Something new...

Hey there, beloved… I pray you have had a wonderful holiday week as we reflect on the coming of Jesus (Christmas) and the coming of a new year (our present potential). You know the pithy little comments we all exchange this time of year—how we’re all destined to fail at and New Year’s resolutions we make by… oh… ‘round about January 8th or so. But I wonder: instead of making a New Year’s promise to yourself, could you look at a promise from Someone Else that might be entirely new to you? Can I tell you about it? Let’s talk in Deeper Thoughts below.
 
But first… a couple important reminders:


·      Would you like to take more ownership of Mt. Hope Church? Every believer who decides to make Mt. Hope their home is automatically a “member” of our church by virtue of belonging to Jesus. We are instant family. But beyond that immediate position as a family member of Mt. Hope, there are certain members who go further to make a covenant of partnership to help own and steward our church’s direction. If you would like to explore what our Covenant Partners do, who they are, and what it takes to join those ranks, come hang out with us after church on Sunday, January 11 for a 90-minute orientation session—free lunch included! Click here for more info and to RSVP!
 
·      Teens: Youth Group THIS Sunday, 11:30 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. Sharon Brown will share her amazing story with us. Snacks, connection and prayer. Let us know if your teen needs a ride home.
 
·      A memorial service for Dillion Eisele, son of David and Lynn, will be THIS Tuesday, January 6, at 6:30 p.m. All are welcome.
 
·      Ladies: A NEW Ladies Bible study kicks off NEXT week, Tuesdays, January 13 - February 17, 7:00 – 9:00 p.m. at the church. We will study the book "The Circle Maker" by Mark Batterson and learn to pray in a new way as we draw prayer circles around your family, dreams, and the promises of God!  God can move in amazing ways!
 
o   Also… mark your calendars for Saturday, January 31, 1:00 – 3:00 p.m. for a special event as we make prayer and gratitude journals to deepen our relationship with God. More info to come!
 
·      Wanna help us love each other as we eat? We need new volunteers to help with Sunday snacks… it’s a fun and easy task and helps us connect with each other! Contact Joan Lyerly for more info: [email protected].
 
·      This week’s “Daily Six” continues our super-special six minutes each morning in the Word of God, Monday through Friday, on our Daily Six webpage as we focus on some “Best of The Daily Six,” looking back on content from years ago that still inspires where we are in our spiritual growth today. If you’d like to receive daily email reminders and you’re not already getting them, click here to sign up! 
 
OK…that’s it for you email skimmers and you who don’t want anything in your life to be made new. BUT…
 
 
Some Deeper Thoughts…
 
I bet this Sunday’s teaching will be entirely new for many of us. Modern believers often shrink from the idea we’re going to discover in scripture because it seems so wildly unrealistic to the actuality of our daily lives. It seems unattainable. It looks like WAY too much work for our already weary, overburdened lives. We mistake the promise of God for a command to muscle up something more out of a life that is already depleted of time or energy to do any more muscling.
 
In seeing the promise like this, we miss something new that God wants to do in you and me—and that He in fact is already doing. Most of us just don’t perceive it.
 
I want to let my good friend and beloved Mt. Hope’r Ray Prescott do the talking today. God has gifted him with a tremendous anointing to write. His insights are important.
 
Then, if you’ll allow me, I’ll do some talking on Sunday. But first, carefully read Hebrews 12:18-29. Also grab Hebrews 12:1, 10, and 14. Notice how Jesus is promising and forming “perfection” in us—holiness is what the scripture often calls it. Sound foreign to you?
 
Maybe here’s why… in Ray’s words:


From the beginning of Scripture, holiness is never presented as something God occasionally brings with Him.  Holiness is presence.  It is God Himself sustaining, filling, and holding creation together.


When Moses stood before the burning bush, the ground beneath his feet did not suddenly become holy.  It already was.  What changed was Moses’ awareness.  God did not arrive; God revealed Himself.  Holiness was not introduced, it was uncovered.


The same pattern unfolds throughout Israel’s story.  The tabernacle was not built because God needed a place to live.  Heaven and earth could not contain Him.  The tabernacle was a mercy, a way for fragile, fractured people to learn how to stand before a holy God without being undone.  Court by court, veil by veil, God taught His people reverence.  Not because He was distant, but because the human heart was still learning how to remain present in His presence.


And then Jesus came.  In Christ, holiness did not withdraw from the world, it walked among us. He touched the unclean, ate with sinners, healed the broken, and welcomed the overlooked. Holiness no longer hovered behind curtains or thundered from mountains. It lived, breathed, wept, rejoiced, and loved in plain sight.  Jesus did not teach us how to visit God.  He showed us how God comes to us.


When the veil was torn at His death, and when He rose from the grave, something decisive happened.  Holiness did not expand; it was revealed.  Access was not earned; it was opened.  The separation we had learned to fear was undone, not because God became less holy, but because in Christ, humanity was healed enough to come near.


This is why Scripture shifts its language after the resurrection.  We are no longer sent to holy places.  We are told that God dwells with us.  That we are His temple.  That Christ lives in us. That the Spirit bears witness within our hearts that we belong to Him.


This is not coercion.  It is invitation.  Many people say they want to hear God, see God, or feel God.  Beneath that desire is often a quieter question: Is He real to me? Is He with me?  The resurrection answers that question, not with force, but with life.


Faith is not chasing God as an event.  It is learning to live in response to a living Christ, risen, present, faithful, and near.  Not only in extraordinary moments, but in ordinary obedience, in trust, in repentance, in love.
We are not asked to manufacture awareness or summon belief. We are invited to recognize what has already been given: a Savior who has entered our world, carried our brokenness, defeated death, and now walks with us by His Spirit.


Holiness is not a destination we strive to reach.  It is a life we are welcomed into.  And the joy of the Christian life is this: we do not walk alone, searching for God in the distance.  We walk with the risen Christ, who meets us where we are, teaches us how to live in His presence, and slowly awakens our hearts to the truth that has always been singing beneath our feet:


“Surely the Lord is in this place… and now, in Christ, He is with us.”
 
Powerful thoughts, eh? Now… let’s meet!! Sunday. 10:00 a.m… don’t forget your Bible and a pen! Can’t wait!
 
Much love to you all…
 
Chris Eads
Mt. Hope Pastor
Friend
[email protected]