|
Hey Friends…
We have a problem. It can be solved, but only if we recognize how deep it is. If we keep seeing it as “normal,” we won’t want Jesus to fix it. We won’t even recognize that he could. Instead, we’ll only look for Jesus to fix a few shallower aspects of our lives. While a shallow healing is certainly enjoyable, most of us are oblivious to the far greater life we could experience if Jesus healed our deeper issue. What to know what it is? More importantly, do you want it to be healed? Let’s talk in Deeper Thoughts below… But first… four important events, and two video links: · THIS SUNDAY: We are watching the forecast suggesting 1-3 inches of snow may arrive during church. We will keep monitoring and will email you Saturday evening with our plans for Sunday service and youth group. · Let’s PRAY!! THIS Saturday, January 18, sometime between 8:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m., come pray with us at the church to seek God for our future, with a worship night at 6:00 p.m. Click here to let us know what time to expect you—or if you’re out of town, when might pray from afar! · Join our Mt. Hope History Team for a half-day brainstorming session, Saturday, January 25, 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., lunch included. Click here to email Sherri for details and to RSVP! · Ladies: Join us for our annual “Vision Board” event Saturday, February 1, 1:30 – 3:30 p.m. Click here for more info! · Did you miss our facility expansion update last Sunday? No worries: click here to see our current plans for expanding Mt. Hope, learn about our next steps, and discover how you can participate. Please be patient with some poor audio coverage of folks’ great questions; it gets fixed a few minutes in. · And don’t forget our “Daily Six” video series, six-minute videos every weekday to read along with me as I study through the Gospel of Mark. Click here to jump in this week and catch up! OK…that’s it today for you email skimmers and those who prefer shallow living. BUT… Some Deeper Thoughts… When I was 19 years old, I had major reconstructive jaw surgery. It was incredibly invasive. And painful. Not to ruin your appetite, but the short story is they had to cut my upper jaw completely out, set it on the table, pull some bone from my hip, stuff it up in my face to make new cheekbones, and then tie the jaw back into a new position with large titanium screws. My upper jaw had never grown to its normal adult position; the doctors didn’t want me living with a severe underbite and an even uglier face than I have now. Staring down the barrel of this obviously wretched procedure, I prayed hard. My ask was simple. “Jesus, miraculously prevent any pain. Please.” My surgeon assured me Jesus wouldn’t answer (oh, I tried to tell him all about the Lord) and that I should be prepared for a very rough summer. I prayed. Miraculously, God obliged. But only partly. He left just a touch of pain unhealed to simply make His point. I can imagine that wry little grin on His face as He told the archangel to “hold my holy water and watch this…” My agenda was no pain. God’s agenda was more precise. And far more bold. I didn’t know I needed what He had in mind. But when He delivered, it changed my life. As I laid in Reston Hospital for three days of recovery, my face swelled to the size (and color) of Charlie Brown’s “The Great Pumpkin.” My college buddies stopped by to see how I was doing, but when they walked in my room, they immediately turned around and left. They thought they had the wrong patient as I was totally unrecognizable. My hip was screaming in pain from the bone graft (oops… did I forget to ask God to prevent that specific pain?). But my face and jaw were completely painless. That, the surgeon later conceded, was indeed a miracle. (No, he didn’t get saved.) But more miraculously, those three days in the hospital became the most meaningful intimacy with Jesus I have ever experienced in my life--before or since. With unmistakable clarity, Jesus Christ was distinctly present with me in that room. Wave upon wave of a mighty baptism of the Holy Spirit cascaded through my spirit for three days straight. The Word of God flooded my mind. I experienced irrational levels of joy even as I lay with eyes closed, gritting teeth over the searing bone graft pain. A spirit of perfect love I had never known washed over my emotions and my soul. My heart pivoted to an irreversible devotion to the Lord and a surrender to His lifetime authority over me. It has driven me ever since. The bold faith you see in me every Sunday comes, in part, from that precious, pain-filled, glorious hospital visit in the summer of 1989. Why am I telling you all this? Because I think we often (maybe usually?) ask for the wrong miracle. So did the paralytic’s buddies in Mark 2:1-12. They understandably wanted a healing from their friend’s life of physical pain. But Jesus would rather perform the miracle of Levi’s spiritual healing in Mark 2:13-17. “When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, ‘Son, your sins are forgiven’” (Mark 2:5). When Jesus met the crooked mobster Levi he said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners” (Mark 2:17). I told you earlier we have a problem. Jesus wants to heal it. But the problem is not first and foremost the physical or emotional discomfort we would prefer he take away. Our problem starts with a shallow, intellectual-based faith that sees its goal as getting from Jesus pragmatic solutions to our temporary physical and emotional needs. We choose to intellectually agree with the doctrines of the Bible so we can get God’s help with our immediate pains and struggles. But Jesus would prefer to forge inside us an everlasting, abiding, and all-consuming intimacy with God. To do this, he needs to heal our sinful hearts, not our ailing bodies. This Sunday let’s look into the life of that paralytic, the spiritually foul Levi, and his motley crew of unsavory scoundrels. Let’s see the supernatural things Jesus did with them. And let’s consider if we are asking for the right miracle in our lives. One more reminder: Let me personally help you spend 12 minutes to abundance with Jesus every day from now until Easter. It is intrinsically tied to the very thing we’ve just finished discussing—forging an irreversible intimacy with Jesus. Let me do it with you. Click here for our “Daily Six” video series and come along with me, Monday through Friday, as I read the Gospel of Mark and pray for God’s revelation in it. Just six minutes together, then you talk with God alone for six minutes more. And if you’d like to receive daily email reminders, click here to receive a link to The Daily Six each morning—or you can just find the videos on our YouTube channel every day. Let’s ask Jesus for what we really need… There's a profound miracle waiting for us if we’ll recognize we really need it. Much love… See you Sunday!! Chris Eads Mt. Hope Pastor Friend
0 Comments
Hey friends…
Why do anything that’s pointless? Life has enough pressures and responsibilities as it is, so why spend the energy keeping up with something that has no value? Now, if you’re taking the time to read these first few sentences, you obviously value Jesus enough to at least open an email from a church. But look out!! Even among those who deeply cherish their faith, there’s a trap we can easily fall into where we end up missing the point altogether. I’ll tell you more in Deeper Thoughts below… But first… a BUNCH of cool stuff is happening: · Do you pray? Click here to watch today’s “Daily Six” about praying like Jesus prayed. Let’s spend just six minutes together to look at the whole point of following Jesus. More on this in Deeper Thoughts below. · Want to see some drawings of Mt. Hope’s potential future? Hang around after church THIS Sunday to see the current draft of our building expansion concept, give us your feedback, and talk about next steps. 11:45 a.m. until…? · Let’s PRAY!! Plan 30 minutes on Saturday January 18 sometime between 8:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m. to come pray with us at our next prayer vigil to seek God for our future, with a worship night at 6:00 p.m. that evening. Click here to let us know what time to expect you! · Join our Mt. Hope History Team for a half-day brainstorming session, Saturday, January 25, 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., lunch included. Click here to email Sherri for details and to RSVP! · Teens: Join us for youth group after church this Sunday, 11:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m.! · Ladies: We are collecting items to take Uruguayan missionaries: brand-new or “like new” women’s clothing items of ALL sizes; accessories (jewelry, scarves, etc…); and unopened toiletries. Bring these to the BLUE room at church by January 26. Also… mark your calendars for Saturday, February 1 for our next get together. Click here for more info! · This Sunday is going to be AWESOME!! We’re baptizing our 17-year-old buddy, Coby, who has been on a wildly transformative journey with us. You’ve got to hear his story in detail! And any skeptic you know… invite them. they’ll get a lot out of it. OK…that’s it today for you email skimmers and those who enjoy pointless activity. BUT… Some Deeper Thoughts… Why are you even interested in being a Christian? I told you last Sunday that dry, life-less, boring religion has exhausted me since I was a kid. And there is plenty of lifelessness running around religion. Just ask the average churchgoer across the nation: “What did you get out of last Sunday?” Depending on the type of church, the answers might be muddled. For some, faith is really about a social life. Church and religion fill a void by being surrounded with decent people. The morals are quite respectable. The conversations are polite. The generosity of others is encouraging. For others, accepting Jesus is all about fear. With the death rate running right at 100% these days, we all carry a subtle fear of the afterlife, and the message that our sins can be forgiven and heaven assured--and of course hell avoided—is a fairly motivating reason to become a Christian. But is that all you want out of Jesus? Nice people and a comfortable eternity? Or are you hungry for something more? I am. I am ravenous for an authentic spiritual life that is truly substantive, truly transformative, truly supernatural. I am desperate for an experience with Jesus, not just an intellectual affinity with him. And I am so hungry for this that I will rip up any lifeless religious activity that keeps me from him. This next week, we’re going to read in Mark 2:1-12 about a group of friends who were so intent on getting in front of Jesus that they literally ripped the roof off Jesus’ home to climb inside the packed-out house. The crowds were so thick and so hungry for Jesus’ words that not a single person would give up their little square footage to let another needy person get near him. We’ll read about this together on this coming Monday’s “Daily Six.” When was the last time you saw a church so full, and people so hungry to get inside, that people were breaking down walls or tearing off the shingles to get in? Oh, you’ve never seen that? Huh. I wonder why not? When was the last time you were so desperate to get with Jesus that you knocked down your entire schedule and ripped your ceiling open with the intensity of your prayers? Hmmm. Friends, forgive me if I’m being a little too punchy. Consider it my own version of roof-remodeling in search of a personal encounter with Jesus. And I want you to join me. Here’s the deal: There’s only one way to get this kind of experience with Jesus. It’s to go where he is. To do what he did. To inquire and listen to God the way Jesus connected with the Father. It’s to receive the things he received, and to reject the things he rejected. It’s to… hang on… here’s the punch line: it’s to be with Jesus. When we get with Jesus, we will experience what he experienced. And from that, we can do what Jesus did. And from that, we can have a relationship that is not lifeless, dull, boring, and ordinary. Check it out in the scriptures before Sunday morning, and then let’s talk: Mark 1:10-11. Jesus submitted himself to God and then he heard God’s voice. “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.” That’s what I’m talking about. That’s an experience with God: His voice; His revelation; His confidence in our relationship. That’s what I am starving for. You? Do you want to hear this--like, really hear it—from God? Not hear it from the preacher, but hear it directly from the Father? If we want this kind of interactive experience with God, we must do what Jesus did. “Follow me,” Jesus said to two guys while they were at work (Mark 1:17). Follow me. Do what I do. Then you will have the relationship. What did Jesus do to get this? Let’s talk Sunday. But until then: Have you been giving God a daily “12 minutes to abundance?” It’s not too late to start. We are challenging everyone to lock 12 minutes with Jesus on top of a specific thing you already do every single day—getting ready in the morning; or eating breakfast, lunch, or dinner; or coffee break at work; or commuting to or from work, school, the gym, the store, etc. (sit in the parking lot for 12 minutes with Jesus). Every. Single. Day. Let me personally help you. I will do it with you. Click here for our “Daily Six” video series and come along with me, Monday through Friday, as I read the Gospel of Mark and pray for God’s revelation in it. Just six minutes together, then you talk with God alone for six minutes more. And if you’d like to receive daily email reminders, click here to receive a link to The Daily Six each morning—or you can just find the videos on our YouTube channel every day. Let’s follow Jesus together… it’s the entire point. See you Sunday!! Chris Eads Mt. Hope Pastor Friend Hey friends…
For you. It was quite specific. Distinct. Good. But just a tad costly… well, it’s frankly on the discount table, but you’ll still have to pony up a little. But if you do, God promised me something that I am certain you will like. Want to know what it is? I’ll tell you down in Deeper Thoughts below… But first… a few important reminders: · Hang around after church NEXT Sunday, January 12, to see the first draft of our building expansion plans. We’ll show you the architect’s ideas, get your feedback, and talk about next steps. 11:40-ish until whenever (not super long). · Plan 30 minutes on Saturday January 18 sometime between 8:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m. to come pray with us at our next prayer vigil, with a worship night that evening. Wouldn’t it be awesome if we could get 100 Mt. Hope folks to stop by the church throughout the day and pray with us for a half hour or so? Please carve out the time! We need the Body of Christ together to seek Him for our future! · New small group about marriage: NEXT Friday Night, January 10, 6:30 p.m. at the church, David and Lynn Eisele launch a seven-week small group called “You and Me Together, a study in Christ-centered marriage. This is for marrieds and singles, young and old! Use your marriage and life to show others what love is, to build each other up, support one another in your callings, and keep one another spiritually on-track. Click here to let us know you’re interested! · Ladies: Sandra Cravens and the Uruguay mission team are collecting items to take to the Uruguayan missionaries and church leaders that they will be serving. As you clean out your closets this holiday season, we are looking for brand-new or “like new” women’s clothing items of ALL sizes; accessories (jewelry, scarves, etc…); and unopened toiletries. Bring these to the BLUE room at church by January 26. OK…that’s it today for you email skimmers and those who prefer to avoid anything God might have to say. BUT… Some Deeper Thoughts… I realize that “God spoke something to me” can be a bit intimidating. Perhaps even somewhat manipulative—I mean, how do you argue or push back on something that “Almighty God hath said?” For many people, they can’t say that God has ever spoken anything to them. They’re not even sure what that would be like, so their visualization of it can often quickly pivot to something more grandiose than it really is. Or they could—and perhaps should—have a serious case of skepticism whenever someone says, “God told me this for you.” So, those caveats acknowledged, would you allow me to tell you that “God told me something for you?” It was about four weeks ago. The impression was distinct. It was not audible, but it was a clear gut impression deep in my spirit. I wrote it down. Here it is: Oh… wait… let me set one important stage, and then I’ll tell you what He said. This Sunday, we start a new teaching series where we will be walking chapter-by-chapter through the Gospel of Mark to learn everything we can about Jesus. Each week, we’ll be mapping out five short readings from each chapter that you can read along with us. We’ll provide you a direction to pray. We’ll have a daily six-minute video (Monday through Friday) for you to come with me while I do my own reading and prayer. Most of our small groups will be reading the same chapter each week. Wouldn’t it be awesome if we all soaked in the same stories of Jesus over the course of the week, and then we gathered on Sundays to do a deeper dive into that same text? Wouldn’t we really know Jesus by the end of those sixteen weeks? “OK… C’mon Chris, get on with it. I’m about to click out of this email. What did God say already??” Here goes. A very specific word from the Lord for you and for me—and you be the judge. Does it seem like this might be from God? Ready? “If you will be faithful to give God twelve minutes of focused attention in the Word each day, and if you will not miss a single day for the next 16 weeks, God will do a work in your heart. The Word of God will become a light and a lifeline to you in ways you cannot begin to imagine. “You never miss a day of personal hygiene. You never miss a day of eating meals. And if you ever do, it haunts you all day long. Both take only about 12 minutes. Beloved, the Lord says to us, ‘Do not miss the cleansing and feeding that is found in God’s Word. Ever.’” Wait… um… did I tell you all this already? Seems like I might have told you about this word from the Lord just a few Fridays ago. Ooops… or… should I say “good?” Yep, let’s go with good. This one is worth repeating because it is truly a promise of power. “Powered by Jesus: Living the Abundant Spirit-filled Life” we are calling this new winter teaching series. If we want the power of Jesus in our lives, empowered by him for truly abundant living, then we need to follow his lead on how to get there. Here’s what Jesus did: Mark 1:35: “Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went to a solitary place, where he prayed.” Will you follow him with this? It doesn’t have to be before dark. It doesn’t even have to be in the morning, though both of those are excellent ideas for how to lock in your day with Jesus. But it does need to be consistent. Lock it on top of a specific thing you already do every single day. Commit to twelve minutes and attach it to that thing—getting ready in the morning; or eating breakfast, lunch, or dinner; or coffee break at work; or commuting to or from work, school, the gym, the store, etc. (sit in the parking lot for 12 minutes with Jesus). Find something you do every day and lock Jesus onto that one thing. Every. Single. Day. Twelve minutes to abundance. Five days a week. Sixteen weeks. That’s eighty times. If you will be faithful and not miss a single day, then God will do a work in your heart. The Word of God will become a light and a lifeline to you. You in? When do you start? On Monday? Good. I’ll have all the tools and details waiting for you this Sunday morning. If you can’t be there this week, pull it up online afterwards. And, just for good measure, I’ll drop a note in your email inbox early Monday morning. Here we go… let’s follow Jesus together!! Much love to you all… see you Sunday! Can’t wait!! Chris Eads Mt. Hope Pastor Friend Hey friends…
I hope you had a fantastic Christmas week! We’ll keep our Friday letter “holiday short” today… but you may want to mark your calendars with some important events coming up at Mt. Hope! We will save Deeper Thoughts for next week… Save these dates and plan to join us: · NEXT Sunday, January 5, we kick off our new winter teaching series, “Powered by Jesus: Living the Abundant Spirit-filled Life.” We’ll be working chapter-by-chapter through the Gospel of Mark on Sundays, in our small groups, our Daily Six videos, and daily readings. o AND… we need you to make one commitment: Pick a consistent time for “12 minutes to abundance”—twelve minutes each day attached to a daily rhythm you already do (i.e. brushing your teeth, eating, commuting, break time at work, etc.) where you can commit to the Word and prayer in the Gospel of Mark with us. We’ll guide you through exactly what to do. Have your time slot figured out by next Sunday… we’ll kick it off with resources and ideas on Monday, January 6th! · Save Sunday after church on January 12 to see the first draft of our building expansion plans. We’ll show you the architect’s ideas, get your feedback, and talk about next steps. 11:40-ish until whenever (not super long). · Mark some time to come pray with us at our next prayer vigil, Saturday January 18 with a worship night that evening. Wouldn’t it be awesome if we could get 100 Mt. Hope folks to stop by the church and pray with us for half an hour or so throughout the day? Please carve out the time! We need to be the Body of Christ together to seek Him for our future! · Teens – no Youth Group this Sunday! But come out Monday, December 30 for fun, games, and food—5:30 – 8:30 p.m. Contact Jess Sauder for details: [email protected]. · A new small group kicks off on January 10 called “You and Me Together,” a study in Christ-centered marriage led by David and Lynn Eisele. This is for marrieds and singles, young and old! Use your marriage and life to show others what love is, to build each other up, support one another in your callings, and keep one another spiritually on-track. Click here to let us know you’re interested! · If you’d like to be part of our “History Team” researching the history of our church, discovering details about our graveyard that may be currently lost to us, and preparing for our 190th anniversary this summer, join us on Saturday, January 25 for a half-day work session. More details to come! OK…that’s it today for you email skimmers…oh, and everybody! BUT…hope to see you Sunday, 10:00 a.m.!! Much love to you all… Chris Eads Mt. Hope Pastor Friend Hey friends…
Many of you find my suggestion appalling. Skip our favorite holiday?!?! Unconscionable. But I bet there are a few of you who find this idea rather appealing. Skip all the hype and the rat race of an overwhelming holiday schedule?? Fantastic. But before you cancel me for such a ludicrous suggestion, can I plant the idea that a mountain of people are already skipping Christmas without even realizing it? Might you be one of them? I’ll tell you more in Deeper Thoughts below… But first… just a few important items: · LAST CHANCE to take a quick survey for us if you’ve not done so already! We are looking to understand what you most want us to focus on to help you grow in Jesus. The survey is only 6 quick questions… click here. Many thanks in advance! · Candlelight Christmas Eve!! Two services: 5:00 and 6:30 p.m. Invite your family and friends! o If you would like to participate in our Christmas Eve choir, click here to connect with Ryan Sauder! o Childcare will be available at 5:00 p.m. or only by special reservation at 6:30. Please click here to let us know you need childcare! · Teens – no Youth Group this Sunday! Contact Jess Sauder for updates throughout the holidays: [email protected]. · New small groups are starting this January! Among them, David and Lynn Eisele are kicking off a new small group called “You and Me Together,” a study in Christ-centered marriage. This is for marrieds and singles, young and old! Use your marriage and life to show others what love is, to build each other up, support one another in your callings, and keep one another spiritually on-track. Click here to let us know you’re interested! OK…that’s it today for you email skimmers and those who have decided I’m an unforgivable grinch. BUT… Some Deeper Thoughts… Thank God for Amazon. Click, click, and the package is shipped. Order your Christmas gift on Monday; you’ll have it under the tree by Tuesday. (And no, please don’t ask me if I’ve recently been rescued by this brilliant invention!) I imagine you’ve either heard or expressed this sentiment before: “All the commercialization of Christmas misses the entire point of Christmas.” You feel it don’t you? Holiday parties tying up every night in December; uncooperative decorations revealing your evil inner-Clark Griswald; crazy schedules to get to and from the in-laws; shopping for presents no one really wants… how is any of this related to Jesus Christ being born in a Middle Eastern stable some 2,030 years ago? While certainly a bit cliché, in this sense many of us skip out on the real meaning of Christmas by being so distracted by all the commercial and social expectations of the holiday. But this isn’t what I’m talking about when I tell you more people are skipping Christmas than realize it. Skipping Christmas started in 6 B.C. It’s been going on in droves ever since. Most scholars agree that Jesus was not born on December 25, 0 B.C. / A.D., based on a whole host of historic and astronomical details we don’t have time for here. The best guess of when Jesus was actually born lands somewhere around March of the year 6.B.C. (ping me by email if you’d like the details… sorry if I just wrecked your holiday!). Nearly everyone missed the first Christmas out of simple ignorance that a baby of divine conception was just born to an out-of-town couple holding up in a borrowed stable while all the local hotels were sold out. His mom’s unusual labor and delivery room wasn’t the big story—a poorly organized census demanded by an inefficient government bureaucracy displaced a whole host of travelers that weekend. That someone would end up giving birth while in town and not have anywhere to go was inevitable. The big story was who this baby was. Almost no one could comprehend it. Not even you and me. It would be several decades later when an uneducated fisherman finally connected all the dots. When John Bar Zebedee got to know that stable-born baby all grown up, he saw the light. Literally. Here’s how John described it: “In him was life, and that life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it… The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world. He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him” (John 1:4-11). Did you catch the tragedy of John’s words? The world was languishing in darkness. Our world is languishing in darkness today. And we skip Christmas entirely unawares. We don’t even recognize it. Sure, we Christians generally know the basics of the story. Jesus came to die for our sins. He traded his holiness for our sinfulness. Because of this, we can love God and live eternally when we believe him for our salvation. End of story, right? Or is it? What about our immediate life today? Don’t get me wrong: Eternal life matters, especially when you die. But between now and then--smack dab in the middle of your precious life—are you skipping out on what this stable-born baby and his ultimate crucifixion can change about you? We certainly aren’t skipping the celebration of Christmas. We’ve got that one down pat. What we are skipping is the light. We don’t even see it. Just like John said: “The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.” Darkness surrounds us all. Attitudes. Anger. Resentment. Unforgiveness. Lust. Greed. Gossip. Jealousy. Materialism. Self-hatred. Dishonesty. Medicating addictions. Doubt. Fear. Despair. (I could go on… you get the point). This darkness is inside us all. Jesus came to eradicate that darkness by being the purest, brightest, boldest light ever known to man. (Clark Griswald, eat your heart out!) He came to show us the way. To change our broken hearts. To reveal the path of righteousness. To illuminate a better life. But we miss it. We skip it. How? By not investing every ounce of our energy to know this Jesus in every possible way. By not creating room in our hectic holiday schedules to fall on our knees before God and seek Him for revolutionary solutions to that darkness. By not devoting ourselves to the scriptures. By not pouring ourselves out before Him and asking Him to pour out His Holy Spirit upon us. Friends, please don’t hear this as shame. We are all doing this. Me included. To borrow the words of the famed Lon Solomon: “Not a sermon. Just a thought.” But maybe this Christmas we should sit for a minute (or two, or ten, or twenty…) and contemplate the light. He came to us. Let’s allow Him to shine into our darkness and lead us somewhere entirely new. Much love to you all… and Merry Christmas… or shall we say, Merry “Light-mas?” Chris Eads Mt. Hope Pastor Friend Hey there, Beloved Mt. Hope’rs…
Tomorrow: Saturday, December 14 is our 12-hour prayer vigil from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Will you join us to seek God for the future of our church? Click here to let us know when you will be praying with us! Our Elders will take turns being at the church from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. We are calling on God for His leadership, the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, and His miraculous provision for what’s next for Mt. Hope. Would you sign up to stop by and pray with us for 30 minutes? Or you can pray from home, too. How and What to Pray: Tomorrow is just one in a series of Mt. Hope prayer vigils asking God to move mightily and powerfully in our church. Today, we are asking God for an outpouring of the Holy Spirit and a provision for the future of our church. To receive this from the Lord, let’s follow the biblical pattern of how outpourings of the Holy Spirit were sought. As you engage this prayer vigil, consider using these steps to guide your thinking, praying, listening, and waiting upon God. First: Understand and stand upon the biblical promise: Read Joel 2:28-32 / Acts 2:16-21 / Acts 2:39 Pray a word of faith that you are trusting God for His provision—that he does intend to pour out His Spirit on all people, which includes you! “God, I receive the word of your promise. You have included me in this promise to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. I choose to believe you!” Second: Wait upon the Lord for the gift of the Holy Spirit: Read Acts 1:4-8 / Psalm 27:14 / Isaiah 40:31 / Jeremiah 29:13 Pray a word of surrender to God’s timing. Tell Him you will wait upon him with expectancy. Put these bible verses in your own words to declare back to God His promise and your commitment to wait upon Him. “God, I wait upon you for everything you want to do in me. Reveal to my spirit what you are promising to me. Is there anything you want to show me? I trust you, even if it takes a long time to see you.” AND THEN…. Wait silently before the Lord. Walk or pace or sit quietly for 4 or 5 minutes (or more!) and see if you sense Him revealing anything in your spirit (see and contemplate Lamentations 3:25-26). Third: Repent of unbelief or anything between you and God: Read Acts 2:37-40 / Psalm 139:23-24 / 2 Chronicles 7:14 / Psalm 51:1-7 Pray a prayer of repentance—even if you do not have a specific thing to give up to God. Give Him access to everything within you and ask Him to reveal to you what you need to surrender to Him. Especially include surrendering any unbelief or shallow trust in His Word, or any sin that you struggle with. “God, I give you my whole heart and everything about me. I give you my trust that Your Word is true. I surrender my sin to you. Whatever you will reveal to me, I will hand over to you. Cleanse me and make me whole!” Fourth: Pray together with others: Read Acts 2:1 / Acts 4:24-31 / Acts 8:14 / Acts 9:17 / Acts 19:6 Pray with other believers for God to fill you with the Holy Spirit. Do not be shy on this. It is the biblical pattern that this request is not just done in secret and in silence between you and God. It is to be prayed together. In Acts, the apostles were sent to pray over them for this specific gift, so let’s do this together! (If you’re at the church, ask the Elders or other leaders to pray this over you!) “God, fill us all with your Holy Spirit. I ask you to fulfill your promise to my friend here now ________________ and fill them with your Spirit! Connecting this to our Mt. Hope Future: We need the Lord to lead us as our future unfolds, which includes the vision to expand the scope and capacity of our campus. But more than a building, we need God to pour Himself out for us. Here is a snapshot of how this is interconnected: Thank you for joining us in prayer, however you do… whether in-person at the church, at home alone, or wherever your travels take you. I know God is going to move mightily! I look forward to hearing what He has done… we’ll share some stories on Sunday! See you in prayer!! Chris Eads Mt. Hope Pastor Friend Hey there, Beloved…
Sometimes I write about things that don’t interest you. When I do, I trust you just skim on past and delete the email. What’s worse, though, is when I take an entire Sunday (or two) to teach about things that bore you. Someone once said, “it is a sin to bore people with the Gospel.” So, let’s do a check-in and see if I’ve been on a tangent lately that feels irrelevant to you. I bet it does… oh, unless the Holy Spirit has done something miraculous in you. I’ll tell you more in Deeper Thoughts below… But first… a few quick items: · THIS Sunday evening, December 8, 5:00 p.m. Our annual Christmas Pageant and All-Church Christmas Party!! Our kids and middle schoolers tell the story of Christmas in music and drama. Then, we gather for a festive potluck dinner and fellowship. The pageant program begins at 5:00, dinner around 5:45. Click here to sign up for what you can bring—grab a disposable pan on Sunday; plan to bring your food early! · Will you take a quick survey for us? We are particularly interested in learning what you most want us to focus on providing for you from Mt. Hope. The survey is only 6 quick questions… click here. Thanks in advance! · Our 12-hour prayer vigil is NEXT Saturday, December 14! Will you join us to seek God for the future of our church? We are calling on God for His leadership, the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, and His miraculous provision for what’s next for us. NEXT Saturday, our Elders will take turns being at the church all day from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Would you sign up to stop by and pray with us for 30 minutes? Or you can pray from home, too. Click here to RSVP and to receive some guided prayer points! · Ladies: Join us for a Christmas Cookie Exchange December 14 from 1:30 p.m. – 3:30 p.m. at the church. Come dressed in your Christmas attire and enjoy some fun, fellowship, and delicious cookies! Click here to RSVP… and plan on stopping in upstairs before or after to join the prayer vigil for a bit! · Christmas Eve!! Two services: 5:00 and 6:30 p.m. Invite your family and friends! If you would like to participate in our Christmas Eve choir, click here to connect with Ryan Sauder! · Just two more weeks of “The Daily Six”, our 6-minute video released every Monday through Thursday! Click here to receive daily reminder emails—or just find the videos on our YouTube channel each morning. OK…that’s it today for you email skimmers and those who are always bored with whatever I’m saying. BUT… Some Deeper Thoughts… Perhaps you’ve picked up on my prodding on a few recent Sundays. Sure, a tiny part of it might be my pesky insecurity wanting to be sure you still like me and that I am relevant. But the truth is, despite my all-too-normal self-doubt, I know I am relevant. The Word of God is always relevant, and the Word of God is all I care about presenting to you. The real motive behind my prodding and poking is that I also know human nature leads every one of us to shy away from this particular corner of the Word of God. I shy away too. There is a very clear reason for it. And that reason is biblical. In fact, without the Holy Spirit pouring out a profoundly unique experience into you and me, this topic needs to be irrelevant, because without a special movement of the Holy Spirit, you should not be interested in it. You’ll do more harm than good to geek out on the topic without the Holy Spirit. “What are we talking about, Chris? You’re being dodgy.” Thanks for asking. The topic is mission. Your mission. Your calling. Your responsibility to “go and make disciples” (Matthew 28:19). Your assignment to share the good news about Jesus with your family, friends, neighbors, and co-workers. “Yep… I’m out. Not interested. Scared. Don’t want to do that. Irrelevant. Weird. Not cool. Deleting email now.” Good. Unless… Unless you have been specifically baptized with the Holy Spirit, mission and calling and witness is uncomfortable and irrelevant, and it needs to be. You’ll do a whole host of damage to your relationships and the testimony of the Gospel if you try to share Jesus without the power of the Holy Spirit. This is why Jesus told his disciples to wait. Hold up. Pull back. Don’t move. Jesus was precise and commanding: “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait…” The disciples were on an out-of-town road trip to celebrate Pentecost. They were undoubtedly in a world of confusion trying to figure out what to do with this recently crucified and resurrected Messiah. “…wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. For John baptized you with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit… you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses…” (Acts 1:4-8). Wait. Without the baptism of the Holy Spirit, do not move. Do not witness. Do not share. But when you have this Holy Spirit baptism, wow… you will have power. This mission will look entirely attractive. You will be entirely capable and equipped. You will want this. And you will be good at it. I wonder. Have you been baptized with the Holy Spirit? If not, this is probably why you’re not interested in being on mission. “So, Chris, if I prefer to not be used by God in sharing my faith with other people, wouldn’t it be best to simply not seek the baptism of the Holy Spirit? If what you’re saying here is true, it seems to me that an ‘easy out’ from this unwanted assignment is to just avoid the Holy Spirit altogether.” Not bad logic. Except that you’ll miss out on the entire reason Jesus created you. You’ll miss out on the whole of what God has for you. Your Christianity will be stale, lifeless, and frankly useless to God’s ultimate agenda. Jesus didn’t save you and me to make our lives better. He saved us to use our lives to accomplish His purposes in the world. I know that sounds lofty. It may even put you under some unwanted pressure. But it’s true. You’ve read Psalm 139:13-16, haven’t you? Perhaps less well-known, but relevant nonetheless, consider Jeremiah 1:4-10. Or Isaiah 6:1-8. Or just buckle down and accept that Matthew 28:18-20 is an actual, present assignment for you and me and that Jesus being with you is the key. Or believe John 14:12 is a promise specific to you. Or Mark 16:15-18. Or Acts 2:39. Or Acts 18:9-10. Or 2 Corinthians 5:18-20. Shall I go on? This Sunday let’s get super practical. Let me tell you some stories about a few people who got baptized in the Holy Spirit, how it happened, and how they were different afterwards. Then, let’s look at the Word of God. Let’s explore the precise pattern of how the disciples found this unique experience. If we can see the pattern, perhaps we can follow it. For those of you who dare, maybe we can seek God together for precisely this same thing. You in? 10:00 a.m. this Sunday. Oh, and then let’s chase after God next Saturday, too… 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Unless you’re just not interested. ;-) Much love to you all… Chris Eads Mt. Hope Pastor Friend Hey Friends…
Sherri and I are so thankful for each one of you. That’s not just a blanket statement made blindly to a mass email. As I scan through our distro list this morning, I see each of your names. As I do, it brings so much joy to my heart as I contemplate who you are and what you mean to us. We love each of you genuinely and are so grateful to be able to serve with you in the Body of Christ here at Mt. Hope. I’ll tell you more in a tad shorter Deeper Thoughts below as I imagine your Thanksgiving weekend is a busy one… But first… just a few quick reminders: · NEXT Sunday evening, December 8, 5:00 p.m. Our annual Christmas Pageant and All-Church Christmas Party: Our kids and middle schoolers tell the story of Christmas in music and drama. Then, we gather for a festive potluck dinner and fellowship. The pageant program begins at 5:00, dinner around 5:45. Click here to sign up for what you can bring! · Ladies: Join us for a Christmas Cookie Exchange December 14 from 1:30 p.m. – 3:30 p.m. Come dressed in your Christmas attire and enjoy some fun, fellowship, and delicious cookies! Click here to RSVP! · Mark your calendar for two more prayer vigils as we seek God for the future of our church: A 12-hour prayer vigil throughout the day on Saturday, December 14 and another 24-hour prayer vigil and worship night sometime mid-January. We’ll have more details for you next week! · Please consider joining us for prayer every week—Sundays, 9:15 a.m. for our 25-minute weekly prayer meeting in the sanctuary. · Don’t forget “The Daily Six”, our 6-minute video released every Monday through Thursday as we study through the Book of Acts together. Click here to sign up for daily reminder emails—or you can just find the videos on our YouTube channel each morning. OK…that’s it today for you email skimmers and those who prefer anonymity over connectivity. BUT… Some Deeper Thoughts… Something we love about Mt. Hope: We are not an anonymous church. Sherri and I know just about every single one of you on this Friday email list. We know more about some of you--your family, your interests, your challenges, your joys—and we know a little less about others. But whatever our level of relationship, you matter to us. (BTW… if you’re one of those we know a little less about, let’s fix that… let’s hang out!!) You matter to us just because you are you. And that mattering is all the more significant because you matter to Jesus. We love Jesus, and his love over you inspires us to lean into loving you in more than just a simplistic or generic way. The value he has poured out over you makes you of immense value to us. His love is strong. So strong that he has collided with our worlds. You and I have a wide range of realities in our individual worlds that are complicated, demanding, challenging, and complex. Family, relationships--or loneliness—children, work, finances, responsibilities, possessions, homes, pets, health… the list goes on and on. Those complexities demand our attention and effort, and as a result, Jesus is often an afterthought in the back of our minds as we push and push through these daily responsibilities. But whether we perceive it or not, Jesus is constantly butting in. He is colliding with these matters because you matter. This is what we call “the incarnation.” It is what we celebrate during the Advent season that begins this Sunday—the four weeks we uniquely contemplate Jesus coming in the flesh to meet us in our circumstances, to collide with our worlds. “Incarnation” comes from the Latin phrase, in carne’, meaning, “with meat.” It is God with “meat on his bones.” God come in the flesh. God taking the form of a servant, humbling himself to be found in the fashion of a man, going all the way to death on the cross for you and me. God comes in the flesh to collide with our world. (See Philippians 2:6-11). This Sunday as we kick off Advent season, we will explore the link between Jesus’ colliding incarnation and our study of “The Normal Christian Life.” As we talked about last Sunday, we have a calling from God to be incarnational with each other. We’ve been wired up for it--created for it—and when we do this, we become Jesus’ hands and feet. We become the incarnation of the incarnate. We become “God with meat on his bones” for everyone we know. This is why you matter to us. It is what we have been created to do. I hope you’ll join me and Sherri this Sunday at 10:00 a.m. in-person if you can, or online livestream if you’re away with family. We will enjoy sitting back and letting our beloved Pastor Will Cravens put some very practical meat on the bones of understanding how we live incarnate with the incarnate—how we let Jesus collide with every person that is a part of our complicated world. Much love to you all… can’t wait to celebrate you and Jesus this Sunday!! Chris Eads Mt. Hope Pastor Friend Hey Friends…
We ran out of time last Sunday, so I never got to Jesus’ hangnail and how we can avoid being one. If you have no idea what I’m talking about, you might want to click here to check out last week’s Friday email. I’ll not repeat myself today, but I will tell you more about this Sunday’s teaching in Deeper Thoughts below… But first… a TON of great stuff you need to know about… · LADIES: Join us for our “Friendsgiving Breakfast”—potluck, fellowship, games, and fun as we celebrate God’s blessings--TOMORROW, Saturday, November 23, 9:00 – 11:00 a.m. Click here for info and to RSVP! (And mark your calendar for December 14 for a ladies’ cookie exchange!) · NEXT UP: Our annual Christmas Pageant and All-Church Christmas Party – Sunday evening, December 8, 5:00 p.m. We will celebrate Christmas as our kids and middle schoolers tell the story of Christmas in music and drama. Then, we’ll gather for a festive potluck dinner and fellowship. The pageant program begins at 5:00, dinner around 5:45. Click here to sign up for what you can bring! · Do you want to help others feel welcome at Mt. Hope? Join us for an informational meeting THIS Sunday, November 24 after church. Click here to RSVP so we can feed you lunch! · Are you interested in the deep history of Mt. Hope? Join us for the kick-off of a new team that will explore our church’s history, to include restoring and improving the graveyard. THIS Sunday evening, November 24 at 5:00 p.m. Light dinner included. Click here to RSVP! · Mark your calendar for two more prayer vigils as we seek God for the future of our church: A 12-hour prayer vigil throughout the day on Saturday, December 14 and another 24-hour prayer vigil and worship night sometime mid-January. · Please consider joining us for prayer every week—Sundays, 9:15 a.m. for our 25-minute weekly prayer meeting in the sanctuary. · Don’t forget “The Daily Six”, our 6-minute video released every Monday through Thursday as we study through the Book of Acts together. Click here to sign up for daily reminder emails—or you can just find the videos on our YouTube channel each morning. OK…that’s it today for you email skimmers and those who prefer to tune out on matters of Jesus’ health. BUT… Some Deeper Thoughts… If you missed last Sunday’s teaching, you might want to catch up by clicking here. Or brush up on it if you were around, as we’re going to keep going into “Part 2” of our teaching. This is all about discovering the fullness of who you are. It’s about living your best self. It’s about being more fulfilled than you could ever imagine. It’s about a life of real abundance and joy because you have absolute clarity on your identity and why you exist. And it’s about not giving Jesus a hangnail. If we are able to discern how God has uniquely and individually crafted us for a very specific purpose, it would stand to reason that stepping into that purpose with our whole life and our whole focus would be incredibly life-giving. Let me say it another way, and maybe with a little finer point. We spend enormous amounts of energy pursuing our best life. We want to feel great about who we are and what we do. The problem is that many of us have a mistaken view of what our best life really is. Our real best life isn’t about wealth, or social status, or perfect relationships, or achievement, or even stability and security. Our real best life is living exactly who we are. Who we were made to be. What we were designed to contribute. When we fail to live like this, Jesus gets a hangnail. I received a random text message this morning from an old friend that I haven’t seen or talked to in over a dozen years. When I last saw him, we were both spiraling into very tough seasons in each of our lives--trainwrecks, I would call them—that were uncannily similar to each other. It is interesting that this old friend started his text by saying, “the Holy Spirit just put you on my heart today.” He then went on to fill me in that he is living in another state “living my best life now.” He’s right. I’ve seen his occasional posts on Facebook that demonstrate to me that he is living in the center of his God-created design. He is using his spiritual gifts with precision. He is making an impact in the lives of the people God has surrounded him with. And most importantly, it seems to me from his storylines that he has settled his identity, healed from chaos and pain, and simplified his life into one primary goal: living exactly as God has made him. When we function in life exactly as God has designed us, it is easy, it is fun, it is fulfilling, it is meaningful. When we fail to function as God has designed, the whole body of Jesus suffers. Just like a tiny little hangnail can change our mood and distract our entire body, so are we to Jesus when we’re not living like we should. Do a little advance reading before Sunday: Soak in all of 1 Corinthians 12. See if you can recognize where you are in this chapter. What has God created you for? How has He equipped you, and for what purpose? How well are you fulfilling that design? Let’s keep moving, let’s keep studying. This will be a fun and encouraging Sunday for sure. Hope to see you there… 10:00 a.m. in-person (always best…especially this week as we partake of the Lord’s Supper together), or online livestream if you’re out of town or ill! Much love to you all… Chris Eads Mt. Hope Pastor Friend Hey Friends…
Random and awkward question: Have you been thinking about your big toe all day today? No? It’s not been top of mind? Huh. But I bet if it was in serious pain right now, it would be controlling your every thought. What does this have to do with Jesus and hangnails? And why do I need to care? I’ll tell you more in Deeper Thoughts below… But first… there’s a lot of new stuff for you to know… · We will share an update on the direction of our church and our facility expansion THIS Sunday morning. Be sure to attend or catch it online. · Seeking God in fervent prayer is the most important aspect of who we are: o Thank you to all who participated last weekend in our 24-hour prayer vigil and worship night. The movement of the Holy Spirit was palpable. We’ll share stories of all God was doing over the next couple of weeks. o Please consider joining us for prayer every week—Sundays, 9:15 a.m. for our 25-minute weekly prayer meeting in the sanctuary. o We have two more prayer vigils coming: A 12-hour prayer vigil throughout the day on Saturday, December 14 and another 24-hour prayer vigil and worship night sometime mid-January. o Put your prayer needs on the prayer wall in the sanctuary! Let’s actively trust the Lord for the things going on in our lives by presenting them to the Body of Christ for prayer and spiritual victory… c’mon, let’s be honest… if we are truly handing our stuff over to God in communal prayer, there should be 120 new prayer cards every week at Mt. Hope!!! · LADIES: Join us for our “Friendsgiving Breakfast”—potluck, fellowship, games, and fun as we celebrate our many blessings--Saturday, November 23, 9:00 – 11:00 a.m. Click here for more info and to RSVP! (And mark your calendar for December 14 for a ladies’ cookie exchange! More info to come!) · Christmas!! Mark your calendars for Sunday evening, December 8 for our annual Kids Connect Christmas Pageant and All-Church Christmas Party. More details to come! · New teams are forming! If you’d like to help make people feel uniquely welcome at Mt. Hope, click here to RSVP for an informational meeting NEXT Sunday, November 24 after church; If you’d like to dig deep into our church’s history and help us restore and improve the graveyard, click here to RSVP for a kick-off meeting NEXT Sunday evening, November 24 at 5:00 p.m. · Don’t forget “The Daily Six”, our 6-minute video released every Monday through Thursday as we study through the Book of Acts together. Click here to sign up for daily reminder emails—or you can just find the videos on our YouTube channel each morning. OK…that’s it today for you email skimmers and those who have onuxophobia. BUT… Some Deeper Thoughts… My apologies to you onuxophobia sufferers—those with a phobia of toenails. It’s an actual thing, albeit probably not very prolific. But you know what is also a thing? And this one is ubiquitous for sure. Hangnails. Hopefully they don’t happen too often for you, but we’ve all had them. They are not deadly, but they sure are annoying, are they not? In fact, when you have one, it can occupy a tremendous amount of your attention and concern. The rest of your body can be in fantastic shape. But have a hangnail or an ingrown toenail, and it will put the entire system into high alert and focus. No, I am not suffering from the delirium of a toe infection as you probably think right about now. “Chris, how in the world is this disgusting conversation happening in the first place, and more importantly, what does this have to do with me and Jesus Christ?” I’m glad you asked. We need to be sure we don’t give Jesus a hangnail. Huh? Yep. Jesus is in perfect shape. He always has been. But there are tiny, seemingly unimportant parts of his body—like a toenail—that if they are not working properly, his whole body is going to be out of whack. You might be one of those tiny little parts. Don’t believe me? Let’s look at the scripture: “Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it” (1 Corinthians 12:27). So, let's set the level set on this: Jesus has a body, and you are part of it. Of course, it’s not a physical, three-dimensional, 165-pounds, 5’9” anthropoid. But it is a physical reality made up of all the living believers in Jesus. You cannot say you’re not a part of it: “Now the body is not made up of one part but many. If the foot should say, ‘Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,’ it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body” (1 Corinthians 12:14-15... oh, and keep reading on through verse 25… ). Here is where Jesus’ hangnails become relevant: “If one part suffers, every part suffers with it” (1 Corinthians 12:26). The Eads Translation, coming soon to a bookstore near you: “If Jesus has a hangnail, every part of his body will suffer. Don’t be Jesus’ hangnail.” Bottom line: Jesus Christ came to bring the life of God to every person on the planet. To achieve this, there was much he alone had to do in his 3-D, 165-pounds, 5’ 9’’ physical body during those 30+ years on earth, not the least of which was to die on a Roman cross for our sins and then conquer the grave and rise again. But then, there is more. To bring the life of God to every person on the planet, he presently needs a physical connection point--a body—in every corner of the planet to be his hands, and feet, and voice, and witness. Enter you and me. Tiny, seemingly insignificant you and me. Each one of us is a key part to the physical body of Christ in this world today. If we do not do our part, Jesus’ whole body will suffer. Just like that pain in your big toe will put your whole healthy 5-foot-plus self into a painful funk, if we fail to function as God designed us, all of Jesus suffers. Let’s not be the hangnail in the body of Jesus. Let’s step up to discovering which part of the body we are and what we are supposed to do. Are you unclear on what part you play? That’s normal. So, let’s peel back another layer of scriptures this Sunday and figure it out. “The Normal Christian Life.” It’s “not weird, not weak, not wandering.” We have a calling, we have a part to play… and best of all, we have the power of the Holy Spirit who equips us for the work. Shall we step up? Let’s learn to function exactly as designed. Can’t wait to unpack this with you on Sunday!! Much love to all… Chris Eads Mt. Hope Pastor Friend |
Chris EadsMt Hope Pastor Archives
January 2025
Categories |
RSS Feed
Jesus said, “Love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, & with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself.” - Matt. 22:37-39
42507 Mt. Hope Road
Ashburn, VA 20148
[email protected]
703-729-2707