He Has Risen!

This Sunday marks a very special day in the life of any Christian. Easter Sunday represents the truth that Jesus Christ was more then just a good man, a moral teacher, and a motivating leader. His resurrection proves that he was in fact, the Son of God just like he said he was and that the kingdom he spoke of is not measured in castles and military victories. Jesus' sacrifice and resurrection are evidence that love is the building blocks of lasting community, not physical domination. Physical domination begets subjects but love begets friends, brothers and sisters, and faithfulness. This Sunday is about so much more then a man coming back to life, it's about all of us being brought back from the deadly sting of sin. This is why we celebrate and this is why Christianity has survived over the millennium!

This Sunday, we'll be remembering the resurrection of Jesus and recounting our own resurrection from death in our sinfulness. Worship will start at it's regular time, 11 AM, but I'd also like to invite you out at 10:30 AM to join us in prayer before the worship. Prayer brings people together, both physically in the local church and spiritually in the global church, and I hope that a desire for community runs deep in NHA. Our prayer time is without agenda, but we do hope to have opportunity to lift up individuals from our church needing prayer, NHA, our church denomination leaders, and ask God to fill us up again with his love and understanding. I would love to see you there. Hope you can make it!

Also on the bubble, April 11th is my last Sunday at NHA! It has been an honor and privilege to serve as your "Transitional Navigator" for the last few months and I hope to have the chance to thank each of you over the next couple of weeks. Converge is hard at work finding the permanent pastor for NHA and will be working closely with NHA after I leave. These are exciting times, for NHA and for me, and it's our faithfulness which will guide both of us to what the Lord wills.

See you Sunday!

"Lost and Found" Wrap-up and Looking Ahead

Bonjour NHA! (Bonjour is Creole/Haitian for "good morning")

While Haiti was amazing, and we saw so much of God's presence there, it feels good to be back in the U.S. with all of you. I hope you were all blessed by Dan Peterson sharing with you at the beginning of the month and that this last Sunday's message about the Lost Son was a nice return to our series on "Lost and Found."

Speaking of "Lost and Found," we finish up that series this Sunday with a second look at the Parable of the Lost Son. We'll be considering the attitude of the older son, the one who stayed home all along, and what his attitude says about welcoming new believers into the Body of Christ. As I prepared for this weekend's sermon, I was confronted with issues with my own attitude towards new believers in Christ and so I'll be sharing out of my own heart a lot this weekend.

Looking ahead, here's what's on the horizon for Sundays at NHA:

+April 4: Easter Sunday! Come celebrate the risen Christ with us at NHA. We'll be meeting at 11 AM for worship as usual, but we'll also be having a special time of prayer before service at 10:30 AM. NHA is going through some serious times of transition and we need to be faithful to humbling ourselves to God's divine providence. Join us at 10:30 AM as we remember that the power which raised Jesus from the grave is available to us as we look to the future of NHA.

+April 11: This will be my (Jared's) last Sunday at NHA. As I write this, I'm visiting a church in Minnesota that has asked me to be their Senior High Youth Pastor. Join us Sunday, April 11, after the service for a group lunch as we just encourage one another and laugh about the last three months. Remember the time I forgot to tell everyone to sit down for announcements? Remember the time we met in the library and there were cheerleaders everywhere? Haha, good times!

Blessings NHA! Enjoy your weekend!

Jared

I'm leaving, on a jet plane...

Hey NHA!
I hope you're all having a great week and that you were able to get out an enjoy those few hours of sunshine yesterday, hopefully we'll see more of that and less of the white stuff here in March. I read in the newspaper today that Mansfield had the most snow out of any Ohio city in the month of February. A whopping 49.1 inches! That is just amazing.
As many of you already know, I leave for Haiti this Thursday. I'll be down there for 11 days helping a church put the roof on their new building. This is the same church that I and a team of young adults from my church in Mansfield visited last summer and helped pour the foundation for the building. I can't wait! I love working with my hands and helping to share the love of Christ through tangible, hands-and-feet ministry. I can't speak Creole, the native language, but everyone understands hard work and the gift of a building to gather in to give praise and honor to God. If you think to pray for me in the next weeks, pray for strength, a good attitude, and for the health of myself and the other 13 guys going down. Haiti is a rough country and I know the devil is going to try and discourage us and I pray that we might have the resolve to lean upon God and not ourselves to make it though.
In my absence (no, I won't be flying back for Sunday mornings!) Dan Peterson from the district Converge office will be sharing with you on Sunday mornings. Dan has a deep passion for up-and-coming churches such as NHA and I know what he brings from God's Word will bless you. So, come and join us this Sunday once again at 11 AM in the Little Theater of Ashland High School. The coffee will be hot, the fellowship will be warm and inviting, and the Holy Spirit will no doubt enter in like a gentle breeze.
Bon voyage, auf wiedersen, ciao, and see you later, alligator!