Mendham Hills

Philosopher George Santayana penned one of academia's favorite quotes: "Those who do not learn history are doomed to repeat it." I know I have used it often when my kids are complaining about why they need to learn about the Whig Party or the Magna Carta. Could this same truth be applied to fear? What if we understood our history with it, where it came from, and what it has done? Could understanding the history of fear perhaps free us from the doom of its despair? A history lesson in fear, its source, its solution, and a ticket out of its vicious cycle - this Sunday at Mendham Hills.

The news is that North Korea is close to being nuclear. It looks like the Russian "bear" might be on the prowl again. The stock bubble seems ready to burst, and technology seems poised to steal all of our jobs. The planet is warming, the economy is cooling. The plague of our day - terrorism - begins with the word terror. It seems that anxiety and fear have taken out a hundred-year lease in our hearts and minds. Now, imagine your life wholly untouched by angst. What if faith, not fear, was your default reaction to the roller coaster of life? Jesus made it pretty clear: "Fear not." So, why am I so afraid? Join us, as together we discover the key to a life without fear.

We fear a lot of things. We fear bad guys with bombs, shootings in our cities, and terrorism in our towns. We fear finishing last, going broke, and being sued. We fear the mole on our back, the new kid on the block, and the new boss in the corner office. To the list of human fears, there is no end. Yet, there is this ONE - the BIG ONE - the Greatest Fear of Them All. We don't talk about it often. Most of the time, we just pretend it's not there. We have become a people well-trained in "whistling past the grave yard." Still, it lingers and it lies and it holds so many of us captive. If we could just be sure - if we could just be certain - then maybe we could really live. This Sunday at Mendham Hills, we learn to overcome the cornerstone of fear...the fear that comes from our final breath.

Promises to one another undergird most families. Husbands and wives have promised "to love and to cherish, to have and to hold, until death do us part." As we honor these underlying promises, they hold our families together. They serve to unify two individuals into one, they comfort children, and they ward off division. Promises spoken and promises kept are at the heart of every family. What about the family of God? What about the local church family? What promises should undergird our unity, comfort our children, witness to our community, and ward off division? This Sunday, in the final chapter of our New Year's series, we look at promises that we should make to one another - promises that we should not just make, but keep.

Ever been in one of those relationships where you just can't figure out what the other party wants from you? You bought flowers...they wanted candy. You thought Broadway tickets...they wanted a cozy night at home. At some point, perhaps in a moment of frustration, you might ask, "What is it you want from me?" Great question when it comes to our human relationships - profound question when applied to our relationship with God. This week, we discover what it is that God really wants from us.

You were created with great intent and purpose by God to be agents of His Kingdom - created to do good works in our families, homes, workplaces, and the world, which so desperately need hope and healing. Yet, so many of us wind up on the couch, kept on the sideline by fear, fatigue, and busyness. And while we suffer from feeling like people without purpose, those who need "Christ in us" the most suffer as we are taken out by the enemy. Join us this Sunday as we kick off our New Year's series on promises we should make...and keep. This week, we look at three very practical promises that are worthy of making to ourselves - promises that will help get us back in the fight for 2017.

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