Reflecting and Drinking some Coffee

Hello New Hope Community,

I’m sipping my second cup of coffee, watching the rain fall from the overcast Portland sky and contemplating what I should write about in this week’s iPastor. My mind immediately journeys back to last Sunday’s weekend worship service which had incredible music, inspiring stories of life-change expressed through baptism, and the fact that hundreds of New Hopers recommitted their lives to the Lordship of Jesus Christ.

For the past four weeks we have been challenged to ‘Mind Our Own Business’ …which means we are running God’s Business (because its all his stuff anyway!). Many of you have made the hard decision to dump credit card debt and start ‘Acting Your Wage’ by paying CASH for your everyday living expenses. Others have accepted the 3 Month Tithe Challenge to literally test God and see if the Lord holds true to His promises of blessing in our lives.

ma’aser
Did you know that the word "tithe" is derived from the Hebrew word ma’aser and it literally means a tenth? Ten percent of everything belongs to the Lord. In Malachi 3:10-11, God says, “Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse that there may be food in my house.” The 'storehouse' is the Old Testament picture of the New Testament church. So as New Testament believers, we worship the Lord with the tithe; or the ten percent.

As a tangible and faithful act of worship, this weekend our entire community will be giving a First Fruits Offering by bringing a tithe. Remember, God doesn't need our money. He owns everything. But we give first because it takes faith to give first and God wants us to trust Him. He tells us in Proverbs 3:9-10 to “honor the Lord with your wealth, with the first fruits of all your crops and then your barns will be filled with overflowing.” We give first and the blessings of God follow.

* 10% of this weekends offering will go toward fulfilling New Hope’s Habitat For Humanity Faith Build Commitment & replenish New Hope’s Families In Crisis Funds to help families in our church during these tough times.

This Sunday
Dr. Jay Barber will be teaching this weekend at New Hope. For the past 12 years Dr. Barber has capably served as the President of Warner Pacific College, in addition to holding positions with the Murdock Foundation, etc… President Jay will be continuing our Leadership America Needs Series with his message aptly entitled … “Lessons I Have Learned Along The Way”. New Hope is blessed to have Jay on staff in his part time pastoral leadership capacity. You DON’T want to miss this weekend …trust me!



Next Series
Next Sunday the 30th of November Pastor Ray will be kicking off our Advent Conspiracy Christmas Series. This weekend you will be hearing more about our plans for Christmas and how you can ENTER the STORY!

November Survey
As the Pastors and Leaders of New Hope continue to pray and plan for an exciting new year, we want to hear from you. We have created an on-line survey which will give you an opportunity to join the dialogue. Bottom line… we really care about you and want to hear from you. Please take a few moments to complete this quick survey and let us know what you think.

Grace & Peace,

Pastor Brent