Letter from Holly Hasstedt, Associate Pastor
for Faith Formation and Development
Ecclesiastes 3:1 states: For everything there is a season, and a time for
every matter under heaven.
God has entrusted to the people of Hope an
incredible gift, the task of raising a few of God’s most precious treasures,
God’s children. The last 3 years have brought bountiful blessings to us.
Blessings that have come in God’s time, blessings that God expects to be
fulfilled, and blessings for the future of Hope.
The time is now. Time for Hope to live into the vision that God has planned. Twenty-eight
years ago, God called a group of individuals together to form a church. Young and old, men, women, boys, and girls, all from diverse backgrounds
came together as a family of faith. A family that within the last
twenty-eight years has grown to over 1100 heartbeats. The time is now.
It is the time for Hope. God has called us to live into Hope by giving us
the gift of a growing family. Do you know that in the past three years Hope
has received eighty-one families into membership? Or that seventy-eight
children and youth have been received through baptism into the family of
Christ? What about forty-eight young disciples professing their faith and
claiming Jesus Christ as their Savior on Confirmation Sunday? Likewise, our
Children and Youth fellowships and Choirs are blossoming, to the point that
they are running out of robes! Hope has been placed before us; it is time
to embrace it.
It is time to reflect. In the last three years, the children and youth of
Hope have been busy disciples, truly living as Hope for the Future. Our
youth have been in the hands of Hope through the efforts of: over 35 service
projects, including more than 1,000 cans of food for Hill Country Community
Ministries, $2,659 in donations for turkeys for HCCM, and donating 50
hymnals to a small church in Fairplay, CO. There have been 124 sets of hands
spreading the love of God doing mission work throughout Texas and the
nation, with $15,080 raised by the youth to fund scholarships for their
camps and mission trips.
Closer to home, the youth have participated in 5
self-improvement workshops, 155 youth have attended the Mid Winter Retreats
sponsored by Mission Presbytery, and have led 4 outstanding worship
services, including two musicals. But hope doesn’t stop here. Combined, the
children and youth have led two family Advent worship celebrations, and have
participated in several fellowship activities together. On their own, Hope’s
children have led 4 wonderful worship services, with ten preachers under the
age of eleven, and participated in over 20 family events. During the
summers, 430 children, youth, and adults have volunteered and attended three
Vacation Bible Schools, and participated in 15 local and international
mission projects, including sending copies of the New Testament to children
in Russia. Finally, the children have performed 2 spring musicals, and are
preparing for a third. Reflection brings hope.
It is time to pray. What does God want to do through you for the future of
Hope Church? The children and youth of Hope Church are wonderful examples of
what it means to live into God’s Hope for the Future. For when God calls,
they don’t ask questions, they simply respond. As those who guide them, may
we follow their lead, pray, and listen for God’s call.
Your time is now. Whether you are nine months or ninety years, God requires
all of us to live as Hope for the Future, for ministry survives from
generation to generation only by hands that willingly work together.
Likewise, each time a child is baptized and the congregation vows to raise
the child in faith, the ministry of God’s hope is renewed and we are called
into action. The time is now. It is a time of hope. It is time to pray. We are Hope for the Future, now let us go and become Hope for the
Future.
For surely I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for
your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope. Jeremiah
29:11.
If you have questions about
children, youth, or family life, please contact
Associate Pastor Holly Hasstedt at 512-258-9117 x 16.
If you have questions about
Hope for the Future, please contact
Senior Pastor Fred Morgan at 512-258-9117 x 13.
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