As we celebrate Palm Sunday this Sunday, we will remember Jesus on his way to Jerusalem. Jesus has had many forks in the road in his life up to this point and he has ALWAYS made good choices. After he has made his triumphal entry into Jerusalem the crowd has taken palm branches to meet him and have shouted “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord,” Jesus makes several comments, beginning in John 12:23 that show how we can always have real victory during the tests that come our way.
For example, Jesus says in John 12:24, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.” Jesus knew the importance for us to die to ourselves if we were going to be fruitful in life. Sometimes if we choose life, we must choose to die to ourselves . . . to our desires, ambitions, appetites, pride, self-absorption, and the like. It is then our life will experience real victory.
There is an interesting truth about oysters. To live, oysters have to breathe in salt water. But when sand or some other foreign substance slips into the oyster, it is irritating to the oyster. And he can choose to clam up, which is his natural reaction – in which case he will die. Or he can choose to make something out of the sand. And of course, this eventually forms a pearl.
I suggest that you and I are carrying around a lot of sand . . . we are leaving a trail of sand wherever we go. And the people around us – the people we relate to – are inhaling our sand. They have to figure out how to make pearls out of that sand we are leaving behind. And the only way this works is if we practice this principle of dying a little bit to ourselves each day – practicing all the fruit of the Spirit – love, joy, peace, patience . . .
So, how much sand are you spreading around? Maybe we need to be dying just a little bit each day in order not to spread around so much sand!! Then we will know real victory!!
Worship
As we celebrate Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem, Pastor Glen will continue his series in the study of Philippians. His sermon this Palm Sunday is: “The Amazing Peace of God,” based on Philippians 4:4-7. Please read this text in preparation for worship!
Adult Sunday School
Our Adult Sunday school class will meet this Sunday at 9:30 a.m. in the large Sunday school room. Please join Lowell Gross and others for a wonderful time around God’s Word!! We will continue our study of the Acts of the Apostles. This Sunday we will focus on Acts 22: Paul’s Incarceration!! Please bring your Bible.
Men’s Bible Study
Our Men’s Bible Study meets every Tuesday from 7:00 to 8:00 a.m. in the Community Room at Panera Bread. We are currently driving down Rt. 66, exploring the 66 books of the Bible. Next Tuesday we explore Jude. All men are invited and encouraged to join us!!
Combined Holy Week Services
Holy Week is the most sacred period of our Christian faith. It is a time when we gather together as a community of faith to journey with Jesus to Jerusalem, to stand with Him before his accusers, to walk to Golgotha, and to stand at the foot of His cross. Finally, on Easter Day, we will joyously celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ, lifting our voices in praise of the hope that is ours and the world’s.
As in the past, we will be joining with three other congregations to worship together on the journey of Holy Week. Without the journey of Holy Week, Easter loses its deep meaning. Please plan to join us on these wonderful Holy Week services!
Wednesday (March 27 – 7:00 p.m.) – Pleasant View Methodist Church – Preacher: Rev. Glen Holman (Hope)
Maundy Thursday Communion Service (March 28 – 7:00 p.m.) – Hope Community Church – Preacher; Rev. Eric Strother (Pleasant View Methodist Church)
Good Friday (March 29 – 7:00 p.m.) – Union Baptist Church – Preacher: Rev. Warne Dawkins (Shiloh Baptist Church)
Easter Sunrise Service (March 31 – 6:00 a.m.) – Shiloh Baptist Church – Preacher: Rev. Earl Pendleton (Union Baptist Church)
Our Hope Resurrection Day Service will be at 10:30 a.m. (our normal worship time)!!
Tithes and Offerings
An offering box is available when you enter or exit the sanctuary. Additionally, Online Giving
Quarterly HCC Budget Review on Sunday, March 24th
Golden Oldies
The next gatherings of the Golden Oldies will be . . .
April 10 at 11:30 am. Dutch treat luncheon will be held at Sooner BBQ, Stuarts Draft.
May 8 at 10:30, meet at Panera Community Room with our speaker, Richard Ammons.
June 12 at 10:30, meet at Panera Community Room to play Bingo! We request for everyone to bring a wrapped gift so all can be winners! $10 max amount of gift. No meeting in July, as we will travel to Lancaster, PA. See Janet or Harold Coiner to sign up for the fun trip to see Daniel and Sound of Music!
Prayer Concerns and Praise Reports
Janet Coiner stepped down recently as the Coordinator for the Prayer Requests and Praise Report to focus on her other church responsibilities. We are very grateful for the tireless work and sacrifice that she has given to coordinate this very important ministry. A big THANK YOU to Janet!!
Until someone in the congregation volunteers to be the coordinator of the Prayer Requests and Praise Report, HCC will follow these steps for sending and updating weekly prayer requests:
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- Janet Coiner will no longer receive prayer requests or praises by phone, text, or email beginning March 8th.
- All individual prayer requests, praises, and updates must be emailed to our church administration email address which is admin@hopechurchwaynesboro.org to be included in the weekly report.
- The weekly Prayer Requests and Praise Report will continue to be emailed to everyone on Thursday afternoon as usual.
- We make every effort to share all requests for prayers and understand that we need to make requests current and active as well. Beginning in March 2024, we will post each prayer request for a period of four weeks, unless we receive a request to keep a specific prayer request on the list or to update the prayer request. At the end of four weeks, there will be a section titled “Request Of Continuing Prayers” that will show a listing of names only. Thank you to everyone for the many ways in which your prayers uphold those on the prayer list.
Driver Assistance
If you or someone in our congregation needs a ride to a doctor’s appointment or other appointments, please call Tom Reider (540.649.5162). He has agreed to coordinate rides. He has a list of those who have volunteered to give those rides. We are grateful for this important ministry!!
Mission Corner
Our missionary, Dr. Stephanie Black’s twin grandbabies are out of the hospital! What a wonderful answered prayer!!
We are excited to report that we collected over twice the number of baby bottles in our support of ComfortCare Women’s Health!!
We are also very grateful for the support from over twenty folks from Hope who assisted with the Love INC dinner on March 12!! The people we served enjoyed the Potato Bar!!
The Missions Team is active keeping in touch with our missionaries and other ministries. Please keep updated! You can visit our website and go to the Outreach page
March Birthdays
Helen Ammons (3/22); Debby Ray (3/31)