September 2023 newsletter

House to House 
Family of Hope House Church            September 2023

A Spirit-Driven Church Becomes Amazingly Diverse

The God-movement unleashed on the day of Pentecost was revolutionary in the way it brought diverse and disparate people together. Quoting from the prophet Joel, the apostle Peter noted that young and old,  men and women, slave and free were are to be formed together into one living, loving community. 

     But that was just a start, the coming together of Jews of different languages and cultures from all over the then known world--Parthians, Medes, Elamites, citizens of Mesopotamia, Judaea, Cappadocia, Pontus, Asia, Phrygia, Pamphylia, Egypt, Libya and Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretes and Arabians. From there the circle of inclusiveness continues to expand at a breathtaking rate.

     Philip, one of the Greek speaking Jews appointed to oversee the daily distribution of food among needy followers of the Way in Jerusalem, goes on a preaching mission to despised half-breed Samaritans, baptizing scores of them into the new movement. Immediately afterwards, he is led to speak to a eunuch who is a Jewish court official on the road to his home in Ethiopia from Jerusalem, where he would have been excluded from access to temple worship due to his status as an emasculated male. The eunuch is baptized and "goes on his way rejoicing." 

     It is soon thereafter that the most dramatic kind of inclusion imaginable takes place. The apostle Peter is called to visit and to baptize the household of Cornelius, an uncircumcised Roman occupier who is a "God-fearing and upright" Gentile. This represented the crossing of the most fundamental of all barriers, an act which would have been anathema to a devout Jew like Peter. But according to the text, God's Spirit gave him no choice but to fully embrace a hated and uncircumcised oppressor whom God had declared "clean." 

     Meanwhile, new believers who were scattered all over the empire after the wave of persecution that took place after the stoning of Stephen, carried the inclusionary message of the Way to places like Antioch of Syria, which became a northern hub of the Christian movement, one that openly incorporated both Jews and Gentiles into the church.

     Soon thereafter, Paul, once a terrorist prosecutor of followers of the Way, with his companion Barnabas, went on a 500 mile preaching tour in which they baptize Jews and Gentiles alike into the movement. This creates major problems on the part of believers in the mother church in Jerusalem, and results in a summit of church leaders being called to resolve the rift created by the inclusion of uncircumcised Gentiles. 

     It is hard to overestimate the gravity of this question among early believers. It could not have been more abundantly clear, in the only Bible Jesus and the early apostles knew, that God had initiated this special rite of inclusion as mandatory, first to Abraham, at age 90, and then 400 years later, to the lawgiver Moses. There were to be no exceptions. 

    So for people whose faith was deeply rooted in Judaism, any thought of being a part of God's covenant people without that kind of sacred initiation was nearly unthinkable. Clearly the first century church could have easily divided over this issue, but instead felt led to draw the circle of welcome wider rather than to exclude those being drawn into it. That appears to be the trajectory in which God is forever moving.

Notes, Prayers and Praises

THE VIRGINIA MENNONITE RELIEF SALE is set for October 6-7

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

THANKS FOR YOUR PRAYERS for those overcoming Covid!

September Study Theme: “Paul, a master communicator”

3   Paul addressing members of Jewish synagogues Acts 13-14:7

10 Paul shares good news with pagan and mixed audiences Acts14:8-28, 16:11-34

17 Paul adapts his message in addressing Athenian philosophers Acts 17:6-34

24 Paul addresses Governors Felix and Festus and King Agrippa Acts 24:1-26:32

September Services, 3:30-5:00 pm 

3  Location: online 

Worship and sharing: Lois Rivera-Wenger

Bible Study: Dick Dumas

10 Location: online

Worship and Sharing: Harvey Yoder

Bible Study:Kent Palmer

17 Location: online

Worship and Sharing, Ellie Nelson

Study: Harvey Yoder 

24 Location: online 

Worship and Sharing, Lois Rivera-Wenger

Bible Study: Ellie Nelson