Servants of Christ
In order to take up the Sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God (Ephesians 6:17), I try to work on Bible memory a little every day. Here is the plan I use, which I highly recommend…
Method For Long Term Scripture Memory:
• Day 1: 25 times (aloud with appropriate inflection in voice each time)
• Day 2: 20 times
• Day 3: 15 times
• Day 4: 10 times
• Day 5: 5 times
• Then daily for 45-60 days.
• Weekly for one year.
• Monthly for 2-3 years.
• 2-3 times per year for life.
Recently, I was in the early stages of putting 2 Corinthians 4:5 to my long-term memory…
For what we preach is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. 2 Corinthians 4:5
Paul was telling this church (with its many problems) that they (Paul and his companions) did not come to share with the church how awesome they were. They had come to share how above all else Jesus is the Lord of the church. He is the boss and the one we all submit to. Then, who was Paul? Paul tells the church that he and all his co-workers are their servants for Jesus’ sake.
What a great challenge for us! We are servants of others for the sake of Jesus. We are servants of our neighbors who don’t know Jesus yet as their Savior. We serve our neighbors with the love of Christ for our Lord’s sake. We are also servants of our fellow brothers and sisters in obedience to God. We serve them in any way we can to help them be ready for the return of Christ.
How about you? Are you living this out? Jesus flipped this leadership thing all around when He lived on earth. He said we shouldn’t lead like the world leads. We will be the greatest leaders when we are the biggest servants (Luke 9:46-48). How can you and I serve our non-Christian friends and neighbors for Jesus’ sake? How can we serve each other in obedience to the Lord? Our home groups? Our peers?
It is a joy to be fellow servants of Jesus our Lord with all of you!
~Pastor Randy
Below is how you can help us out for our celebration lunch!
If your last name begins with E, U, V, X, Y, Z - Nacho Cheese (already warm in its warming pot)
If your last name begins with B, F, K, M, R - Salads (green, fruit or your favorite kind)
If your last name begins with D, J, N, O, P, Q, T - Rice
If your last name begins with H or L - Guacamole
If your last name begins with A, C, G, I, S, W - Beans (preferably refried/pinto)
Please bring enough for 12 people.
Please contact info@hopetucson.com if you have any questions!
Suzi King, Director
sking@hopetucson.com
Ladies, join us on Saturday, February 19 for Game & Appetizer Night!
6:00 - 8:00 p.m. at Mountain View Baptist Church (3500 W. Overton Rd.)
Bring an appetizer to share and your favorite game.
Thank you Tammi Moore for hosting our Women's Breakfast in January!
Hope is going to one service at 10:00 a.m. Join us at 9:30 a.m. for coffee, donuts and fellowship!
Dave Collins, Church Plant Pastor
dcollins@hopetucson.com
Church Plant Update:
“Then God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and multiply. Fill the earth and govern it.”” (Genesis 1:28)
Healthy things multiply. Healthy plants produce more plants, healthy animals multiply and healthy people get married and have babies. That is how God created our world to work and I believe we should be multiplying spiritually. I think we should all be making disciples individually, I think our Home Groups should be multiplying and I think our churches should be planting more churches. Hope is part of the Evangelical Free Church of America (EFCA). The EFCA’s mission is:
“We exist to glorify God by multiplying transformational churches among all people.”
What an exciting time we are in at Hope as God multiplies us by planting another church. We are prayerfully moving forward. We are starting to get more clarity as we take steps of faith forward, but much is still unknown as we are in the beginning stages of this adventure. If you have questions, or would like to talk more about it, please reach out to me.
Go get ‘em! Pastor Dave
Matt Poling
Worship Pastor
mpoling@hopetucson.com
OUR SONGS MATTER
Hey Hope,
Some time ago, … ok, a long, long time ago, Brother George asked me to write an article on:
"How do we determine whether a given song is one worth singing in church (other than the fact that we like the music)?
Or even, What biblical criteria should we use in evaluating any given music that we might choose to listen to"? (You might need to make that one an 8 part series).”
As I started writing, it got …. long. It got buried and forgotten. Then remembered. Then … well, you get the point.
Anyway, it’s finally done! There’s so much to write about in this frequently discussed topic, especially regarding the Biblical criteria we ought to use when evaluating music. But rather than writing a 100 page thesis attempting to examine all that the Bible has to say on the topic, I thought we’d start with a simple overview of worship through song and the basics of how we at Hope select the music we sing together.
What follows here is a small excerpt from the article. If you’ve got some coffee and are ready to dive in, you can read the full article here:
https://hopetucson.com/oursongsmatter
Our Songs Matter (an excerpt)
John Piper called worship “the ultimate goal of the church”. I believe he is correct. It is an eternal action, joining all of heaven in worship that goes on day and night (Revelation 4). Now, don’t mistake me (or Pastor Piper!), corporate singing should not be our only form of worship; it shouldn’t even be our primary form (Romans 12). Our entire lives are to be given to God in a sacrificial act of worship. That said, singing matters. Truly. Singing was created by God and ordained by Him for His praise:
• God the Father sings overs us. (Zephaniah 3)
• He is enthroned upon praise. (Psalm 22)
• Our Lord and Savior sang with His disciples. (Matthew 26)
• All of creation is told to sing His praise. (1 Chronicles 16)
• The largest book of the Bible is filled with musical prayer and worship. (Psalms)
• Most of the Psalms were written by a man "after God's own heart". (1 Samuel 13)
• The Church is told to sing with each other. (Ephesians 5, Colossians 3)
• In Revelation, a new song will be sung, and all of creation will join it. (Revelation 5)
And those are just to name a very few things that God has revealed to us about music through His Word. Our worship through song matters, and this worship (as all worship) must be acceptable (Hebrews 12). So, how much emphasis ought we put on what exactly we sing? I think the answer is: a lot. Worshipping anyone who is not God is idolatry. But worshipping God as someone other than He is and has revealed Himself to be: also idolatry (John 4). Worshipping God as other than He is (i.e., not in truth) will not only miss the mark of worship, but it will lead us astray – ultimately away from Him. A couple quotes from A.W. Tozer’s The Knowledge of the Holy sum this up:
“The essence of idolatry is the entertainment of thoughts about God that are unworthy of Him. It begins in the mind and may be present where no overt act of worship has taken place.”
“To be right we must think worthily of God. It is morally imperative that we purge from our minds all ignoble concepts of the Deity and let Him be the God in our minds that He is in His universe. The Christian religion has to do with God and man, but its focal point is God, not man. Man's only claim to importance is that he was created in the divine image; in himself he is nothing.”
To sing words about God which are untrue is to bring idolatry into worship. Think on that. To sing lies and errors to God, while pretending they are truths… how sad that would be. How sad for Him to hear that “worship”. How sad for us to sing it. We must do everything we can to make sure our words are, first and foremost, true.
Well, Hope, there you go. I hope you click the link above and read the entire article. I hope it blesses and unifies us. And if you have thoughts or questions, I’d love to hear from you.
~Pastor Matt
Kyria Kelly, Director
kckelly@hopetucson.com
Hello, Hope!
I am so stoked to announce that we are in the early planning stages of a summer VBS. Ideally, it will happen June 6-10 from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. As we prepare for this exciting event, we need help with several things. First, please pray that God will provide a space that is large enough for the children He wants to attend. Next, please pray that He will start moving in those children’s lives to prepare their hearts for whatever He intends to do through this. And finally, please pray for abundant volunteers; if you are one of them, please let me know!
Thank you so much for joining us on this adventure!
Kyria
February Birthdays:
Kai Bernard 2/01
Elijah Glowa 2/05
Dean Vereen 2/06
Jace Alexander 2/07
Winston Larson 2/10
Silas Zientarski 2/13
Cyrus Phillips 2/14
Keegan Kollasch 2/16
Jase Coveris 2/19
Cruz Larson 2/24
Gideon Zientarski 2/25
Kayleen Hendricks 2/28
Elias Stroop 2/28
Questions about Awana - Contact Tim or Marilyn Tolson at 520- 575-1307.
Kevin Mason, Associate Pastor
kmason@hopetucson.com
The beginning of 2022 is all about transition. Hope is in the process of purchasing a building, planting a church, adding Canon to the team as our Youth Pastor and me moving into an Associate Pastor role. So many changes!
I am excited to announce that my new roles as your Associate Pastor include building up our Home Group Ministry, Men’s Ministry, Local Outreach, HopeU and supporting Sunday Morning Ministries at Hope. With all this transition and newness this verse comes to mind.
“Be shepherds of God’s flock that is under your care, watching over them—not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be; not pursuing dishonest gain, but eager to serve; 3 not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock. 4 And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that will never fade away.” (1 Peter 5:2-4)
This verse really communicates my heart and vision well as I transition into an Associate Pastor. I am eager to see how I can now shepherd adults at Hope through these ministries in hopes of building each other up in Christ. I am so excited to see how God will work through all these new changes!
Dates to Remember:
Home Group Sign-ups Sunday Mornings at Wilson on January 30 and February 6
Men’s breakfast on Saturday, February 19 at the Men's HopeHouse
HopeU:
Friday nights Bible study at the Women's HopeHouse
Love serving with each of you!
Pastor Kevin
Canon Black, Youth Pastor
cblack@hopetucson.com
At our last Youth Group we spent time in 2 Corinthians 8:9 , “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, so that you by His poverty might become rich.”
We considered what it meant that Christ was rich, how even though what comes to mind are physical riches, our King was most assuredly rich in other ways as well.
HE was with the Father, in perfect unity, experiencing emotional, spiritual, and relational riches. HE sat on a throne of excellence and praise. HE was with HIS Father experiencing true, deep, and full love. Accepted and welcome. HE lacked nothing physically. And had no unfulfilled place in HIS heart. Our King was rich in ways we could not fathom, stretching beyond what we could perceive or fathom into the unknowable reaches of the depth of God and HIS mighty hand. There is no boredom in heaven, no lackluster experience, no new greater joy than to be with God. A kind of thing we cannot fathom!
HE gave up all this! All so that we might gain them. Jesus says “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” John 10:10
HE offers to us riches! Life abundant! And how does that change us? I follow Christ! How often do I read HIS words to me? How often do I seek HIM in prayer? Do I engrave HIS words in my heart and mind for memory? Sing HIS praise when nobody is watching? Submit my will to HIS own? Lay my desires down and take up HIS? Turn away from my flesh? Do I take the time to edify another's spirit? Do I consider all HE has done for me? Do I thank HIM for the cross constantly? He says, "how beautiful are the feet of those who share the Good News" - well, do mine need washing in the work of evangelism? When I am faced with great anxieties and fears do I turn first to HIM?
With these thoughts on our minds we each decided on a goal for the remainder of the month. How we were going to purposefully pursue the riches that Christ has given us. Maybe through Scripture memory. Reading of the Word. Regular intentional prayer. Etc.
So now in a time when we are unable to meet, but very able to speak, we can take time to reach out to one another, speak the Gospel to a brother, and encourage our co-heirs in their pursuit of HIM.
In Christ alone,
Canon
February Calendar for
HopeYouth:
No Hope Youth Sunday, February 6
Join Hope in celebrating our 11th Birthday
from 12:30 to 3:30 p.m. at Riverfront Park
Sundays,
February 13, 20, 27
HopeYouth at Summit Ridge
Community Church - 6:00 to 8:00 p.m.
(505 W. Hardy Rd.)
Our HopeHouses for women and men are up and running! The heart behind these houses is to build community and to encourage young adults. If you are interested in being a part of this young adult community (ages 18 to 25ish) please contact Pastor Kevin at kmason@hopetucson.com.
HopeHouse Study:
Bible study (Men & Women) - Fridays, February 4, 11, 18, 25 at Women's HopeHouse
AccessHope
Sarah Whiting, Director
