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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