September 2019 newsletter

House-to-House

 Family of Hope House Church                                   September2019

Imagination Can Fuel Either Faith Or Fear

In light of the many uncertainties we face in our future, our imaginations inevitably fill in gaps with details we have no way of knowing, thus either adding to our fear or enhancing our faith. 

     In times like these, it's not hard to imagine a lot of things in our world or in our personal lives coming to some unfortunate end. And it’s not hard to see that we naturally become far more anxious when we spend the majority of our time ruminating on that fear end of the spectrum, imagining all manner of worst case scenarios. In accordance with  'Murphy's Law' we assume that whatever can go wrong, will go wrong, most likely terribly wrong. 

     On the other hand, when we are operating within the faith end of the spectrum, we are visualizing better than expected outcomes. This doesn't mean we don't recognize the possibility of things turning out badly, but we don't see those outcomes as being inevitable. By faith, we see bad things as less likely to happen than good, and trust that as a people of God, the odds are truly in our favor. 

      So what if we made a practice of  occasionally spending some time prayerfully preparing for the worst, but devoting the majority of our time picturing things turning out reasonably well--and ultimately very well. 

     And to believe that even if bad things happen, we will never have to face them alone, and that God, and God's people, will help us through whatever comes. 

     Until the very, very best finally comes.

• Harvey Yoder

Notes, Prayers and Praises

• KENT PALMER will have his surgery at UVA September 12. Please pray for a good recovery. 
• SEPTEMBER BIRTHDAY BLESSINGS to Lewis Overholt (9/5), and David Weaver (9/23)! 
• MY COINS COUNT Drive is on until the October 4-5 Relief Sale. Bring coins and cash to church for this project.
• PLEASE SUPPORT the SOS (Sharing Our Surplus) campaign at the Relief Sale October 4-5 to raise money for refugee relief worldwide.

September Lectionary Texts

1 Jeremiah 2:4-13 Proverbs 25:6-7 Hebrews 13:1-8, 15-16 Luke 14:1-14

8 Jeremiah 18:1-11  Deuteronomy 30:15-20  Philemon 1:1-21 Luke 14:25-33

15 Jeremiah 4:11-12, 22-28  Psalm 14  Exodus 32:7-14 1 Timothy 1:12-17  Luke 15:1-10

22 Jeremiah 8:18-9:1  Amos 8:4-7  Psalm 113  1 Timothy 2:1-7  Luke 16:1-13

29 Jeremiah 32:1-3a, 6-15  Amos 6:1a, 4-7  Psalm 146  1 Timothy 6:6-19

Luke 16:19-31

September services, worship at 4, meal at 6 pm

1  Location: Park Place meeting room, 2nd floor                        432-0531

Worship and sharing: Harvey Yoder

Bible Study: Paul Swarr                                                    Brown bag meal                                                         

8 Location: Lois Rivera-Wenger 204 Homes Lane, S’tn     502-663-3195  

Worship and Sharing: Lois Rivera-Wenger                                     

Bible Study: Kent Palmer                                              Shared picnic meal                                                                                                                                       

15 NOTE: We will meet with the Table Congregation at Community Mennonite at 4:30 pm for a joint session with guests Grace and Yugo Prasetyo, missionaries in a slum area where many make their living salvaging items from a large landfill in Jakarta, Indonesia.   Carry in meal       

                                                                                     

22 Location: Family Life Resource Center 273 Newman Ave.   432-0531

Worship and Sharing: James Stauffer                                     

Bible Study: Dick Dumas                                                  Brown bag meal

29 Guy & Margie Vlasits 3399 Caverns Dr., Keezletown            906-0391

Worship and sharing: Elly Nelson

Bible Study: Harvey Yoder                                                    Carry in meal

August 2019 newsletter

House-to-House

 Family of Hope House Church                       August 2019

Some Things I Learned From Major Surgery  

1. Never take life or health for granted. I was assured that the survival rate for heart bypass patients was near 99%, yet I'll never forget the good feeling I had when I first became awake after a five hour surgery. Life is precious indeed.

2. Having strong family support is priceless, a blessing beyond belief.

3. I’m equally grateful to God for the countless friends, neighbors and members of our church family who have showered us with prayers, cards, visits, food and other favors too numerous to count.

4. Health care professionals are worth their weight in gold. Before, during and after my hospital stay, scores of care providers invaluable help through the healing process.

5. I gained a new appreciation of a loving God who designed the human body in an amazing way, then gifted myriads of people who have helped perfect medical treatment to help us when we need it. 

6. Healing takes time and patience, You can expect some really encouraging progress followed by days and nights that seem endless and with fewer signs of healing.

7. The healing of mind and body go hand in hand. I expected to catch up on a lot of reading in my recovery, but for the first couple of weeks I found that my mind was unlike its usually motivated self, and that my brain, like my newly repaired heart, also needed some recovery time.

8. The world can get along quite well without my having to be in constant control of the kind of full schedule I've become used to.

9. Just as there are an amazing number of ways of helping people experience wellness and healing, I’m newly aware of just as many unbelievable ways in which people are capable of creating destruction, suffering and misery on vulnerable, pain-prone human beings.

10. In summary, I've gained bucketsful of gratitude to God for all my blessings, and want to use every opportunity possible to preserve life and to promote healing.                

                                         -                        condensed from Harvspot blog

Notes, Prayers and Praises

• KENT PALMER continues to meet with doctors about possible treatment options for prostate cancer. The good news is that the cancer is at an early stage and so there is not an immediate rush to start treatment.
• AUGUST BIRTHDAY BLESSINGS to Kent Palmer 8/10! Alma Jean and Harvey’s anniversary is 8/8 and James and Ruth Stauffer’s is 8/30.
• MY COINS COUNT Drive is on until the October 4-5 Relief Sale. Bring coins and cash to church for this project.
• ALSO PREPARE TO support the SOS (Sharing Our Surplus) campaign at the Relief Sale to raise money for refugee relief worldwide.
• “SPECIAL THANKS to all of you good church people and others for all the blessings of your prayers, meals, visits and acts of kindness (far too many to mention!) during my recent recovery from surgery.”                                                                 - Harvey Yoder (and Alma Jean)

August Lectionary Texts

4   Hosea 11:1-11  Psalm 107:1-9, 43 Colossians 3:1-11 Luke 12:13-21

11 Isaiah 1:1, 10-20  Psalm 33:12-22 Hebrews 11:1-16  Luke 12:32-40

18 Isaiah 5:1-7  Psalm 82  Hebrews 11:29-12:2  Luke 12:49-56

25 Isaiah 58:9b-14  Psalm 103:1-8  Hebrews 12:18-29  Luke 13:10-17

August services, worship at 4, meal at 6 pm

4  Location: Park Place meeting room, 2nd floor                        432-0531

Worship and sharing: James Stauffer

Bible Study: Paul Swarr                                                    Brown bag meal                                                         

11 Location: Guy & Margie Vlasits 3399 Caverns Dr., Ktown  906-0391

Worship and Sharing: Lewis Overholt                                      

Bible Study: Elly Nelson                                                        Carry in meal                                                                                                                                       

18 Location: Lewis & Mary Ellen Overholt   Heritage Haven    432-7277                                   Worship and Sharing: Kent Palmer

Bible Study: Dick Dumas                                                  Brown bag meal                                                      

25 Location: Family Life Resource Center 273 Newman Ave.   432-0531

Worship and Sharing: Lois Rivera Wenger                                      

Bible Study: Harvey Yoder                                Carry in finger foods meal