging to) God, but we also need to change our minds about a few things. Paul calls it a transformation--a metamorphosis (literally in the Greek)—that occurs when our minds are renewed. Our thinking is changed by God’s mercy. How we view things becomes entirely different. If you’ve been with us throughout this series, you have caught this in previous weeks as we orbited through Romans 12:1-2 multiple times. Got it. So… what’s next? As your spiritual shepherd (pastor), I am keenly burdened by an aspect of how Jesus Christ thought, spoke, felt, and believed that I perceive is incredibly foreign to most of us. If we will come to see and know Jesus for who he really was (is) in this area--and not the sanitized, politically co-opted, and Americanized version of Jesus often found floating around YouTube and podcasts these days—we are going to be challenged. His way of thinking will not match many of our presuppositions. We will be stretched to think and behave differently. And he may very well put us at odds with our own ideas and ideals that are incredibly important to us. “So why would I want to come to church this Sunday, Chris? This doesn’t sound like any manner of fun whatsoever. I like my way of thinking, thank you very much.” Me too. But I want to follow Jesus more than I want to follow me. I like myself and my way of thinking just fine. But I wholeheartedly recognize that Jesus is a far better thinker, a far better visionary, a far better person than me. So, I’m up to rethink a few things if I have to. How about you? This Sunday we will tread into a very delicate area that most of us prefer to keep off limits to any monkeying around by outsiders. I’m depending greatly on your trust that I’ll wade into this carefully. My bedrock promise is to give you only Jesus. I will not tell you what to think. I will only give you the tools to see how Jesus thought. That way you can sort out with Jesus how you should respond. But I will also call us to nothing less. Without apology, let’s do this. Let’s sort out our minds with Jesus. Let’s set apart Jesus as Lord over everything we think. “What’s the sensitive topic,” you ask? Well, you gotta come Sunday to find out. 10:00 a.m. in-person (best!) or online-livestream (if you’re out of town). I say it almost every week--and I mean it this one too—Hmmm…. Gonna be good! Can’t wait!! Much love to 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
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