Tim Talk

Tim Talk
missives from the desk of our pastor...

Tim Talk

Greetings, New Hope! As much as I love to write, I haven’t been able to take the time to put anything down the past several months. Now that we haven’t been mailing out a monthly newsletter, there are no deadlines to push me to keep up on it. Well, if you will forgive me, I will begin to make a better effort to continue to put in writing the things God is talking to us about. How about it…forgive me? Oh good, thank you so much!

I am literally writing this the night before a team of 18 of us heads down to Ensenada, Mexico for our 7th consecutive summer missions trip. Our team is considerably smaller this year, and that is fine with me, as we barely got ourselves organized to put this thing together! Again, I’m sure you will forgive us as both Tyler and I are still in the midst of our first year in these new positions of leadership. I can promise you that we are being stretched and are learning a whole bunch!

The main reason I am writing is because I am proposing a congregational 40-day fast, beginning Monday, July 21st and ending with a “Break-fast Picnic” on August 31st (Labor Day weekend). HOLD ON! Before you freak out about the 40-day thing, I need to let you know that it’s technically 42 days, so I guess there’s even more reason to be concerned. I can just hear the conversations at home right about now: (Diane Wentworth speaking as she sits in front of her computer, sipping a lemonade…) “Kevin? Honey? Come here for a minute. Yeah…umm, is Tim off his rocker? Is he saying he wants us to fast for 42 straight days?!” Sorry Diane…I only mention you because I know you are a good sport! ?

Before you think I’ve totally lost it (weeks like the one I’m currently zipping through make me feel like I’m about halfway there…), let me explain my vision for this. I said it was a “congregational” fast, which means none of us are expected to do the “Jesus-in-the-wilderness” fast for 40 days on our own. What I am hoping will happen is that each one of us will prayerfully choose one day out of the week to fast, and repeat that every week for six weeks. So, let’s say I choose Mondays. During the 6 week fast, I do not eat any food on Mondays until 5:00 PM. Why five o’clock? No reason…just a number that popped into my head. I would like to have you pray about this, and then let the office know which day you are choosing, so we can, hopefully, have all 7 days of the week covered, meaning that for the 42 days, someone in our congregation will be fasting on any given day. I’m not looking for 7 volunteers here; what I am looking for is for each one of us, younger and older, to choose a day (or at the very least, one meal a week) in which we will fast and pray for some specific purposes, which I will share with all of you in the coming weeks. So, take some time to pray—heck, you can even fast and pray about this—and when the Holy Spirit reveals to you what day He wants you to choose, e-mail us at office@newhope4square.org with your choice. Don’t forget to let us know who you are!

For specific teaching on what exactly is meant when I say a “fast,” download my teaching of July 13th and hear for yourself. That way I don’t have to take the time to write it all down for you here, okay?

Just a note of concern: If you have serious health issues, please check with your doctor to see if you can do a modified fast that won’t affect your health in a negative way.

Okay, I know I’m dropping this in your lap last-minute, and I have no idea how many people will participate. The one thing I do know is this is only the beginning. In order for us to really move into all God has destined New Hope for, we must get serious about fasting and praying (don’t forget ACTS from July 6th). We must make the necessary sacrifices in order for us to really move in love and power in a way that will impact our community! So it begins…

When Tim took the position of Senior Pastor of New Hope, he set forth a list of promises to the congregation. Here's that list.

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