Anticipation

I still remember when I was a kid, the sensation I had leading up to Christmas. There was so much excitement, it was like I was going to burst, and I would never even make it!  Going to sleep on Christmas Eve, especially at that age, required divine intervention.  I also remember the first year when Christmas didn’t feel like it always had before.  As the challenges and busyness of life have continued to grow, most of us feel like the “adult” experience is much less than what filled our imaginations when we were young.  This year in particular (the year of the corona) we are all tired.  Let’s come together and become reacquainted with some things that will build the fires of anticipation and cause even the weariest world to rejoice!


** Click on the graphic to watch the video **

  • Better than normal!

    DECEMBER 27, 2020

    Roy Templeman encourages us to look beyond normal.


    Who would have thought at this time last year that the new year we anxiously awaited would turn out like this!  As we face a similar moment, we do so with caution and hesitation, not knowing what this next year may bring.  The best we can do is anticipate things “getting back to normal.”  But what is normal?  And is it really what we want?  Or is there something better?

  • a weary world rejoices

    Christmas Eve, 2020

    Some of our New Hope family share their 2020 weariness.


    It is amazing how you can hear and sing words each and every year of your life, and one year in particular a sentence or a phase just jumps out as though you had never seen it in the same way before. Some words from “O Holy Night” perfectly capture what many of us are feeling as 2020 comes to an end… “A Weary World Rejoices!” We are tired. We are worn out. We are weary. But even in the middle of all that, we choose to worship and rejoice. Join us for this special experience on Christmas Eve as we share in each others struggles and make room for the only one who truly makes the difference!

  • peace

    DECEMBER 20, 2020

    Bud Stanton continues in Week 4 of Advent.


    Think of a young mom who needs a little reprieve.  Someone who would give anything for even just a moment of peace.  We typically associate the presence of peace with the absence of chaos…  "If the kids would just go to their rooms and play quietly, then I would have some peace!”  But Paul talks about a much more potent kind of peace in his letter to the Philippians.  One that surpasses all understanding, and that which we can possess even when the circumstances of life are not at all offering or providing any!  The tension of the Christmas Story is packed full of this peace.  If you need some, come and get it!

  • joy

    DECEMBER 13, 2020

    Pastor Rob continues in Week 3 of Advent.


    Everyone has a “why me?” moment every now and then; when the circumstances of life are heavy, and we wish for something different... something lighter. But have you ever had one of those moments because something good happened to you? So good in fact that you felt undeserving, unworthy, or even guilty that such a blessing came your way? This is the essence of the gospel. That God himself came to dwell with, and save those who were found guilty. In a world that tends to honor the ‘haves' and discard the 'have nots’ Jesus is different. Tune in as we encounter a Messiah who offers joy to absolutely everyone!

  • faith

    decEMBER 6, 2020

    Pastor Rob continues in Week 2 of Advent.


    The biblical Christmas story, and all the events surrounding it, are pregnant with faith.  But not the lesser version of faith our world pedals today… where if you just believe in what I am telling you then your problems will be solved, your bank account will fill up, and everything will be made right.  Faith didn’t make traveling any easier for an extremely pregnant Mary, nor did it lesson the pain of childbirth.  While the goal of faith is not to solve our immediate challenges, it does transform the context in which we have to manage them.

  • hope

    november 29, 2020

    Pastor Rob begins our Christmas series focused on the first week of Advent.


    Can you think of a time when your life was especially full of hope?  Think about it for a moment - the sensations, emotions, your outlook.  Now how about a time when hope seemed to run out?  Have you had an experience like that?  One that left you staring straight in the face of hopelessness?  Psychology Today says, “If I could find a way to package and dispense hope, I would have a pill more powerful than any antidepressant on the market.”  Check out this message... encounter a couple who had lost hope for a common reason, and then was given a gift that caused them to find and possess hope again.  Who knows, you may just discover a dose of hope yourself!