November 5, 2025


Dear Beloved in Christ,


Reviewing what we have learned through the week enables us to be active listeners that meditate on God’s Word so that we might be doers of His Word, not just hearers only, deceiving ourselves. James 1:22


There is so much reward in receiving God’s Word with an open heart!


Hebrews 11:6 KJV
[6] But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.


https://bible.com/bible/1/heb.11.6.KJV


So God rewards those who diligently seek Him! There is no millionaire or king that can give rewards that even minutely come close to what God gives!


So as we hear God’s Word each Sunday from the pastor, we should be grateful and excited to receive it and by God’s Spirit, live it! We can be excited each week to see where God will lead us.💞


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How are you doing this week, friend?


We are grateful to God for His bounty, for daily food, and life and for the freedom to worship freely in this beautiful country God has blessed us to live in. It’s hard sometimes in the midst of the storms to remember to be thankful for the sun, but whether or not we see it – it is still there!


So God’s love sustains us and all living things, even through the hard times.🙏💞✝️


Thinking Through the Sermon


Every moment of every day is an opportunity to worship the Lord,


…serving Him with our time,
… our energy,
…our money
…and our resources


… in thanksgiving 🥳 to Him for all we have been given! (If we have been given eternal salvation, we are the richest people on earth!)


This past Sunday, 10.02.25, Pastor Mike Hiller taught on “Jesus, Our Shepherd King” from John 10:11-18.


If you missed the sermon, fell asleep😳😉 or need to review it, you can find it here:


https://youtu.be/5ugG7nVJxoU?si=xi-b1CrRM0Pa4QS7


It never ceases to amaze me how after 55 years I learn something new with each sermon! God has such a way of opening new treasures each week as we listen to His voice.


I have been frustrated at times on the topic of the earthly shepherds that God has put in this earth and have had quite a few questions. When we have been blessed with godly shepherds, how blessed we are!


This sermon on “Jesus, Our Shepherd King” cleared up quite a few questions I’ve had over the years. I myself will definitely rewatch this one. 😊


We read from John 10:11-18,


John 10:11-18 ESV
[11] I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.


[12] He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them.


[13] He flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep.


[14] I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me,


[15] just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep.


[16] And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd.


[17] For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again.


[18] No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father.”


https://bible.com/bible/59/jhn.10.11-18.ESV


Pastor Hiller did a beautiful job of helping us understand these passages in light of the mercy and Grace and Truth in the Gospel of Jesus Christ.


He said that while we like to think of sheep as cute and cuddly, they are actually smelly😯, dirty often get ticks and illnesses that need a lot of care. They are known to be quite stupid🤷‍♀️. They can get themselves into trouble pretty quickly. Unlike horses or many animals, sheep need the attention and protection of the shepherd or they will not survive…


We learned that while Jesus is the Good Shepherd, we are His hands and feet and God has put different shepherds in our walk down here.


When you see someone straying from the fold and straying away from the safety, protection and eternal salvation of Christ, it hurts deeply to see the direction they are going, knowing the end result is destruction and even death.😪😪


But Christ Jesus is our rescue! He is our Savior and teaches us through His Word how we should live so that we permanently abide in His eternal care.


This part fascinated me!  Pastor taught that God gives us shepherds in 3 areas of life.


First are our parents. Our parents are commanded by God to guide us and train us in His truth, His Word, His love, justice and grace.


If we as parents do not carefully shepherd our children, teaching them to prioritize relationship with and love for God above all things, using our time, energy, money and resources for God’s will, not our fleshly desires or the world’s ways, then we leave them open to enemy’s snares, to wolves, often in sheeps clothing,  and to destruction and even death.😪


Parents are the first Shepherds in this list.


Do you know who the other 2 Shepherd groups in our lives are?😊


2. …..—-


3. …..—-


If you can’t answer that, watch the video!😁 (or email me for the answer…)


https://youtu.be/5ugG7nVJxoU?si=xi-b1CrRM0Pa4QS7


I know we have some homebound members.


If for some reason you do not have access to the Internet and cannot watch the sermon, let me know and I will see if I can put it into writing somehow, or perhaps I can bring my phone down to you and watch it with you on my phone.


May we Infuse each day with prayer and the Word of God, speaking to Him and listening to Him each day. We can kneel on the floor if we are able, or bow our heads and fold our hands so that our brains grasp how important God is.

Many, many people have died over the past 2000 years to bring us God’s truth, His Holy Word and awesome news of salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. How precious we are in God’s eyes that this message be brought to us!!


Our goal is to look like Christ: his humility, his gentleness, his compassion for the world around him, his willingness to suffer — to be mocked, tortured and killed and yet love and through that Powerful Love bring salvation to all mankind.


A full grown Christian looks like Christ.


And we most certainly will answer for how we have chosen to use our time and our energy, our resources and our money.


Have we been doers of the word of God?


Or do we just listen to it, but not think that the knowledge of God is worth retaining?


That is a dangerous place to be and throughout scripture it warns us not to live like that.


So as we have heard such beautiful words today, let us pray and ask God to show us how we can transition our time and our energy, our resources and our money, even our living space – because from God and to him and through him are all things – to worship Him fully.


🙏Father, thank you so much for the treasured gift of godly pastors.


We do not take lightly the fact that we can freely go to church when so many are in this generation being killed and churches being burned because they are Christian.


Lord help us to live fervent lives in love for you.


And help us father God where we fall short of your glory to know that we are Justified freely through your grace.


To rest in that we are saved by grace alone through faith, not by works so no one can boast, but Lord help us to remember that Faith Works by love.


Lord, bless our country with godly Shepherds — Godly parents, pastors and politicians who will guide us according to your Truth and Grace. Help and defend us, Lord, our Good Shepherd.


May we hear Your Voice alone and follow where You lead.


Lord, we praise you for your kindness and your goodness! Thank you so much Father for loving us so very much. We Worship You Lord.


In Jesus’ name, amen.


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Next week, Nov. 9th, we look forward to hearing Pastor Craig Patterson preach from II Thess. 2:1-8 and 13-17. The sermon title is  “THE LORD WILL SLAY & BRING TO AN END THE LAWLESS ONE.”


Sounds VERY interesting and exciting!!


Hymns for this Sunday if you want to prepare in advance are (LSB) 664, 722, 725.


Who or what is “the lawless one?” How do we defeat lawlessness in our OWN lives and country?


Come on down Sunday to find out!😊


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Please submit any prayer requests to this email address.

Please note whether


1. You wish them only to be prayed for by the prayer team in private.
or if
2. You would also like the prayer added to the bulletin and to be prayed for by the pastor during the service.




Have a blessed rest of your week and we hope to see you on Sunday!


And always remember, you are so treasured and dearly loved.💞✝️🥰


God’s Peace.




Christ crucified. Hope for this life – and eternity.


“For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures.” ‭1 Corinthians 15:3-4 ESV


In Christ’s Love, Christa for New Hope

Oct. 3, 2025


Dear Beloved in Christ,


Reviewing what we have learned through the week enables us to be active listeners that meditate on God’s Word so that we might be doers of His Word, not just hearers only, deceiving ourselves. James 1:22


There is so much reward in receiving God’s Word with an open heart!


Hebrews 11:6 KJV
[6] But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.


https://bible.com/bible/1/heb.11.6.KJV


So God rewards those who diligently seek Him! There is no millionaire or king that can give rewards that even minutely come close to what God gives!


So as we hear God’s Word each Sunday from the pastor, we should be grateful and excited to receive it and by God’s Spirit, live it! We can be excited each week to see where God will lead us.💞


**********************************
Thinking Through the Sermon


This past Sunday, 09.28.25, Pastor Mike Hiller taught on “Our Unchanging God” from Psalm 102:18-28.


If you missed the sermon, fell asleep😳😉 or need to review it, you can find it here:

https://youtu.be/8VF_e8ilF0g?si=xr_t92wbOoYmPD9t


Pastor Hiller’s sermon had a number of key points that were really helpful. He started by summarizing Psalm 102, recognizing the author is in despair and agony, today would be diagnosed with depression. He was pondering his death and probably battling illness, but he did not turn to many different things for his help, but to God, to His Word, to His promise and applied it to His life.

The author sees there is an unchanging God.

[25] Of old you laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands.

[26] They will perish, but you will remain; they will all wear out like a garment. You will change them like a robe, and they will pass away,

[27] but you are the same, and your years have no end.



We read from Psalm 102:18-28,

Psalm 102:18-28 ESV
[18] Let this be recorded for a generation to come, so that a people yet to be created may praise the Lord:

[19] that he looked down from his holy height; from heaven the Lord looked at the earth,

[20] to hear the groans of the prisoners, to set free those who were doomed to die,

[21] that they may declare in Zion the name of the Lord, and in Jerusalem his praise,

[22] when peoples gather together, and kingdoms, to worship the Lord.

[23] He has broken my strength in midcourse; he has shortened my days.

[24] “O my God,” I say, “take me not away in the midst of my days— you whose years endure throughout all generations!”

[25] Of old you laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands.

[26] They will perish, but you will remain; they will all wear out like a garment. You will change them like a robe, and they will pass away,

[27] but you are the same, and your years have no end.

[28] The children of your servants shall dwell secure; their offspring shall be established before you.

https://bible.com/bible/59/psa.102.18-28.ESV

Pastor taught that there must be more than just knowing God is unchanging.  “We need to know that the eternal, unchanging God loves us.”

God sees the eternal.

Pastor used symbolism to describe the disruption that we often feel in our lives when we suffer pain or agony, financial or other loss, yet God desires that we are drawing into him through those hard times. And sometimes it seems our lives are being Shook Up, but it is only because God desires for us not to put our trust in temporary things of this world but rather that we put our trust in Christ Jesus. That our living faith, which has obedience and which works by love, is firmly founded on the rock that is Christ.


Ephesians 2:8-10 ESV
[8] For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, [9] not a result of works, so that no one may boast. [10] For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

https://bible.com/bible/59/eph.2.8-10.ESV


Romans 1:5 ESV
[5] through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations,

https://bible.com/bible/59/rom.1.5.ESV


Galatians 5:4-6, 13-14 ESV
[4] You are severed from Christ, you who would be justified by the law; you have fallen away from grace. [5] For through the Spirit, by faith, we ourselves eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness. [6] For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love.

[13] For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. [14] For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

https://bible.com/bible/59/gal.5.4-14.ESV


(The notes below refer to Strong’s Concordance and the Greek translation of the various words.)

Matthew 16:15-18 ESV
[15] He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”

[16] Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

[17] And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven.

[18] And I tell you, you are Peter (Petros: piece of rock G4074), and on this rock (petra: mass of rock G4073) I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

https://bible.com/bible/59/mat.16.15-18.ESV

1 Corinthians 10:4 ESV
[4] and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual Rock (petra: mass of rock G4073) that followed them, and the Rock (petra: mass of rock G4073) was Christ.

https://bible.com/bible/59/1co.10.4.ESV



May we continue through our week, rooted and grounded in God’s love, unafraid of the things happening now or things to come, because we know💞 this 💞unchanging God💞 who deeply loves us, holds the future and has prepared for us our eternal home.

Heavenly eternal Father,

May our hearts be fully Yours and our trust, faith and hope, Lord God, in You alone, so that when things around us fall and this temporary world fades away our lives remain steadfast on the Rock which is Christ and  in Your unchanging love.


In Jesus name, Amen.


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Got Trouble?😯

Join us this Sunday for a time of prayer and worship as we sing hymns, singing through the Gospel story of Christ’s love from Advent to the Resurrection and forward to the heavenly hope we have in Christ!

9 am til 10 am this Sunday, Oct. 5th.

Acts 16:25-26 ESV
[25] About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them, [26] and suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken. And immediately all the doors were opened, and everyone’s bonds were unfastened.

https://bible.com/bible/59/act.16.25-26.ESV

Come on down Sunday and worship the Creator of the Universe, the Redeemer of our souls and our beloved Comforter this Sunday!😊


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Please submit any prayer requests to this email address.

Please note whether


1. You wish them only to be prayed for by the prayer team in private.
or if
2. You would also like the prayer added to the bulletin and to be prayed for by the pastor during the service.




Have a blessed rest of your week and we hope to see you on Sunday!


And always remember, you are so treasured and dearly loved.💞✝️🥰


God’s Peace.



Christ crucified. Hope for this life – and eternity.

“For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures.” ‭1 Corinthians 15:3-4 ESV

In Christ’s Love, Christa for New Hope

September 27, 2025


Dear Beloved in Christ,


Reviewing what we have learned through the week enables us to be active listeners that meditate on God’s Word so that we might be doers of His Word, not just hearers only, deceiving ourselves. James 1:22


There is so much reward in receiving God’s Word with an open heart!


Hebrews 11:6 KJV
[6] But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.


https://bible.com/bible/1/heb.11.6.KJV


So God rewards those who diligently seek Him! There is no millionaire or king that can give rewards that even minutely come close to what God gives!


So as we hear God’s Word each Sunday from the pastor, we should be grateful and excited to receive it and by God’s Spirit, live it! We can be excited each week to see where God will lead us.💞


**********************************
Thinking Through the Sermon


This past Sunday, 09.14.25, Pastor Joe Watson taught on “The Shrewd Manager” from Luke 16:1-15


If you missed the sermon, fell asleep😳😉 or need to review it, you can find it here:


https://youtu.be/goy7SVPmbu4?si=6Hp-T5mkNWXZ9m3m


Like being invited to a fine dinner, when we are invited to church where the pastors have provided a sermon and spend hours of their time researching and seeking God for what he wants to speak to His children, it is good for us to be thankful to God that we have the freedom in this country, and to prioritize our time to put God first in all we do. This sermon was really good. If you have not gotten a chance to watch it, I would urge that we prioritize catching up on it in the next 7 days. And I apologize because my email was late again! I am really working hard to do a better job at getting this between Monday and Wednesday to you!


Pastor Watson’s sermon I found especially exciting because this particular Parable is very confusing if you do not have historical and cultural background. I had actually complained to God quite a number of times in frustration because when I read the parable it made no sense. And over the years this parable has have me completely baffled, so I found this a special Grace from God and blessing to finally after many years have proper understanding of this parable. So do be sure just to listen to the sermon.😊


We read from Luke 16:1-15,


Luke 16:1-15 ESV
[1] He also said to the disciples, “There was a rich man who had a manager, and charges were brought to him that this man was wasting his possessions.


[2] And he called him and said to him, ‘What is this that I hear about you? Turn in the account of your management, for you can no longer be manager.’


[3] And the manager said to himself, ‘What shall I do, since my master is taking the management away from me? I am not strong enough to dig, and I am ashamed to beg.


[4] I have decided what to do, so that when I am removed from management, people may receive me into their houses.’


[5] So, summoning his master’s debtors one by one, he said to the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’


[6] He said, ‘A hundred measures of oil.’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill, and sit down quickly and write fifty.’


[7] Then he said to another, ‘And how much do you owe?’ He said, ‘A hundred measures of wheat.’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill, and write eighty.’


[8] The master commended the dishonest manager for his shrewdness. For the sons of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than the sons of light.


[9] And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of unrighteous wealth, so that when it fails they may receive you into the eternal dwellings.


[10]  “One who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much, and one who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much.


[11] If then you have not been faithful in the unrighteous wealth, who will entrust to you the true riches?


[12] And if you have not been faithful in that which is another’s, who will give you that which is your own?


[13] No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.”


[14]  The Pharisees, who were lovers of money, heard all these things, and they ridiculed him.


[15] And he said to them, “You are those who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts. For what is exalted among men is an abomination in the sight of God.


https://bible.com/bible/59/luk.16.1-15.ESV


Pastor Watson did a beautiful job of helping us understand these passages in light of the mercy and Grace and Truth in the Gospel of Jesus Christ.


We, often like the manager in the parable, misuse the resources, the time and the energy that the Living God has given us, even our living space. We often are guilty of wasting our Lord’s possessions that He is entrusted to us.


With many in the world in need of daily bread, with those around us, even within our own Circles of influence, suffering from poverty of spirit not understanding the goodness of God, we are called as children of the Living God to enter into the kingdom of heaven and in this life, not just to pray with our mouths, “Thy will be done on Earth as it is in heaven,” but to seek to live active lives to be His hands and feet in this earth. To prioritize the things that God prioritizes.


I do not think I can do justice to reiterating here how the pastor explained the historical and cultural context of the parable.


If for some reason you do not have access to the Internet and cannot watch the sermon, let me know and I will see if I can put it into writing somehow, or perhaps I can bring my phone down to you and watch it with you on my phone.


If we were told there was a $2,000 gold bar sitting out waiting for us to pick it up, would we make effort to go get it? Of how much more value is the word of God for our souls!💞🙏😊


In the parable the master at the end commended the shrewd manager, not for stealing as it appears to us from our perspective! And how I read that Parable for years, so thank you Pastor Watson! but from a proper cultural and historical perspective of the time, the manager gave of his own resources to help those who owed the master money, realizing he was in trouble for misusing the manager’s money and he better do something about it or he would be in Dire Straits. Hoping by giving of his resources in his time of supply, to receive from those who he had given to when he was in need.


The word of God teaches us that Grace teaches us to say no to ungodliness, or as it is translated in the ESV to “renounce ungodliness.” the grace of God is never a license to sin ever.


The grace of God was given to us through suffering and torture and death, even separation from his father and the sending into hell of Jesus Christ Our Lord, it is not something that we are to count as a small thing and not be concerned about.


We aren’t to be complacent with the gift given us.


You could imagine, perhaps in the military, if one man gave his life for another, and the man who had lived treated it as it was nothing or with contempt. God forbid we act this way with the gifts God has given! We are to treasure them. We are to treasure our relationship With the Living God Above everything else in our lives.


Titus 2:11-14 ESV
[11] For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people,


[12] training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age,


[13] waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ,


[14] who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.


https://bible.com/bible/59/tit.2.11-14.ESV




It is a very dangerous thinking to think that we can do whatever we want now that we have been saved through the blood of the lamb shed for our sins.


That somehow now that we are forgiven of our sins there is no accountability before God for how we live. The Bible does not teach this. The Apostle Paul did not say oh well bless God I’m forgiven and now I can live a comfortable easy life. Because my sins are forgiven and it doesn’t matter what I do. No!


Rather the Apostle Paul says,

1 Corinthians 9:16 ESV
[16] For if I preach the gospel, that gives me no ground for boasting. For necessity is laid upon me. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel!


https://bible.com/bible/59/1co.9.16.ESV


Now we may not be called to be Apostles and go around the world starting churches, we may be called to present the Gospel of Jesus Christ to our children and family. There are different motivational gifts and spiritual gifts within the body of Christ, some people are gifted at serving with physical Gifts of providing food and practical things and that is a spiritual gift.


Others are gifted with business, even as Daniel in the Bible served King Nebuchadnezzar the worldly King Faithfully, but when called upon he spoke as God commanded him to speak and did not deny his God regardless of the price. He wasn’t worried about losing his job, or when it came down to it his life, being thrown into a Den of Lions.


I find it interesting that in the Bible we hear of Queen Esther whose Beauty was one of the gifts given to her, and she lived a faithful life in that gift before God. Part of her call was to take care of her appearance. I don’t think any of us women would deny 6 months of baths and beauty treatments LOL, but every call has its challenges.


Other people are called to live simple lives, not to drink alcohol, not to wear makeup, but to be more fervent in care for the poor, in prayer, in helping the oppressed but wherever God has called us, may we live faithful lives for Jesus Christ, and may we each live to see God daily and ask God what do you want from my life? How today can I worship you, not just with words and Sunday church, but with every ounce of my time, energy, money, resources, even living space? How can we live fervently for you, most high God?


Throughout the New Testament Paul speaks of the judgment, as does Christ. While we have the Assurance of salvation, the Forgiveness of sins, yet we are called to grow and to mature, all while resting in the Salvation that Christ has given us. We are to surrender to God and allow his holy spirit to work in us little by little those things that he desires.


Romans 2:15-16 ESV
[15] They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them [16] on that day when, according to my gospel, God judges the secrets of men by Christ Jesus.


https://bible.com/bible/59/rom.2.14-16.ESV


Matthew 12:34b-37 ESV
[34] … For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. [35] The good person out of his good treasure brings forth good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure brings forth evil. [36] I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak, [37] for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”


https://bible.com/bible/59/mat.12.34-37.ESV


Jesus himself said that we would be judged for every careless word that we spoke. Each one of us will give an account at the end of our lives for how we have lived down here.


We pair that with blessed is the man whose transgressions are forgiven, so we are to walk with God. We are to stay in relationship with him continually confessing our sins, yes we are saved by grace alone. But we are not to be careless with that Grace.


It is serious because the condition of humanity without Christ is serious and God desires that we as we mature in Christ, we enter into suffering, picking up our crosses to follow him.


To everything there is a time and a season: some people are in a spiritual Hospital and some are infants or very young in the Lord just needing milk and to understand his love until they are strong enough to be able to walk in the beautiful works that he has given us to walk in.


Those that are young and those that are in need of healing are certainly not less in God’s eyes, so if we are in that position, then we rest and we meditate on his love for us, and ask him to help us to heal and to grow.


But maturity in Christ is a beautiful thing.


Our goal is to look like Christ: his humility, his gentleness, his compassion for the world around him, his willingness to suffer to be mocked, tortured and killed and yet love and through that Powerful Love bring salvation to all mankind.


A full grown Christian looks like Christ.


And we most certainly will answer for how we have chosen to use our time and our energy, our resources and our money.


Have we been doers of the word of God?


Or do we just listen to it, but not think that the knowledge of God is worth retaining?


That is a dangerous place to be and throughout scripture it warns us not to live like that.


A warning to pastors and teachers regarding being careless is given thus, but I believe there are elements here that apply to all believers:


1 Corinthians 3:10-15 ESV
[10]  According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and someone else is building upon it. Let each one take care how he builds upon it.


[11] For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.


[12] Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw—


[13] each one’s work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done.


[14] If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward.


[15] If anyone’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire.


https://bible.com/bible/59/1co.3.10-15.ESV


So as we have heard such beautiful words today, let us pray and ask God to show us how we can transition our time and our energy, our resources and our money, even our living space – because from God and to him and through him are all things – to worship Him fully.


🙏Father, thank you so much for the treasured gift of godly pastors.


We do not take lightly the fact that we can freely go to church when so many are in this generation being killed and churches being burned because they are Christian.


Lord help us to live fervent lives in love for you.


And help us father God where we fall short of your glory to know that we are Justified freely through your grace.


To rest in that we are saved by grace alone through faith, not by works so no one can boast, but Lord help us to remember that Faith Works by love.


That faith without works is dead and that would be a scary thing.


Lord, we might find that balance of resting in you, while prioritizing our relationship with You and pleasing You above all Things by Your Spirit, knowing that where we fail, you lift us up because you look at our hearts.


You alone know what we can and cannot do.


You know exactly where we are at in our thinking, in our experiences and you love us, you Delight in us and desire us to grow.


Lord you meet each of us where we are at, you draw us deeper into your grace, your truth and your love.


Help us not to resist you, Living One, but to fervently to the best of our ability, centered in the rest that you give us, in the freedom from fear that you have provided through the cross, enter into the power of Your Love, transforming not only our lives but those within our circles.


May we be faithful to grow and to learn how to meditate on you Lord day and night.


Lord, we praise you for your kindness and your goodness! Thank you so much Father for loving us so very much. We Worship You Lord.


In Jesus name, amen.


*******


Next week, Sept. 28th, we look forward to hearing Pastor Mike Hiller preach from Psalm 102:18-28 on “Our Unchanging God.”


When we have so many things around us, shootings even now, that shake us, how do we withstand these storms? How do we know that our children in our lives are protected eternally and God’s hands as we simply Look to Him in faith?


And how is it that something written thousands of years ago can have so much power in our lives today?🤔🤔


Come on down Sunday to find out!😊


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Please submit any prayer requests to this email address.

Please note whether


1. You wish them only to be prayed for by the prayer team in private.
or if
2. You would also like the prayer added to the bulletin and to be prayed for by the pastor during the service.




Have a blessed rest of your week and we hope to see you on Sunday!


And always remember, you are so treasured and dearly loved.💞✝️🥰


God’s Peace.




Christ crucified. Hope for this life – and eternity.


“For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures.” ‭1 Corinthians 15:3-4 ESV


In Christ’s Love, Christa for New Hope

An Encouraging Word from New Hope – Midweek Reflections on “Counting the Cost” Sermon by Pastor PJ Stohlmann

Dear Beloved in Christ,

The following between the asterisks will be in every email for newcomers and as a reminder to the importance of reviewing. If you have read it once, you do not need to read it again 😊 you can skip down. But it is the reason that we review through the week and why it is as important to our spiritual health.💞

**************************************

Reviewing what we have learned through the week enables us to be active listeners that meditate on God’s Word so that we might be doers of His Word, not just hearers only, deceiving ourselves. James 1:22

There is so much reward in receiving God’s Word with an open heart!

Hebrews 11:6 ESV
[6] And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.

https://bible.com/bible/59/heb.11.6.ESV

The King James version does a better job in my opinion translating the Greek in verse 6…

Hebrews 11:6 KJV
[6] But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

https://bible.com/bible/1/heb.11.6.KJV

So God rewards those who diligently seek Him! There is no millionaire or king that can give rewards that even minutely come close to what God gives!

So as we hear God’s Word each Sunday from the pastor, we should be grateful and excited to receive it and by God’s Spirit, live it! We can be excited each week to see where God will lead us.💞

**********************************
Thinking Through the Sermon

This past Sunday, 09.14.25, Pastor PJ taught on “Counting the Cost.”

If you missed the sermon, fell asleep😳😉 or need to review it, you can find it here:

https://youtu.be/7f0-SgZroqE?si=wwvcFckRAEmaxguA

The sermon starts around 22:00 if you wish to skip forward.

Pastor PJ’s sermon topic was chosen before the event and shooting of Charlie Kirk or the Evergreen shooting that has happened this past week. But those events, which he did an excellent job of pulling into the sermon, really make real for us the call of God for each of us to give up our lives and take up our cross and follow Jesus.

We read from Luke 14:25-33 (NIV),

[25] Large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and turning to them he said:

[26] “If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even their own life—such a person cannot be my disciple.

[27] And whoever does not carry their cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.

[28]  “Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won’t you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it?

[29] For if you lay the foundation and are not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule you,

[30] saying, ‘This person began to build and wasn’t able to finish.’

[31]  “Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Won’t he first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand?

[32] If he is not able, he will send a delegation while the other is still a long way off and will ask for terms of peace.

[33] In the same way, those of you who do not give up everything you have cannot be my disciple.

Pastor PJ did a beautiful job of helping us understand these passages in light of the mercy and Grace and Truth in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We are certainly called to take up our cross and follow Jesus Christ.

Pastor made an excellent point on how taking up our cross doesn’t mean wearing a cross necklace😯🤔, though certainly we can do that.

But the cross was a symbol of torture and extreme suffering and pain. People in Jesus’ time would see these crosses with people being tortured on the side of the road. It was horrible.

The world without Jesus Christ is suffering greatly and every soul is separated from God by the sinful nature we inherited from Adam’s fall. All without Christ must suffer the just punishment of every sin, condemned to hell, as were we before Christ came and saved us – what a great message of mercy and salvation! Such good news we have and can offer those around us!💞✝️

The world’s suffering is great and it is into that world that God lovingly calls us to follow him, not worshiping our idol of self or Comfort or the things of this world, but coming to Christ and urgently, diligently seeking his direction each day for how we should live our lives.

One beautiful thing about our relationship with a living God is that he works with each individual whom he has created. We each have different abilities and gifts as well as different life experiences that shape how we think.

Humans find it very difficult to change their thinking. If you do not think that is true, “simply” give up Starbucks, coffee or chocolate for the rest of your life and give that money to the poor. Simple. No big deal….😯

But! Our brains and our flesh cling to those things we enjoy and we don’t want to enter into the suffering of not having things that please the flesh. And yes God does desire us to enjoy life as well, but the balance and the times and the seasons are in God’s hand.

And so we should diligently and earnestly seek his face to know:  when is the time for me to enjoy and when is the time for me to give up so that others can enjoy? Not even meaning just the things needed like food and water and shelter, but infinitely more important, that others might enjoy the eternally needed relationship with Jesus Christ.


Let us please take time this week and either on the phone electronically or on a piece of paper, this week write down the things that  God is leading us to change over time to enter more into picking up our cross and following Jesus Christ. We can keep a diary as we are growing in different areas and continually ask God to help us and guide us in what areas in this moment in time he desires us to grow.

Maybe it’s giving up TV time and spending more time with family. Maybe it’s giving up 50% of our fancy eating out and using the time and energy to care for the poor. Or maybe it’s simply learning to spend time on our own self-care spiritually as well as physically and learning to care for ourselves so we can better care for others.

Maybe it’s something more drastic and we feel God is calling us to Mission work or to Seminary. Write it down. Just write it down and pray that if it is God’s will he will bring it to pass and transition our hearts and Minds more and more each day and day into His will.

Let us look at our lives carefully at how we spend our time and our energy, our living space, our resources and our money. Are we using our lives for Jesus and the Kingdom of Heaven, or for the kingdom of the world and of self? Do we seek to please ourselves or the Living God?

The transition and repentance, that changing of our minds and directions to surrender to God takes time and the process continues until we meet him face to face.

So let us pray and ask for his help that we might take up our cross and enter into the suffering of the world around us, being the hands and the feet of Jesus to the poor and the oppressed, to the Pharisee as well as the “sinner.”

Let us be honest with the person in the mirror, agreeing with God that pride and lies are an abomination before God and so pray He help direct our thoughts and steps into His truth and grace.

Proverbs 6:16-19 ESV

[16] There are six things that the Lord hates, seven that are an abomination to him:

[17]  (1) haughty eyes, (2) a lying tongue, and (3) hands that shed innocent blood,

[18]  (4) a heart that devises wicked plans, (5) feet that make haste to run to evil,

[19]  (6) a false witness who breathes out lies, and (7) one who sows discord among brothers.

https://bible.com/bible/59/pro.6.16-19.ESV


As we draw into Christ’s deep love for us, we can admit our own faults and need for space and rest and know that God is the one who brings all things into fruition little by little in his time.

So we do not come into this picking up our cross from a place of anxiety or fear or self striving, but rather from the rest, strength and deep joy that Christ Himself gives us, because He Himself did take the cross for us.

Hebrews 12:2 ESV

[2] …looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

https://bible.com/bible/59/heb.12.2.ESV

And as Pastor PJ so powerfully said, when we like Peter fervently claim, “Yes! Jesus, even if everybody else turns away, I will follow you to the death!” but then like Peter find that we so quickly turn and deny our Lord😪 in our words and actions afterwards, not truly loving Him or our neighbors as ourselves, we come humbly, needy, to the cross and find that He has forgiven us. Where we have failed, he has not. He is faithful. It is finished.


So we come and ask again, “Lord, would you please help me to grow more into maturity that I might look more like you and that I might be your hands and feet to the world around me?”

We walk from a position of rest and peace and Grace knowing that we are truly saved by grace alone not by works so that no one can boast, all the while imitating the disciples before us, who, walking in the fear and comfort of the Lord, (Acts 9:31) endured until the end.

So we count the cost, remembering that He too, counted the cost and totally thought we were worth it….💞💞💞

*******

Next week, Sept. 21st, we look forward to hearing Pastor Joe Watson preach from Luke 16:1-15 on “The Shrewd Manager.”

When a dishonest manager is caught pilfering his master’s money, he makes some pretty shrewd choices to escape the mess he’s in.

What does he do to earn the Master’s commendation after he’s basically been fired?

And, what does this parable have to do with us?🤔🤔

Come on down Sunday to find out!😊

******

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Have them sign up here.

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******
Please submit any prayer requests to this email address.

Please note whether

1. You wish them only to be prayed for by the prayer team in private.
or if
2. You would also like the prayer added to the bulletin and to be prayed for by the pastor during the service.


Have a blessed rest of your week and we hope to see you on Sunday!

And always remember, you are so treasured and dearly loved.💞✝️🥰

God’s Peace.

Mrs. Christa Mason

for New Hope Lutheran Church, Golden, CO

An Encouraging Word from New Hope – “Our Mighty Creator” Pastor Mike Hiller

Sept. 4, 2025

Please note that the links to the service and various things are in a very light yellow. I apologize I am trying to figure out how to fix that. The links are there they’re just very light. But you can still click on them to see the sermon or the references in the Bible.

Dear Beloved in Christ,

Reviewing what we have learned through the week enables us to be active listeners that meditate on God’s Word so that we might be doers💞 of His Word, not just hearers only, deceiving ourselves. James 1:22

Romans 10:17 ESV
[17] So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.

https://bible.com/bible/59/rom.10.17.ESV

Hebrews 11:6 ESV
[6] And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.

https://bible.com/bible/59/heb.11.6.ESV

Scripture encourages us greatly to meditate on God’s word day and night.

Psalm 1:1-3 ESV
[1] Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers;

[2] but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night.

[3] He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers.

https://bible.com/bible/59/psa.1.1-3.ESV

The time and energy we put into the Word of God has great rewards, temporary as well as eternal.

Of course, each of us have things in our natural day that are required, but how many times through our day do we fill ourselves with the world’s thinking through what we listen to in music, just letting our TVs or electronic devices feed our brains with various things that are not healthy for our souls…😯🙃?

Some of the stuff of the world is a bit like sugar, a little is okay, a lot’s going to make you sick.

Other stuff the world happily feeds us is more like chocolate-coated cyanide and completely poisonous to our walk with Christ.

After Moses had died, Joshua was called by God to lead the people into the Promised Land. These are some of the words God spoke to him:

Joshua 1:7-9 ESV
[7] Only be strong and very courageous, being careful to do according to all the law that Moses my servant commanded you. Do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may have good success wherever you go.

[8] This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.

[9] Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

https://bible.com/bible/59/jos.1.7-9.ESV

This past Sunday Pastor Hiller taught on “Our Mighty Creator.”

We read from Psalm 8:1-9:

Psalm 8:1-9 ESV
[1] O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens.

[2] Out of the mouth of babies and infants, you have established strength because of your foes, to still the enemy and the avenger.

[3] When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place,

[4] what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him?

[5] Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor.

[6] You have given him dominion over the works of your hands; you have put all things under his feet,

[7] all sheep and oxen, and also the beasts of the field,

[8] the birds of the heavens, and the fish of the sea, whatever passes along the paths of the seas.

[9] O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!

https://bible.com/bible/59/psa.8.1-9.ESV

One of the things that really important me from the sermon was the following quote, (to the best of my ability)

“This amazing God that created such an expansive Universe – Do you come to a God like that and just ask him to be your servant? Just come to Him when you want something?

Do you make Him your consultant and just consult Him every now and then?

No! You come to this God as His servant and His disciple. And you worship this God and praise Him. He has to be King. Not just someone that you call on when you want something. He has to be the Lord and Ruler in our lives. He is the Center of our existence.”

Aren’t those words beautiful, powerful and true?💞

Let’s diligently seek God this week by meditating on these verses and the sermon throughout the week and allowing God’s Word to penetrate our often stubborn hearts and busy schedules and worship Him alone in all we do.

Missed – or Forgotten – the sermon?🙃🙃😊

You can review it here!

https://youtu.be/ZODlzPwDcZA?si=8_Iz_eY_AMwLO4tl

The service starts around 3:15 timing on the video after the pre-service music.

The sermon starts around 24:45 on the video starting with the Bible verses.

Join us this coming Sunday, Sept. 7th as we look forward to hearing Pastor Joe Watson preach from Deut. 30:15-20  on “The Lord is Your Life.”

So many times there are things that take precedence in our lives and clutter out the importance of the Living God as the source and reason for All We Do and all of our lives.

How can we bring our thoughts and focus daily back to God and not blaspheme God by minimizing His importance in our lives?😪😯

Come on down Sunday to find out!😊

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Have them sign up here.

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Blessings and God’s peace!


Christ crucified. Hope for this life – and eternity.

“For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures.” ‭1 Corinthians 15:3-4 ESV

In Christ’s Love, Christa for New Hope

August 21, 2025

Dear Beloved in Christ,

Reviewing what we have learned through the week enables us to be active listeners that meditate on God’s Word so that we might be doers of His Word, not just hearers only, deceiving ourselves. James 1:22

There is so much reward in receiving God’s Word with an open heart!

Hebrews 11:6 ESV
[6] And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.

https://bible.com/bible/59/heb.11.6.ESV

The King James version does a better job in my opinion translating the Greek in verse 6…

Hebrews 11:6 KJV
[6] But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

https://bible.com/bible/1/heb.11.6.KJV

The normal word for “seek” is zēteō (Strong’s Concordance G2212) and is used many times throughout the New Testament.

But in this verse the word used is ekzēteō, (G1567) and has an implication of dilgently seeking or carefully seeking and is only used 8 times in the New Testament.

So God rewards those who diligently seek Him! There is no millionaire or king that can give rewards that even minutely come close to what God gives!

So as we hear God’s Word each Sunday from the pastor, we should be grateful and excited to receive it and by God’s Spirit, live it! We can be excited each week to see where God will lead us.

What rewards does the Creator of the Universe give? Eternal joy and peace is among the greatest, but look at Abraham, David, Noah, Rahab, to name a few.

Abraham dilgently sought God and believed him and received the blessing of being the father of many nations, even though he was 100 years old when Isaac was born and Sarah past childbearing age.

He gave birth to many sons but thru Isaac his offspring was reckoned because from Isaac and then Jacob came eventually the Christ who died for the sins of the WHOLE WORLD!! 🤯🤯Rom 3:23 and 4000+ years later, we still know Abraham’s name!!🙃

Anything people or even the “gods of this world” can offer pales in comparison, because, one, they often can’t follow thru and two, their offers just don’t come close…

“What does it gain a man if he gains the whole world but loses his soul…?” Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

Noah diligently sought the Lord and though his life was not easy, he believed God and his actions that followed that belief caused him to spend 100 years🤯building a boat that would save his family when the rest of the world was destroyed for the corruption and evil.

Rahab the prostitute believed God and her family was saved from the destruction of Jericho and she married one of the Israelite men and gave birth to Boaz who married Ruth who was the great- grandmother of King David!!!

So, 1. She didn’t die when her city was destroyed. 2. Her family was rescued. And 3. She was in the lineage of Christ and yep..we still know her name thousands of years later, too.

But think of some of the prophets who loved God and diligently sought Him – they were beaten, many of them killed. What reward did they get?

And here is where we must understand that the second greatest reward we can ever receive from God is not what we receive here on this earth now, but the rewards that will come after our time here is done. For God most certainly is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.

But the absolute biggest reward we can ever have can be had now and for eternity – it is to know God. To walk with Him, to worship Him in Spirit and in Truth.

Deuteronomy 18:2 KJV
(Regarding the Levites, one of the 12 tribes of Israel.)
[2] Therefore shall they have no inheritance among their brethren: the LORD is their inheritance, as he hath said unto them.

https://bible.com/bible/1/deu.18.2.KJV

And we are called, through Christ, to be a kingdom of kings and priests. To draw and point people to the Truth and Grace found in Christ.

1 Peter 2:9 KJV
[9] But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:

https://bible.com/bible/1/1pe.2.9.KJV

So, are we diligently seeking Him?😊

This past Sunday Pastor Patterson taught on how “Jesus Endured the Cross.”

We read from Hebrews 12:1-2,

Hebrews 12:1-3 ESV
[1] Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,

[2] looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

[3] Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted.

https://bible.com/bible/59/heb.12.1-3.ESV

Let’s diligently seek God this week by meditating on these verses and the sermon throughout the week and allowing God’s Word to penetrate our often stubborn hearts and busy schedules and worship Him alone in all we do.

Forgotten the sermon?🙃🙃😊

You can review it here!

https://youtu.be/Tv9WOqFe8fo

Starts around 19:15 if you’re seeking…😉

Next week, August 24, we look forward to hearing Pastor Thomas Fields preach from Heb. 12:4-11 on “Where is God?”

Sometimes we seem to go through hardships that are almost more than we can handle. Where is God in those hard times?😪😯

Come on down Sunday to find out!😊

Want you or a friend to receive these weekly messages via email?

Have them sign up here.

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See you Sunday! And don’t miss out on the rewards God desires you and your loved ones to have. Seek him – diligently!

💞💞💞🙏🙏🙏✝️✝️✝️

“For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures.” ‭1 Corinthians 15:3-4 ESV

In Christ’s Love,  New Hope Lutheran, LCMS