Tuesday, March 8, 2011

LENTEN SEASON BEGINS THIS WEEK
Lent, a time of preparation for the death of Christ and His resurrection on Easter Sunday begins Wednesday, March 9 and continues for 40 days to Saturday, April 23. Special daily Lenten devotionals may be found online at
www.journeytothecross.org.

CHURCH YARD SALE
To Benefit Youth & Children’s Ministry
March 25 & 26
Donations of your new and used items are appreciated for the upcoming Spring Yard Sale. Please have the donations to the church by Monday, March 20. If you would like to help with the sale, either with sorting and pricing beforehand or working on one of the above dates, please contact Cheryl Secunda at 386-689-6977 (cell phone).

SAVOR THE FLAVORS,
GOING. . . GOING. . .

A word to the wise: Savor the Flavors, New Hope’s cookbook, will be placed in the Spring Yard Sale. If you want an additional copy before they are gone, see Wanda Buchanan immediately. Cost: $10.00.

NEW HOPE 101
March 20, 5:00 PM
Want to know more about Baptists and New Hope church? This session led by Dr. Mulkey is for you. Sign up today for the session next Sunday. A sandwich supper will be provided.
LADIES LUNCH
Twenty women of the church met at Mariachi Restaurant for lunch in February. If you are not part of this group, you are missing the opportunity to get to better know your sisters in Christ. We meet monthly on the fourth Tuesday with restaurant locations announced in the Sunday bulletin. Reserve this day on your calendar. Also, please let Linda Manners know if you plan to attend.

LADIES BIBLE STUDY
1st & 3rd Tuesdays, 7:00 PM
Meet in the sanctuary

MISSIONS

International Women’s Day.
March 8 is International Women’s Day. Join in an ecumenical prayer time by praying for issues affecting women worldwide—AIDS, human trafficking, maternal health, refugee needs and abuse.
Halifax Urban Ministries.
Thank you for your faithfulness in donating non-perishable items for the food pantry of HUM. There is a need currently for paper products and baby food items.
Countryside Lakes Assisted Living Facility.
March 16 is our next scheduled day to visit birthday celebrants at the Countryside ALF. Bring your smile and hugs. Meet in the lobby at noon.
MOVIE REVIEW
The King's Speech
Fear is probably the emotion most dreaded by people. There are many reasons we are afraid. It can motivate you to escape danger, or avoid that which is unpleasant. It can also in its worst form completely immobilize you, leaving you helpless and incompetent. It is especially unfortunate if the person experiencing this kind of phobia is the future King of England.
In "The King's Speech" starring Colin Firth, Geoffrey Rush and Helena Bonham Carter, the true story of King George VI is told. We are all familiar with the present day Queen Elizabeth II but until this film most of us probably did not realize that her father had a debilitating disability. He could not speak without incredible difficulty. He stammered whenever he tried to speak and it was embarrassing and difficult to watch.
Colin Firth is the Duke of York, second in line to the throne of England in 1939 when his country is on the brink of war with Germany and Hitler is threatening to conquer Europe. His loving wife is played by Helena Bonham Carter. He becomes King after his father George V dies and his older brother David abdicates the throne for American divorcee Wallis Simpson, "the woman he loves". His brother David is actually a portrait of selfishness and cowardice, the opposite of George.
After trying many speech therapists and many unsuccessful attempts at a cure, he is introduced to a most unconventional speech therapist Lionel Logue played by Geoffrey Rush. He is an uncertified therapist (formerly an actor) and a distinctly common man. They have conflicts with issues of trust and prejudice. Logue is played with the witty comic quirkiness that is Rush at his best. He has an instinct for his vocation and a deep desire to help others.
Logue believes the problem is rooted in childhood trauma that is ultimately the source of the Kings anger and self loathing. The patient must discover the trauma that gave birth to the fear that has caused the speech defect. George is incredibly brave though, and perseveres with great self discipline to overcome his problem. Rush's dry wit and some really sharp writing make this film a pleasure to watch. There is some profanity tied to one of his exercises to loosen up his pent up anguish but it is not gratuitous, it is actually quite funny.
As King George must give his first important speech declaring war with Germany (which has invaded Poland), you can see the dread in every inch of his face. He is required to speak publicly to his country over the new 20th century invention "radio" to be heard simultaneously by his entire country and much of the world. He is terrified of hearing his own voice and you can feel his dread in the pit of your own stomach. You can also feel the empathy and compassion his friend has for him as he stands by his side quietly coaching him and giving him courage.
The real strength of this film is wonderfully subtle performances, beautifully telling the truth of real love. Love that sticks to duty and to people no matter how difficult or unlikely a successful outcome may seem. King George VI had many enemies including Adolf Hitler but his greatest enemy was his own self doubt. His greatest blessing however, was having people in his life who loved him in spite of his shortcomings and believed in him when he could not believe in himself. We are reminded that perfect love casts out fear. Sandra Kleinschmidt

MUSIC AND WORSHIP

RICHARD WAGNER (1813 – 1833)
For the past several months we have been study-
ing The Spiritual Lives of Great Composers, a marvelous book by Patrick Kavanaugh, in an effort to show how many of the composers were men of faith. Today we concentrate on Richard Wagner and his Ring of the Nibelung. Anyone who is acquainted with Richard Wagner’s life and work may wonder why he is present in a book about spiritual life. Wasn’t he known for his self-centeredness, for pursuing outrageous love affairs, for befriending the philosopher Nietzsche, the self-styled “anti-christ” and Christian-hater? Wasn’t Wagner later idolized by Hitler as a prophet of the Third Reich?

As a boy, the brilliant Wagner showed an affinity for literature, culture and different languages, but never for music. Not until he reached his teens – after being inspired by Weber and Beethoven – did young Wagner study music. Then, as he did everything in his life, he rushed in with reckless abandon. He rushed into marriage as well, proposing to an actress named Minna Planer just after he began his musical career at age 20. Wagner and his wife made one another miserable through three decades of dire poverty. Yet through it all Wagner kept on producing musical masterpieces – works that would go unheard and unappreciated for many years. Once the Vienna Court Opera agreed to produce Wagner’s new work Tristan and Isolde each singer struggled to learn the difficult music, and then struggled to get through the confusing rehearsals. No one had ever seen such bizarre music, such complexity, such gibberish. Before Wagner could witness the composition’s premiere, the opera’s frustrated director finally shelved the work as unplayable, after giving it a full seventy-seven rehearsals.

A crucial turning point came in 1864 when one of Wagner’s few great admirers, Ludwig II, ascended the throne in Bavaria and became Wagner’s “super-patron.” The new king magnanimously paid all of Wagner’s debts and gave the composer a generous salary. Now Wagner’s wildest dreams could become reality. The compositions he created mark the birth of an entirely new genre of musical form, which he called the “musical drama.” Chief among his accomplishments is the monumental Ring of the Nibelung and the mammoth Bayreuth theater built to stage it.

After his first wife died, he ignited a roaring scandal by wooing the brilliant Cosima Von Bulow, wife of the noted conductor and devotee of Wagner’s music. The VonBulow’s marriage was annulled conveniently, and Wagner married Cosima, which did result in a happy marriage. The composer continued to produce extraordinary works, both in music and in literature, until his death at the age of 69.

Christian themes emerge clearly in some of Wagner’s music dramas, such as Tannhauser, Lohengren, and his last great work, Parzival, which has been called his “most Christian of works.” Was he a Christian? The contradictory life of this great composer has bewildered musicologists for decades and continues to do so. Dennis Bucher
CBF GENERAL ASSEMBLY
20TH ANNIVERSARY
June 22-25
Tampa, FL
See the bulletin board for full details.

WHAT’S COOKING?
Nut Clusters
Submitted by Fred Griffith
1 pkg. semi-sweet chocolate morsels
2 pkgs. butterscotch morsels
1 can peanuts
Parchment or wax paper

Mix 2 parts butterscotch morsels (1 bag) with 1 part chocolate morsels (1/2 bag) into a medium size mixing bowl and then place in the microwave for approximately 2 ½ minutes. Mix about halfway. Stop microwaving when chips are just about melted. DO NOT OVERHEAT. This is the key. Stir with a wooden spoon as the chips finish completely melting. (Fred says, “Do not lick fingers-hot!”)

Add the salted peanuts or other nuts of your choice. You may also add raisins or any other crunchy stuff you may have on hand. Mix. Drop mixture with a spoon onto paper spread out on the counter. Let set at room temperature or in cooler “as long as you can stand it.”

While this is very simple, taking about 5 minutes to make, Fred cautions that the hardest part is washing the bowls afterwards. Note: For repeated batches, clean and dry the bowls and let them cool before using them again.

Ladies, You are invited to a
Baby Shower for
Stephanie Pullin

Sunday, March 27
3:00 PM
BOOK EXCHANGE
Thinking Ireland this month? You may enjoy In the Company of Others, Jan Karon, a fiction work which is set in Ireland. Those who enjoy Amish settings will find A Sister’s Secret by Wanda Brunstetter. This is book one of the series titled Sisters of Holmes County. Do you like Biblical fiction? We have The Centurion’s Wife by Davis Bunn and Janette Oke, popular Christian authors. Also new on our shelves is Debbie Macomber’s best selling non-fiction work about discovering the power of generosity titled One Simple Act. So many books, so little time!

The Book Exchange, located at the rear of the sanctuary is
a mini lending library. There are no library cards or time limits, just choose a book that looks interesting, then return it when you have finished reading it. If you received a book as a Christmas gift which you enjoyed and would like to share it with others, please give it to Elaine Hardy.

BIBLE BUZZ
Dr. Mulkey’s sermon series on The Lord’s Prayer prompts the following questions. Have you been listening?
1. In which Gospel books do you find the Lord’s Prayer?
2. The Lord’s Prayer is given to us by Jesus in the middle of what famous “sermon?”
3. What does it mean to “hallow” God’s name?
4. Jesus uses the Aramaic word “Abba” to refer to God. What is the literal meaning of Abba?

CHILDREN'S MINISTRY NEWS

KIDS CONNECTION
The kids have been working on a short musical drama for the residents at Port Orange Nursing Home located at 5600 Victoria Gardens which they presented on Saturday, March 5th. We hope to do more presentations of this musical at other nursing homes in the area.

Picnic and Hike at Spruce Creek Park
6250 South Ridgewood Avenue, Port Orange.
Saturday, March 12th, 10:00 am to 1:00 pm.
Parents, you are invited to join the fun. Meet at the church by 9:45 am to leave at 10:00am. Children are to pack a lunch and several drinks for the picnic lunch.

KIDS KLUB
Wednesday March 16th is St. Patrick Day “theme night.” Awana clubbers should wear green. This is also their night to bring food donations for Halifax Urban Ministries.
YOUTH CONNECTIONS
New Hope youth will be attending Northland Church on Dog Track Road in Longwood, Florida, Sunday, March 6 to see speaker Nicholas Vujicic. We will leave from the New Hope parking lot at 4:30 pm for the 6:00 o’clock service. Youth will only need money to eat at McDonald’s after the service.

Nicholas Vujicic, pronounced “Voy-cheech” was born in 1982 in Brisbane, Australia. He came into the world with neither arms nor legs. By the age of 19, Nick started to fulfill his dream of being able to encourage other people and bring them the gospel of Jesus through motivational speaking. He shared his testimony about how God changed his life and gave him a future and a hope. He is now 29 years of age.

As Nick says, “If God can use a man without arms and legs to be His hands and feet then, He will certainly use any willing heart.” You can go to http://www.northlandchurch.net/calendar/
to see a short presentation of Nick.

Youth Night- Friday March 11
Movie night at the church
7:00 pm to 10:00 pm
Movie to be announced

Cheryl Secunda
* * *

NEWS OF STETSON’S COOPERATIVE COLLEGIATE FELLOWSHIP (CCF)
Stetson CCF, Florida Cooperative Baptist Fellowship's collegiate ministry partner, is led by Ben Collins. Ben is planning on leading a team of Stetson CCF students on a Spring Break mission trip to Richmond, VA, where they will work with the homeless, underprivileged children, and Burmese refugees. To date, CCF students have raised around $2,300 of $3,500 needed for this ministry effort.
PAINTING FUND DRIVE
The Church Council has approved a special drive to raise funds to paint the exterior of the church building. This would include all prep work (sealing cracks, etc.) The goal is $4,000. A small thermometer poster is on the bulletin board so that you may follow our progress in reaching the goal.

We are grateful for the work Fred Griffith is doing as Chairman of the Building and Grounds committee. Among other things, the difficult thermostat in the sanctuary has been replaced.

BIBLE BUZZ ANSWERS
1. Matthew 6:9-13 and Luke 11:2-4
2. The Sermon on the Mount
3. To “hallow” is to give God’s name the highest respect and honor, “a name above every name” Philippians 2:9
4. Daddy

VACATION BIBLE SCHOOL PREVIEW
VBS Director, Leesa Holloway, announces the theme for summer 2011, a one-of-a-kind “Shake it Up Café” where kids live out God’s recipe. Later this spring we will be looking for chef hats, aprons, pots and pans, chalkboard menus and other kitchen décor to transform New Hope.

MUSIC FOR HEALING
Sponsored by the Port Orange Ministerial Association
Each Wednesday, 12:15-12:45
All Saints Lutheran Church, 751 Dunlawton Avenue
This is a time of instrumental music for peaceful contemplation, reflection and self-care.