Announcements
Potluck!--This Sunday
Community Kitchen Spot
There are a lot of hungry and homeless children of God and the community needs some help feeding them. If you would like to help out, please bring the following items to church this Sunday & put them on the bookshelf.
Plastic Forks, Knives, Spoons
Dinner Napkins
Heavy Duty Sectional Dinner Plates
Dessert Plates
New Hope News
May Newsletter--If you have anything you'd like included in the May Newsletter, please submit it to the church office by Monday.
Sunday School--Don Kaller is going to be teaching the adult Sunday School class through May 4.
Session Meeting--May 4, 5:30-7.
Pray For:
Norma Capone
Peggy & John L.
For those in darkness struggling to see the light bursting forth from the empty tomb
For the kids in confirmation class
Links
Keith's Random Thoughts
The last few years have seen a huge rise in participation in endurance athletic events. Full & Half-marathons and Full & Half-Ironman Triathlons are more popular than ever. Thousands of people spends thousands of hours preparing for such events. In order to complete such an event, training has to become a certain way of life. You can't just walk out the door and complete and Ironman. (Well, I can't. I used to think I wanted to do an Ironman. Then I did an Olympic distance tri, which is ¼ of an Ironman, and I realized that I'm good with the sprint races, which are ½ of those. Moving in a straight line for 12-17 hours in a row doesn't actually seem like something I'm particularly called to do.)
Picking up training for such an event disturbs rhythms and patterns in life. There was a fascinating article some years back about rifts in relationships, including divorces, that are caused by one partner dedicating themselves to training for such an event, while their partner gets left behind if they don't take up the training. One feels guilty criticizing the other for choosing physical fitness, but there can be no room left for the other partner when solo training takes hours each morning or evening.
Paul talks about this in 1 Timothy. He says that physical training is of some value, and it certainly is. It's good to be healthy, and it can enable us to participate more fully in various opportunities.
Paul goes on, however, to say that training in godliness is valuable in every way, holding promise in this life as well as the one to come.
Suddenly, we recognize the limits of physical training. No matter how good my physical fitness may be, I can't beat death, and it won't help me beyond the grave. Resurrection doesn't depend on one's ability to do 40 pushups.
But training in godliness—that will help us beyond death, and it helps us here and now. It helps release us from fear and anxiety and to live with boldness today, and it prepares us for the eternal life that is to come.
Wouldn't it be great if we dedicated ourselves to godliness training with the same passion we dedicate ourselves to physical training? Wouldn't it be wonderful if we recognized the benefits of spending 30 minutes a day getting spiritual exercise? I believe the benefits would compound, and we'd grow deeper and more faithful over the years, recognizing God at work in our hearts and lives. We may not end up with the fancy race t-shirts, but the ability to recognizing God's blessings around us would surely make up for that!
Text for this Sunday (Click on Link below to read)
Acts 17:16-34(Common English Bible)
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