Armand's Farewell Concert, October 16

We are facing a change at New Hope. Armand, our Instrumentalist for 15 years, has announced that his last Sunday will be October 16. We pray that God will give him success in his new life as a musical artist, performer, and teacher. We have been fortunate for all these years to be blessed by his music. Now we are preparing ourselves to say farewell and give him our encouragement as he makes this huge transition in his life.

Change brings some feelings of anxiety, because we are stepping into the unknown, Armand much more than the rest of us. However, we here at New Hope will need to trust God for the future of our worship services and our life together.

Plan now to attend Armand’s farewell concert on the afternoon of Sunday, October 16 at 5 o’clock in our sanctuary.

Today we are giving our special offering to help World Vision provide food and supplies in the Horn of Africa where 13 million people are in need of emergency assistance. Every $100 we give could potentially provide 1,700 meals. World Vision not only provides emergency food, they also provide seeds, supplies and training to establish sustainable food sources. We want to open our hearts of compassion as Jesus teaches and do what we can to respond to this great crisis. If you want to give by check, make it out to New Hope Baptist Church and put on the notation line “Horn of Africa.”

Why We Have an Offering in Worship

I have never in my life attended a Sunday morning worship service that did not have and offering in it. Somewhere along the way the plates always got passed. We never have a Sunday morning service at New Hope without an offering. Why is that?

Worship is about feeling awe and wonder. I love the hymn “How Great Thou Art” because it stirs up my awe and wonder. I love walking on the beach at night for the same reason. A famous Jewish mystical writer named Abraham Heschel said that a basic issue in religion is what to do with our feelings of awe and wonder. He wrote, “Endless wonder unlocks an innate sense of indebtedness. Within our awe we only know that all we own we owe.” When I see how great God is and how small I am, I know that I don’t have anything that was not given to me. That is why it is good and even necessary to have a time in every worship service to give money as a way of acknowledging that we owe God for everything we own.

A writer named Alan Storey reflects on Jesus’ words, “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matthew 6:21) when he says we have an offering in worship in order to relocate our hearts. “Do you see why we have an offering in worship? We do not have an offering to keep the lights on. We do not have an offering to pay the pastor. We have an offering because God knows that it is the one thing that can relocate our hearts. When we have an offering we give people an opportunity to relocate their hearts. Where our treasure is, there is our heart!”

When the plate is passed to you and you pass it on to the person beside you, remember:

We have an offering to respond to our awe and wonder.

We have an offering to relocate our hearts.