September 2014 Elder Blog

Dear Hope Church,

I love the onset of the fall season. It helps me appreciate how God designs things and how he colorfully changes the landscape! It's a wonderful picture in nature that represents the beauty that our Lord brings to things in its due time. With that in mind I was just thinking through and thanking God for all that he has done and is now doing in our church. Wasn't baptism Sunday just amazing! I'm so proud of all of you brave ones for showing the world that you have decided to follow Jesus! It was a treat for all of us to watch our four pastors out there in the water having a blast helping those under their care take a great step in faith. Thanks for reminding the rest of us that we all need to continue demonstrating to the world our love and obedience for Jesus.

And how about our very special senior pastor John Aitken and his most amazing wife May!  They have been faithfully shepherding at Hope Church for over 16 years, and now we are so blessed to able to send them on a well-deserved sabbatical rest. With a strong staff and ministry team in place and a full line up of great classes (Family Night, The Marriage Course, Financial Peace, Alpha Courses), small groups (Behold Your God), and youth programs (Inspiration Island, Wired / Amped), it’s easy to see that there’s a lot of momentum being generated in our local church. I ask you to pray expectantly, that in all these things Jesus would be at the forefront as the Holy Spirit develops great beauty in the lives of the people we minister to and serve for the glory of our Father God! So if that sounds like a lot of stuff then hold on to your socks! Because I can hardly imagine all that God has in store for us when PJ returns in November all supercharged, excited, and ready to go!

Your Elder,
Gary Siegfried (Ziggy)

July 2014 Elder Blog

InDependence Day

On behalf of the Elder team, we hope that you had a great Independence Day! Can you imagine what it would have required of you to join the United States Army back in the late 1700’s, and risk everything in order to “possibly” become free from the rule of an overseas king?  If you were father, husband, and dad, and had a farm, how were things to go if you did not come back?  If you were his wife, how would you view your husband’s decision to serve? 

Having read up on a number of wars, and being a veteran, what really interests me  is that there are (and always have been) veterans who have lifestyles that we might not approve of, who may not have served for all the best reasons, BUT who ended up doing more than their share to keep our country intact.  My feeling is that should we ever run into an active-duty member or veteran (and they don’t appear how we might like), I think the goal is to see them as Jesus saw the woman at the well— someone that God wants in His Kingdom— and to thank them for their service.   They matter.  We all do.

Pastor Jed and I have been teamed up to do Pastor / Elder visits.  How wonderful it has been.  One of the things we have heard from folks is the idea that should Hope get more involved with you, or less (we tend to be at “less” currently).  Having been a minister’s son, I can tell you first hand that I like “less.”  This is not to say that we will stay this way, this is my having seen what churches who are more involved sometimes do.  Example: [Phone call] “Hello, you were not in church today, is there a  reason for your absence?” 

I am also aware of church-goers who would try to manipulate such churches by not attending and then having a complaint session ready when the church representative would call.

Does hearing about this make you ill, as it does me?  I am very thankful that Hope does not try to guilt us into being here. We are all volunteers, and “Yes! you have independence at Hope!”  . . . or do you?

Well . . . God does not want our independence from Him.  He wants our Dependence on Him and on His Word.  He wants us to acknowledge His Son and His sacrifice for our sins.  He would like us to choose to come to one of His houses of worship and really worship Him.  He would like us to praise Him for His blessings, even those that the world would term “bad.”  He would like us to serve Him and to grow the Kingdom of Heaven.  He would like us to know that we need not be great in money, status, or anything else, to do the work.  He knows that we are wonderfully made (and in His own image) and well equipped.  We just need a little faith in the form of our Dependence on Him to see us through this thing we call life.                                             

                                                     Tad Nelson, Elder

April 2014 Elder Blog

I’m always encouraged by spending time together in small group and wanted to take this opportunity to share a few of our realizations from the recent church-wide study, A Place at the Table.  This particular study reminded me how very blessed we are and how much we have to be thankful for.  We certainly have plenty to fast from, whether it be dietary, digital, media, etc.  I hope for you, reducing some of this excess has been challenging and rewarding in the sense of having a more simple and clear vision as to what is important in your life.  When we really think about all that we have, it makes me wonder if our instant access and abundance of food, water and other conveniences are really are a blessing to us--or is it a distraction that consumes us and takes us away from dealing with what really matters.  

Giving up some of our excess was a challenge in itself, but as a small group we found that it is what we do with that sacrifice that makes an even bigger impact.  Hopefully you had a chance to put your excess to good use.  Maybe that meant offering excess food to someone in need or offering your excess time away from television to prayer instead.  Let’s practice how to “live lean” in order to take ground for God and deepen in our faith.  

Small groups are a great way to help each other work through challenging topics and challenging times while allowing us to grow closer together and closer to God.   I’m encouraged with the commitment you have shown in taking the time to do life together in small groups.  At Hope Church we want you to be connected and we plan to make small groups an accessible and convenient way to connect to others as well as to deepen your relationship with God.  Please let us know if there is a particular area of interest that you would like to spend time in small group study.  There may already be a group for you to tap into or there may be others waiting to make the same connection.  

Dave Portmann

Elder