September 2020 newsletter

House-to-House

Family of Hope House Church                   September 2020

O How We Love Your Precepts!                   

Fewer young adults are active in church than ever, we're told, but they tend to be drawn more to congregations with strongly held beliefs than those with less well-defined convictions.

     The Christian faith, of course, is not primarily about mouthing theologically orthodox statements but living the kind of life Jesus lived and taught. Or in the words of the late Clarence Jordan, "faith is not belief in spite of evidence but a life lived in scorn of the consequences".

     So how does the church demonstrate the kind of radical, Christ-based convictions that are worth living and dying for?

     One of the gifts the Hebrews of Biblical times most treasured was the Torah, the law of God brought to them by Moses and expounded on by their prophets and psalmists. Psalm 119, the longest chapter in the Bible, is an acrostic poem with 22 stanzas, one for each letter of the Hebrew alphabet. Each stanza has eight verses, each of which celebrates the blessing of knowing God's wisdom for living as found in the "Ten Words" and other commands given at Mount Sinai.

     The Torah,  besides being a guide for everyday living, was also the equivalent of their new nation's Declaration of Independence, Constitution, and Bill of Rights, essential to their identity as a people free at last from Egyptian bondage and exploitation.

     Followers of Jesus should exhibit the same delight in the commands of King Jesus found in his inaugural "Sermon on the Mount", thought to be used as a catechism for instructing first century believers in the faith. Given the authority with which the Servant-King spoke, the Nine Beatitudes and other teachings found in the gospels and the early apostles should be given the highest priority in Christian worship and in our daily living.                             - Harvey Yoder

Notes, Prayers and Praises

WE CONTINUE TO MEET ONLINE Sundays from 4-5:30. For a phone connection (audio only) dial 646-876-9923. For video click on  https://zoom.us/j/2849269967. Problems? Call 574-606-8917.

OUR FOH GIVING has increased significantly in the past months, and we should be able to meet or exceed our $16,800 goal for 2020. Meanwhile, keep saving your change (and spare bills) for the My Coins Count project, a Relief Sale, initiative.

BIRTHDAY BLESSINGS TO Lewis Overholt (9/5) and David Weaver (9/23!

THE RELIEF SALE’S SOS CAMPAIGN  to raise funds for MCC generated nearly $15,000 through its Hundreds for Hundreds Walk August 23! Would our house church be willing to join me in forming one of many “$1000 Clubs” to raise additional money by the Sale date (October 3), since income from food sales and this year’s online-only auction will be more limited? Ten of us contributing an average of $100 would make us a part of a “club.”

September Study “Torah From Gospel Mountain” 

6   Matthew 5:33-37

13 Matthew 5:38-48 

20 Matthew 6:1-4, 16-18

27 Matthew 6:5-15

September Services, 4-5:30 pm 

6  Location: on line                             

Worship and Sharing: Harvey Yoder                       

Bible Study: Elly Nelson

13  Location: on line 

Worship and sharing: Lois Rivera-Wenger

Bible Study: Harvey Yoder                                                        

20 Location: on line                

Worship and Sharing: Lewis Overholt                            

Bible Study: Dick Dumas                              

27 Location: on line

Worship and sharing: Elly Nelson

Bible Study: Kent Palmer