http://www.newhopempc.com/index.cfm?i=5974&mid=25&blogid=1216 Here you'll find articles and blogs from our pastor. Check back often for more! AdvancedMinistry http://www.newhopempc.com/index.cfm?i=5974&mid=25&blogid=1216&comments=31005 31005 Wed, 18 Jan 2012 23:51:00 +0000 A new year. Wow. Where did the last one go? So many highs and lows within twelve months it is hard to believe it has already come and gone. And here we are in the days of old to new. New. A word that sends some people into a downward spiral. But for others of us it provides an open door that allows the spirit to soar into possibilities through the power of the Holy Spirit. It hasn’t ever been lived before. New. Fresh. Possible. Open. Endless. There is just so much promise that is in that one word. To say a new year gives us 365 days of new. A wonderful gift that keeps on giving. As when the angel Gabriel was speaking to Mary (Luke 1:37) proclaiming the coming of the Messiah through her body. He says that “with God nothing is impossible”. So we too need to believe in the power and love of our God and see the future before us as new possibility, as promise, with hope. In these days of gaining light, we need to remember that whatever challenges are in this moment, they will not last. They are not forever. Rather they are points of mercy, possibility, of learning and growth through which we can move deeper in love and service with our Lord. Whatever seems insurmountable, with God holds great possibility. That is the good news that we need to take into this new year with us. It is possible. To know healing, growth, be lifted up, to soar. It is possible to find in Christ our Lord the strength we need to endure and once again thrive. New Hope. It is even in our name. We are not bound or limited by the old. We are not without the promise of our God, but rather rich in the hope that comes from a little child born among us to show us the way to God’s gifts of salvation and love. Let’s greet this new year with open hearts and minds allowing in the power of our God to transform us all into the light of wondering love. Into the beacon of hope that is our purpose and gift. Happy New Year! Pastor Karen http://www.newhopempc.com/index.cfm?i=5974&mid=25&blogid=1216&comments=30434 30434 Sun, 1 Jan 2012 13:04:00 +0000 Merry Christmas!  I pray that you are keeping your spirit nurtured and fed as you go about your preparations for the great day of celebration, Christ’s birth.  It comes upon us so quickly in all the bustle yet in the midst is that wonderful Spirit that sings to us while cradling us ‘close to God’s heart’.  Babes in arms.  For we are God’s children and we need that loving embrace to remind us of whose we are.  We need that embrace to slow us down and let us renew in the midst of life.  Without that connection to our God, we are like a child left out on a cold doorstep, alone and neglected.  That isn’t what God wants for us.  Isaiah 40:1 declares:  “Comfort, comfort my people, says your God.”  In Matthew 11:28-30 Jesus says:  “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”  How can we resist our God when such is God’s intent for us? Yet we do.  We think that one more project, one more moment doing something else will help resolve our busyness, our need to get all things done.  Our challenge is to see that our business is to be with God.  Then from that place ‘close to God’s heart’ (Is. 40:11c) let us build our priority of projects that need to be done relying upon the strength of our God to get us through.  That is part of the miracle of believing in Christ as our Savior.  He changes everything.  Where once doing everything as my mother did or as I thought it should be done was high priority and Christ came near last (oh yeah, it is his birthday isn’t it), now Christ is first, new traditions are found with a richer meaning and I have let go of many lesser ‘needed’ projects to help keep myself and my family healthier and more joyous in our season of preparation and celebration.  I find myself lingering with the story of Mary (Luke 1) and not only her angel visitation, but the song she sings when with Elizabeth, her joy and awe at being ‘the handmaid of the Lord’.  She ponders a great deal.  Something Jesus would do in his adulthood as well.  It is a model of being that would do us all well as we find our senses filled to overflowing with all the Christmas bustle vs. the spirited preparation of a heart and soul to receive our Savior come to redeem us. May you take the time to linger in the Spirit this season and know the comfort and peace of our God that Christmas morning you may rise truly joyous and thankful for God’s profound gift of love, God’s Son, Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world. With Christmas blessings,  Pastor Karen http://www.newhopempc.com/index.cfm?i=5974&mid=25&blogid=1216&comments=30435 30435 Fri, 9 Dec 2011 17:05:00 +0000 I look outside to frost and snow covered trees. A little shiver goes through me. Winter has taken hold of the Interior of Alaska and it is only November 1. Yet it is also All Saints Day. A day of warm remembering and celebrating those who have gone before us, that ‘great cloud of witnesses’ who have shown us being faithful is possible even and especially in trying times. Being faithful even and especially in joyous and ordinary times. They are all possible when we have our souls rooted in the good connection of relationship with our God, with Jesus Christ. Which means we spend time praying or being in conversation with Christ about how our day is going, or lifting up someone(s) in need. It means making the time to read Scripture to know God better. To know how God would have us live and how much God loves us. Because God does love us. Remember? “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever should believe in him shall have everlasting life.” Jn. 3:16. God did that for you! For each one of us. That means you are loved, cared about. You matter. Because God first loved you. Because Christ gave his life so that you would have life and have it abundantly. And when we really allow that in, deep within, it is amazing how healing and inspiring that love can be and is. So in these days of cold weather and diminishing light (which will be on the gaining side in 52 days!), stoke up that fire, brew up that hot chocolate, wrap up in that blanket and take out both your bible and your heart and spend some time one on one with our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Let yourself be warmed and strengthened for the journey before you so that you too can join that great cloud of witnesses proclaiming the life saving power of Jesus Christ and living as though it makes a difference to you every moment of every day. I guarantee you you won’t be able to help yourselves but to get up and out and dance Christ’s glory out into the world. Even when it is -40 degrees out there. Happy dancing! Pastor Karen http://www.newhopempc.com/index.cfm?i=5974&mid=25&blogid=1216&comments=29029 29029 Tue, 1 Nov 2011 00:22:00 +0000 On a recent trip here in Alaska, my husband and I were blessed with seeing all sorts of wild life.  From a great grizzly bear to a humpback whale and her calf to sea lions and porpoise.  Over and over again we were humbled by this majestic Creator of ours who made the creatures of water, earth and air (Gen. 1:20-25).  How amazingly detailed each one was.  The muscles in that grizzly that shown as he walked his way down the creek, the grace with which the whale swam through the waters, the playfulness of the porpoise as they had fun off the hull of the boat in their black and white wet suits.  Could humans think and create to that detail and thoughtfulness and regeneration?  No.  We try to mimic it.  But at best we are following a blueprint that has already been created.  For some, that is enough to turn them inward and away from giving thanks for such care in God’s creation. In that inward turn they, we then tend to move about this earth, and especially Alaska, missing out on the wonder that is before them through this marvelous creation.  Too many become lost in the getting from point A to point B without thought of the journey inbetween and around.  It can be said of how we live our lives in general.  Even when it comes to vacations.  So busy getting from here to there we don’t look up and see the gift before us.  Yesterday, on the way to Fairbanks to meet someone for an early meeting the Alaska Range had cleared of clouds and the sun was kissing the peaks with light and beauty.  It was breath-taking.  It took looking up and seeing to take in, in a moment of getting from point A to point B, the wonder of God’s creation.  A moment that renewed my joy in my God and encouraged me through the rest of the day.  How many times have I missed that gift because I have been ‘too busy’ to notice?  How about you? As you continue to enjoy your summer, remember that we have each day because of our God. Remember we have our lives because Christ gave his.  Remember to give thanks to God for all that you have and are able to do and then remember to come and worship Christ our Savior with all that you are that you can truly see the wonders of God’s creation all around you. Blessings, Pastor Karen http://www.newhopempc.com/index.cfm?i=5974&mid=25&blogid=1216&comments=30436 30436 Fri, 22 Jul 2011 17:07:00 +0000 Christ is risen! He is risen, indeed! What an amazing gift we have been given by our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ who gave himself up for us, dying on the cross only to rise from the grave victor over sin and death, establishing for us life everlasting. Wow. Does it get any better that this? Our God loves us so much that God gives us God?s son to save us from ourselves, from each other, from the world. How sad it is that so many in our world do not know this good news. How sad that so many do not know that our God loves them that fully, accepting them as they are, encouraging them to own up to the wrong they have done so that they may receive the merciful gift of God?s forgiveness. So like Mary, that first Easter, who upon seeing the Risen Christ, went and spread the good news to her brothers in faith and any who would listen, so we too need to get moving and spread the good news that our Savior is risen and is waiting for us to awaken to his call upon our hearts to live and love as he loves us, fully, compassionately, without hesitation. May this season of Easter find you growing in faith and in spreading the good news, that Christ came to save the world and has already won the battle over sin and death. Happy Easter! Pastor Karen http://www.newhopempc.com/index.cfm?i=5974&mid=25&blogid=1216&comments=22651 22651 Tue, 26 Apr 2011 17:43:00 +0000 Light. It is a basic element to life. Our bodies, our souls long for it when we are deprived. The long winter darkness that we have known here in the Interior has only magnified the hunger within us for the gaining light we are now experiencing. Thank you God! Just as our bodies need the light, that precious vitamin D we hear of so often to be emotionally alert, positive, energized, so our souls need the light of our Savior to warm us, fill and awaken us, to illumine God?s path for us so that we can walk in faith and hope throughout this life. As Spring brings thoughts of playing in the dirt, seedlings and new life, of hope and energy, excitement and joy, fishing, ATVing, camping, hiking, biking, (ok, so I too am a little excited about the coming Spring), so Christ, the Light of the World (Ps. 27:1; Jn. 1:1-9; 9:5) and God?s word which "is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path" (Ps. 119:105) bring hope and excitement, energy and joy, even adventure to our lives. That is, when we take the time to read God?s word, to pray for illumination for our lives and spent time with our Savior in his radiance. In this season of Lent that we are in leading up to Holy Week and Easter, we are intentionally invited to make time in our day to be reflective, honest, open and penitent (confessing our sin to God). One could view it as a kind of Spring cleaning of the soul. In those times of reflection, we can not only take inventory of that which needs to be given over to and cleared out for God, we can at the same time take great courage that doing so will meet up with our God who "is merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love" (Ps. 103:8). That means God will deal with us graciously, generously. Because we have turned ourselves back to God. Because we have trusted the Light of Christ, receiving his courage and boldness needed to reorganize our lives into a life to his glory and our good. So as you stand or walk or ride or have fun in the sunlight, taking in those beautiful rays of needed vitamin D and warmth, spend time becoming more aware of Christ?s light that is always shining around you and in you. Open your heart and see the beauty! Be bold in your time with him in honestly sharing what is really on your heart. Confess what you need to confess. Grieve what you need to grieve. Unload what you need to unload. Celebrate what you need to celebrate. Recognize what is right in your life and rejoice. Dance when you need to dance. Reorganize your life so that Christ is the center. Christ is waiting for the whole of your life to be shared with him that his body, the Church, may more freely do his work on earth to the glory of God, "who loved the world so much, that He gave his only begotten Son. That whoever believes in him, will not perish, but have everlasting life." (Jn. 3:16) See you shining in the Christ light, Pastor Karen http://www.newhopempc.com/index.cfm?i=5974&mid=25&blogid=1216&comments=21569 21569 Thu, 24 Mar 2011 14:09:00 +0000 http://www.newhopempc.com/index.cfm?i=5974&mid=25&blogid=1216&comments=20122 20122 Wed, 16 Feb 2011 04:01:00 +0000 -30 degrees and dropping.  Brrr.  And beautiful.  I watch the sunlight illumine the tree tops as it rises above the horizon and am amazed all over again at the beauty and majesty of our God’s creation.  Thank you God!  How blessed we are to live in such a place as this.  That blessing grows when we really look and see the evidence of one so powerful and creative so near to us and so involved in our lives. We are in the newness of a brand new year, 2011.  Though resolutions for improvements, changes, hope-filled ways are all good and promising, it is vital that we in this age of economic challenge, war and violence world-wide, critical health issues touching people of all ages anymore, that we feed our souls regularly by communion with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  Many times in our Bible, particularly in the Book of Psalms, we find the writers feeling the weight of hard times (Ps. 22), the struggles of keeping faith and trudging through, yet they do and realize in the end that God has been faithful all the way through.  In the end, God has heard their prayers.  God does provide sustenance, strengthen, courage and hope when times are hard and we may even want to give up (Ps. 23).  Time and again in conversation with people about their hardships I have asked whether they have taken it to God in prayer and their answer has been “No. I didn’t think of it.”  When someone has been challenging them, have they lifted them up in prayer? “No.” is their response.  Why not?  When we have such an amazing Savior and Lord who is with us wherever we are, who holds us, carries us, loves us even when we are being seemingly unlovable, why do we not turn to him in prayer?  It says to me that we have not spent enough time getting to know our God so that turning to God, to Christ becomes as easy and immediate as it does with our closest friend.  It says that we have not spent the time getting to know our Savior who lovingly gave himself for our forgiveness and salvation. So in this year, let us make it of highest priority that we make time to be with Jesus, to be with our God.  Come and worship at church.  Sing a song to Christ, of Christ and mean it.  Do random acts of kindness for the glory of God.  Be compassionate to and with those who are in need of whatever form. Read and study the Scriptures.  Become a part of the fellowship of church through the different activities and fellowship times.  Pray and pray and pray.  And remember that prayer is simply voicing to God what is on your heart.  What is really on your heart.  Angry, sad, happy, peaceful, all of it.  Yes, God knows what is on our tongue before we do and in our hearts before we do (Ps. 139) but we need to learn what is there too and the best way to do that and enter into the conversation with God is to give it voice through prayer. The light continues to shine.  Our Savior continues to bless us with his presence and faithfulness.  Let us give thanks and return his love with turning our hearts to him in all things.                                                                                                 Blessings, Pastor Karen http://www.newhopempc.com/index.cfm?i=5974&mid=25&blogid=1216&comments=18952 18952 Tue, 18 Jan 2011 20:28:00 +0000 It is 17 degrees above zero at 11:50a.m.with snow on the ground, the sun shining in the sky, a gentle breeze in the air and a restlessness in the soul.  We know what is coming.  Welcome to North Pole, Alaska as we begin our frozen dance into winter. Rhythm.  We associate it with dancing, with breathing, with pacing but an awful lot of us do not associate rhythm with our souls, with our lives.  We have routines.  We have overflowing calendars of agenda for our daily lives.  We dash here and there to pick up the kids, get to work, make meetings, go to church, fit in a bit of play if we can.  But we do not tend to think of the seasons of our world being in rhythm let alone our own lives.  Yet what a gift it would be if we began to take that in.  For when we talk in rhythm, it becomes clear very quickly that stepping out of rhythm, working out of rhythm doesn’t work.  We stumble and fall.  We slip on the growing ice and forget that we are in later October instead of June. For the last week or two we have been serenaded by the thunder of cannons going off nearby as military exercises are held.  With Eielson AFB and Ft. Wainwright on either side of us, this is not an infrequent experience.  It was really quite something to be coming home from Presbytery meetings earlier this month and see in the night sky an orange glow momentarily illuminate the clouds overhead over and over again.  Lightening?  No.  Cannons going off I was informed upon getting home.  At times their thunder is almost like a slow and steady heart beat.  A rhythmic beat.  Boom…..boom…..boom..…boom…..  Like a native drum setting the rhythmic beat for a dance, a celebration, an assembly.  A reminder of a deeper, greater, more powerful rhythm in the depth of our souls, of earth itself because of our creator?  It causes me to wonder.  As we do what we need to do to be safe in these coming months; as we take in the sunlight of today knowing that clouds will be coming, let us listen for that Spirit of God speaking to us in the rhythm of life.  Let us allow ourselves to breathe in sync with our Creator so that we do not become overwhelmed, despairing, truly troubled as life happens, as crises emerge, when the thermometer reads -50 degrees.  Let us be reminded in that rhythmic beat of the Eternal Heart of our God that all things are possible through our faith in Jesus Christ and his eternal power. A blessed and rhythmic fall/winter to you! Pastor Karen http://www.newhopempc.com/index.cfm?i=5974&mid=25&blogid=1216&comments=16382 16382 Mon, 25 Oct 2010 23:02:13 +0000 As we move into the month of July, marked especially by the 4th of July, we take off on vacations and journeys to replenish our bodies while hearing the words:  “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness,” Wikipedia; Declaration of Independence.  Our minds remember our classroom recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance that concludes, “with liberty and justice for all”.  So we give words to our right to pursue happiness and we often think of liberty here used as the freedom to not take responsibility.  So many are out and about this summer doing just that; pursuing happiness, enjoying vacations where they don’t have to take responsibility for work for a while.  And it is good and important to rest in our much too busy lives for the well being of our bodies and souls.  To some extent. For the last many Sundays during worship we have been reading out of the letter to the Galatians.  Paul has been challenging this congregation to resist the hardened ‘rules and laws’ of the Jewish faith to find a new freedom or liberty for living through the Spirit of Christ who calls us to care for one another through love.  Not a ‘have to’ but a Spirit-lead want to.  It is out of this love that we find ourselves encouraging one another, seeing to justice for all and living an ordered life that is rich in the joy of Christ’s grace. And there is the rub.  In order to live this life so fully, we need to dedicate ourselves to our Savior.  Not by rules but by want. By realizing just how much we have been given by our God and wanting to thank God for such blessings.  That is what worship is about.  Being moved by the Spirit we come together to give thanks and praise to the One, God, who has given us our very lives.  The One who has gifted us with abilities to make a living that allows us to live in ways that bring us joy and fulfillment.  The Christ who has made it possible for us to get through the challenging times with confidence.  Confidence that we are not alone and through Him can take our next step and the next, etc. until we have made it through that valley, find our spirit rejoicing in having met that challenge and move on. All of the plenty, the riches, the wonder of our lives is not of our making but God’s.  God who has worked through us to achieve them.  It is out of relationship with God, with Christ, that we begin to realize that all of life is not about us alone.  Rather all of life is meant to be in relationship; with God, with one another.  So time in worship and fellowship are important to give back and to support both.  Time in study and prayer awakens our hearts to the importance of our neighbor in our lives and helps us reach out.  Our pursuit of happiness becomes not selfish but other directed.  The amazing thing there is that when we do for others, we find our own lives being blessed, enriched, brightened many times over. Because we have let go of the importance of self over others and there find our liberty and the will for justice. So as you go about enjoying this summer, and please do!  Remember to praise God, to thank Christ for your life, for what you have.  If you can’t make it to church, then remember to pray and do acts of kindness to those around you to the glory of God.  Make time to give back to God in caring for your neighbor, in helping out a stranger, by being just in your actions so that liberty, justice and happiness for all may grow.  So that God’s faithfulness may be praised. God bless you! Pastor Karen http://www.newhopempc.com/index.cfm?i=5974&mid=25&blogid=1216&comments=13322 13322 Thu, 1 Jul 2010 21:43:00 +0000 Summer: A wonderful time in Alaska. What we dream of and wait for up here in the Interior when it is -50 outside in the winter. We were blessed with 80 degree temps in late May. And for VBS we had lovely, comfortable weather with sunshine until the last day when it began to rain during the morning. When the children were being introduced to a couple of firefighters and their truck.  It didn’t bother most of the kids which was great.  Rain is just one more element of God’s great creation.  And that was the theme of the week with the children:  God as creator of the universe and our personal relationship with God.  Which brings me to the point of this blog; our personal relationship with God, with Christ.  How is yours?  As you move into these months of warmth, fun and relaxation, are you making time in each day to spend intentionally with Christ?  Do you make time to be with the Spirit of Christ and let yourself be nourished?  Or that flow of water near you in the form of a lake, river, waterfall, stream, does it remind you of the ‘life giving waters’ of Christ that are yours when you awaken to Christ’s faith in you?   That is another gift of scripture from Luke 7:15.  The Greek can be read either our faith in Jesus Christ or Jesus Christ’s faith in us.  That changes things doesn’t it?  Our faith is not of our making but it is Christ’s faith in us!  So grace within us.  Wow.  And such power.  When we allow ourselves to be in personal relationship with Him we find ourselves able to face most anything.  We find ourselves able to do so many more things than we could ever do on our own.  What a gift.  What an amazing gift for each and every one of us.  So we need to make that time to intentionally BE with our Savior each and every day, that our lives may be more full in joy and service, in hope and peacefulness.  Look for those glimmers of Christ in those whom you meet through your day.  Pray and spend time listening for that still, small voice that is speaking, guiding you through your circumstance, awakening your heart to the good of the moment.  Notice the wonders of God’s creation and thank God for them.  Get yourself to church and praise God for all the blessings and mercy you have received through the week.  And touch the strength of Christ by being in the midst of his body through the fellowship of other believers. There are so many ways to commune with our God.  So take the time and celebrate our God, our Creator with intentional devotion and gratitude.  Have a great summer! Pastor Karen http://www.newhopempc.com/index.cfm?i=5974&mid=25&blogid=1216&comments=13160 13160 Sun, 20 Jun 2010 18:54:00 +0000 Hearing the laughter and conversation, the excitement in the quilter’s group as they visit and work on projects together I find myself thinking about those people in Jerusalem the day after Jesus’ ‘triumphal entry’ into Jerusalem. What would the buzz and chatter have been like that next morning? So many stories rattling around between people. The miracles. The exorcisms. The healings. The changed lives. So much had happened in the previous three years and here everyone was, though the crowd was unaware, in the last week of Jesus’ life before crucifixion and resurrection.  Who is this man that he can do these things? Did you feel a stirring in your own heart upon hearing him? Do we today feel a stirring in our hearts as we listen to his Word as we pray or read scripture or worship? Do we stop and listen allowing his Spirit to fill us and guide us forward through life? In this most holy of weeks of the Christian year, it is my prayer that you will read your bible regarding this week beginning with the triumphal entry, through his cleansing of the temple, his encounter with Pilate, his crucifixion, the gambling over his robe, the silence of the tomb and the glory of his resurrection. It is my hope that your spirit will open ever wider to his Spirit and Christ’s mercy and love for you. That in this week you will come to realize that God is not afraid of your life, your pain and anguish, your fears and anxiety. God has been there, done that. And, God has promised each one of us that God will remain faithful in walking with us through our own pain and suffering to empower us through so that we are not overcome with its power. Rather we are able to overcome it because of the power, the redeeming and resurrection power through Jesus Christ, that God offers us every moment of every day. In this week, dare to walk with Jesus as he walks with you.  Companion him in this week and find a richer, sweeter joy come Easter morning as your heart awakens to the reality that Christ lived, died and arose for you. God bless and keep you, Pastor Karen http://www.newhopempc.com/index.cfm?i=5974&mid=25&blogid=1216&comments=11901 11901 Tue, 30 Mar 2010 02:14:00 +0000 Well, the new year has begun.  How are you doing?  Did you make any resolutions?  Are you keeping them?  Did any of those resolutions have to do with your faith, with your relationship with Jesus Christ, with God?  I hope so.  For when we grow in our relationship with Christ we grow in our relating to our neighbors, in our compassion for others.  And that is after all what we are called to do.  Put the Lord our God first in our lives and from the love God pours out to us love our neighbors as ourselves. Such a heart has certainly been called out in this last week.  With such a devastating earthquake hitting Haiti, a country already on the edge of life, it is pulling on our hearts, our compassion to reach out and make a difference in their lives.  And it should.  These are, after all, our sisters and brothers in Christ.  And they need our help.  Scripture tells us that when one part of the body is hurting the whole body is hurting. (1 Cor. 12:26) Well there is a lot of pain in Haiti right now. I am so proud of our congregation who in the first week has taken up a significant offering to go to the people of Haiti and their relief.  We are also, through our Young Adult’s group, gathering up supplies for Health Kits that will be sent through UMCOR (United Methodist Committee on Relief) to the people of Haiti.  These simple kits will give individuals a few things like soap and toothpaste with brush and towels to take care of simple hygiene.  For the majority in Haiti they have not had these luxuries since the earthquake.  They are still waiting for water and food and medical care to reach them. It is important that as we go about our daily living we remember these people who are hurting so deeply and lift them in prayer regularly.  It is important that as we can, we do our part to help them through our gifts, to rebuild their lives and eventually their homes.  It is important that we trust our God in heaven who is bigger than any of us can imagine, to be present with those sisters and brothers throughout this horror, carrying them, holding them, comforting and healing them moment by moment until they can stand on their own once again and we pray better than before the earthquake.  God does this in part, through you and I reaching out to these people.  Through the rescue workers, those people on the ground bringing aid and medical help, through the Holy Spirit in prayer and hope. As you move through your day and through this year may you find the courage to daily spend time with God in prayer, speaking but then also listening so that you can be reminded of who you need to reach out to today that their prayers may be answered, that your spirit may be enriched through the divine encounter with our risen Christ.  Have a blessed New Year.  In peace, Pastor Karen http://www.newhopempc.com/index.cfm?i=5974&mid=25&blogid=1216&comments=10920 10920 Tue, 26 Jan 2010 01:04:11 +0000 I look up from my office desk and notice the rosy golden light of the sun kissing the tops of the frost covered trees.  High thin clouds drift slowly across a pale blue sky.  The air is still.  It is -11 degrees.  Cold, crisp, and beautiful.  This is a December sunrise in North Pole.  And, it is a constant reminder that in order to see the ‘light of Christ’ we often need to look up and out in order to recognize the light within and around us.  This is so true in Alaska where darkness literally covers us and often fills us in this time of the year; where cold drives us inward in posture as well as into our homes.  Depression, hopelessness, loneliness, being cold all draw one inward and downward which means we pull ourselves away from the light.  An action we can ill afford anytime but particularly this time of year.  For it is in the light that we flourish.  It is in the light that we find our way.  It is in the light that we find warmth and courage to live into the next moment.  And the next and the next and… December 21 is the winter solstice.  It is the shortest day and the longest night of the year.  It is on this night all who are in need, all who want to have a warm, gentle, inviting space in which to reconnect their/your spirit with the Holy Spirit are invited to come to church at 7p.m.  Here we will gather in the sanctuary with an understanding of what it means to have a ‘blue Christmas’ and not let those ‘blues’ carry you away.  Here, in a very gentle, respectful service we will acknowledge those challenges in one’s life (i.e. cancer, spouse deployed, body pain, isolation, depression, death of a loved one, war, marital/family troubles, loss of job, just can’t get into the ‘jolly’ of Merry Christmas) with an opportunity to name those troubles (out loud or not) while lighting a candle. While reflecting upon the presence of God.  As each candle is lit we are visually reminded that we are not alone, that the light grows with and in Christ and will not be overcome by the darkness because God has given us Jesus Christ as a love gift, a gift for our salvation.  The service reminds us that the reality of Jesus’ life story is not all safe and rosy.  Instead he is born in a barn, his family has to run for his life into exile, he wanders the countryside in adult life to the generosity of friends and believers while challenging the status quo only to be crucified on a cross, a humiliating and despised death.  Christ, God, knows something about your pain!  God isn’t afraid of anything that you want/need to bring to God.  Instead we have a God who is very familiar with our pain having lived through it through Christ and is so willing to be with us in it helping us to keep journeying forward in the light with hope.  So this year, do not let the darkness win.  Instead, come out to this Longest Night Service on December 21 at 7p.m. and let your soul be gently, lovingly reconnected with the Holy One in this lovely service of hope, healing and respect.  Then stay a little longer for a beautiful reception of eats where you can refortify your body to reenter the world stronger, braver and confidently love-filled by the mercies of Christ. A holy and blessed Advent of preparation to you that you may receive God’s gift of love on the 25th with much joy and anticipation! Pastor Karen http://www.newhopempc.com/index.cfm?i=5974&mid=25&blogid=1216&comments=10311 10311 Fri, 11 Dec 2009 22:57:02 +0000 Today is Veteran's Day.  I hope everyone will take the time to thank our veterans for their commitment and service. I also want to take this time to thank each and everyone of you who have served or are serving in the military.  Because of you and your willingness to sacrifice on behalf of freedom and the good of humanity, we live in a free country able to worship as we please, do largely as we please, speak as we please.  Because of you we have freedoms that many countries even today do not have.  And because of you other countries do know freedoms that were not known in the past.  So thank you.  Thank you for your willingness to serve in the armed forces.  Thank you for believing in our one triune God and living a part of your faith through serving.  May God bless you and keep you.  May the Holy Spirit forever hold you and may the sacrifice of Christ be your freedom forever.   God bless you, Pastor Karen http://www.newhopempc.com/index.cfm?i=5974&mid=25&blogid=1216&comments=9857 9857 Wed, 11 Nov 2009 19:40:07 +0000 I cannot believe it has been so long since my last blog.  So much is going on!  Hope you are well.  I am.  Do you believe it that with this Saturday ‘the Holidays’ begin?!  Halloween is here.  Wow.  All the excitement that is building in the way of decorating and choosing just the right costume.  All the anticipation with various celebrations and the transforming of space to give just the right feel to the holiday and fun.  With each holiday, Halloween (All Hallows Eve), Thanksgiving and finally Christmas our preparations grow and expand, our anticipation mounts and the beauty that surrounds us transforms from ghouls to harvest plenty to angels and light.  From secular to holy, from the irreverent to the reverent.  As we move into this season we have a choice before us.  We can either step in and become overwhelmed by it all, the time, money and distraction it creates or we can prayerfully consider what is truly important and a proper ‘celebration’ as we move through each of these days.  I have watched families and even churches get so into the visual of the holiday that they have lost touch with the fun or the profound celebration that is at hand.  Halloween or All Hallows’ Eve finds its beginning in the Celtic festival of Samhain and as the eve before All Saints’ Day which was moved to November 1 from May 13 to help counter the pagan festivities of Halloween.  On All Hallows’ Eve, it was a tradition for many Scottish and Irish folk to place a candle in their western facing window sill to honor the departed.  And All Saints’ Day is a day to remember and celebrate those who have died whom we loved.  This year we get to celebrate All Saints’ on Sunday the actual day.  So in worship we will be remembering those who have died this past year and those whom we carry on our hearts from days’ past.  Consider lighting a candle in your home as a remembrance of this blessed souls and offering a prayer of thanks for their witness in your life. Thanksgiving is a harvest festival.  It is traditionally a time of giving thanks for the bounty of the harvest and expressing thanks or gratitude.  Of course within the United States we connect this with a feast that was shared among both Native Americans and the local pilgrims in 1621 who shared what food they had so that all could eat and give thanks for a good harvest.  But did you know that there is claim to a much earlier Thanksgiving dating back to 1565? (The above definition details come from Wikipedia).  This was not an original idea, thanksgiving that is.  So be thoughtful about who you need to thank in your life.  Consider what you have as blessing and give thanks for these things.  Perhaps share these things around the table come Nov. 26.  And remember to donate to your local Food Bank to help others experience full bellies and reasons to give thanks. Christmas is the celebration of Jesus the Christ’s birth.  It is a season associated with the great gift of God’s love in Jesus and lives itself out through our extending that gift to others through our life choices as well as seasonal gifts given to one another.  The legends of Santa Claus or St. Nicholas find their origins connected with this gift giving particularly to children and originally to the relief of suffering and poverty.  Both sound reflections of God’s love for all of God’s children.  So be thoughtful, prayerful, of how you would like to extend God’s love to those in your life whom you love.  Consider the stranger who doesn’t know God’s love by experience and is waiting for our care for them to show them such love.  Is there someone who needs a gift of food or clothing?  Does a family need help in having gifts for the children because parents have lost their jobs this year?  Is there someone in your midst who is feeling hopeless and in the dark who needs to experience the gentle but strong light of Christ through your caring for them?  So many ways we can share the love and light of God with people all around us.  Here is the blessing of the season. So prayerfully consider, how do you want to enter into ‘the Holidays’?  What do you want to be the lasting memory of these months?  Will you be glad the Holidays are over or rejoicing for the fun and many blessings you have had by living the grace of God’s love through each day?  I hope and pray it is the latter and you find joy come the first of the year pouring over into all you do. Have fun and love large, Pastor Karen http://www.newhopempc.com/index.cfm?i=5974&mid=25&blogid=1216&comments=9641 9641 Wed, 28 Oct 2009 18:17:20 +0000 Our Stryker soldiers are home.  Alleluiah!  To look in their eyes, to see them before us is a most welcome sight.  It has been too long that they have been in harm’s way and too long since loving arms have been wrapped around them to remind them just how precious and loved they are.  So now the homecoming.  A time that is sweet and joyful.  A time that is tense and uncertain.  A mixed blessing.  Why?  Because in this year plus apart everyone has changed.  Children have continued to grow up.  Spouses have learned to take charge of the household and see that things get done.  Soldiers have become used to sleeping with their rifles and to be at the ready every moment of every day and night.  How do all these parts reintegrate with each other to make a good and blessed whole?  Gently.  Prayerfully.  With patience and compassion. With understanding and hope.  Over time. Whether we are a part of one of the families who are in a state of reunion or are a part of circles of friends surrounding these families, we too need to be understanding and compassionate with each and everyone to support them through these times.  We need to remember that our soldiers are coming home with more than is apparent.  They carry within them memories of war.  They carry within themselves the trauma of being on constant vigil, in battle, perhaps watching their brothers and sisters be killed or surviving a near miss themselves.  Some have physical wounds that let everyone know they have been through the trenches and back and many, many more carry nothing physical with them.  Instead it is the psychological and emotional wounds that maim them and challenge their spirits each and every day.  A piece of garbage on the road becomes a possible IED that needs to be avoided.  A loud backfire of a vehicle is possible weapons’ fire that needs to be dodged and possibly counter attacked.  However the wounds surface themselves, it is vital that we who surround these brave soldiers, do so with a big heart and a deep spirit of compassion and grace. We need to encourage and let these soldiers tell their stories.  They need to experience someone receiving the whole of who they are without judgment.  They need to know that they can and will heal as they learn to share their stories and move through what limits them to a new freedom that their being alive gives them.  They need to know that God is here.  That God, Christ, has been with them and will continue to be as a source of healing, of love, of gentle but firm presence to journey with them in this time. So don’t be afraid to approach our soldiers, though don’t surprise them.  Give them a hand shake and/or a hug welcoming them back, thanking them for their service and sacrifice.  Invite them to come and be a part of the body of Christ here at home once again.  Let them know that we noticed their absence and are grateful to God for their safe return.  Then pray for them.  Hold them in your heart and pray without ceasing that they may not only be safe but finally sound through the healing power of Christ. Finally, carry these words with you and the promise they hold for each and every one of us: “Who will separate us from the love of Christ?  Will hardship, or distress, or persecution or famine or nakedness or peril or sword?  As it is written, ‘For your sake we are being killed all day long; we are accounted as sheep to be slaughtered.’  No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.  For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”  Romans 8:35-39 Be well brothers and sisters in Christ.  Thank you dear soldiers for all you have given on behalf of life. Peace, Pastor Karen http://www.newhopempc.com/index.cfm?i=5974&mid=25&blogid=1216&comments=8590 8590 Thu, 3 Sep 2009 22:55:17 +0000   Wow.  We are already at the end of day two of school.  Do you believe it?  Summer has flown by and we are now back in the classroom ready to learn some more wisdom that will help with our living.  Right?  Isn’t that what learning is about?  To help us grow in our understanding of life, the world, relationships and our purpose and place in this world?  School has always been an exciting time to me.  I love to learn.  Some moments I am more gracious than others in doing so, but I do essentially love to learn.  I have known a lot of teachers over the years and the ones that I remember, the ones that made the biggest impact upon me and my life and life choices were those teachers who believed in me.  Who saw something more in me than I saw in myself.  A pretty amazing gift really.  These people cared about their students.  They saw potential no matter what the rest of the world may have told us.  They believed that if they accepted us for who we are and gently yet firmly challenged us to dream and think more boldly about ourselves and others, about learning and doing in the world, then we would become assets to the world.  Diamonds in the rough would be revealed and we would begin to believe in ourselves.  Which we did.  Easy work?  No.  Not always.  Rewarding work?  Yes.  Though their time line and ours might be different for results of that work.  It is a fact, that every one of those teachers I am thinking of in my own life were also Christians.  People of faith who had found a calling in being teachers, those hands and feet, those lips and hearts of Christ out in the world making a difference one student at a time, one classroom at a time. As we launch out into this new school year, whether teaching or learning, whether secular or Sunday school, let us remember that each and every one of us is a child of God.  We are made with that need to know and understand, to learn more about who we are, whose we are and where we can do the most good with the abilities and joys we know through God’s generous gifts of talent and passion.  Look into the eyes of one another and ask God to help you see what God sees in that other.  You will be amazed at how beautiful they become through those eyes.  Look into that other and see the heart of Christ in them.  It may be a heart that has been damaged or challenged a good deal and need some major help in learning to trust and believe once again but help them see that reflection of Christ in them and believe, believe in what they can be. Each one of us is gift.  Each one of us matters to God and therefore needs to matter to each other.  Dare to love, even and especially those who seem unlovable.  Help them to experience the love of Christ for themselves through you and see how their lives are transformed. Teaching, learning, either way it is imperative that every one of us know, without a doubt, that we are precious in the sight of God and deserve respect and compassion as we grow.  So let’s launch a year of ‘gracious education’ where all are seen as worthy through the sacrifice of Christ to be treated well, believed in and encouraged to dream with hope for making a positive difference in the world, to the glory of God. Peace and blessings, Pastor Karen   http://www.newhopempc.com/index.cfm?i=5974&mid=25&blogid=1216&comments=8348 8348 Wed, 19 Aug 2009 05:55:57 +0000  Happy Easter everyone!   Do you believe it?  Easter has come and gone.  Or, wait, not gone exactly.  Because after all, Easter is both a day and season of the year as well as a way of being.  It is the celebration of our Lord Jesus Christ who rose from the dead after being crucified with our sins to make us free and redeemed.  It is then a way of being when we live as people freed from the burden of our sins, redeemed or made right before God through Christ who gave himself for us.   Living redeemed is a powerful testimony to those around us.  In a world where people are choosing to kill each other because they feel, and in some cases are, threatened; where people live in fear of death and violence day to day because others, out of fear, are dominating the situation as in domestic violence, there needs to be a testimony to a different way of living in the midst of the uncertainties of life.  When we live out our faith, when we dare to be compassion in our world, when we reach out to God for strength and wisdom, others experience a new way of being through us.  They see in us an opportunity and hope to be free in spirit, knowing we are loved and forgiven, and in that confidence reaching out to people with a helping heart and hand.  It is the difference of looking inward to self or outward to community and relationship.    I recently read an article that talked of facing the chairs outward.  The writer was talking about the need for the church to be looking to the world around us, their needs, their concerns, and do something to help them out.  When we face ourselves outward we become a transforming part of the community by bringing with us Christ’s heart of compassion and empowerment.  We show the community that they matter.  Our focus isn’t on pulling people into the church building but taking the gospel out into people’s lives in everyday needed ways.    Here at New Hope we are trying to move the ‘chairs of our spirits’ around and reorient our focus upon taking the gospel out into the world while making the environment at church inviting, renewing and accepting for all.  We come to church for nourishment of our souls.  We come to church to find the peace of Christ and re-saturate ourselves with His life-giving waters of mercy, hope, and love.  Then it is our task to move outward and meet the people where they are bringing with us the love and salvation of Christ for them that they too may experience the freedom of Christ in their lives.  A freedom that allows them to move beyond fear and doubt embracing the grace of being so loved.     In this season of Easter, let us join together in encouraging one another to turn our attention outward, after taking in the nourishment of our Lord and his costly gift of love for ourselves, to share the joy and wonder of His gift with the world.  In other words, let us meet our neighbors where they are and bring the love of Christ to them with mercy and compassion.  Here’s to Easter joy and new adventures! Pastor Karen   http://www.newhopempc.com/index.cfm?i=5974&mid=25&blogid=1216&comments=6410 6410 Thu, 16 Apr 2009 04:58:57 +0000  As I watch the daylight slowly creep into the dawn of another day, each day a little brighter a little longer, I realize my own soul has been doing some creeping as well.  Here in the north we learn to appreciate the bear's actions of hibernating.  In bitter cold it is hard to do much else.  And yet the communities around here trudge on.  What an amazing testimony to the human spirit.  What a grace that we can wake on a given morning and celebrate we have made it to another day.  Hopefully without harm.  Hopefully in safety and warmth.  Yet we know there are many among us in the Valley who continue to sleep in the streets, under the bridges, wrapped in cardboard and whatever clothing they can find.  Whether they wake the next morning is a real question unlike the rest of us who go to sleep fairly certain we will rise the next day.  There is a deep need among us in these people for shelter, for food, for compassion when the hardships of life have broken or bent the spirit.  In Fairbanks there is a concerted effort going on among the churches to reach out to those in need.  The Stone Soup Cafe is reorganizing and is in a continually need of volunteers to help serve lunch.  The Rescue Mission has a new outreach that focuses upon veterans who are on the streets.  The DAMP Shelter, a shelter for those still in the throws of addiction, is forging ahead into reality.  There the need is for money to help fund the raising up of a shelter for these people to get them out of the cold and out of harms way for the night.  Hopefully all found shelter in our recent bitter cold spell.  I have not heard differently. Providing shelter, food, compassion, a means to resurrecting one's life are all a part of Christ's commission to his followers to go and do to these as you would do to me.  Here in North Pole we also have particularly youth who are homeless and in need of shelter and care, of an alternative that is safe.  The local Ministerial Alliance is working on a plan to help address this need and we need your prayers while we go about the work.  Eventually we will need your presence to help empower that work.   But also there is the empowerment of those who have shelter but not the means to truly celebrate life.  New Hope MPC is in the planning of a new New Hope Open Arms Child Development Center to be built and opened in this next year.  It will be a quality, safe, Christian, child development center that will empower not only the children who come and learn but also the families who need safe, affordable, good care for their children while they go to work.  This new facility will be to the west of our current building and be large enough for us to also use it as a community center for larger events, classes, etc. in the North Pole area.  It is a way of providing new hope to the many around our own local area who are finding the creeping in not of light but of darkness a daily challenge.    It is our hope that as we fulfill this dream to reach out more fully to our neighbors, together we can dispel the darkness not only of the season but of our spirits.  To find the power to do so through the ongoing grace of Jesus Christ who gave his life for our sins that we would find freedom and life in abundance and find it in the compassion and help of each other. May you find the gentle Spirit of our Savior in your life and there the power to dare to hope that God's light may grow in you just as it is growing in the horizon. Blessings, Pastor Karen http://www.newhopempc.com/index.cfm?i=5974&mid=25&blogid=1216&comments=5023 5023 Tue, 27 Jan 2009 18:01:19 +0000 A few days ago our country stepped into a new age by electing our first African-American president. No matter what your politics that is quite remarkable. To listen to the many persons whose race has suffered since being brought to this country as slaves, their lives will never be the same. But then, neither will the rest of our lives. A world has opened up that never really seemed possible. Yes, Martin Luther King, Jr. had a dream in 1963, but for many that was all it was, a dream. Now 45 years later for us to live into a time when the president elect moves that dream into reality is a life stirring moment. It gives hope to those of us who by race, sex or ability-challenge have been shunned from full freedoms. It lifts a veil that has hung over so many for too long that declared some among us are lesser than others. Even in Paul’s time we Christians were being taught that in Christ there is no longer Jew or Gentile, male or female, we are all one in Christ. This election brings hope to many that such equality has finally arrived. But with that equality comes a new responsibility. As equals we need to all the more listen to one another, honor and respect one another and uphold our constitutional rights. It means lifting the veil of party and seeing with clear eyes the brother or sister across the aisle who stands differently from me yet is driven by the same call to fairly and justly represent one another’s constituents. At a rally for McCain and Palin in Wasilla on election night, a local newly elected representative, Linda Menard, got up to accept her win and said these powerful words:  “I want you to remember our national symbol, the eagle.  We in Alaska are so blessed to see them soar over us daily. The next time you watch an eagle soar over your home, your business, your school, remember it takes both a healthy right wing and healthy left wing WORKING TOGETHER to be able to soar to new heights. So, as we begin a new chapter in our country’s history, remember the eagle, and let’s soar to new heights……together. For an injured wing will not allow an eagle to fly at all. And that is NOT what Alaskans, nor true Americans are about. So here’s to working together – for Alaska and for our country. May we all remember, this is ONE nation….under GOD…and we ask for His favor, His guidance and His blessing. Let’s not forget our part in helping our nation ‘soar’.” In this new day, in our differences of opinion, in some people’s deep fear of our country’s future, let us remember that we all share a love of our country, wanting it to be strong and able, just and wise, letting “justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an everflowing stream” (Amos 5:24).  To rebuild this country we will need to bend our knees and hearts in prayer lifting up our new leadership that they will seek out God’s will for our country and have the courage to step into that will with their own lives and do the same with our own.  We will need to cooperate with one another to keep these states united.   Now is a time for deep faith, ongoing prayer and abundant hope that our future will be made bright through good, thoughtful and life empowering choices that make it possible for us to soar as on eagle’s wings and in the grace of God.  “Why do you say, O United States, and speak, O America, ‘My way is hidden from the Lord, and my right is disregarded by my God’?  Have you not known?  Have you not heard?  The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth.  He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable.  He gives power to the faint, and strengthens the powerless.  Even youths will faint and be weary, and the young will fall exhausted; but those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.” (Is. 40:27-31)  Let us remain true to our God and faithful in our walk together.  Amen Pastor Karen   http://www.newhopempc.com/index.cfm?i=5974&mid=25&blogid=1216&comments=3966 3966 Sat, 8 Nov 2008 23:22:07 +0000 In this time of nearing the presidential election in particular, it is important that we as Christians remember to take a higher road. That being one that is rooted in hope and faith instead of fear and anxiety. With all the attack ads and stirring of uncertainty instead of clarifying stands on issues and candidates strengths it is easy for all to get fearful of Tuesday's outcome. Instead I offer that we need to be in prayer. We need to educate ourselves on each candidate and then prayerfully vote our conscience in hope that God's will reign. A friend sent me the following article from Jim Wallis and I offer it here for you to prayerfully consider his words before going to the polls on Tuesday, November 4, 2008. The right to vote was won through much suffering so please let your voice be heard by taking action and voting. May God bless you, this country and this world through these following days. Pastor Karen Be Not Afraid In the final days of this election campaign, a new message has emerged. For the entire political year, the overriding theme has beenchange—with each candidate competing to be the real champion for a new direction. With 80 percent of Americans unhappy with our country’s current direction, it seemed that no other theme could break through.   A new message has, and it is this: “Be Afraid—Be Very Afraid.” Most of that fear is directed at Barack Obama, the leading candidate with just days to go before November 4. Instead of being content to offer a competing policy vision to Obama’s, the Right has now focused on the man himself in an attempt to stir the fears of the electorate that “he” is not really like “them.” “Do we really know who Barack Obama is?” has been the refrain of partisan peddlers. A parallel and ugly national innuendo campaign stokes the fear. Is he a Muslim? An Arab? A pal of terrorists? Or maybe even a closet Socialist? Where did he grow up? Why such a funny middle name? Doesn’t his support come from those parts of the country (and those people) that deep down inside are anti-American? And, of course, what has quickly become a campaign classic—guilt by association. The fact that Barack Obama is the first black nominee of a major party for president gives all the fear a decidedly racial undertone. YouTube has quickly become populated with video after video of the dark underbelly of American fear and racism. The innuendos and rumors have brought to the surface latent fears and thinly veiled biases that many had hoped were gone from our country. The message of fear is the same: Obama may look okay on the surface, but we don’t know what might lie beneath. Regardless of whether one favors Obama or McCain, this development should be of concern to all Americans, and especially people of faith. There is now a new spiritual dimension to this election, and it is decidedly evil. Christians believe that “There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out all fear...” (1 John 4:18.) There are, of course, good and decent motivations to vote either way in this election. Strong people of faith will be marking different boxes on Election Day, but for people of faith there will be a spiritual decision to be made as well. Will we put our trust in the power of fear or hope? Conservatism did this with the bright and hopeful theme of “Morning in America” with the Ronald Reagan years. I disagreed with most all of Reagan’s agenda, but his appeal was to ask us all to choose hope, not fear. Similarly, the best of liberalism was seen in the power of John and Robert Kennedy’s appeal to build a “newer world.” Both conservatives and liberals can appeal to the better instincts of the American people, or to their worst—and each side has done both over the years. Fear has always been the dark side of American politics, and we are seeing its resurgence in the campaign’s final days. Demagoguery has come from both the right and the left in America, and the most dependable sign of it is the appeal to fear over hope. Facts don’t matter when fear takes over. Fear covers over the debate on a candidate’s tax plans, the wisdom of their foreign policies, their experience and judgment to handle the economic crisis. Fear attacks character and lies with false prophecies of what a candidate would do if they are elected. Some of the worst fear-mongering has sadly come from leaders of the Religious Right who are worried about losing their control over the votes of the evangelical and Catholic communities, especially a new generation of believers. Their apocalyptic rhetoric has been among the worst and most irresponsible. When religious leaders sound so desperate and seek to stoke fear and hate, they have lost their theological perspective by putting too much of their hope in having political power. It is that loss of power and control which seems to be motivating the current campaign of desperation and fear now being waged by so many conservatives. Instead, scripture points to a better way: For "Those who desire life and desire to see good days, let them keep their tongues from evil and their lips from speaking deceit; let them turn away from evil and do good; let them seek peace and pursue it. For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are open to their prayer. But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil." Now who will harm you if you are eager to do what is good? But even if you do suffer for doing what is right, you are blessed. Do not fear what they fear, and do not be intimidated, but in your hearts sanctify Christ as Lord. Always be ready to make your defense to anyone who demands from you an accounting for the hope that is in you." (1 Peter 3:10-15, emphasis added) With that reminder that Christ is our ultimate hope, let us pray that, on November 4, the need for change will finally prevail over the appeals to fear. Pray that the voters will choose either Barack Obama or John McCain as the best agent of change, rather than submit to the tyranny of fear. It is always better to live (and to vote) in the light of hope than in the darkness of fear. It is always an act of faith to believe that, in the end, hope will prevail over fear. So pray, and vote. http://www.newhopempc.com/index.cfm?i=5974&mid=25&blogid=1216&comments=3857 3857 Fri, 31 Oct 2008 01:51:36 +0000 Even as the cold begins to make itself known and snow threatens in the sky, God is good. There is so much going on here at New Hope that early excitement just continues. It is energizing to come and be a part of this community day in and day out. Even and especially through life’s ups and downs. We are called to be God’s family with each other and it is gratifying to see that happening whether in fun or at a hospital bedside. Know that if you are new to us we want you to come and be an active part of us. Join us for worship, step into a class to learn more of God’s work in and through our lives and faith, be a part of our fellowship and become a link in our prayer chain. It is in these moment by moment places that it is incredible to see the Holy One working and moving. It is there that we meet up with the Holy Spirit who is ready to transform us, strengthen and encourage us, fill and use us to the glory of God. As we meet with the architect over plans for the new education/child development center the wonder and excitement grow. A dream that has been on the heart of this congregation for at least three years is coming into reality. And oh the fruits it will bear! To open to the community a child development facility that will offer day care, education, before and after school programs through the week days and be a place of fellowship, community outreach and Christian Education through Sunday School and other classes through the week nights and weekends, brings a smile to the heart and shivers up the spine for the glory of God that will be celebrated through each connection. New Hope wants to fulfill Christ’s call to serve, to love our neighbors as ourselves, to be fruitful to God’s joy and the well-being of our neighbors. This new building will be a neighborhood gathering place like no other here in North Pole and that is the sweetest gift of all. A community center to encourage, assist, lift, educate, hold and love our neighbors in need that they and we may find prayers answered and hope restored. This is our hope and prayer as we move into the future hand in hand with Christ. Come, be a part of us this week and receive the joy of our Lord. So let us pray; Holy and wondrous God, you who kissed us with your sweet Spirit upon our birth, thank you for the joy of being yours. Gather us up and fill us again with a renewed awareness of your presence and love for us. Lift us up and help us forward into daring to love and live with your Spirit in all relationships, in all places so that all people can find their way back home to you. Encourage us as darkness comes and remind us that even darkness is at light to you. Nothing can be hidden and therefore nothing and no one, even we who are praying, can be lost from your tender mercies and grace. Thank you, O Blessed Savior, amen http://www.newhopempc.com/index.cfm?i=5974&mid=25&blogid=1216&comments=3427 3427 Tue, 30 Sep 2008 19:39:57 +0000  The colors are changing outside!  Wow.  Such beauty!  An affirmation of God’s power in the midst of our lives, of God’s steadfast faithfulness that as we move through our lives creation continues to move through its cycles helping remind us that this moment isn’t all there is.  It also reminds us that God is not limited in any way but continues to move in and through our lives to God’s glory.  That in itself is reason for celebration.  And, we have some great beginnings going on within our church that warms the heart and brings shouts of joy to the lips.  Our new youth worker is on board officially beginning this week.  Kelli I believe, will bring a deep spirit of joy and love to our youth and young ones.  She will bring a strong faith and spirit of servanthood as well.  If you are around on Sunday please make time to come and share in her installation during worship.  Another prayer that has been answered is that Linda File has said yes to being our new Christian Education Coordinator.  Linda has a rich history of working in this field in previous churches and is already elbow deep in plans and curriculum for this year of education.  We have a fine team of teachers lined up for classes that will reach from toddler to mature adult.  Plus we are going to begin a midweek bible study by the end of this month.  Keep posted for the date and time.  Education.  It is an amazing experience isn’t it?  I believe we live our whole lives learning and even in death we are learning for we are born into a new life that will be wholly new and even more exciting than what we have known.  It is my hope that as we start the adventure of education once again that you will find my excitement in these offerings and come and join us so that together we may grow in understanding and faith.   With that, let us pray.   Holy and beloved God, you who shine your love upon us day in and day out, thank you.  Thank you for the wonder of your creation around us.  Thank you for your love and mercy that is unending.  Thank you for curious minds and hearts that encourage us to move forward in learning more about you and your ways.  Be our guide, our companion, our hope today and always.  Amen   Blessings,   Pastor Karen http://www.newhopempc.com/index.cfm?i=5974&mid=25&blogid=1216&comments=3149 3149 Fri, 5 Sep 2008 02:10:44 +0000  After a very wet July it is so good to see the sunshine, to receive its warmth and simply enjoy the gift of its brightness while the air is already crisping down, the moon has appeared and leaves are changing colors.  Fall is here, no question.  My spirit says, “But what about summer!  I missed having a warm, lovely summer.  At that, my soul hopes for a late summer to grace us so that we can soak up some warmth before the cold comes and yet the days of the calendar continue to move on.  So I look out the window and smile for the gift that is before me and praise God in the giving.  And I wonder…with Fall comes that collective drawing in of breath, like a runner moving out from the starting block, for the blazing journey that is before us of learning, working, achieving and celebrating in the name of Christ.  Vacations largely aside, it is time to get up and out of our favorite chair, out of our resting reverie, to reengage with the world once again and be about the work of Christ with more intension, more focus.    In the renewed busyness of our living, may we all take time to notice the presence of Christ with us each day in this season and give thanks.  May creation awaken us to the marvels of God’s power and grace and welcome such mercy.  May each moment be a transforming moment of hope that God’s peace will finally come and all will welcome such beauty around and within us.  Amen   Blessings,   Pastor Karen http://www.newhopempc.com/index.cfm?i=5974&mid=25&blogid=1216&comments=3001 3001 Fri, 22 Aug 2008 02:57:23 +0000