100 Random Thoughts From The Staff

Happy 100th blog post!!

In honor of this bloggiversary milestone,

here are 100 random thoughts from the Hope Church staff:

1. Jesus loves you

2. Our grass is maintained by a volunteer

3. Laurie loves cats

4. The bible is a true story

5. We love Christmas, but preparing for services brings a lot of stress

6. We think about you ALL THE TIME

7. Please don't get mad or offended if we don't always answer our phones

8. Beauty and art were God's idea first!

9. We try to eat healthily - you make it hard! :)

10. Sunday morning is one hour - what are you doing with the rest?

11. You don't have to have a reason for a bounce house (or a bingo night)

12. We "major on the majors"

13. Spiritual disciplines aren't easy for us either

14. God loves us too

15. We don't work on Fridays... except when it's Christmas Eve, like this year 🎄

16. Don't get your theology from music…look in your bible!

17. The average person attends church twice a month

18. MOPS - is not for only moms of a preschooler but moms that have children 6 & under

19. Hope Wednesday is fun!

20. Staff loves homemade cookies (see #9)

21. Deanna loves anything creepy crawly

22. We need volunteers for Christmas

23. Matt keeps M&M’s in his office for Laurie for an emergency

24. We have feelings

25. Shelby is the glue that holds the office together

26. Mark can juggle

27. We love what we do

28. Invite your friend to church

29. We actually do work more than 1 day a week

30. Dave Clarke yells at staff

31. Laurie’s dream is to have a little potty for the littles

32. We depend on you sharing our online content

33. No, Laurie does not like cats

34. It takes a lot more than you think to pull off a Sunday

35. Laurie has a huge nametag ball with kid's discarded nametags

36. We miss you when you aren't here

37. A lot happens behind the scenes - we work full-time

38. We need your prayers

39. Working at a church sounds great, but it's actually kind of messy sometimes (see 38)

40. Our spouses do a lot behind the scenes (and sometimes on the scene) to support us & the church

41. Vacation Bible School is the “funnest” week of the year.

42. We want you to be in our Facebook Groups

43. Our team is on mission & we think about how to reach more people all the time

44. We try to take a Sabbath day, but it ain't on Sunday

45. Even though you didn't see us on-site while we were shut down during COVID, we were working very hard to creatively stay connected & stay on top of things as they developed. Many prayers were prayed, many tears were shed, many plans were made and many attempts were made to keep serving the church.

46. “Give thanks in all circumstances.”

47. You are never too old to sing Jesus Loves Me (see #1)

48. We do our best to make sure things run smoothly & hopefully it looks like we have it all together, but we really need your help. There are many opportunities to serve.

49. We're not perfect and neither are our kids, give us grace!

50. We love seeing you use your gifts to grow the body!

51. If you miss service on Sunday, we have online Hope Kids Bible lesson and video on our Hope Church children’s page.

52. Sometimes it feels like we're on call 24/7

53. Life Groups can help you grow in your relationship with God!

54. We use email to communicate quite a bit about what's happening at Hope - let us know if you want to be included & what your email address is. office@ehope.org

55. If you have any questions or feedback for our Elder Board, you can email them at ElderBoard@ehope.org

56. The hard truth is if you’re not reading your Bible regularly now, you won’t when you have more time.

57. Our staff laughs together, Our staff cries together.

58. Practically every room in the building is used on Wednesday nights

59. Our services are at 9:00 and 10:30

60. Your encouraging notes mean a lot to us

61. We have Jesus and Music Time with a LIVE band at Hope Kids twice a month.

62. We love surprise visitors in the office!

63. We want to pray for you and we pray for you every Tuesday morning

64. Majoring on the majors, minoring on the minors

65. Worship is a lifestyle, not music.

66. “Love one another just as Christ loved you.”

67. Hope Wednesday reaches over 150 children each week.

68. We can't imagine living life without our Lifegroups

69. Memorizing bible verses is not as hard as we think it is

70. We support international missionaries, but "missions" encompasses much more than that. All of our local outreach, our special offerings to support special causes, a lot of our Christmas Eve offerings & many more things are missional & help spread the Gospel.

71. Laurie and Deanna are Laverne and Shirley 2.0

72. Our worship leaders are volunteers

73. There are close to 50 Life Groups that meet throughout the week

74. We really care about the new visitors we meet on a regular basis. When you go out of your way to connect with a new person, it makes a huge difference & helps our church be a friendly place.

75. Serving and joining a Life Group are some of the best ways to feel like you belong

76. You can share Prayer requests 24/7 (text "pray" to 563-235-2035) We pray for you by name.

77. We have fun serving together

78. Next Step classes aren't just for people new to Hope (ehope.org/next-steps)

79. The Good Samaritan fund helps people in our church with unexpected financial issues

80. We go through 44 pizzas each Wednesday night

81. Dave is a nomad without an office

82. Laurie is always looking for new volunteers to love on kids!

83. We love it when people stick around after church just to talk with one another

84. Our Prayer Team prays throughout the week for our church family

85. You can watch sermon clips online (Youtube or Facebook)!

86. You can sign up for Hope events online at www.ehope.org/events

87. Connecting with God doesn't just happen on Sundays, but you can connect with God every day!

88. Our Elder Board is super healthy & spends a lot of time discussing & praying about what is best for Hope Church - we're lucky to have them.

89. Pastors and Directors are equally important at helping Hope Church move forward in the mission of helping people connect with God!

90. During any given worship service, there are 6-7 people on the stage, but there are 30-40 additional people behind the scenes, in classrooms, running tech, etc. who are making it all happen.

91. Next time you see Mark Smith with an iPad ask him to take a selfie with you! It's one of his favorite things!

92. Our church loves to serve and if you look around I bet there is an opportunity that fits you!

93. Hope Church isn't just the building we meet in, but the people and groups that are a part of our community - YOU! :)

94. If you forget your Bible at home we have an extra for you below your seat!

95. Share our online service with someone!

96. You might have "Goals" at your job, so do we!

97. If you are an introvert and apprehensive about serving, the tech booth or video team would be a great fit!

98. If you want to bring us treats, our staff meeting is on Tuesday mornings

99. Our elevator is the slowest in Iowa

100. . You belong here!