Matthew St. John

An Invitation to Fast

January 31, 2018January 31, 2018 by Matthew R. St. John

Matthew R. St. John

108

I'm revisiting what is below for a couple of reasons. One, we have invited the New Hope Church family to consider incorporating fasting into their regular rhythms, whatever that looks like from person to person. We have done so because we believe so strongly in the necessity of calling upon…

Senators Prefer Pain and Death for Babies

January 30, 2018January 31, 2018 by Matthew R. St. John

Matthew R. St. John

BabyCenter.com offers these simple observations about a baby in the womb 20 weeks into the pregnancy: Your baby weighs about 10 1/2 ounces now. He's also around 6 1/2 inches long from head to bottom and about 10 inches from head to heel – about the length of a large…

Tranformation vs. Transaction

January 9, 2018January 18, 2018 by Matthew R. St. John

Matthew R. St. John

Luke 8 provides a vivid contrast between a transactional life and a transformational life. Consider these moments on a city street, as described in Luke 8:42-48 in The Message: Jesus went with him, making his way through the pushing, jostling crowd. In the crowd that day there was a woman…

Forty-One Moments When God is With Us

December 15, 2017December 16, 2017 by Matthew R. St. John

Matthew R. St. John

131

Christmas. "All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: 'Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel' (which means, God with us)" (Matthew 1:22-23). God with us. When our sin is great and we need to…

Pastoral Scarcity: A Poem

December 11, 2017 by Matthew R. St. John

Matthew R. St. John

Pastoral Scarcity: A Poem (c) Copyright 2016, by Matthew R. St. John For all the pastors everywhere For whom material sustenance is truly scarce I pray for you to be strong this day And rest well in God's sustaining grace

The Power of a Single Sigma

November 30, 2017December 11, 2017 by Matthew R. St. John

Matthew R. St. John

The Christmas story portrayed in Luke 2:1 and following is well worth the read (or re-read!). It begins, of course, with the famous decree of Caesar Augustus, prompting Joseph and Mary to make their way from Nazareth to Bethlehem. It proceeds to her giving birth to this most unusual child---Jesus---and…

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