Redemption Hill Church

We celebrated Easter Sunday in the book of Mark this year. Pastor Bill walked us through the historicity, significance, and response of the resurrection and how we are invited to live in the newness of life. 

This Sunday we will continue our series with Ecclesiastes 9. This chapter challenges us to consider whose glory we are seeking in our lives. We rely on building our own reputations and listing our accomplishments as the pathways to glory and leaving our mark on this world. Qoheleth has challenging truths to confront us. We will see on Sunday, though, that our pursuit of glory ought not be limited to what we can accomplish before death. We have a greater King to whom we cry, “Hosanna!” 

On Sunday we will dig into Ecclesiastes 8:1-15 where we see the Preacher’s roaming path touch on our approach to kings and rulers, teaching on government and power. In this sermon I will work to accomplish the following:

Chapter 7 is a curious one. The first half is a series of proverbs that seem upside down from the reason or wisdom we might typically have – a funeral is better than a party?! The second half of the chapter is widely regarded as the most difficult section to interpret in Ecclesiastes, one of the most difficult books of the Bible to interpret. So, this will be fun! In our exploration of the text we will see that there is a way to find straight thinking in a crooked world.

These two stories show what it looks like to trust in God's promises and God's character when obstacles seem insurmountable, and the way forward is unknown. How do we respond when we come to places in our own lives where we can’t see a way out or a way forward? Do we trust God with our lives and story? Join us as we explore both the faithfulness and power of God who works on behalf of His people to accomplish His good purposes, and the role of faith in the response of obedience for God's people as we walk through life. In all things, we'll find our hope and our peace in Jesus.

This Sunday is Commitment Sunday for the Dwell Midpoint Refresh. I hope you have been prayerfully considering what God asking you to commit to in the year ahead. We’re all in this together and I’m excited to see what God has for us as we all commit to join Him in His good work as we Dwell: An Enduring & Faithful Presence. 

Over the past two months, we have asked you to prayerfully consider two kinds of commitment: 

Church Engagement – our goal is to have 100% of the church engaged in some way. We provided a self-assessment to ask you to use as a tool to evaluate what God might be asking you to step into with Redemption Hill in the coming year. 

Financial – When a church is our home, we commit to invest our time and talent in engagement as well as our treasure, investing into God’s work in and through us. We would love for all who call RHC home to make a commitment this Sunday, whether you are adjusting your previous commitment, continuing at your current rate of giving and commit to finish strong, or God may be leading you to increase your commitment. 

This Sunday’s sermon will be based in Ephesians 2:17-22 as we explore together what makes a church a church. We will look through the New Testament to learn what a church is, and what a church does. Even if you’re brand new to Redemption Hill and not quite ready to make a commitment to this church, I think this Sunday will encourage you with a recasting of the beautiful vision for what God’s people can are and can be in the church and what we look to as foundational to our understanding of church at RHC. 

This chapter starts the third major section and a shifting focus to life under the sun in light of God’s sovereignty over all things. Our time in chapter 6 will be specifically spent looking into the issue of money, how we use it and how it uses us. Why is it so often the case that when we get exactly what we want, the joy from it fades quickly? We will see on Sunday that there is hope for true joy in our lives, and that freedom is when we can say, “I don’t care too much for money, cuz money can’t buy me love.”

This Sunday we resume our study in Ecclesiastes together. Among the topics raised in Ecclesiastes 5, we will focus our attention on the cautions about how we approach God. The Preacher, Qoheleth, warns us to guard our steps before God. Sunday will provide us the opportunity to explore true and false religiosity. Why is it that our approach to God and our spiritual lives can feel like a drag? Many of us have had moments of the overwhelming sense of God’s presence and power at some point in our lives, why doesn’t that stick around perpetually? What will it take for a church to be filled with joy and be a life-giving pursuit as we work together for the glory of God and the good of all people? We will work to answer those questions and more as we gather together on Sunday. 

One year ago, we started a journey together to pursue God’s call to us as a church to Dwell as An Enduring & Faithful Presence in DC. The Dwell initiative is really an extension of what we have always wanted to be about – joining God in His good work in our city and throughout the DMV. We are in the midst of a Midpoint Refresh of that journey. Here's what we covered on Sunday:

- The chance to gather, sing, pray, hear God’s Word, and share in the Lord’s Supper.

- A sermon rooted in 1 Peter 2:4-12. We will see the calling of all Christians as sojourners and exiles, worshiping together as God’s people and living lives in community that make an impact wherever we are.

- Clarity on the vision for our church in the days ahead.

- A better understanding of the Dwell Initiative. What do we mean by 100% Engagement? Why did we set the financial goals we did?

This Sunday we continue our series with Ecclesiastes 4:4-16. This chapter raises the problem of loneliness and the importance of companionship. We are in the midst of a loneliness epidemic in our nation. The Surgeon General has issued warnings, HHS is doing studies, and it’s all being reported across news outlets. Loneliness is crushing and can become legitimately life-threatening. 
As we have seen so far, Ecclesiastes won’t allow us to look away from the truth of human existence and experience. Qoheleth, the author, will continue to poke at us an make us uncomfortable. On Sunday we will address loneliness. We need to take a realistic look at our world and our own lives, and then look for signs and pathways of hope. God’s Word can guide us there.