The Kingdom Assignment - Part 2

As promised, we had our Kingdom Assignment volunteers return after one month and give us an update on what they have done or are planning to do with the $100 to further God's Kingdom. Following is a summary of what they had to say as well as the audio of their reports.

Kelly used $20 to purchase a gift for a hometown friend who recently underwent surgery and gave $80 to Pioneers, a ministry to street kids in Calcutta. An email from Kelly giving the details of her report is in the comments section of this post.
Note: the audio of Kelly's report starts midway.


play/download mp3 file

First JoAnn doubled the money to $200. Then she gave $75 to Trans World Radio for a shortwave radio for the Church in China, $55.20 to Light of Life Mission for Easter dinner and $68 to Angel Tree for a children's Christian Camp.


play/download mp3 file

Matt & Liz plan to donate their combined $200 to a future Christian coffeeshop for South Oakland proposed by Greg Voss.


play/download mp3 file

Sue donated $25 to the Morrison Family Fund and $75 to Tunes for Troops. She also asked all to consider gathering items such as old CD's for the troops which she will gladly pick up for donation.


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Greg explained how he at first volunteered for Melanie, but now together they are considering 3 possible ministries; Head Start, CaringBridge and putting together care packages for kids. Greg also expressed how this has been a good experience for them, talking and praying together about the assignment.


play/download mp3 file

I would like to personally thank all our volunteers for having taken the Kingdom Assignment so seriously, spending much time in thought and prayer considering how to best use this money to further God's Kingdom. May we all be so thoughtful in our daily walk with God as we consider how to use the resources with which he has blessed us.

-Dave-

Easter at Greg & Melanie's

We gathered at Greg and Melanie's home last Sunday for our Easter (or as I like to call it, Resurrection Sunday) service and dinner. Click here to check out the photos of all the food, fun and fellowship while you listen to Greg's Easter message below.

BTW: The Lord is Risen!

A side note: Between all the good food at both Easter and Passover, I needed to loosen my belt a notch. Guess that's why the Bible calls them feasts. :-)

-Dave-

Passover at New Hope

We had a good time at our Passover Seder last week. And it was educational too! Joel, for example, commented that he had never learned so much about the origin of communion than he had that evening. For the uninitiated, the Passover Seder is the traditional meal or feast celebrated every spring by the Jews in remembrance of their deliverance from Egypt and God's establishment of Israel as a nation.

One of the traditional items of the Passover meal is a stack of three matzahs wrapped in napkins and called a unity. The center matzah is removed, broken in half, wrapped in a napkin and hidden by the father or head of the household until later. This hidden, broken half is called the afikomen which might mean "I have come." As the meal comes to a close, the children hunt for the afikomen and the one who finds it returns it to the father who redeems it with a coin. The afikomen is then divided among the participants of the Passover and is the last thing eaten.

The Passover Seder is filled with many other such interesting symbols or foreshadowings of the Messiah, which we as believers of Jesus can appreciate as having been fulfilled through Jesus in his life, death and resurrection. If you have never experienced a Passover Seder, be sure to join us next year!

Click here for photos of our Passover Seder at the Randall's.

BTW Special thanks to the Randall's for hosting and especially to Sue for her great cooking! In fact all the food was great. There were so many leftovers that I enjoyed Sue's chicken, Joel's matzah stuffing and JoAnn's brownies into the following week. Thanks to everyone who helped make our Passover Seder happen this year and a great success!

-Dave-

The Lamb of God

When Jesus made his "Triumphal Entry" into Jerusalem on the day we celebrate as Palm Sunday, he did not come to save the cheering crowds as a conquering king, but as the Lamb of God, the fulfillment of the Passover.

At our Palm Sunday service, we looked at how completely the Law of the Passover was fulfilled, from the significance of the Triumphal Entry on the tenth day of Nisan, to John the Baptist's "preparation" of the house of Israel. We concluded with Paul's admonishment to remove the leaven in our lives in response to Jesus's sacrifice.

Listen to Dave's teaching on the Lamb of God:

Or click here to listen to the sermon in stand alone player.

Report on March 26 Family Meeting

Here's a brief synopsis of what occurred during the Family Meeting of New Hope Christian Community on Sunday March 26th.

Discussion was opened with the purpose of the family meeting, which was to determine what New Hope members think needs to be added to the Sunday morning experience, and what other adjustments that they would make. There was some discussion centered around the fact that many members feel that there's a general lack of purpose. It was generally felt that additions to New Hope's ministries that allowed people to get involved would be good. Some specific additions that people suggested adding to the Sunday experience (vs. other outreach) are: time for testimonies, a more predictable meeting location, a more predictable meeting format, and more interactive teaching.

Some things that people would like to add during the week are more growth groups and more community service type events. There was also a general consensus that New Hope is currently weak in the outreach component, and that doing something active to rebalance things would be good. Some members discussed that there seemed to be a general lack of depth in teaching, but the counterpoint was made that (A)you can only do so much with what we have, and (B)members are responsible to dig into the word for themselves.

It was acknowledged that New Hope could offer some training in Greek/Hebrew and also cultural context, and that would help members better 'feed' themselves. Elders mentioned that there was a movement to plan together what themes are discussed on Sundays. It was commented that there is a need for Elders to lead by refining the Sunday experience, but also to lead by strategic thinking for the future. Many members expressed the position that they were less concerned with what direction was taken than that a specific direction was chosen and communicated by the Elders. The discussion resolved with the Elders' looking at ways to incorporate members' suggestions and future communication about New Hope's direction.

-Synopsis by Ted Hamilton-

Ted on Teamwork

Last Sunday, Ted Hamilton literally bent over backwards to make a point during his sermon.
Listen to Ted's sermon on the First Shall be Last:



Ted had us play the game Hoopla as an illustration of how we are to serve together as a team. It is something which is better viewed than listened to. So here's the video!

Click here to view in stand alone player.
Note it may take a few minutes to load.