Have you ever wished you could see tomorrow – to know what’s coming, to know what’s next – beyond the troubles and problems of today? When a person stands on the Westernmost edge of Alaska (facing the Bering Strait), you can see Siberia, which is about 38 miles away. And when you look out over the Bering Strait, it’s tomorrow there! Don’t you wish you could see tomorrow?
It was that kind of moment when the people of Israel had inhabited Babylon. About 540 years before Daniel, the Babylonians, the most powerful nation of that era, had conquered Jerusalem, torn down the Temple, and taken the Israelites into captivity in Babylon. This was probably the darkest moment in the history of the nation of Israel.
But residing in bondage there in Babylon was a man named Daniel. And, Daniel managed to raise himself, above all the other Israelites, to the second in command (behind Darius and then Cyrus) in Babylon.
What was it about Daniel that propelled him to such a lofty position – amid such adversity? We read in Daniel 6:3: “Soon Daniel distinguished himself above all the other presidents and satraps because an excellent spirit was in him.” Daniel was a man with an excellent spirit.
What is someone like with an “excellent spirit?” This is a person who gives life, someone who understands his purpose – is constructive, merciful, compassionate, someone who looks for constructive alternatives.
What was it in Daniel that gave him this excellent spirit? Daniel had a unique reverence for God. We discover in Scripture that he prayed at least three times a day. He went up to the second floor of his home, and he opened his window; he faced Jerusalem, and he prayed to God. It was in this kind of seeking after God that God poured into Daniel this excellent spirit, this life-giving spirit. And, of course, Jesus is the ultimate life-giving spirit (1 Corinthians 15:45)!!
May we have this same life-giving spirit, as we seek after God!!
Worship
We are excited to welcome Mike Adams to our pulpit this Sunday. His message is: “Divine Prayer,” based on Mark 1:35-38. 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 21: Paul in Jerusalem!! Please bring your Bible.
Women’s Bible Study
Join us for our morning or evening Women’s Bible Study! A 7-week study by Jennifer Rothschild, “Missing Pieces”
When? Wednesday Mornings at 10:00 a.m. February 14th – March 27th
OR
Thursday Evenings at 6:30 p.m. February 8th – March 21st
Please contact Marty Porter at (540) 471-2619 with any questions.
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 3 John. 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
TODAY from 2 to 4 pm, meet at Hope Community Church with our Kim Holman as the speaker. Come and learn about our Hope Community Church website! Bring your phones, tablets, or laptop computers. Also, please email Kim, vamountains@hotmail.com, so she can confirm that your correct email address is in the church directory. When you email her, in the email itself, type the address you want her to use. Each spouse can have their own login.
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!
Hope Security Team
Our Session agreed with a recommendation from the Security Team to have the church security system automatically re-arm each night at 10:30 p.m. Doing so will more fully ensure that the security system is armed during the overnight period just in case the last person leaving the church forgets to arm the system as they leave.
We DO want to continue to manually arm the DSC system as being done now with their assigned, uniquely issued user code (not the general code used in earlier times) when closing up the church.
The auto re-arming is simply a fail-safe. Should a person plan/expect to be in the building at 10:30 p.m, they need to alert Richard Ammons, Blake Porter, or Rod Campbell ahead of time so the re-arming will be delayed or canceled (it can be done remotely). Should you be in the building at 10:30 p.m. and have not arranged for a delay/cancellation, get to a panel and enter your assigned unique code at 10:30 p.m. or when the panel is alerting and being armed. Please stay at church and call one of the three contacts or wait for a Police Officer to arrive; he or she will want to be sure all is well and you are not a trespasser, etc.
Questions? Check with one of the three contacts (Richard, Blake, or Rod). Thanks so much! We desire for everyone to be safe when attending church services or other activities at our church facility!
Prayer Concerns and Praise Reports
LAST FRIDAY (March 8th) Janet Coiner stepped down 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
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
Alice Reider (3/13); Esther Danraj (3/18); Helen Ammons (3/22); Debby Ray (3/31)