House-to-House

 Family of Hope House Church              November 2022

They Were All Together In One Place  

We’ve had mixed reviews about our hybrid Zoom and in-person service Sunday October 23. On the one hand it was slightly dispiriting to have only five FOH members present for the opening part at 3:30, fewer than anticipated, but we sang, prayed. laughed and were blessed by having a devout guest with us from Bangladesh who had just moved in next to the Overholts. And with Jesus in our midst, as alway, we had more than a quorum present at the Village Hall patio, and by 4 pm we had a grand total of eight there in person and six online. Participation by everyone in our study (of Solomon’s wisdom and of what we can learn from his lack of it) was spirited and helpful.

     Yet we’re all aware of the limits of virtual church meetings. It’s hard to imagine the 120 gathered in that upstairs room at Pentecost having had quite the same experience of the Spirit’s hurricane force presence had they not been “all together in one place” for their time of waiting and praying together.

     The Acts 2 text doesn’t say whether they sang during that time, but I’m sure they did, and we all greatly miss that part of our worship experience, as much as we have enjoyed hearing some really great recorded music in our virtual services. Paul writes that we are to “Teach and admonish one another with all wisdom… singing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God.”

     Then there are the missing signs of our common life around the Lord’s table, as in the breaking of bread and partaking of the cup, which can’t happen virtually, nor can the washing of one another’s feet, the laying on of hands for prayer or the anointing of oil for healing. And of course we can only greet one another with a holy kiss, embrace or other warm greeting if we are physically in the same space, though we can of course welcome each other with heartfelt words in either case!

     May God help us as we find a way to again be “together in one place.” That is how it will be in heaven, thank God.

- Harvey Yoder

Notes, Prayers and Praises

KAREN CAMPBELL suffered a stroke October 22 and was taken to Sentara/RMH and then to Martha Jefferson Hospital in Charlottesville. Thankfully she recovered well and returned to HHRC four days later.

NOVEMBER BIRTHDAY BLESSINGS to Neal Nelson 11/2 (in absentia), Paul Swarr 11/10 and Guy Vlasits 11/21. Neal and Elly Nelson’s anniversary is November 26.

BRAD YODER will be with us for a Thanksgiving/Advent music service at Village Hall Sunday, November 27. Following a half hour for our prayer and sharing, we will have an hour of music with Brad from 4-5, with folks from VMRC and elsewhere invited to join us. 

LOCAL CHURCHES ARE ORGANIZING A SPECIAL DRIVE to collect gifts for Virginia prisoners: chapstick, travel size/hotel size bars of soap, full size tubes of toothpaste, #2 unsharpened wooden pencils, and money for the purchase of notepads, thermal socks and toothbrushes. We will collect these at our November 27 meeting.

November Study Themes

6   II Kings 5:1-15a Elisha heals Naaman Matt 8:2-3, Jesus heals a leper,
13  Micah 1:3-5; 5:2-5a; 6:6-8 God desires justice, kindness, walking humbly with God Matt 9:13, God wants mercy, not sacrifice
20  Isaiah 36:1-3, 13-20; 37:1-7; then 2:1-4 Assyria threatens Jerusalem Matt 5:14, light of the world, city on a hill
27 Habakkuk 1:1-7; 2:1-4; 3:17-19 The prophet awaits God’s reply. Matt 26:36-38; Jesus is grieved and asks disciples to watch with him

November Services, 3:30-5:00 pm 
6  Location: online
Worship and sharing: Harvey Yoder
Bible Study: Dick Dumas
13 Location: online
Worship and Sharing: Lois Rivera-Wenger
Bible Study: Kent Palmer 

20 Location: online
Worship and Sharing: TBD
Bible Study: Elly Nelson
27 Location: VMRC’s Park Village
Worship and Sharing  Harvey Yoder
Music for Thanksgiving and Advent ℅ Brad Yoder

October 2022 newsletter

House-to-House

Family of Hope House Church              __     October 2022

St. Augustine on investing wisely  

In light of ever more desperate world needs, what does it mean to love God with all we have and to love our world neighbors as we love and look after ourselves?

     Each year multiple donors make cash, check and credit card contributions for refugee relief at the Virginia Mennonite Relief Sale’s “Sharing Our Surplus” (SOS) Giving Table. Last year that effort raised a gratifying $48,000, around 12% of the total raised at the Sale.

     Our love for God and others is most accurately reflected in our actual giving and spending.  Whether it's $5 for a donut and coffee, $5000 for a luxury cruise or $500,000 for a new house for our retirement, we are in each case indicating exactly how much we value those assets. In other words, exactly how much we “love” those things. 

     None of this spending is necessarily wrong if we are equally committed to having our worldwide neighbors enjoy the very same blessings. Isn’t that what “as ourselves” means?

     A rich man in one of Jesus’s parables decided the best use of his assets was to upgrade his holdings by replacing his existing barns with new ones. He then said to himself, “You have plenty of wealth laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and enjoy yourself.”

     St. Augustine, reflecting on this story, wrote,  “This silly fool of a man... was hoarding perishable crops. I repeat, he was hoarding perishable crops, while he was on the point of perishing… How will he know where to look, when at that trial he starts hearing the words "I was hungry and you did not give me to eat" (Matthew 25:42)? He was planning to fill his soul with excessive and unnecessary feasting and was proudly disregarding all those empty bellies of the poor. He did not realize that the bellies of the poor were much safer storerooms than his barns. What he was stowing away in those barns was perhaps even then being stolen away by thieves. But if he stowed it away in the bellies of the poor, it would of course be digested on earth, but in heaven it would be kept all the more safely. 'The redemption of a man's soul is his riches.' ”                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             - Harvey Yoder

Notes, Prayers and Praises

OUR OFFERING FOR “MY COINS COUNT,” was $51.39 this year.

IF YOU WEREN’T ABLE TO ATTEND THE RELIEF SALE you can still make a contribution on the Sale website or write a check made out to Virginia Relief Sale (with SOS on the memo line).

THANKS FOR YOUR PRAYERS FOR PABLO YODER, Harvey’s nephew, diagnosed with Stage 4 cancer, and for MARGARET VARNER, Alma Jean’s niece in Pennsylvania, being treated for blood clots in her lung.

OCTOBER BIRTHDAY BLESSINGS to Joyce Ulrich 10/14 and Elly Nelson 10/28!

October Study Themes

2   Exodus 14:5-29 The sea parts at the exodus Matthew 2:13-15

9  Exodus 19:3-7; 20:1-17 God delivers Israel and  gives them Ten Words Matthew 5:17

16 Joshua 24:1-26 “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord” Matthew 4:8-10 

23 1 Kings 3:4-28 Solomon prays for wisdom Matthew 6:9-10

30 II Samuel 11:1-5, 26-27; 12:1-9; Psalm 51:1-9 Nathan’s parable

Luke 17:3-4

 October Services, 3:30-5:00 pm 

3  Location: online

Worship and sharing: Elly Nelson

Bible Study: Harvey Yoder

9 Location: online

Worship and Sharing: Lois Rivera-Wenger

Bible Study: Kent Palmer

16 Location: online

Worship and Sharing: Harvey Yoder 

Bible Study Dick Dumas

23 Location: VMRC's Park Village patio

Worship and Sharing  Kent Palmer

Bible Study: Harvey Yoder

30 Location: online

Worship and Sharing  Lois Rivera-Wenger

Bible Study: Elly Nelson

September 2022 newsletter

 House-to-House

 Family of Hope House Church              __September 2022

Let’s Pray for our Teachers                           - Harvey Yoder

Soon after the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre, a well known news commentators opined, “We ask why there is violence in our schools, but we have systematically removed God from our schools. Should we be surprised that schools become a place of carnage?"

With all due respect, I couldn’t help wondering how he explained the tragic murders of devout and innocent Amish children in the 2006 Nickel Mine School shooting. Had they removed God from their school? I don’t think so.

Some observations:

1. A compassionate God who observes each sparrow’s fall will never allow himself to be removed from any place on the planet. God inhabits all shopping malls, parks, hospitals, prisons, work places, and even places of worship ;-), regardless of what religious activities may (or may not) be going on there.

2. My experience with the bland prayers and readings I was exposed to in public school (where virtually all students were from Protestant homes) was extremely minimal compared to the influence of my family and congregational family, along with some of the good role models I had in many of my teachers.

3. Public schools today represent a much more religiously diverse population than when I attended, which means it would be almost impossible to devise prayers today for all that would not be offensive to some, including myself. Our three local grandstudents have been blessed with exceptionally dedicated (some Mennonite) teachers in the dual Spanish/English program they are enrolled in at their first years in public school. God is obviously present in many of these teachers' lives, but we need to pray earnestly for them and for the children they influence every day.

Notes, Prayers and Praises

SAVE YOUR CHANGE FOR “MY COINS COUNT,” a Virginia Relief Sale fundraising initiative. The Sale will be held September 30- October 1 this year.

IF YOU CAN’T ATTEND THE RELIEF SALE IN PERSON you can make a contribution to the Sharing Our Surplus (SOS) fund on the Sale website or write a check made out to Virginia Relief Sale (with SOS on the memo line) and get it to Harvey Yoder. Last year such contributions made up nearly 12% of the total of over $400,000 generated by the Sale.

PRAY FOR PABLO YODER, 64, Harvey’s nephew and a church planter in rural Nicaragua, who has been diagnosed with Stage 4 cancer.

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

WE CONCLUDE OUR SERIES ON HEALING on September 4 with a study of Romans 8.

September Study Themes

4    Romans 8 God’s love and presence in the midst of suffering

11  Genesis 6:5-22; 8:6-12; 9:8-17 Noah, the flood, and the promise of the rainbow (Matt 8:24-27, Jesus calms the storm)

18 Genesis 12:1-9 Call of Abraham, promise of land, descendants, blessing to the nations (Matt 28:19-20, Go therefore and make disciples) 

25 Genesis 39:1-23 Joseph is unjustly put in prison; yet God is present with him there (Matt 5:11-12, Blessed are you when people revile you)

September Services, 3:30-5:00 pm 

4  Location: online

Worship and sharing: Ellie Nelson

Bible Study: Harvey Yoder

11 Location: online

Worship and Sharing: Lois Rivera-Wenger

Bible Study: Kent Palmer

18 Location: TBD

Worship and Sharing: Harvey Yoder

Bible Study Dick Dumas

25 Location: online

Worship and Sharing  Lois Rivera-Wenger

Bible Study: Elly Nelson

 House-to-House

 Family of Hope House Church              August 2022

Jewish Wisdom On Health and Healing

Honor physicians for their services,
    for the Lord created them,
for their gift of healing comes from the Most High,
    and they are rewarded by the king.
The skill of physicians makes them distinguished,
    and in the presence of the great they are admired.
The Lord created medicines out of the earth,
    and the sensible will not despise them…
And he gave skill to human beings
    that he might be glorified in his marvelous works.
By them the physician heals and takes away pain;
    the pharmacist makes a mixture from them.
God’s works will never be finished,
    and from him health spreads over all the earth.
My child, when you are ill, do not delay,
    but pray to the Lord, and he will heal you.
Give up your faults and direct your hands rightly,
    and cleanse your heart from all sin.
Offer a sweet-smelling sacrifice and a memorial portion of choice flour,
    and pour oil on your offering, as much as you can afford
Then give physicians their place, for the Lord created them;
    do not let them leave you, for you need them.
There may come a time when recovery lies in the hands of physicians,
    for they, too, pray to the Lord
that he grant them success in diagnosis
    and in healing, for the sake of preserving life.
Those who sin against their Maker
    will be defiant toward the physician.

From the Apocrypha, Sirach 38:1-15 (NRSV)

Notes, Prayers and Praises

WE WILL DO BIBLE STUDIES ON HEALTH AND HEALING in the month of August.
SPECIAL THANKS TO KENT PALMER for providing us with Willard Swarthy’s book, “Health, Healing and the Church’s Mission for our August study series.
SAVE YOUR CHANGE FOR “MY COINS COUNT,” a Virginia Relief Sale fundraising initiative. The Sale will be held September 30- October 1 this year.
JIM AND RUTH STAUFFER are settling in to their new home in Room 105 at Crestwood.
AUGUST BIRTHDAY BLESSINGS  to Kent Palmer, 8/10! Also, Alma Jean and Harvey Yoder’s anniversary is August 8, and Jim and Ruth Stauffer’s is August 30. Blessings to all!

August Study Themes

7   Chapter 1 of Willard Swartley’s “Health, Healing and the Church’s Mission
14  A physician’s perspective
21 The Bible on physical healing 
28 The Bible on spiritual healing

August Services, 3:30-5:00 pm 

7  Location: VMRC Village Hall
Praises and prayers regarding healing c/o Harvey Yoder
Bible Study: Kent Palmer
14 Location: VMRC Village Hall
Sharing healing stories, ℅ Harvey Yoder
Healing Grace--My Life Story: Richard Alderfer, MD
21 Location: online
Worship and Sharing: Lois Rivera-Wenger
Bible Study Dick Dumas
28 Location: online
Worship and Sharing  Lois Rivera-Wenger

Bible Study: Elly Nelson

House-to-House

Family of Hope House Church                                        July 2022

When Will They Ever Learn?

From July 1 through July 4, 1913, thousands of Civil War veterans returned to rural Adams County, Pennsylvania, to mark the 50th Anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg.
     At that time, now over a century ago, the New York Herald wrote: 
     "Today fifty thousand veterans of the great War are moving in to take peaceful possession of the field where in the ardor of youth they strove in such deadly conflict. No better evidence of healing of the nation’s wounds could be offered than the spectacle of men of the Grand Army and of the Confederacy striking hands on the spot where they made history."
     During the Commemoration there were many speeches made, wool blankets were handed out to the now aging veterans, and over 650,000 meals were served. The infamous and ill-fated Pickett’s Charge was reenacted by 120 veterans of Pickett’s Division and 180 veterans from the Philadelphia Brigade, reliving the carnage of that awful battle, in which the Union army lost 3,450 men, 20% of their number, and the Confederate side lost 7,000, 38% of their troops.
     After the Confederate veterans charged over the last 100 feet of ground to reach the wall held by the Union re-enactors, all of the men who had been sworn enemies broke ranks, shook hands and embraced each other as they recalled and relived the horrors of that July 3 afternoon.
     I was moved by that image of former enemies meeting as brothers. If only people everywhere could learn to get together before they engage in disastrous conflicts of this sort, and agree to work things out, shake hands and sit down to a common meal as friends and fellow children of God.
      That would truly help make God's dream for humanity come true.
                                                                                                                 - Harvey Yoder

Notes, Prayers and Praises

VIRGINIA CONFERENCE SUMMER DELEGATE ASSEMBLY will be at  the Zion Mennonite Church starting at 7 pm Thursday, July 14, and for Friday and Saturday delegate sessions. Friday evening’s service will be at Trissels Mennonite Church, a special celebration marking their 200th anniversary, and the 6:45 am Saturday Mennonite Women’s prayer breakfast will also be held there.
PLEASE PRAY FOR DONNA SACRA, who has tested positive for Covid and has also been diagnosed with breast cancer. We are grateful that she is doing better!
JIM AND RUTH STAUFFER have moved to Room 105 at Crestwood!
SHOULD WE CONSIDER A POSSIBLE VMRC LOCATION for some of our summer meetings, such as the porch/patio at Village Hall?
JULY BIRTHDAY BLESSINGS to Lois Rivera-Wenger 7/30!

July Lectionary Texts

3    1 Peter 1:3-23  (Matthew 5:11-12) 
10  1 Peter 2:1-9, 19-25 (Matthew 16:24-26) 
17  1 Peter 3:13-22  (Matthew 5:3-10) 
24  1 Peter 4:1-19  (Matthew 5:43-48) 
31  1 Peter 5:1-14  (Matthew 20:25-28) 

July Services, 4-5:30 pm 

3  Location: on line
Worship and Sharing: Kent Palmer
Bible Study: Harvey Yoder
10 Location: To be determined 
Worship and Sharing Harvey Yoder
Bible Study Kent Palmer
17 Location: on line 
Worship and Sharing Lois Rivera-Wenger
Bible Study Roy Hange
24 Location: TBD 
Worship and Sharing  Harvey Yoder

Bible Study Dick Dumas
31 Location: on line 
Worship and Sharing  Lois Rivera-Wenger
Bible Study: Elly Nelson 

Celebrating Pentecost, Our Annual Covenant Reaffirmation And Communion At Park Woods

Photos by Lewis Overholt

This was also World Environment Day. We noted a connection between the Spirit of God (Ruach--Mighty Wind/Life-giving Breath) creating light, life and beauty in creation and that same Spirit, accompanied by the sound of a mighty wind, igniting light, life and shalom in a new community of Jesus-followers from all over the world.

June 2022 newsletter

 House-to-House

Family of Hope House Church         June 2022

A Tale of Two Churches    

The Church of Pentecost (from the Acts of the Apostles)

  “The believers devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. Awe came upon everyone, because  many wonders and signs were being done by the apostles. All who believed were together and had all things in common; they would sell their possessions and goods and distribute the proceeds to all, as any had need. Day by day, as they spent much time together in the temple, they broke bread at home and ate their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having the goodwill of all the people. And day by day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved.”

The Church of Plenty-Cost (from the Acts of the Apostate?)

     “The believers, when not on vacation or having more important things to do, devoted themselves to their congregation’s Sunday morning services and to taking part in occasional potluck meals. Apathy came upon everyone as they were urged to give generously to pay for and maintain their well furnished church building and to support the growing number of staff on their church's payroll. 

     Meanwhile, lay members were scattered everywhere, each trying to make ends meet and to keep up with their Visa payments, along with saving all they could for their children’s college and for their future retirement. Day after day they spent time around their home entertainment centers, enjoying all manner of good food and savoring all of the benefits of the good life. 

     And day by day the Lord pondered over how this church could be renewed and saved.”

                                                                                          - Harvey Yoder

Notes, Prayers and Praises

PENTECOST SUNDAY, JUNE 5, is our annual covenanting service in which we renew our commitment to membership in Family of Hope, as follows:  “I support the goals, vision and faith of Family of Hope, will attend weekly services as regularly as I am able, and will use my gifts and offer my encouragement to this church family to the best of my ability. I invite other members to support me--and to confront me as needed--in being faithful to this commitment.

     This our our vision statement:  “To be faithful followers of Jesus Christ, and by the power of the Holy Spirit, to grow as a community of grace, joy and peace, so  that God’s healing and hope may flow though us to the world.”

JUNE BIRTHDAY BLESSINGS to Josiah Dumas 6/9, and Harvey Yoder 6/30!

June Lectionary Texts

5   Day of Pentecost Acts 2:1-21; Philippians 4:4-7 (John 14:16-17)
12  Exodus 19:1-6; 20:1-2 (Matthew 22:34-40)
19  Exodus 20:3-11   (Matthew 22:34-40) 
26  Exodus 20:12-16 (Matthew 22:34-40) 

June Services, 4-5:30 pm 

5  Location: Park Woods Pavilion
Worship and Sharing 
Recovenanting and Communion 
12 Location: on line 
Worship and Sharing Lois Rivera Wenger
Bible Study Kent Palmer
19 Location: Park Woods Pavilion 
Worship and Sharing  Kent Palmer
Bible Study Dick Dumas
26 Location: on line 
Worship and Sharing  Lois Rivera-Wenger
Bible Study Elly Nelson