Love Made Visible

 “What then should we do?”  In reply he said to them, “Whoever has two coats must share with anyone who has none; and whoever has food must do likewise.”  (Luke 3:10-11)

This week I did a radio interview with Charlie North, the head of the Poughkeepsie Area Chamber of Commerce.   Charlie asked me about the mission trip we were taking to the Dominican Republic, but in a few sentences it opened up to all the missional work HRC is doing in the greater Poughkeepsie area.  Jeremiah encourages the people of God to seek the welfare of the city in which they were living.  Hopewell is living into that in ways that I love to speak of.  Read more »

Beds and Bucks

 This service that you perform is not only supplying the needs of the Lord’s people but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God.  Because of the service by which you have proved yourselves, people will praise God for the obedience that accompanies your confession of the gospel of Christ, and for your generosity in sharing with them and with everyone else.  (2 Corinthians 9:12-13)

My friend Marty was shouting,” Amen, Hallelujah” this week.  Marty would hardly dare  darken the door of a church.  He believes little, if anything, about the person of Christ,. But this week he drove a van proclaiming:” To Know Christ and to Make Him Known.”, as he made Christ known by supplying beds in the name of Christ to people in need.  Read more »

Where in the World Are You Invested?

“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal;  but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust  consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal.  For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”  (Matthew 6:19-21)

On Sunday, I said my hope for followers of Christ at HRC is that we all would be audited by the IRS.  My prayer is that the charitable giving of people in this congregation will throw up red flags so the auditors would say, “People don’t give that much away!” Read more »

 Beds In the Name of Christ

Tonight, at our 7:30 PM Thanksgiving Eve service, our offering will be going to Love INC (Love in the name of Christ).  We have committed to help Love INC supply beds to those who have none.  Read more »

 Our Church Refrigerator 

“Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise. Give thanks to him, bless his name.” (Psalm 100:4) 

Our gratitude wall is pretty empty.  Two Sundays ago we invited people to paste, post and poke pictures and messages of gratitude on a big wall in the Fellowship Hall.  It will be the back drop for our Thanksgiving Eve service.  So far it does not seem that we have much to be grateful for, or we have placed the wall in the wrong place, or have not captured the heart of the congregation in this exercise of thanks.  Read more »

It’s Not About the Money

Lance Armstrong wrote a book titled: “It’s Not About the Bike.”  It is the story about his life and his battle with cancer.  His historic string of victories in the Tour de France became a sub note to the main event of the book, which is his fight for life. Read more »

Spirituality and Sheetrock 

I am glad  I got out of  Jerusalem when I did.  This past week there was conflict on the Temple Mount and Palestinian youths faced off against Israeli police in the old city.  I am sure that it would have affected my shopping.  The week before we arrived in the Holy Land the Old City was closed as well because of tensions.  Read more »

Looking for the Living Christ

But the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid; I know that you are looking for Jesus who was crucified.  He is not here; for he has been raised, as he said. Come, see the place where he  lay.  Then go quickly and tell his disciples, ‘He has been raised from the dead,  and indeed he is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him.’ This is my message for you.” (Matthew 28:5-7)

Last week I went to see the place where Jesus lay- actually two places:  One is the Garden Tomb discovered in 1867,the other, the church of the Holy Sepulcher dating back to the fourth century- two tombs, no Jesus.  The words that I reflect on most from Matthew following my journey to the Holy Land are “he is going ahead of you to Galilee”. Read more »

From the Holy Land to the Holy Land

I write this from the Holy Land—Holland, Michigan, that is, the center of the Reformed Church in America where I am meeting with the Board of Trustees at Hope College. Read more »

The 6% Challenge

Hopewell has been blessed with rich resources for many years.  Our leadership has not talked about money much at all.  This year that has changed.  Much of consistory has been talking about money and the challenges we face with our finances.  We have formed a budget team to look at 2010.  This team includes me, Kevin Warren (the vice president of Consistory),  Gary Cassaro (our head Deacon),  Mark Mast and Perry Lambeth (financial management man extraordinaire).  We are working hard to get spending in line with our vision as well as our income for 2010.  Read more »

 A Time of Prayer (A Call from our Elders)

God invites us into relationship with Him.

Key to any relationship is communication and for that we have prayer.  It is through prayer that we come before God and place our needs, our joys, our concerns, our burdens, our questions and our challenges.  And it is also through prayer that we have the opportunity to hear God talking to us. Read more »

Making A Joyful Noise

What is happening with our music?  It is a good question right now as we head into the fall.  Let me answer it in relation to each of our worship services. Read more »

Happy Birthday 9/11

 Today is a day of great joy for me.  My eldest daughter Hilary turns twenty-two.  She was born 9/11/87.  My nephew Jack turns fourteen today.  He was also born on September 11^th.  He almost died his first year of life.   This day, for me, is always a precious reminder of the gift of life.  Both were born before 9/11 became a day of infamy, associated with terror and a fault line of history that we will always remember. Read more »

“The Beginning of an Odyssey”

 Odyssey: An extended adventurous voyage or trip. An intellectual or spiritual quest: an odyssey of discovery.

 HRC Odyssey began in the mind of God long before the first service of worship this year in Tymor Park.  It was in the mind of Chris Snider long before her son Jamie came with joy to sing songs of praise and share worship with his girlfriend.  It was in the mind of Mark Mast long before he was called to Hopewell and ever knew there was a place called Unionvale, New York. Read more »

“Leaving a Legacy” 

“For when David had served God’s purpose in his own generation, he fell asleep; he was buried with his fathers and his body decayed.” (Acts 13:36)

 This week the news has been filled with the Legacy of Ted Kennedy.  A flawed hero of our time.  The tribute that I have heard  most in memorializing Kennedy has been: “he stood up for the poor and the little guy.”  Not a bad way to be remembered. Read more »

“4 AM with Abraham Lincoln” 

At four in the morning I was awake with Abraham Lincoln, reading about Salmon Chase going to Ohio and starting his campaign to challenge Lincoln for the presidency in 1864.  Why do I give you this little picture of my study last night?  It is not the content of my reading, but the reason for my reading that I share with you this morning. Read more »

“Facing the Giants”

“Every generation gets a chance to change the world
Pity the nation that won’t listen to your boys and girls
‘Cause the sweetest melody is the one we haven’t heard”  (Bono)

Bono, the lead singer from U2,  spoke to the Leadership Summit and presented the challenge that within the grasp of our generation is the ability to end extreme poverty in our time.  The benefits of a global economy come with the challenge  to address global poverty.  Read more »

“Taking it to the streets… or at least the parking lot”

This Sunday our Gatherings service will meet under the tent at 8:45.  We join the kids out there as our VBS is held this week and the kids begin and end each day in the tent.  We first worshipped in the tent for fourteen weeks in the summer of 2001, when our sanctuary was going through a renovation.  We had fourteen weeks of beautiful weather and many enjoyed the outdoor worship in spite of the Harleys roaring by as some motorcycle club headed out for a journey on the Taconic.  Read more »

“Preach, Pray or Die”

Cathy’s grandfather, Henry Bast, taught preaching at Western Seminary.  One of his famous lines was: “A pastor always needs to be ready at a moment’s notice to preach, pray or die.”  I don’t know what Henry would think of my summer slogan: “Preach, Play and Pray,” but that is my anticipation of what my summer moments will be like. Read more »

“Happy 500th John Calvin”

Today is the 500^th birthday of John Calvin.  On Sunday a Calvin College graduate accused me of not mentioning this significant day because of my loyalties to Hope College. (The definition of an atheist in West Michigan is someone who does not care who wins the Hope/Calvin game.)  But far be it from me to let collegiate rivalries cloud a celebration of one of my heroes of faith and a day to remember one who has shaped our world and our church in such significant ways.  Last week The New York Times stated: “Calvin’s legacy has been traced in everything from modern marriage and modern science to modern liberal government and of course modern capitalism. By many accounts, he is a major source of modernity’s very understanding of the self.” Read more »

 “Hey, Shout, Summer Time Blues”  

The apostle Paul urges Timothy to be urgent in season and out of season.  When it comes to our finances and giving, we need to heed Paul’s advice.  The summer is a season of the blues in giving to the church.  Our weekly giving tends to drop through July and August.  We have new financial tools to help us be urgent out of season. Read more »

“A Call to Transformation”

In the Potter’s Hands By Pam Hansen (Guest “In Touch” writer)

One of the requirements of my graduate school program was to take a ‘Spiritual Formation’ Class.  Being raised and nurtured in the church all my life and having attended a Christian college, I started out thinking that this class would be an easy ‘A’.  Intellectually I knew a great deal about a life in faith.  I had been to church, Sunday school, and youth group.  I had been on mission trips and participated in evangelical endeavors.  I was ahead of the game in this class, and would surely prove that I knew all about being spiritually formed. Read more »

“A Covenant Commissioning”

Q. Should infants, too, be baptized?

A. Yes. Infants as well as adults are in God’s covenant and belong to God’s people. They, no less than adults, are promised the forgiveness of sins through Christ’s blood and the Holy Spirit who gives faith. Therefore by baptism, the sign of the covenant, infants should be received into the Christian church and should be distinguished from the children of unbelievers. This was done in the Old Testament by circumcision, which was replaced in the New Testament by baptism.  (Heidelberg Catechism Lord’s Day 27) Read more »

“The Torch is Passed”

“Christianity is only one generation away from extinction.”

Last night the elders met with the 2009 confirmation group.  This is always one of my favorite nights of the year.  Read more »

“This Is Church!”

It was a blizzard in February when a guest preacher delivered a smokin’ sermon on judgment and Jesus. Steve Shenkman sat close to the front row and I thought we would never see him again. Read more »

 “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly; teach and admonish one another in all wisdom; and with gratitude in your hearts sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” (Colossians 3:16-18) Read more »

“Going in the Flames”

I was standing outside a condo on fire.  A man who was not my fire company’s chief, but I assumed had taken command said: “We have a possible victim on the second floor.  We need you to go in and do a search and rescue.”  I gulped!  I enjoyed riding the fire trucks with lights blazing headed to false alarms around central Jersey.  The parades were fun and the firehouse fellowship was great, but I was not ready for this.  Here was a crisis that could cost me my life, and possibly the life of another.  I was a play fireman and this was the real deal.    Was I ready to pull a young boy out of trouble?  Read more »

“That My House May Be Filled (Luke 14:23)”

We have seen a significant increase in numbers at our Gatherings worship the last five weeks.  That is good news.  Terry Dunham will now be leading worship with some of our bands for the next three weeks.  The reason to have Terry lead is to get a sense of what it would be like for Hopewell to have a consistent worship leader that would give more cohesion to our Gatherings worship.  In the next couple of weeks you will have a time to share your responses to questions about worship at HRC. Read more »

“Tempest Fugit”

So teach us to count our days that we may gain a wise heart. (Psalm 90:12)

I remember the scene like it was yesterday. I was standing next to my daughter in Dimnent Chapel at Hope College. Here was the chapel that I had preached in. Here was the chapel that I, sometimes, worshiped in as a student. Here were professors that I had, walking by in academic hoods and gowns getting ready to teach my daughter. Read more »

 “A Building Boom?”

For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not first sit down and estimate the cost, to see whether he has enough to complete it? Luke 14:28

In these times of economic bust is it possible that HRC is planning to build? -well maybe.  This weekend Matt Robertson from Cogun Incorporated will be here talking to groups representing our five ministry areas: Worship and Arts, Operations, Outreach, Spiritual Growth and Pastoral Care.  Read more »