Hey Friends…
I hate fire drills. They startle me. But I suppose it’s a good idea to visualize how to evacuate a building quickly. I always sleep during safety briefings on airline flights. But it is worthwhile to know how the oxygen masks work. (Anyone see that Southwest flight that lost cabin pressure a while back? Everyone wore the masks over their mouth, but not their nose. Dumb.) As a 55-year-old male, there are a couple of super-uncomfortable medical checks I’m supposed to get every so often. But it’s helpful to catch some things early on. I wonder: How many Christians view biblical prophecy like an annoying fire drill or an uncomfortable annual physical? We really should know what we need to know, but nothing in us wants to go there. I think this might be a uniquely American problem. I’ll tell you more in Deeper Thoughts below… But first…. · Ladies: Join us for a prayer walk and fellowship time at Morven Park in Leesburg, TOMORROW, Saturday, July 20, 8:30 – 9:30 a.m. Click here for more details! · A memorial service for our beloved Mike Anderson who unexpectedly passed away last month will be TOMORROW, Saturday, July 20, 2:00 p.m. at the church. All are welcome! · Youth & Parents--we need your feedback! The power of being a small church—and therefore a small youth group—is that we are a family, not a program. This enables us to custom tailor the experience for exactly who is present. Chris Bowen wants to keep a pulse on who’s around each week as the summer months have less-predictable rhythms to ensure our Sunday programs are spot-on for your teen. Please be sure to stay in touch with him—240-422-6287 (c). · Kids & Parents—mark your calendar for an important after-church parent’s luncheon on Sunday, August 25, 11:45 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. We will explore your ideas and family needs for long-range planning of our kids and family life ministries. We’ll share what’s upcoming this fall, and have you help co-create our direction for the future. This is a don’t miss event… yummy lunch provided! OK…that’s it today for you email skimmers and those who prefer to be unprepared. BUT… Some Deeper Thoughts… We Americans have a special problem. You might say we have quite a few special problems, many in full view these days. But that’s not what I’m talking about here. The problem that I’m speaking to is more systemic, more long-term. It’s been taking root in our society for at least 100 years or more as we began to crest into position as the most prosperous, powerful, technologically advanced nation in global history. All that prosperity has been good for us in one sense—life here in the western world has been pretty easy compared to most other points in humanity. But it has also darkened our understanding of authentic spirituality and robbed us of our true hope in Jesus Christ. Here’s our problem: We’ve become so accustomed to peace and prosperity that we cringe and duck the moment something uncomfortable needs to be discussed. The result? We often miss important data we ought to know that might just save our spiritual lives. To save my natural life, I need to know how to exit a building, how to wear an oxygen mask, and how to spot an illness early. To save my spiritual life, I need to know God’s plan for what is coming my way, how to protect myself from deception, and how to place my hope in Jesus when trouble rears its ugly head. Our summer teaching series is all about hope. The scriptural content might feel a tad uncomfortable. But the New Testament proclaims these difficult matters with great joy and hope, anxious for Jesus’ deliverance, and speeding towards what is to come. “God’s Game Plan: Beginning, Middle, End—a study in biblical prophecy” we are calling this series. We want--and need—to know how God sees our near-term future. We need to know how to evacuate the enemy’s deception in our lives. And perhaps most importantly, we need to know how to don our spiritual oxygen masks—the life-giving hope of Jesus Christ that belongs to us in times of darkness, turmoil, and despair. For the final five Sundays in our summer teaching series, we will look at a few specific details we might want to know about. We will learn how to escape the enemy’s trap and how to find Jesus’ rescue: · THIS Sunday, July 21: Let’s start with this creepy fellow called “The Antichrist.” He’s a deceptive little bugger, and if he can, he’ll trick us to unwittingly join his team. Jesus will defeat him, and we will overcome him. But we need to know how. This is your airline safety briefing. “There are two over-wing exits on this aircraft…” · NEXT Sunday, July 28: “Overcoming Babylon” – let’s discover the root behind ungodly global and political systems, how Jesus will overthrow them all, and how we can be marked as Jesus’ very own. (Perhaps you’ve heard rumors about this nasty “mark of the beast?” We have a much better tattoo that buys us total victory and freedom. I bet you want that mark and not the other!) “Please be sure you’ve boarded the correct flight… we are headed to Heaven today, not Rochester…” · August 4: “How It All Goes Down” – The New Testament book of Revelation provides details of the final wrap up—a tribulation period, God’s judgment on the earth, the final battle of Armageddon, and a 1,000-year reign of Jesus. What’s it all about, and what do I need to know? “This is your captain speaking… we’ve got a bit of turbulence ahead, but there is nothing to worry about…” · August 11: “Will There Be a Rapture?” – Most Evangelical Christians have been taught that before it gets real ugly, we are going to be snatched away by Jesus and escape the coming tribulation. I really like this idea. But is it in the Bible? Where did this teaching come from, and is it useful to me? “Please review the safety card in the seat back in front of you. It contains useful information in the unlikely event of an emergency…” · August 18: “Rolling Into Heaven” – How does it work? What will I experience? How do I know I will get in? What about everybody else? Is that Saint Peter scanning tickets at the boarding gate? “Please arrive two hours before your scheduled flight to allow time to get through security screening…” You in? Oh… wait… I almost forgot. We have one more talk in our series on “God’s Game Plan”: On August 24, 1835, nine men and women gathered in a little schoolhouse not far from our church and made a covenant to become “Mount Hope Baptist Church” pledging themselves “to God and one another, to live together as a Church of Christ, pledging ourselves to strive together for the faith of the gospel, by all the methods laid down for our observance in the Word of God.” A lot has happened since then. We unmistakably see God’s plan for this little fellowship thriving 189 years later. How about we celebrate this history—and look towards God’s plan for our future—on Sunday, August 25, 2024? Here we go… God is SO good! Chris Eads Mt. Hope Pastor Friend
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Hey Friends…
It was a stunning prediction. It would be tough for anyone paying attention to deny the reality and power of God as a result. Hardened or ignorant hearts missed it. And many still do today. You might not have ever heard about it. But I’m confident that when you do, it’ll knock your socks off. Wanna hear the play-by-play? I’ll tell you more in Deeper Thoughts below… But first…. · Men—don’t miss our big, yummy, full-cholesterol men’s breakfast and Christ-following challenge THIS Saturday, July 13, 8:30 – 10:00 a.m. This month’s men’s ministry event will be the full-service bacon & eggs & pancakes deal with a great time of fellowship, focus, Word, challenge, and prayer. C’mon out on Saturday morning! · Women—next up for you is our ladies prayer walk and fellowship time at Morven Park NEXT Saturday, July 20, 8:30 – 9:30 a.m. Click here for more details! · Youth & Parents—we’re experimenting with the right programming model for our teens and need your feedback! The power of being a small church—and therefore a small youth group—is that we are a family, not a program. This enables us to pivot our programming each week to custom tailor the experience for exactly who is present. As the summer months have lots of travel and less-predictable rhythms, Chris Bowen wants to keep a pulse on who’s around each week to ensure our Sunday programs are spot-on for your teen. Please be sure to stay in touch with him—240-422-6287 (c). · Kids & Parents—mark your calendar for an important after-church parent’s luncheon on Sunday, August 25, 11:45 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. We want to explore your ideas and family needs for long-range planning of our kids and family life ministries. We’ll share what’s upcoming this fall, and have you help co-create our direction for the future. This is a don’t miss event… yummy lunch provided! · A memorial service for our beloved Mike Anderson who unexpectedly passed away three weeks ago will be NEXT Saturday, July 20, 2:00 p.m. at the church. All are welcome! OK…that’s it today for you email skimmers and those who prefer to stay in the dark. BUT… Some Deeper Thoughts… Jesus stunned them. I bet he would have caught your attention too. At first, it was his preaching. He wasn’t dull and rambling like all the other rabbis everyone had grown up around. There was fire in his presentation. “Who is this guy?” they asked, incredulous that the earthy carpenter’s son from small town Nazareth could command such an audience. But it was more than just his charismatic oratory skills. It was the content, too. Jesus spoke of God as someone we could access and relate to—a fatherly Deity driven by mercy and grace. He exposed and annihilated the religious leaders’ hypocrisy and judgmentalism. He performed dazzling miracles of healing and compassion. He attracted the most unlikely of followers, later transforming them from crooks, thieves, and addicts into spiritual giants and evangelists. And then he got himself killed. This is where the hard-hearted stopped paying attention. Widespread noise about a resurrection kept a few curiously at hand. But for most, the brutal crucifixion was enough to turn their heads away and wonder in disbelief that perhaps he hadn’t stayed dead. It was only later that people started adding up the math. Thousands of people began to put their faith in Jesus as his disciples carried on the miracles and commanding grace-filled preaching. Scholars began to look carefully at what had been written about Messiah centuries before. And they were once again astonished. You see, prophecy never gives us perfect foresight. It is not supposed to. Nor could it. But prophecy fulfilled stuns us with its precision. Have you ever read the prophecies of Daniel? It will knock your socks off if you understand the details. With remarkable precision, God revealed the exact date of Messiah some 500 years before Jesus was born. No one recognized it ahead of time, so few were able to pick Jesus out of the crowd of Jewish babies as anyone significant. But after the fact, an ancient prophecy that nailed the date precisely would make them sit up straight. Daniel was a powerful political leader serving in a corrupt, tumultuous kingdom in which many Jews had been exiled. Despite all the political depravity surrounding Daniel’s day job, he was a devout believer and a resolute prayer warrior. One night, as Daniel was faithfully reading the scriptures, he stumbled upon a prophecy written 67 years earlier where God told Jeremiah that the Babylonian exile would last precisely 70 years. Daniel did the math; he realized they had three years left to their political captivity. He dropped to his knees and sought God with prayer, fasting, sackcloth, and ashes (see Daniel 9:1-3 and Jeremiah 29:10-14). That’s when God stunned us later students of Messiah’s coming. With precision, God answered Daniel’s prayer with another revelation. There would be exactly 483 years from a decree by Daniel’s boss to rebuild Jerusalem until Messiah would be on the scene, be put to death, and then God would start wrapping up all of human history. First read through it (see Daniel 9:20-27), you’ll likely feel a bit lost; the language and imagery are quite confusing. I’ll make sense of it for us on Sunday. But if you want to do your own research, click here for a rather detailed article. Bottom line: The decree to rebuild Jerusalem came. Then, exactly 483 years later, Jesus. Bam. Mic drop. God is smart. Why am I telling you all this? (And why should you keep reading such a dense letter… if you’ve not bailed out just yet?) First, God has always been in the business of revealing His play-by-play game plan. Prophecy’s precision should build our faith that He is indeed real, engaged, and intentional about what is coming. But what’s more, Jesus looked his disciples square in the eye and told them to sit up straight regarding Daniel’s prophecy. When asked about the precise timing of the end of the world, Jesus told his disciples there was just one marker. One thing they needed to pay heed to. One event that would be the sign and trigger of it all. And it was from Daniel’s prophecy: Daniel 9:27. That sounds like something we should sit up and pay careful attention to right here in 2024, does it not? Jesus: “So when you see standing in the holy place the ‘abomination that causes desolation’ spoken of through the prophet Daniel—let the reader understand [a parenthetical comment added by gospel author Matthew]—then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains” (Matthew 24:15-16). In other words, when you see Daniel 9:27 coming to pass… run. It is in those days—the days when this prophecy has been precisely fulfilled—that “the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky…he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call and…gather his elect from…one end of the heavens to the other” (Matthew 24:30-31). This is the play-by-play. This is where we need to sit up straight. This is when the end is near. “So, when is it, Chris?” Well… Jesus revealed it. I will explain it. But not until Sunday morning. You gotta show up. It will knock your socks off. And it will knock you to your knees. Sunday morning, 10:00 a.m. in-person (best!) or online livestream (if you’re home sick ‘cuz I infected you with the zombie virus…) It’s gonna be good… Here we go… Chris Eads Mt. Hope Pastor Friend Hey Friends…
Well, this week’s planned vacation didn’t go so well. That nasty head cold bug that’s been going around caught up with me hard all this week—far heavier than I expected last Sunday when I showed up at church with what I thought was just a mild congestion (ooops!!). As evidenced by me even telling you this now, we men especially have a reputation for complaining loudly when we’re sick. It consumes our every thought. We whine incessantly (ask my wife). We mope around. And we fiercely look for every solution possible. But I wonder: Do we put the same vigorous attention to our spiritual unwellness? [Insert uncomfortable cough here.] Let’s talk more about this in Deeper Thoughts below… But first… just three super-quick mentions on important dates… · Men: Our next men’s breakfast and challenge is NEXT Saturday, July 13. More details to come on Sunday! · Ladies: 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! · Our memorial service for Mike Anderson will be Saturday, July 20. Time TBD… more info to come… OK…that’s it today for you email skimmers and those who have never had a spiritual cold. BUT… Some Deeper Thoughts… It’s curious timing that Pastor Will Cravens has been on the schedule to preach this Sunday for a couple of months now. He’s one of our favorites at Mt. Hope, having shepherded many in our congregation in years past. So, whenever he’s in town, I try to grab him to share the Word with us. His humorous and bold approach to the scriptures adds a layer of fun to counterbalance my often-heavy teachings. So… I’ll stay in bed the rest of this week, let Will get the Word put together, and maybe I’ll see you Sunday if the heavy antibiotics I started yesterday have done their work in time. BUT… more curious timing: Will’s teaching for Sunday that he’s received from the Lord ties right into my probing question about our spiritual unwellness. As you can imagine, wellness has been on my mind a lot this week. In part, it might have something to do with my genuine worry that I may have been infected by the Zombie Apocalypse Virus and all of our impending doom will soon result from my breathing on some of you last Sunday. But more likely, my thoughts have to do with the sense that most of us American Christians are limping along with less spiritual vitality than we realize. It’s like we have a chronic low-grade fever of spiritual apathy that we’ve lived with for so long that we don’t even realize we are not well—at least not as well as we could be. Now, don’t get me wrong. Especially around the family at Mt. Hope, I see a lot of passion for the Lord, a lot of commitment to grow in our spiritual lives, and a genuine hunger for God’s Word. We’re a beautiful family seeking the Lord at various levels which are truly authentic to where we each are in our personal journey. So, don’t hear me saying that I think any of us on this email chain are on our spiritual death beds. But I also recognize that when we do face things like an apocalypse--real or imagined—we might discover our desperate need for an even stronger spiritual health than we presently have. We’re in the middle of this teaching series called “God’s Game Plan—Beginning, Middle, End: A study in biblical prophecy.” It’s a study of what God has laid out from the beginning as to where this is all headed. We need to study this so that we can be prepared for… well… an actual apocalypse. The scriptures reveal an apocalypse is indeed coming. It is a mystery whether the end is just around the corner or is further down the road sometime after our own personal departure. But that’s the whole point: Precisely because it’s a mystery, Jesus recommends we be about the business of the Father as if his return is imminent…um… like maybe even today. When Jesus explained in terrible detail where everything is headed (check it out in Matthew 24), he rolled right on into a couple of parables that explained how some folks live fully prepared and how some don’t (see Matthew 25). Jesus told two stories: One about a gaggle of wedding attendants who were lazy in their focus and another about financial stewards who squandered their responsibilities. Both found their master’s unexpected and untimely appearance catching them entirely out of position and out of relationship with the one they were called to serve. When we are sick in bed hacking up microbes of the zombie virus--or Covid, or flu, or strep…pick your poison—it is all we can think about. We lay there desperately committed to do whatever we have to do to get it right. When we are living with a low-grade disease of spiritual apathy, we rarely think about it and have little motivation to change anything. (Hmmm… that might be why we call it apathy.) But what if we had amazing clarity on how real and how close this next chapter is—the chapter where the King of Kings returns and reveals all of His wonder and beauty in unmasked glory; the chapter where we get to see and understand all things for what they really are; the chapter where we get to shed all the suffering and sorrow and pain and disease; the chapter where a brand new reality in both the spiritual and natural realms becomes our home? What if we could see that not in some distant, abstract imagination, but in its actual, immanent splendor? Wouldn’t that make you so anxious--in a good way—to get prepared and live a “no regrets” kind of life? I promise you that Will is going to make this a much more fun, exciting, and humorous conversation than I’m cobbling together for you here. For now, I’ll go pop another antibiotic and some Sudafed and hopefully see you on Sunday. But in the meantime, do some thinking and some praying. Are you hungry to know the Lord with every ounce of preparedness, focus, and drive as you would be driven to get over any yucky unwellness in your life? Are you ready to live a “no regrets” kind of life? What would need to change within you? Let’s seek God together on this. I bet His Word and His servant Will Cravens have something powerful for us this Sunday… 10:00 a.m. in-person (best!), or online livestream (if you have the zombie virus...). Much love (and wellness) to you all… Chris Eads Mt. Hope Pastor Friend 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 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 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 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 |
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July 2024
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