A good reminder about worship

"With God, our work matters as much as our worship. Indeed, work can be worship."

This little quote comes from a short article by Max Lucado, taken from his book Cure for the Common Life. It's a healthy reminder that everything we do ought to bring glory to God...

And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
Colossians 3:17 (NIV)

Who can resist a good lawyer joke?

A doctor and a lawyer were talking at a party. Their conversation was constantly interrupted by people describing their ailments and asking the doctor for free medical advice.

After an hour of this, the exasperated doctor asked the lawyer, "What do you do to stop people from asking you for legal advice when you're out of the office?"

"I give it to them," replied the lawyer, "and then I send them a bill."

The doctor was shocked, but agreed to give it a try. The next day, still feeling slightly guilty, the doctor prepared the bills. When he went to place them in his mailbox, he found a bill from the lawyer.

Two Services

Yesterday was the first Sunday with our new two-service schedule. I counted 38 people in the 9:15 service and (trying not to double count anyone) about 119 in the 11:00 hour for a nice healthy total of 157!

We've gone to this new schedule to make room for us to grow. There's obviously more room in the first service, so if you can go either way, come along at 9:15. There are lots of advantages: Getting first pick of the parking and the goodies, getting into the restaurants before the Sunday lunch rush, and being available to help with children's ministries during the second service (e-mail Ashley if you want to help).

Whichever service you attend, we hope you connect with God in a special way, connect with others who love Him, and learn from God's Word in a way that helps you live for the Lord all week long. See you next Sunday!

Hmmm, wonder where that came from?

Sermons online

Just wanted to let you know that Dewey's last two sermons are finally uploaded to our website's "Sermons, Etc." page. So if you've been waiting for them, here's your chance!

Awana!

We had our first official AWANA meeting tonight at the Senior Center, and it was a great night! There were 36 kids there plus lots of leaders, and I think everyone really enjoyed the times of games, lessons, singing and more.

One of the things we did tonight was let the kids ask the leaders lots of questions to get to know them. Then later we quizzed the kids on what they learned, and if they answered a question correctly we added an ingredient to a big banana split (prepared, of course, on game leader Toby Carver's head)! That was definitely a hit!

There's plenty of room for more kids, so invite them to join us next week, Wednesday night from 6:00-7:30 p.m.

Too True

Let’s face it. All of us gossip. Some manage to justify it with a straight face by convincing the eager listeners of the story’s veracity. Just as Satan salivates at the sight of idle hands, so he thirsts for the pitter-patter of idle chatter...

...It has fast become the forgotten sin despite its devastating ability to kill three people at once: the one gossiping; the one being gossiped about; and the one listening, soaking in every word like a sponge.

From "Gossip: The Sin that Keeps On Killing" by Thor Tolo. To read the entire article, click here.

Go Cats!

Today I went to my first Linfield football game--as a member of the Pep Band! Dustin and Eric suggested I could play along, and sure enough, the student director let an old guy like me jump in a play my sax. It's been about 21 years since I played in a band for a football game (yikes), but I think I did okay.

It was fun to see some of our New Hope college students participating in the football team, the cheerleading squad and the pep band. And it was also fun hanging out with the musicians. I hope to get to know them better at the next few home games.

As a football fan, I was a little dismayed that the pep band gets the crummiest seats in the stadium, down on the track at the 5-yard line. You can sort of see my view of the game below. Still, Linfield won 52-42 against some team from Texas, and it was fun to be there!

I think it's an important part of our Christian walk to "be there," out in the community and not always in our church bubble. And I sure hope I can be "salt and light" to folks in McMinnville who need His love, whether they're in a pep band, working at my kids' school or watching 6-year-old girls practice soccer.

The Audience of One

Today I read an article by Bob Kauflin about Why We Sing as believers. In the article he quotes from a fictional book by Oregon's own Randy Alcorn called "In Light of Eternity," and it really moved me. Here is Kauflin's excerpt from Alcorn's book:

... The army began to sing, perhaps hundreds of thousands, perhaps a million.

I added my voice to theirs and sang the unchained praises of the King....As we sang to the gathered throngs of [heaven], the sheer power of their voices, our voices, nearly bowled me over....Our voices broke into thirty-two distinct parts, and instinctively I knew which of them I was made to sing. "We sing for joy at the work of your hands...we stand in awe of you." It felt indescribably wonderful to be lost in something so much greater than myself.

There was no audience, I thought for a moment, for audience and orchestra and choir all blended into one great symphony, one grand cantata of rhapsodic melodies and powerful sustaining harmonies.

No, wait, there was an audience. An audience so vast and all-encompassing that for a moment I'd been no more aware of it than a fish is aware of water.

I looked at the great throne, and upon it sat the King...the Audience of One.

When we completed our song, the one on the throne stood and raised his great arms and clapped his scarred hands together in thunderous applause, shaking ground and sky, jarring every corner of the cosmos. His applause went on and on, unstopping and unstoppable.

And in that moment I knew, with unwavering clarity, that the King's approval was all that mattered -- and ever would.

Linfield College Faith Fair

I got a chance to represent New Hope Christian Fellowship today at Linfield's "Faith Fair," where churches could meet students looking for a church. To be honest, there weren't very many students who came by (the weather was a little chilly), but I did get to meet a few guys and girls who are looking to find a place to worship.

The most fun part for me was seeing a few of our own students who stopped by to say Hi (Ian, Meagan, Caitlin, Heidi, Laura, Anne...) And it was also fun getting to know a few of the other pastors and church representatives from places like Creekside, Church on the Hill, Adventure Christian, Valley Baptist and the Presbyterian Church.

I'm so glad we have a good number of college students at our church! I counted 27 young men and women last Sunday morning when we invited them up front to pray for their school year. We aim to be a church for all generations, and our students are one of those important and cherished parts of our fellowship. May we be a church that encourages them and inspires them to live their lives for God's glory!

Makes me feel warm and fuzzy all over!

Assurance

How can we feel assured that we are saved? Doubts about our salvation are normal for anyone who's been a believer for a while. For some, these times of doubt are just a natural part of the ebb and flow of the Christian walk. For others, these doubts need to act as a wake up call for self-examination--am I a true believer, or someone who just "prayed a prayer" years ago?

Fortunately, it is God's desire for us to feel assurance about our eternal standing, not to live our lives in fear and doubt. If you are in a time of questioning right now, here are links to a couple articles I just read today. They are really terrific, and I hope they can encourage you.

Helping People Have the Assurance of Salvation - John Piper

Recovering Assurance Through Faith - Albert Mohler

From the mission field

I sent out an email reminder to everyone about the Progressive Dinner on Friday morning, and Rebecca Hardin sent me this reply all the way from Indonesia!

As you can guess, one of the hard parts of serving the Lord overseas is that you miss out on the fellowship of your family and church back at home, so when you think of it, pray for Rebecca over on the other side of the world!

Hi Everyone,

Just wanted you to know I wish I was there to enjoy all the fellowship and yummy fixins....who knows maybe we can have something like this in Dec while I am back for a visit.

Just wanted you all to know how much I appreciate your prayers. I have to go to Singapore by myself for a couple of days regarding my work, so any and all extra prayers for me during this trip (Sept 13-14) is really appreciated.

Well, I hope you all have a wonderful time of fellowship, fun and fantastic food. Thanks again for all the prayer support.

Rebecca Hardin

p.s. Here's a picture of two of my students I teach at Xin Zhong. How can you not fall in love with little brown angel faces like these????

More pictures of Progressive Dinner

My friend Repko just sent me a bunch of pictures he took as his group went around the horn. I've posted a number of them in a photo gallery aptly named Progressive Dinner on our web site's Photos page. Check them out!

Progressive Dinner!

What a fun night! We had about 61 New Hopers rotate through each of the Shepherds' houses for a 5-course progressive dinner. It was great seeing everybody, and below are some group pictures we took at our house...

That's right...it's a Potty of Gold

I'm still not sure how to react to this...

"Whether a woman works outside or strictly in the home, her first priority is her family and home. We just really want to step up and provide some of these skills."

- Terri Stovall, dean of women's programs at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, which is offering a new bachelor of arts in humanities degree with a 23-hour concentration in homemaking. Only women may enroll in the program, which offers courses on food and nutrition, design and apparel, the value of a child, and the "biblical model for the home and family."

(This quote is taken from an Associated Press article which you can read here.)

Pictures!

Yesterday I gave a recap of our August at New Hope, and today I've posted tons of pictures from the month on our web site's Photo Gallery pages! There are pictures of Children's Day Camp, lunch at Izzy's, our service in the park and the BBQ potluck. Check them out!

Funny Fellowship Faces

Repko Bruinsma provided pictures of the Young at Heart lunch at Izzy's on August 19, and he seemed to have a knack for capturing funny expressions on people's faces there. I didn't include them on the website, but I figured I'd share some here!

August 2007 at New Hope Christian Fellowship

Wow, it's already the beginning of September, and we're gearing up for a terrific fall season at New Hope!

As I look with much anticipation to September and a new "year," I am reflecting on what an awesome August we've had. August is statistically a tough month for churches. Attendance-wise, we had been averaging 160-ish back in May, and when June hit we dropped dramatically to the 110-120 range (with a low Sunday of 86!) and we weren't sure what the summer was going to hold for us as a church! But this last month we averaged around 130-140, which is very solid considering all the vacations and missing college students. Not only that, our giving for the month of August was outstanding--God has been good to us financially, and I know all of us Shepherds praise God for our fellowship's faithfulness.

But church isn't about numbers. It's about connecting with God, serving Him, and connecting with others, and August has been good for those things, too! We've enjoyed good teaching from three of our Shepherds (Dewey, Rich and Ken), and been led in worship by two different leaders (me and Dustin) in two different locations (in the Senior Center and in the Park). We also had a chance to eat lunch together last week with a potluck barbecue.
Our softball team had a blast finishing up the season with three wins and one loss (and, uh, only one major injury). Kevin and Cheryl Gebhart were nice enough to cap off the season with a pizza party at their house. I think we're all disappointed the season is over, and we may get together for an unofficial friendly game with some players from Creekside Community Church sometime soon. I know I got a chance to become better aquainted with some people as a result of playing together!

And of course we had a great week of Children's Day Camp (I've written in detail about them in posts from August 14 & 16), with 5 kids raising their hands on the last day to ask Jesus into their lives. We look forward to our children's ministry continuing strong with Awana starting up in a couple weeks.I love being a part of this church, and I hope we can continue to serve and glorify God in great ways this fall!