Hey Beloved…
Most of us prefer to keep our focus on the important things in life—specifically our personal lives. Family. Friends. Love relationships. Daily needs and provisions. Career. Education. Dogs. Cats. Hobbies. For most of us, news coming from the other side of the planet may spark a moment of curiosity and interest. It could even spur a bit of anger from our desire for human justice. But then the news settles back down into the category of simply annoying. No one is listening to the opinions we shout at the TV anyway, so we figure we’re better off leaving it in the background and going about our daily lives. But what if the news was about your family? Jump in with our Deeper Thoughts below…you might want to know about what’s happening… But first… a few important updates: · Two passings; two memorials: This week, Mt. Hope lost two beloved members of our church in unrelated passings. Services for both will be held on Saturday. All are welcome to both services. o Friday last week, Denny McAneny passed into the arms of Jesus after an extended battle with kidney disease and other complications. The church surrounded him in his final weeks with much love, presence, prayer, and encouragement. His family was by his side as he peacefully joined the Bride of Christ in heaven. A memorial service for Denny will be held THIS Saturday, June 22, at 3:30 p.m. at the church. o Tuesday this week, Peggy Heavey--a relative newcomer to Mt. Hope—passed away unexpectedly from complications related to an injury. Peggy was a somewhat less frequent attendee with her many commitments to family and other activities, but she loved our church and was thriving in her faith with us. A memorial service will be held also THIS Saturday at 1:00 p.m. at the church. · YOUTH GROUP!! To accommodate family schedules during the summer months, we’re changing up our game on when the youth meet for connection, fun, and the power of God’s Word! Starting THIS Sunday, youth (Grades 6-12) will meet from 11:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m. following our main service (this week uniquely will end at 1:00). Lunch is included for the teens; our youth leaders can also help with transportation so parents don’t have to wait around. But RSVP is super important so we can have food and transportation all figured out. Click here to email Chris Bowen to let us know who’s coming!! · Ladies: Join us NEXT Saturday, June 29 for a unique ladies’ service project to help our beloved Carol Treachler with her move out west! Click here to email Tracey Schlitzer for details and to be involved! OK…that’s it today for you email skimmers and those who get twitchy about being in a family. BUT… Some Deeper Thoughts… Did you see your family in the news this week? No? Are you sure? Maybe take a second glance? The news coming from the Middle East is a bit complicated these days. Who is right? Who is wrong? What is good? What is evil? What is justified warfare? What is too far? While I am sure we each have our own strong opinions, the raging conflict betrays that many in the world hold profoundly opposite views to ours. Add to it the surge of passionate and sometimes volatile American reaction—from college protests calling for Palestinian freedom; to fervent support of Israel’s right to defend itself; to impassioned questions about whether that right should extend to the invasion of this city or that; to zealous disagreements on what America’s role should be in guiding, supporting, resourcing, or challenging Israel, Hamas, and everyone involved. As a pastor and teacher of God’s Word, my job is not to solve those important geopolitical questions. Others far more educated and talented in those lanes have much to say, and I would encourage you to spend some time exploring these complicated issues from biblically-minded commentators before you yell at the TV again. But I do have an extremely important job with you. It is to unpack God’s revelation about you and me and all of us from His Word. And like it or not, according to God’s Word, Israel is our family. “But Chris, I don’t like what Israel is doing with… [insert precarious geopolitical item here].” Well, I’m not too keen on what my uncle [insert name here] did with [insert awkward family moment here] either, but that doesn’t mean he’s not family. Family is rooted in a covenant. Once a covenant is made, it is irreversible. God made a covenant with a family and named them “Israel” (you can read all about it in Genesis 12-50). Regardless of how they behaved--and trust me, they misbehaved A LOT—they were (and are) still family. Romans 11:29 on this precise subject: “God’s gifts and his call are irrevocable.” This family covenant will never end. That should make us feel good. If God cannot and will not revoke His covenant with His wildly dysfunctional family, then maybe He will stay committed to me too. Yep. He will. Because you--if you have trusted Jesus as your savior—have become part of this very same outrageously whacked out family called Israel. Paul in his letter to the Romans again: “…you were cut out of an olive tree that is wild by nature, and contrary to nature were grafted into a cultivated olive tree…” (Romans 11:24). Dig around the context of his gardening illustration and you can’t miss it: We Gentiles (non-Jews) were grafted by God into His covenant family Israel. Maybe it’s more clearly explained in Ephesians 1:5: “…[God] predestined us to be adopted as his sons [daughters] through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will.” John the Apostle saw it in the indescribable spiritual realms when he called us Israel’s “offspring—those who obey God’s commandments and hold to the testimony of Jesus” (Revelation 12:17). You see, the covenant God made with Israel is an everlasting one, and we who believe in Jesus have been grafted into it. We have been adopted into it. You and I belong to the family of Israel. “But Chris, isn’t all that Israel stuff in the ‘OLD’ covenant? Don’t we live in the ‘NEW’ covenant?” Of course we do. But a detailed study of Matthew 5:17-18, Romans 9-11, Hebrews 8-10, and 1 Peter 2:4-10 among other New Testament passages will reveal that the New Covenant in Jesus is a fulfillment of the Old, not an abandonment of it. Jesus brings the entire first covenant with Israel into its fullest completion as we Gentiles are adopted by God into His family for the salvation of our souls. There’s a lot more gritty theology to this than I have space or your attention to address here, but suffice it to say: What’s going on with Israel matters because we are family. So what? What am I supposed to DO with this? Well… c’mon out this Sunday as we continue to explore “God’s Game Plan: Beginning, Middle, End – A study in biblical prophecy.” This week, we will delve into Ezekiel’s prophecies about Israel, the coming of the Holy Spirit, our redemption, and how it all points to the inauguration of a new heaven and new earth where sin and death and mourning have no place. Do some advance reading: dig around Ezekiel 35 and 36 to start. I’ll make sense of the complexities and draw this back to your daily life and what’s most important to you. It’ll be fun, challenging, and intellectually stimulating all at once!! Can’t wait… see you Sunday!! Chris Eads Mt. Hope Pastor Friend
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Hey All…
This has been an important week for the Eads family. It involved a five-day trip to Kentucky, spending stupid amounts of money on furniture and other apartment essentials, and hours of foul moods, sliced fingers, and bruised extremities building those said pieces of cheaply manufactured furniture. Oddly, when paired with my study of Old Testament prophecy squeezed in-between lugging boxes up two flights of stairs, I feel like I have a fresh perspective on God and the end of the world. I’ll tell you more about it in Deeper Thoughts below… But first… Our calendar is simple today: · Tomorrow morning, we will honor our men for their role in our lives—fathers, brothers, husbands, sons—as we contemplate Father’s Day. Hint for the fellas… they say the best way to a man’s heart is through his stomach, so we’ll have a little gift to tell you of our love. · Ladies: Mark your calendars for two upcoming events: o Saturday, June 29 – Join us for a unique ladies’ service project to help our beloved Carol Treachler with her move out west! Click here to email Tracey Schlitzer for details and to be involved! o Saturday, July 20… 8:30 – 9:30 a.m. – Let’s meet with God again! Join us for a prayer walk at Morven Park in Leesburg. Click here for more details! · As you travel and such this summer, let’s work hard at staying connected. Remember you can keep up with our worship gatherings via our online livestream (or on-demand playback from our YouTube channel). But also, Sherri and I would love to keep up with you—not to stalk you, but to be mindful to pray over you and your family. Let us know what’s going on with you so we can be on the journey together with you! OK…that’s it today for you email skimmers… we’ll have more great stuff coming this summer! BUT… Some Deeper Thoughts… The world is going to end someday. God will have a very direct hand in it. He told us all about it at least 2,800 years ago now. And it is entirely rooted in His wild love for His children. God is a very protective Father. Anyone who aims to destroy His kids will meet with Him in a vibrant and unforgettable conversation. This is what the “End Times” are all about. I caught just a glimpse of His Father’s heart while lugging a fifty-pound boxed mattress up to the second floor on Wednesday. Moving Rachel to her own apartment this week completed an important transition in our family. It is a bittersweet moment to arrive where both our daughters are now in their own homes, with their own careers, and--much to their annoyance—their own bills. Those of you who are parents know how meaningful these milestones are and how much joy you have for your kid’s success. You also know how hard it is to acknowledge that the nest is finally empty for good—where holiday visits will be brief and conversations less frequent. But your joy over their success is abundant. I am a relative newcomer to this father’s heart deal. I came into Amanda and Rachel’s life as they were a pair of shy and quiet fifteen-year-olds. They were nineteen when Sherri and I married. My love for them grew quickly during our courtship, but I knew whatever that would mean for them was completely up to them—step-parenthood, especially with young adults, is entirely about presence and not at all about position. So, I am sure you can appreciate how profoundly meaningful it is to me that both our girls have chosen to welcome me into their lives. I learned from them just a tiny bit about how God must feel when we choose to welcome Him into our lives. But how does all this relate to the “End Times?” (If you’re new to Mt. Hope, we are into our third week of our summer teaching series called “God’s Game Plan—Beginning, Middle, End: A study in biblical prophecy.” All of this is to explore how God has revealed to us the entire picture, including the future ending. He wants us to be prepared, to have abundant hope, and to live our lives uniquely focused and devoted to Him as we wait joyfully for His return.) Any parent (or stepparent) feels a fierce protectiveness over their kids, no matter how capable they are of their own provision. God is no different. 2,800 years ago, while describing how God was going to ensure His children ultimately made out OK, He spoke of the ultimate goal: “never again will my people be shamed.” He said it twice. He was certain of their provisions: “you will have plenty to eat.” And He wanted to be sure they knew He was going to be right there: “Then you will know that I am in Israel” (in other words, “I am right there by your side”). (See Joel 2:26-27). This is pretty much identical to our parting words with Rachel as we drove away from Lexington. The prophet Joel was revealing God’s heart—the Father’s heart—for His children, the people of Israel, at a time when they were experiencing great difficulty. A massive locust plague had decimated their economy and their stomachs. Nothing was left to eat. Anywhere. Long story short, God promised to relieve them of this terrible plague as they got their relationship straightened out. But then He quickly pivoted from that immediate difficulty to the end of all difficulties. Not only was God going to right the situation then, He is going to right the entire situation forever. But because there are evil spiritual forces that are harshly arrayed against His children—and those forces agitate and convince humanity to hate the people of God—there will need to be an ultimate intervention where the Father fights all those who seek His children’s destruction. God calls this intervention “the valley of decision” (Joel 3:14). It will be an unforgettable conversation. It will all be sorted out for good. Tomorrow morning, we are going to unpack the Father’s heart for His people Israel. We will see where we fit in this puzzle and what we need to do as a result. It will make a lot of sense to what you see in the modern news over in the Middle East. And it will ultimately give you a lot of hope for all the heartache you presently see in our world. If you want to do some advance reading tonight, dig around the short Old Testament book of Joel. It’s a quick read—much of it poetic and a tad cryptic. I’ll do my best to bring it to life for you in the morning. Oh… and we will connect it to this great outpouring of God’s Holy Spirit in the New Testament book of Acts—see how Peter explained God’s present movement coming out of His ancient prophecy through Joel in Acts 2:14-21. I’m really looking forward to studying God’s Word with you tomorrow. Much love to all… Chris Eads Mt. Hope Pastor Friend Hey Friends…
Thieves are bad, are they not? They steal from us things that we do not want to give up. They break into homes. They take what does not belong to them. They ruin people’s fortunes and sometimes even their lives. Jesus called the devil a thief who has come to steal, kill, and destroy all that God loves. But this might startle you--Jesus calls himself a thief too. I’m betting his thievery is something good. Surprised? Do you have your Ring doorbell camera working? I’ll tell you more in Deeper Thoughts below… But first…. · Men: TOMORROW morning, Saturday June 8: Join us for a quick men’s challenge breakfast, rich fellowship, and passion for Jesus. 8:00 – 9:00 a.m. at the church! · THEN…don’t miss it! – Summer Kick-off Celebration and Carnival – THIS Sunday, June 9… 11:30 a.m. – 1:00 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! Hot dogs, bratwurst, coleslaw, chips, fresh squeezed lemonade, and funnel cakes included… come hungry and thirsty. Did I mention the Kona ice truck? · Ladies: Mark your calendars for two upcoming events: o Saturday, June 29 – Join us for a service project to help our beloved Carol Treachler with her move out west! More details to come. o Saturday, July 20… 8:30 – 9:30 a.m. – Prayer walk at Morven Park in Leesburg. Click here for more details! OK…that’s it today for you email skimmers and those who leave their doors unlocked overnight. BUT… Some Deeper Thoughts… We are presently teaching our two 14-week-old puppies how to “drop it.” They are not so happy about this game. The command “drop it” is to teach them to let go of something they value—a bone, a toy, or in the case of our little ruby cavalier named Penny, grass. She eats grass like a cow. Oh, and mulch. That girl loves her mulch. And rocks. Yep. Rocks. But I digress. To train a dog to let go of something of value, we give the command and then when they obey, we give them something of higher value as a reward—a treat, kibble, affection, etc. Here’s the kicker: If we don’t offer something of greater reward, they’re going to see us as thieves. We are taking away their treasure. But we want them to understand that taking from them what they value will actually lead to greater levels of joy as they gain that which is superior. Do you suppose there is anything in our lives that Jesus wants to command us to “drop it”? Let’s level set: Humanity has filled itself with a LOT that is not to our favor. We may think it’s all good for us. We may think we really want it and its outcomes. But we haven’t connected the dots to all the misery and heartache that attends these ill-framed desires. Penny thinks her mulch and grass and rocks is what she really wants. She hasn’t connected that stomach aches and invasive doggie surgery await her should she not learn to “drop it.” When God asks us to “drop it,” He has something far superior to trade with us. God has planned the most amazing outcomes of everlasting love, joy, peace, and abundance for us. God will reset all that’s wrong, overflow us with hope and lavishness, and comfort us with unending peace. You can read all about it 1 Corinthians 15:50-57, Revelation 21:1-7 and Revelation 22:1-6. Wow…it is going to be SO good! But to give us all this wonder and joy, God needs to get us to “drop” our treasures. Here’s how Jesus explained it: “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” (Matthew 6:19-21). Jesus tells us there’s this nasty thief—the devil—who has come to “steal, kill, and destroy.” And then Jesus clarifies his own role in the matter: “But I am come to give you life, and life to the full” (John 10:10). So, thieves are all bad, Jesus all good, right? Hold the phone. Jesus again, this time in his revelation to the Apostle John: “Look, I come like a thief! Blessed is the one who stays awake and remains clothed, so as not to go naked and be shamefully exposed.” (Revelation 16:15) Did you catch it? Jesus is the thief? He hinted at this before: “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.” (Matthew 24:42-44) Peter picked up on this theme when he spoke of the end times that are coming: “But the day of the Lord will come like a thief.” (2 Peter 3:10) Paul said essentially the same: “Now, brothers and sisters, about times and dates we do not need to write to you, for you know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night.” (1 Thessalonians 5:1-2) Here’s the point: God is going to reset everything for us to give us amazing abundance, joy, peace, prosperity, and love. But to do it, He has to get us to “drop it” with all the sin, destruction, and corruption we humans desperately cling to. When He shows up to make this trade--to get us to “drop it” and reward us with something of much greater value—He isn’t going to tell us when. He just shows up. Like a thief. But you get the deal, right? He is a very good thief. He takes away, but He rewards with immeasurable abundance. So what do we need to do with this? Prepare. Preparation is why Jesus revealed the details of his second coming. Let’s check it out in his own words this Sunday as we continue our summer teaching series of hope: “God’s Game Plan—Beginning, Middle, End: A study in biblical prophecy.” Let’s get ready for the good thief to show up. Do some advance reading: Study carefully Matthew 24:36-51 and Matthew 25:1-46. See if you can pick up the game plan God has for you and me, and what we might need to do to be fully prepared. Then… let’s meet! Sunday 10:00 a.m. in-person (best!) on online livestream if you’re out of town. Here we go… can’t wait! Chris Eads Mt. Hope Pastor Friend Hey Friends…
You don’t typically think of headline news as very hopeful, do you? Violence and negativity sell ads, they say, so most media channels focus on the negative in our world—and there is plenty of it to go around. Then summertime comes along. It is one of our favorite times of year. Everything is in bloom, the temperature is warm, and sun tans are a given. Summers are happy. We have hope. But do you think we could find ourselves filled with hope this summer even while looking at the headlines? It may seem like an oxymoron, but all the bad news in the world may indeed hold some powerful echoes of hope for us. Don’t believe me? I’ll tell you more in Deeper Thoughts below… But first…. · Where is Mt. Hope Headed? THIS Sunday, June 2, we will share with you some very important updates on the direction and our future of our church. Then, we are going to seek God with intensity for His clarity, wisdom, and provision. o In our morning service, I will take about 5 minutes to provide you a high-altitude look at what is next for Mt. Hope and share three key prayer points to ask each of you to pursue with God. o Then, Sunday evening from 5:30 – 7:00 p.m., we will gather for a deeper dive into those details, to worship, to pray, and to listen to God. We will guide you through dynamic prayer points, and then ask God to meet us in an unscripted and open-ended space of worship and prayer. Please come join the family of God--regardless of where you are in your spirituality… we’ll make it safe and navigable for everyone! · Men: Our next men’s challenge breakfast is NEXT Saturday, June 8, 8:00 – 9:00 a.m.! · THEN…don’t miss it! – Summer Kick-off Celebration and Carnival – NEXT 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.) · Ladies: Mark your calendars for two upcoming events: o Saturday, June 29 – Join us for a service project to help our beloved Carol Treachler with her move out west! More details to come. o Saturday, July 20… 8:30 – 9:30 a.m. – Prayer walk at Morven Park in Leesburg. Click here for more details! OK…that’s it today for you email skimmers and those who would rather stay grumpy about world events. BUT… Some Deeper Thoughts… Do you like movie previews? It’s been a long time since I made the substantial financial investment to attend a movie in the theatre. But whenever I have, the previews are one of my favorite parts. They usually reveal the most action-packed scenes of an upcoming movie, so the adrenaline is high. It’s a great dopamine hit, for sure! The drawback to a movie preview? In many cases, if you’ve seen the preview, you’ve seen the movie. They stick enough in there to catch the gist of the story. But far too often, they spoil the ending by showing you the preview. Save your $20.00. But there’s another thing previews do for us. They set the stage for what is to come. And, if you’re really into the trilogy and can’t wait for the film’s release, it gives you hope for a fun-filled Friday evening at the theatre. Did you know that a major segment of the Bible is devoted to God giving us a movie preview? His goal: All hope—sprinkled in among some important context and character development. When it’s in the scriptures, we call this preview “prophecy.” And there is a ton of it in the Bible. Spoiler alert: God has revealed His game plan. It is a good one. In the end, He wins. And so do we. But there is some pretty wild action between here and there. Perhaps you’ve heard of it. It gets a variety of different names in Christian circles—The Return of Jesus Christ; the End times; Armageddon; the Apocalypse. We see it in the teachings of Old Testament prophets like Jeremiah, Daniel, Joel, Zechariah, and Ezekiel. They all speak quite glowingly and optimistically of a “great and dreadful Day of the Lord” coming upon the earth as if it were some beautiful and glorious event to which we should all look forward (see Joel 2:31). Hmmm…. I don’t know about you, but I don’t like the idea of anything “dreadful.” Then the New Testament writers come along. They tell of Jesus promising a second grand appearance. He will return to earth, make everything new, take us to be with him in heaven, right all the wrongs, fix all the pain, end death and dismay, and wipe every tear from our eyes. That sounds pretty hopeful, doesn’t it? Jesus mentions… um… details all the dreadful stuff. Yep. There are some pretty spicy action scenes where great tribulation and difficulty are the “beginning of birth pains” before it all comes to pass (see Matthew 24:8). These are the details that frighten us if we don’t have the whole story in its proper view. Gut check: Much of Matthew 24 could look an awful lot like our modern headline news. We don’t think of the news as hopeful. But what if it’s all revealing this upcoming and wildly hope-filled promise of Jesus’ mighty return? If we read everything the New Testament has to say on the subject, we will find each writer regaling us of a great hope to which we look—looking right through and right past the tribulation stuff to a glorious redemption and fulfillment of everything God has promised. They don’t shy away from the hard stuff any more than Jesus did. But along with Jesus, they echo the wonder and hope it is bringing to us. They also tell us why it’s important to know about: We need to be prepared. We need to live right. We need to be focused on the Master’s business. The Master is showing up at an hour we least expect. “It will be good for that servant whose master finds him doing [what he is supposed to do] when he shows up” (Matthew 24:46). This Sunday, we are launching our new summer teaching series: “God’s Game Plan—Beginning, Middle, End: A study in biblical prophecy.” For the next 14 weeks, we are going to explore the hope, victory, and redemption God has lined up since the beginning. We will understand the tough parts and conquer our fear of them. We will see how the Old Testament prophecies reveal a grand narrative of you and me ending up smack-dab in the middle of God’s heart. And we will learn how to live prepared. Hollywood runs movie previews so you’ll be enticed to buy a ticket. God reveals His game plan because we need to prepare—not so we are intrigued and jazzed by the action scenes that await us. He needs us to know ourselves, know Him, and do the right things. Join us this Sunday to kick it all off—do some advance reading where you might least expect to find the End Times: Read carefully Acts 1:1-11 and Acts 2:14-21. This will be an interesting place to start! Much love to all… Chris Eads Mt. Hope Pastor Friend |
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