Easter
at New Hope was a great time. A number of visitors joined us, and the
message was on the story of God’s redemption in Scripture. Adam and Eve fell into
sin when they believed the lie that God was not good, but God fiercely loves
His people so much that He would stop at nothing to bring them (us!) back home—even
giving His only Son. This is the story we all need to hear every day, as we
grow in the gospel and in the knowledge of God’s goodness to us. During this
service, we also presented families with young children with The Jesus Storybook Bible—a powerful and
theologically rich children’s story Bible, which shows how all the stories in
the Bible point to Jesus.
On
the weekend after Easter, I was ordained as Minister of the Word at New Hope. I
am grateful for such support in this time from friends and family, and from
everyone at New Hope. It has been a privilege to serve God alongside the
congregation, and I look forward to the years to come!
In
a couple weeks, we will be wrapping up our Sunday School for the summer. We’ve
been watching television commercials, and then discussing their implicit and
explicit messages and comparing them to Scripture. During the past few weeks,
we’ve also been addressing spiritual disciplines that counteract destructive
messages, such as prayer (versus cultural values of self-reliance such as in
Chrysler’s “It’s Halftime in America” Superbowl commercial) and fasting (versus
an idolization of food in various commercials).
We’ve
also seen a number of answers to prayer in the past months. God has worked
powerfully in the life of an elderly relative of a church member, and we have
seen a change of heart even as she approaches the end of her life. God is still
at work to save, and it’s been a good reminder to never give up in prayer or
our witness! This and other evidences of God’s goodness have been an
encouragement, and it seems that God has been growing in us a hunger to seek
Him in prayer.
Thank
you all for your support and prayers. In this next month, please pray for God
to continue to give us a greater hunger for Him as we expand the prayer ministry
here at New Hope. In addition, in late June we will be starting up a Bible and
topical study for men, women, and youth, so please pray that God would be
preparing leaders and those who will be attending—including those who don’t yet
know Jesus.
In our Lord,
Jonathan Fischer
