iHOPE

Rhythm: Are You In Tune With God's Song?

Many people have asked about the video we played as part of worship this week.  It was by Rob Bell and the piece was called "Rhythm". It us part of a series of video parables that he put together. We own the whole series and if you are interested in using as part of a LIFE Group or class, let us know. Here is a shortened version of it on YouTube.

O When the Saints...

Dixieland Jazz in worship?

I admit, that when I first heard the idea, I was skeptical. How would Dixieland Jazz fit into a Presbyterian worship service? 

Turns out, pretty well!

I remember walking into the sanctuary the first year we tried it. I was a little worried about how it might be received (I think this was less than two months since I first arrived at New Hope). Here is what I saw:  The band was playing as people were coming in. Children were literally dancing in the aisles.Their parents were tapping their feet. Some were snapping their fingers while others were clapping along with the music. People were engaged. Presbyterians were moving.

Even before the service began I knew that we had established a tradition at New Hope!

This Sunday, the Sampson Gulch Dixieland Jazz Band continues that tradition as they anchor both worship services (9:00 & 10:45). If you've been before, you know what's coming. If you haven't, you ought to give it a try. Its bound to change the way you think about God. It may even change the way you think about Presbyterians!

Keeping Christmas Well AND Keeping Your Sanity Intact

I love Christmas. All of it. I love the lights, the tree and the gifts. I love the food, the music and most of the time, I even love Christmas Cards. I love the season of Advent, the candles, the carols, the Blue Christmas Service and of course, ALL the Christmas Eve services. I love Christmas.

What I don't love is the way that Christmas can run over us. I don't like feeling manipulated to do things I don't like to do, spend for things I don't want to spend, and somehow live under the oppression of unrealistic expectations.  Sometimes, Christmas feels less like a wonderful holiday and more like an impersonal, ravenous machine. I don't like the Christmas Machine.

It is the mix of both, my love of the Christmas Season and my distaste for the Christmas Machine, that prompted a workshop that we did many years ago at New Hope and are bring back again. It is called,  Unplug the Christmas Machine. It is from 9:00-Noon on Saturday, November 3.

The New Fall Focus: ME 2.0

One of the great things about a church as broad and diverse as New Hope, is that there lots of different programs and classes going on at the same time. With so many choices, it is not hard to find something that helps you 'build a life' at New Hope.

That said, there are two times a year that we invite everyone to be thinking about the same thing. We pick a theme, sermons follow the theme, LIFE groups have materials and discussions that coincide with that theme and we usually have a companion book for individual reading and growth. We have found there to be great power and momentum when people are moving in the same direction, so we set aside some time in the Fall and Winter for a congregation-wide focus.

This Fall, the theme is "ME 2.0: Discovering God'sBest Version of You".Between now and Thanksgiving, we want to explore how God changes and grows us into the people we were made to be. Each of us was created to be a unique, flourishing, fully alive and fully engaged person in this world. Sometimes, we lose our way because we keep trying to become the person everyone else wants us to become. Sometimes we miss it because we are avoiding the kind of person we THINK God wants us to become.

Will You Be Disappointed With Life?

"The glory of God is a human being fully alive;

and to be alive consists in beholding God"

Irenaeus

The above quote may sound like it came from the 1980's, but it didn't. More likely it came from the 180's. Ireneaus was one of the great thinkers of the early chruch (ca. 130-202 AD)  More than 1,800 years ago, he articulated something we are still trying to grasp today:  What does God want for us? What does God want from us? What is this life that I have been given and what am I supposed to do with it? How can I not end my life in disappointment?

The word, "disappointment" often is defined as 'sad' or 'grieved'. That is true as far as it goes, but it goes further than that. To be "dis-appointed" means to separated from, or miss, an appointment. It refers to missing an 'appointed' or expected event. Something I thought was going to (or, should) happen, didn't. I am disappointed. The grief and sadness are a reaction to the loss of what could have/should have been.

Disappointment is one thing when the 'appointment' is small (I didn't get asked to the dance, hired for the job, get the bike I wanted for Christmas, etc.). Then there are the big disappointments. What happens when you are disappointed with- miss the appointment of, your life?

Five Reasons I'm Looking Forward to the New Pastors' Class

  The new Pastors' Class starts this week. I can't wait!  Here are five reasons I'm excited to get started:

1.  We are using a great book, After You Believe:  Why Christian Character Matters by N.T Wright. I have read and re-read this book a few times and each time I come away with new insights. It is wise and compelling. Here is one of the quotes from the first chapter:

What is then the point of being a Christian-other than to go to heaven one day, and perhaps to persuade a few others to go with you? Is there any reason for doing anything much, after you believe, except to keep your nose reasonably clean until the time comes to die and go to be with Jesus forever?

The rest of the book is a way of answering those questions- and more. I have been looking for a way of sharing and discussing this book with others. Now I can!