​Hey Hope Crew Family,
 
We had an amazing time together last night during our Trunk or Treat event.  Tina and her team did a great job leading with this again.  We had a duck blind, an animal rescue, a ski resort, tropical island, a visit from snoopy and much more throughout the night.  YOU THE CHURCH did great!

Welcome to November!  That means that it’s full steam toward Christmas, but before we get there, let’s take some time to appreciate the blessings that God has been so faithful to bring into our lives.  This Sunday we are going to kick off a preaching series called, “Season of Blessing” as we look at some aspects of our lives where God has and is blessing us.

Sunday (Nov. 3rd) is our second GAME DAY Sunday of the season.  Wear your favorite team colors and we will have some prizes that we will have a drawing for at the end of the service.

Then next Sunday (Nov. 10th) we are going to have a Blaze Orange Sunday as it’s deer hunting opening weekend.  Wear your ORANGE to church!

I enjoyed hearing your stories as to how God spoke to you through our Tall Tales preaching series.  That was a fun one to put together and preach too.  As we wrapped it up this past Sunday we were very intentional with giving people an opportunity to respond to the message of God’s saving grace, and six people indicated that they said YES to Jesus for the first time or to recommit their lives to Him.  Three of those were here from the Short Term Program from Teen Challenge.  PRAISE GOD!!! Let’s celebrate and pray for those individuals, and let’s remember that we all need a personal relationship with Jesus, but we need to share in that relationship with each other too as we walk this journey together.

Pastor Dave McGaffey
Lead Pastor
Community of Hope Church of the Nazarene
Brainerd / Park Rapids
218-829-8005
cohmn.com

We have been “Walking with Jesus” over the past several weeks in our Easter preaching series.  We’ve walked with Jesus in the wilderness, after dark, at a well, along a road and in a cemetery.  We’ve seen how Jesus’ life is similar to ours in a lot of ways, and the people that He interacts with are similar to people all around us.  His life had a major impact on those around Him.  He faced temptations, and with the power of God and scripture, He was able to withstand the pressures of those temptations.  He took time to invest Himself in His relationship with God, as well as saw the needs around Him and not only met the physical needs, but also the spiritual, heart needs. 
My prayer is that you have been challenged to grow in your relationship with the Lord through this series, but also you have been looking for opportunities to serve others around you to help lead them to the hope you have in Christ.  Being willing to get a bit dirty and reach into the messiness of the lives of those around us to help bring healing to their brokenness.
This week we will be in Matthew 21 and talking about the Triumphal Entry.  Think about this: What is the best way you’ve ever been welcomed somewhere?  How did that welcome make you feel?  What was the event or reason behind it?  Email me your story ([email protected]).  I’d love to hear it.
 
If you are in Brainerd on Sunday morning, consider coming early for breakfast as the students who are going to NYC (Nazarene Youth Conference) this summer are having a pancake breakfast fundraiser.  Free will donation.
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If you are up in Park Rapids this weekend, we are having our 2nd Annual Easter Egg Hunt on Saturday.  Check out the events page on Facebook HERE.  https://www.facebook.com/events/487819765384419/
 
I’m looking forward to our time together on Sunday.  See you then.

We are blessed to be a blessing.

Gabriel's message to Mary described how the Lord would use her to bring about God's plan for the world of a lost and hurting humanity that He loves.  It was the angel's job to let Mary know that she had a part to play in God's will being done on earth as it was in heaven. 

Because God delighted in her, He was giving her the privilege of participating in His plan.  Her availability and obedience would serve as a way in which God would redeem His fallen world.  And He is giving us the same privilege - to see His world as He sees it and to participate in the opportunities He gives us to carry Jesus to those who need Him.

          As you open the door of your heart to God's plans, expect to see an agenda that points to others.  Listen, God wants you to know that He cares for them and wants to care for them through you. 

So how can you and your family, bring hope to others?  How can God use you and your family to be an encouragement to someone else this Christmas season?  How can you bring a sense of joy to someone else in this season of wonder?  Remember, if you want to live like Christ, you must learn to love people.  Love God, love others.

Pastor Dave

I love the fact that God created us for relationship.  First and foremost, a relationship with Him.  But he also created us for each other.  We are to encourage each other, pray for each other, support each other, love one another, serve each other, hold one another accountable and confess to each other. 

I don’t like confession, but I love the power that comes from confession.  As we talked about on Sunday, we confess to God for forgiveness (1 John 1:9) and we confess to each other for healing (James 5:16). 

I’ve talked with a lot of people over the years and many think, “as long as I confess it to God I’m good!”  And for a while they are good, but after a short while, they fall back into sin again because they haven’t experienced real healing.
 
For some of you, the reason you're trapped, you've prayed to God over and over again, but you've never done the second confession and let God's people in to help you heal to help hold you accountable.  We need to confess, “Here’s where I am failing, hold me accountable, and pray for me.”  “When I start to slide back, kick my tail, get in my face, encourage me, love me, build me back up.  Stand between me and the sin that is overtaking me.”
 
Do you love yourself enough to find healing for yourself?  Do you love your fellow Christian enough to stand between them and the sin that is difficult to deal with?
 
Let’s be the body of Christ for each other and help each other grow in our relationships.

Pastor Dave

I was visiting with someone this week about self-deception, and I told them that I still think of myself as I see Micah, a 20 year old, good looking dude that is strong and can leap buildings in a single bound.  I can see the person I am in the mirror, but then walk away and want to think I’m still the studly 20 year old.

Self-deceit can mask who we really are.  The longer we view ourselves through a distorted lens the more likely we are to believe a distorted truth.   This can lead to some very dangerous sin issues in our lives.  David said in Psalm 36:2-3, “For in his own eyes, he flatters himself too much to detect or hate his sin.  The words of his mouth are wicked and deceitful, he has ceased to be wise and to do good.”

My family used to watch American Idol.  If you watched it, they would highlight a lot of people that thought they could sing but really couldn’t.  How is that possible?  Distorted views of ourselves.

But when it comes to sin, if we cannot detect our sin, that which we cannot detect, we cannot hate.  If we cannot detect or hate our sin, then we live in ways that destroy us and destroy the people around us.  Many of us, we flatter ourselves and we don't realize that we are living in sin.

We talked on Sunday about three biblical truths that can help us overcome self-deception.
1. Pray – Psalm 139:23-24
2. Listen – Proverbs 15:31-32
3. Change – James 1:22

So many people listen to the Word and then do whatever they want.  Don't do that!  Don't merely listen to the Word and so deceive yourselves.  What are we going to do?  We are going to "do what it says."
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Let’s continue to work on dropping the mask of self-deception and ask God to help you live free from the lie.

A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.  By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another."  John 13:34-35 (NIV)
We finished up our series “Who are You?” this week talking about what it means for us to be a disciple.  If you’ve encountered Christ, you’ve been transformed, you’ve been forgiven.  Your old life is gone; your new life has come.  You’re filled with the Spirit of God.  You’re an ambassador, you’re a masterpiece, you’re an overcomer, you are salt and you are light.  You are a disciple, a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ.  You’re not just a Christian and whatever that means to the world, but you are a disciple.  You are one who lives like Jesus lives, you love like He loves, you do what He did, because your life is not your own, you were bought with a price.  You are a disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ.
I don't know where I first heard this statement, but everything I think about it, I am challenged to examine my life.  "When you tell someone you are a Christian, does it surprise them, or dose it confirm their suspicion?"  How do you intentionally show the love of Christ to others in your life?  Because according to this statement by Jesus, others will know you are a disciple of His if you demonstrate His love to others.
“I am a disciple of Jesus Christ.  My life is not my own, I’ve been bought with a price, I belong to Him.  I will live like He lived; I will love like He loved.  I will do what He did.  I am His disciple.  When you know who you are, you will know what to do.” 
Pastor Dave

We have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.  We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.
2 Cor 4:7-9
It is through the power of the blood that we have access to the throne room of God.  By the power of the blood, we are redeemed from this empty way of life.  You, because of what Jesus did with His blood, are an Overcomer, and you are an Overcomer by the words of your testimony (Rev. 12:11).  What’s that?  Your story of who God is and what He’s done in you.  That’s experiencing the hope of God in your life and then sharing your story of hope with others so that they too will find hope in a right relationship with Christ.
One day, a little teenage boy named David, who had been tending sheep, walks up to his king.  All of King Saul's army is afraid of one guy named Goliath, a big giant.
And David says, ‘I'll fight him!’  And King Saul says, ‘You’re cute, go home and play with your little sheep!’
And he said, ’You don't understand.  God will deliver that giant Philistine into my hands.  You all think he’s too big to beat, I say he’s too big to miss!  Somebody give me a stone and move out of the way!’
You are, an overcomer; by the blood of the Lamb, not by your own strength, and by the words of your testimony.  Listen to me, believe this, internalize it, feel it!  This isn’t what you’re going to become, ‘Once I get my life together!’  No, no!  Right now if you are in Christ, this is who God says you are.
There’s a giant that no one else thinks you can beat and maybe you don’t even think you can.  But, listen, you can with the power of the risen Christ.  When you know who you are, you will know what to do and you need to believe who God says you are.  You are hupernikao; more than a conqueror, you are an Overcomer.
As you read this, say this out loud, “I am an Overcomer.”  How?  Say this out loud, “By the blood of the Lamb and by the words of my testimony.” 
“In this world you will have trouble.  But take heart!  I have overcome the world.”  John 16:33b

Sunday’s message about complaining has stirred up a lot of conversation.  Last night at the BBQ I had a few people say to me, “When I started to complain, I had to catch myself and realize what I was doing and find something positive and better to say.” 
As I thought about that during the night last night, I thought, “That is what becoming Christ-like is all about.”  We are called to intentionally love our neighbors, but how can we do that if we are living with a spirit of complaining?  How does that reflect the love of a servant?  Which is what we are to be to our neighbors (everyone around us).
I read this week about the father of the Cuban nation, José Martí.  He visited the Dominican General Maximo Gomez and asked him for a favor. What was his request of Gomez? To liberate a people not his own, to free the Cuban people of the oppressive yoke of its mother country, Spain.
At the request, the general asked, “And what things will you offer me?”
To which Marti replied, “I offer oblivion, contempt, and ingratitude of the people. That [is what] I offer.”
On hearing this, General Gomez said, “I will go with you!”
That is the kind of sacrificial service, full of compassion that is characteristic of Jesus Christ and those who are the followers of Jesus. The word “servant” that appears in Philippians is the Greek word “doulous,” translated “slave” or “person who is in subjection or subordination, subjection voluntary or involuntary.”
In Haiti, doulous does not apply to government officials or police authorities who sell themselves to the highest bidder and don’t really serve the needs of the people that they are there to “serve.”  The problem is, too often even Christians imitate non-Christians in their eagerness to be served.
As we talked about on Sunday, complaining seems to be very much a part of our culture.  But Christ—through His sacrificial service—calls us to be countercultural.  Today, as children of God participating in the ministry of God, we are called to take the identify of doulous.  How is He calling you to use your gifts and talents to serve others……with an attitude that is reflective of Christ?
I’m looking forward to Sunday as we gather together again and look at what it means for us to surrender our fears to God.
Pastor Dave

My scripture reading for today took me to Jeremiah chapter 29.  I was captivated by verse 7 which states: “….seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper."

We often think about prosperity being a condition of finances.  But as I read this chapter this morning, what challenged me was the spiritual condition of the city.  The definition of prosperity is, “a successful, flourishing, or thriving condition.”  This is a challenge to us as Christ-followers to make that we are constantly growing and nurturing our relationship with Christ.  Because when we prosper in our relationship with Christ, it helps those around us.  It is stated in our focus verse for us as a Church. 

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.  Romans 15:13

On Sunday we talked about being the Body of Christ and how we are not spiritual consumers.  We are spiritual contributors.  Why?  Because we understand that the Church does not exist for us, but we are the Church, and we exist for the world.  As we prosper in our relationship with Christ, so too will the “city” that we are in.  So too will the Brainerd Lakes and Park Rapids areas.

What are you doing intentionally to share the hope, love and kindness of God to the world that you live in?  The world around you?  Your family?  Your friends?  Your co-workers?  Your cashier at the grocery store or gas station?  Don’t pay at the pump because it’s convenient.  Go inside and show love and kindness to the gal or guy behind the counter and encourage them.  Not for your benefit (although it will benefit you) but for their benefit and to bring glory to your Father in Heaven.

I am looking forward to what God has for us on Sunday as we look at practical ways to intentionally love our neighbors and truly live out what it means to be the Body of Christ to our communities.

Pastor Dave