April 2022 newsletter

 House-to-House

Family of Hope House Church           April 2022

 A Muslim Scholar Writes About Easter

Two thousand years ago, an itinerant Jewish preacher and miracle worker walked across the Galilee, gathering followers to establish what he called the "Kingdom of God." The revolutionary movement he launched was so threatening to the established order that he was captured, tortured and executed as a state criminal…

     Obviously the notion of a man dying a gruesome death and returning to life three days later defies all logic, reason, and sense. One could simply stop the argument there, dismiss the resurrection as a lie, and declare belief in the risen Jesus to be the product of a deludable mind.

     However there is this nagging fact to consider: one after another of those who claimed to have witnessed the risen Jesus went to their own gruesome deaths refusing to recant their testimony. That is not, in itself, unusual. Many zealous Jews died horrible deaths for refusing to deny their beliefs. But these first followers of Jesus were not being asked to reject matters of faith based on events that took place centuries, if not millennia, before. They were being asked to deny something they themselves personally, directly encountered…

     They were repeatedly arrested and abused for their preaching; more than once their leaders had been brought before the Sanhedrin to answer charges of blasphemy. They were beaten, whipped, stoned and crucified, yet they would not cease proclaiming the risen Jesus."

    - Reza Aslan, author of Zealot--The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth

Notes Prayers and Praises

ACCORDING TO OUR RECENT FOH POLL almost all of our members want to resume regular in person meetings at some point but are not ready to do so right away. VMRC is not yet available to outside groups. 

APRIL BIRTHDAY BLESSINGS to Mary Ellen Overholt 4/5 and Cathy Atwell 4/19!

KAREN CAMPBELL will soon have her foot brace for therapy at Harrisonburg Health and Rehab Center to help her be able to walk again. She is in Room 55, and her cell number is 540-209-2675.

A SERVICE OF MEMORY for Harvey’s older brother Sanford will be held at the Pilgrim Fellowship School near Stuarts Draft at 10:30 Saturday, April 16. 

                                                   

April Lectionary Texts

3  John 19:1-16a Jesus is condemned, they have no king but Caesar. (Psalm 146)

10 John 19:16b-22  Sign above the cross proclaims the crucified king. John 12:12-27, Triumphal Entry 

Good Friday Reading: John 19:23-42 Woman, behold your son; I thirst; It is finished;, a royal burial. (Psalm 26:3, 31:9-18)

17 John 20:1-18 Empty tomb, Jesus calls Mary by name. 

(Psalm 118:21-29)

24 John 20:19-31 Jesus gives the Spirit, appears to Thomas. 

(Psalm 145:13-21)

April Services, 4-5:30 pm 

3 Worship and sharing: Lewis Overholt

Bible Study: Kent Palmer

10 Worship and Sharing: Lois Rivera-Wenger

Bible Study: Dick Dumas

17 Worship and Sharing: Kent Palmer

Bible Study: Harvey Yoder

24 Worship and Sharing: Lois Rivera-Wenger

Bible Study: Elly Nelson