Generosity
“Preaching to the choir” refers to sharing about something with people who already agree with one’s argument. So, I am certainly “preaching to the choir” when I share about generosity with this Hope church body. All y’all have consistently demonstrated unheard of generosity and incredible giving spirits whenever we have had the opportunity together to provide the needs for Hope and to “be the church” to bless others around the globe.
Nevertheless, I am in a covenant fellowship group with four other pastors in town and together we have been reading a book on keeping our souls strong. The last chapter we read was on living generously and how that can be strengthening to your walk with Jesus and your well-being. I wanted to share a little of what I learned with all of you.
“I have never met an unhappy generous person.” (Todd Harper)
It is true. The happiest people you will meet are usually the most generous. And unfortunately, the opposite is also true; some of the most unhappy people you will meet are also the stingiest. When it comes to money, many people have a budget (spending strategy), an investment/savings strategy, but very few people have a giving strategy. How about you? Are you a faithful devoted giver? Are you a radical giver? Do you know of people who have inspired you with their generosity? I know Julie and I have been inspired watching so many of you live generously.
“Will a mere mortal rob God? Yet you rob me. But you ask, ‘How are we robbing you?’ In tithes and offerings. You are under a curse—your whole nation—because you are robbing me. Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the Lord Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it.” (Malachi 3:8–10)
One of my favorite texts on giving comes from the book of Malachi, where God is confronting a stingy people that do not believe they owe anything to God – even though He has so greatly loved them! God’s challenge is: “Test me! Just try to outgive me. See if I won’t fill you with such incredible blessings!” I hope this encourages you to step into greater generosity and get to know the Lord better than you ever have by practicing a radically generous life.
C.S. Lewis wrote in Mere Christianity: “I do not believe one can settle how much we ought to give. I am afraid the only safe rule is to give more than we can spare. In other words, if our expenditure on comforts, luxuries, amusements, etc., is up to the standard common among those with the same income as our own, we are probably giving away too little.” Lord, help us trust you and live generously.
You have blessed us to be a blessing!
~Pastor Randy
Our next baptism is Sunday, October 6 following the worship service. If you are interested in being baptized, please contact Gina at info@hopetucson.com.
Would you like to be a part of the Hope Community Church directory? If so, the directory will be updated soon so please sign up below. Also, if you are presently in the directory and any of your listing has changed, please make your changes on the link below.
Women's Ministry
Suzi King, Director
sking@hopetucson.com
Ladies join us on Saturday, October 12 from 10:00 a.m. to noon in the Community Room for brunch and then followed by a tutorial from Mary Ruland on how to make sourdough bread. Sign-up below to let us know that you are coming and what you might bring for brunch!
Women's September Outreach to CarePortal! Thanks to all the women who attended the outreach and all who dropped off items for the baby baskets!
Mark your calendars for this special Hope event. We will have great food, fellowship, fun, live music, kids play area, and a pie contest. If you would like to volunteer for the Jubilee, there will be a table in the lobby on Sunday mornings - October 13, 20 & 27 and November 3. You can also sign up to be in the pie contest!
It's not to late too sign up for the October 5th Mini Conference ...
The goal of parenting children in a God honoring way has always had its unique difficulties for every generation. In this conference we will explore some of the bad counsel (both towards parents and children) that has filled every aspect of our culture; as well as the unique psychological and sociological difficulties that have severely disrupted the adolescence of the current generation through social media and screen based childhoods. We will then take a look at the various ways that parents within the church can respond effectively to these problems and help each other to raise children with the best opportunity to serve God within their own lives.
If you are interested in this mini conference, please sign-up below.
November's mini conference will be on Saturday, November 23. The Topic is "Trading Faces". Watch for more details.
Thanks to everyone who participated in HopeServes. We are blessed to be a blessing!
Lynne Hooge, HopeKids Director
lhooge@hopetucson.com
Hello Hope Families!
We had a great time at our Family Movie Night in September!
It was such a blessing to watch the Child Discipleship Forum with some of our HopeKids’ AWANA and Sunday School team members this past weekend! The training was excellent, and one of the big themes was the importance of discipling our kids with a Biblical Worldview. Did you know that studies show that most children have primarily developed their worldview by age 13? We were also challenged with teaching our kids apologetics - to know what they believe and the ability to defend their faith. We were given a lot of resources to help us with discipling our kids. Please stop by our Resource Wall next to HopeKids’ check-in to check out some of these resources. If you are interested in watching any of the sessions, let me know. We will have access until next month.
Check out childdiscipleship.com for valuable resources and videos. Some of the videos from Child Discipleship Forum past and present are available to watch for free!
Have a great month!
~Lynne
Our Key Verses this Month:
Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the Lord our Maker; for He is our God and we are the people of His pasture, the flock under His care. (Psalm 95:6-7)
Big Picture Question:
What is worship? Worship is celebrating the greatness of God.
What We’re Learning:
October 6 (Family Sunday): God Parted the Red Sea; Exodus 13-15
October 13: God Keeps His Promises; Isaiah 9
October 20: God Provided Manna; Exodus 16-17
October 27: God Gave the Ten Commandments; Exodus 19-20
October Birthdays
Gianna Knutson 10/1
Audrey Lawson 10/6
Ethan Silva 10/6
Boone DeVries 10/8
Ward Vereen 10/11
Beckham Nagy 10/16
Marley Ellwood 10/21
Rowan Gill 10/21
Ruby Gill 10/25
Daisy May Beck 10/31
Kimber DeVries 10/31
Dedication of Carter Mallams
Do you love children? We would love to help you disciple them at Awana. You don't have any children Awana age? Why not invite your neighbors, grandchildren, nieces and nephews! They will have such fund and learn more about the God who loves them!
Awana is for kids 4yrs. to 6th grade. Interested in serving or having your children attend Awana? Contact Tim Tolson at timtolson@comcast.net.
HCC FAMILY CAMP AT PEPPERSAUCE CAMPGROUNDS
COME FRIDAY WHENEVER YOU CAN. THE PHILLIPS FAMILY WILL PROVIDE HOT DOGS AND CHILI! PLEASE BRING A SIDE TO SHARE.
IF YOU DON'T WANT TO CAMP OVERNIGHT, COME FOR CAMPING DAY ADVENTURES
ON SATURDAY THE 19TH - 8:00 A.M. TO 2:00 P.M. WE WILL HAVE GAMES, A HIKE, AND A GROUP WILL
TRAVERSE THE CAVES SPELUNKING.
CAMPGROUNDS HAVE VAULT TOILETS AND POTABLE WATER FOR WASHING.
PLEASE PLAN ACCORDINGLY FOR AMPLE DRINKING WATER, BREAKFAST AND LUNCH OPTIONS FOR YOUR FAMILY SATURDAY, AND WARM CLOTHES FOR THE HIGHER ELEVATION! THE DRIVE TO CAMPGROUNDS IS A DIRT ROAD AND TO THE GROUP SITE IS LOW CLEARANCE FOR SMALLER CARS. IT'S DO-ABLE BUT LOW. LET TIMARIE KNOW IF YOU HAVE CONCERNS. THERE ARE ABOUT 6-8 SPOTS FOR TENTS ON THE GROUP SITE WE RENTED, AND LOTS OF TABLES. BUT, THERE ARE MANY FIRST COME FIRST SERVE CAMPSITES NEXT TO IT, IF YOU WANT TO RENT YOUR OWN NEARBY AND HAVE MORE SPACE FEEL FREE!
EMAIL, CALL, OR TEXT TIMARIE IF YOU PLAN TO JOIN AT TIMARIE05@GMAIL.COM OR
520-780-3544.
Church-Wide Prayer and Praise – October 30
“Prayer is the open admission that without Christ we can do nothing. And prayer is the turning away from ourselves to God in the confidence that He will provide the help we need. Prayer humbles us as needy and exalts God as wealthy.” (John Piper)
“We have to pray with our eyes on God, not on the difficulties.” (Oswald Chambers)
Gary Jones, Discipleship Pastor
gjones@hopetucson.com
“He is the one we proclaim, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone fully mature in Christ. To this end I strenuously contend with all the energy Christ so powerfully works in me.” (Colossians 1:28-29)
At Hope we want to grow in community and Home Groups are a great way for us to do that. We desire to see everyone connected to a Home Group, so if you are interested, please let us know so we can get you plugged in.
If you are new to Hope and looking for a home group, please contact Pastor Gary at gjones@hopetucson.com.
Friday & Saturday, October 25-26 - Men's Camp at Southern Pines Baptist Camp (Sign-up below)
Men's Bible Study - Friday, October 4 & 18 from 8:00 - 9:30 a.m. in the Community Room
NO Men's Breakfast in October
Hey Men, join us for a time of teaching, outdoor activities, fellowship and great food! Jr. high-aged young men and above are welcome to join us! Cost is $50.00.
Led by Carl & Ashley Vereen
In September, as we finished up Romans, looked at 2,000 years of church history, and heard personal testimony from the Lowes, it was so evident that God uses His people for His glory, regardless of age, economic status, education, etc. We are praying that each of you would jump into serving in whatever capacity God leads. It is such a blessing to be used by Him! Here is our schedule for October.
All Saturdays in October: Bible Study at 7:00 p.m. in the Community Room
Contact Carl Vereen at carlvereen@gmail.com if you have any questions about HopeLife!
Kevin Mason, Family Pastor
kmason@hopetucson.com
With the addition of Pastor Gary, and with Pastor Christian coming in November, we have restructured my role at Hope to now be the Family Pastor. Moving forward, my focus will be on HopeYouth and marriages. In this new role, I am excited to help disciple our students and strengthen marriages. It is a joy to serve Hope in this way. Below are some plans for HopeYouth and for our Marriage Matters Ministry.
Marriage Matters:
Friday & Saturday, April 25 & 26, 2025: Marriage Conference
Friday & Saturday, September 26 & 27, 2025: Marriage Conference
If you have any interest to help serve in our Marriage Matters Ministry please contact me at kmason@hopetucson.com.
September Calendar for Youth Group:
Saturday, October 19: LifeCare Center Outreach 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. We will be assisting them with their October Festival for the residents. (More info to come!)
Sundays, October 6, 13, 20 & 27: Youth Group from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. in the Community Room.
Bob & Merrillee Whren, Directors
Interested in our Seniors' Ministry? Contact Bob Whren at bwhren@gmail.com.
Our goal is to grow a community of support and encouragement for all families at Hope Community Church who wish to educate their students at home. All are welcome to participate in the activities regardless of what type of school they attend. Children that are not school age are also welcome.
For more details and information on this group, please contact Bre McCabe at bmambros@gmail.com or Tina Edgin at tsedgin@gmail.com.
A quick shout out to mark your calendars! Hope Community Church is once again partnering to host Night to Shine. This uplifting Prom Night Celebration will take place at Pantano Christian Church on Friday, February 7th, 2025. Further detailed information and registration links will be available in the upcoming months. A group monitored email is available if needed - tucsonnighttoshine@gmail.com.
Prayerfully consider volunteering to spread God's love for people with special needs.
HCC Night to Shine Representative, Jill Manzo
