Independence in Jesus!

Hey everybody…


I hope you’re having a great Independence Day as we contemplate the unique freedoms given to us by God, recognized by our founding fathers, and enshrined in a one-of-a-kind U.S. Constitution. While many flaws and even some great evils have beset our nation throughout the centuries--and to be true, some great challenges still beset us today—there is a blessing from the Lord for which we should give Him thanks and steward well. Let’s chat about it in Deeper Thoughts below….


But first… a quick reminder of some key upcoming events:
                                                                                                                 
·      THIS Sunday, Pastor Will Cravens will be sharing the scriptures with us. Come out for a great worship experience and time in God’s Word as we continue our teaching series, “Knowing God”!


·      Teens:  Youth Group meets NEXT Sunday, July 13th, 11:30 a.m. – 1:00 p.m., snacks, games, testimonies, and the Word! To get plugged into our growing and awesome youth group, email Jessica Sauder: [email protected].


·      Kids, middle schoolers, and parents: Furnace Mountain Christian Summer Camp is coming up FAST! Join us for this Day-Camp for age-based experiences, August 4 - August 8, 9:00 – 3:00 p.m. each day. BEST NEWS: For Mt. Hope families, the cost is only $25.00 per student! For a whole week of camp!!! Transportation to/from the church is available. To secure our special Mt. Hope pricing, Chris Bowen will be handling your registration individually. Click here to email Chris to RSVP or with questions!


·      While Sherri and I are away on vacation, “The Daily Six” videos WILL continue!! Join me for six minutes each morning, Monday through Friday, on our YouTube channel. If you’d like to receive daily email reminders and you’re not already getting them, click here to sign up!


·      Mark your calendars for Mt. Hope’s 190th Anniversary celebration August 24 – a great day of worship, fellowship, southern pot-luck yummies, historical experiences, and gratitude to our God. If you’d like to be involved—especially with helping pull together historical content--click here to email Sherri Eads (but note that she’ll NOT be responding to emails until July 8!)


OK…that’s it today for you email skimmers and you who are running late to the fireworks and can’t take the time to read anymore… BUT…
 
 
Some Deeper Thoughts…


We have been studying the early chapters of Genesis a LOT in recent weeks. I hope you’re not tired yet of this vitally important foundation to our faith. To understand our Creator is to make sense of why we are here. God made you on purpose. We need to know why.


Genesis 1:27 has been pounded into our heads and our hearts for nearly a dozen weeks so far—that “God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.”


Genesis 1:28 and 2:15 reveal that our placement on this earth is to be a stewardship and a governance of everything that has been created. This has tremendous implications to how we view and how we treat everything and everyone around us.


You and I were made to bear the image of God. This means that we were created to carry His identity, His character, His way of thinking into every corner of our lives. We are to live as if we have the same nature God does. This is also the New Testament vision of Romans 8:29: “For those God foreknew [would be saved] he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness [the image] of his Son.” In short, we are to look like God and Jesus in everything we do.


This includes bearing His image in our patriotism and citizenship.


Every 4th of July, Americans gather to celebrate the signing of the Declaration of Independence where our nation’s founding fathers took the bold step of rebellion against tyranny and the establishment of genuine freedom for every man, woman, and child. This grand idea was birthed, in part, from the study of scripture. More than half of the Declaration’s signers had Christian theological education, most were Christian believers, and a few were even pastors or chaplains in ministry. (One of those signers, William Whipple of New Hampshire, was a direct ancestor of mine. It is unclear, but it is possible that I may have one of his personal Bibles on my bookshelf at home.)


This idea of God-created freedom and equality that human governments must recognize matches the Biblical narrative of our Garden of Eden design to faithfully steward all of creation. But even in these United States who formalized this idea into the largest experiment of freedom mankind had known to date, the path to true freedom and true equality being universally applied has been rugged, twisting, tentative, and at times troubled. The end of slavery, the granting of equal rights to women and minorities, the acknowledgement of great atrocities committed against the natives of our land—all of these and much more have taken the entire lifespan of our nation to mature.


I’ll leave it to others to offer a detailed assessment of the vast range of considerations regarding our nation’s history, humanity, and progress yet to be made. But I believe as we seek to know God and express His image, we would do well this Independence Day to be thankful that He created us--and thereby empowered us—to live with the same character, impulses, identity, and nature that He lives from. And… most importantly… to ensure that everything we think, say, and do with our fellow patriots and fellow citizens reflects that image. Let’s be thankful bearers of God’s image first. Americans a distant, yet truly thankful, second.


Those are my two cents this great Independence Day, for whatever they’re worth… which analysts report might only be worth $0.013 or so when the market opens on Monday. ;-)




FINALLY… As Sherri and I finish up our vacation this week, if you have any needs that arise where our Elder Team or others could be a help or blessing to you, please reach out to Kristie Zoller via email ([email protected]) or by text/phone at 703-999-3156. She’ll coordinate response and support for your situation. Sherri and I will NOT be checking our email or texts until Tuesday, July 8, so if we need to know anything, Kristie is your POC.




Much love to you all… we’ll see you NEXT Sunday!!


Chris Eads
Mt. Hope Pastor
Friend