Faith, food, and fellowship.  Bring a friend and join us for a delicious breakfast and encouragement from God’s Word on Saturday, February 15, at 8:30 a.m. in the Fellowship Hall.

Sunday, January 26, 6:00 p.m. Vision, Mission, Purpose, Goals, Health, Accomplishments; these are a few of the points we will look at in the life of New Hope Baptist Church of Ore City for 2019 and 2020.

Friday, February 14, 7:00 p.m.  “Unforgettable Musical Memories”  A fun evening filled with good food, fun games, and prizes.  The menu choices are Chicken Parmigiana or Chicken Alfredo. Tickets are $10 per person and are available Sunday mornings at the KRU table.  Tickets are also available online by following this link and paying through PayPal. Registration for this event has ended.

Are you looking for a safe place and wholesome activities for the whole family this New Year’s Eve?  Bring your sandwiches, snacks, drinks, and table games for a Family Game Night in the Fellowship Hall beginning at 7:00 p.m. We will also open up the gym.  Bring your own basketball.

We welcome everyone to a special New Year’s Day service in our Fellowship Hall on January 1, at 7:00 p.m. for Pie & Coffee.  Bring your favorite pie or cake and we will provide the coffee and hot chocolate.  Start of the new year fellowship and your New Hope family.  See you there!

Our annual Candelight Service is always a heartfelt time of sharing and reflection on the blessings and greatness of God.  This year our service will be 7:00 p.m. on Christmas Eve in the main auditorium.  All our church family is welcome.

Weeks prior to the event, anticipation began to rise with the announcement of the 2^nd Annual NHBC Chili Cookoff, Cake Auction, and Cornhole Tournament. Announcements were to include the fact that one particular cake auctioned for $260 last year. This served to heighten the expectancy.

For a mere $2, one received a ticket for casting a vote for the chili which dazzled the pallet.

Nine Chili Cookoff contestants had arrived early to prepare for the varying taste buds of the many who had participated in last year’s event, along with those of us who were first timers. Walking along the row of tantalizing offerings, one could see nine different approaches to chili recipes. The rules of engagement were proffered. Taste tests began. Voting tickets were deposited into cups set before each chili. The top vote getting chilis were very close in their respective counts.

And the “Winner takes all” 2^nd Annual NHBC Chili Cook-Off champion: Stacy Main. Congratulations! And you may well ask, “What exactly was the prize?” A pot, cooker stand, utensils, spices, and cornbread mix. Prepare for next year, future contestants!

Round two of the night, the much anticipated Cake Auction, was set up. Calling the event was Brother Scott, and managing was Tabitha. After signing up for bidding, and obtaining the bidding paddle, the game was up and running. Bidding for each cake began at $50. Yep, you read that correctly, $50.

The Great Franco masterfully led, with very little pressure applied to bidders, (LOL), to up the ante on each cake.

A red velvet cheesecake (top bid for last year) went for $160, followed later by another red velvet cheesecake for $150, followed by a Boston cream pie for $140, and the one I simply call “Mississippi Mud” went for $130. Eighteen cakes were entered. And the bidding hilarity that took place created laughter that will long be remembered. As for all those cakes, many were set out for any to taste. And taste we did!

The final event of the night – the Cornhole Tournament.

Heat 1 – Hayden & Joe vs. Mike & Travis
Heat 2 – Justin & Jackson vs. Karl & Stanley
Heat 3 (drawing the bye) Brother Tony & Ed

Winners of the 1^st Round: Hayden & Joe, and Justin & Jackson
Justin & Jackson played Brother Tony & Ed while Hayden & Joe sat out a round

Brother Tony & Ed advance to play Hayden & Joe.
Brother Tony & Ed advance to the Championship round.

From the “losers” bracket – Mike & Travis played their way back to the finals.

The finals were truly a great game to watch. While it appeared that Brother Tony & Ed were going to be wiped out, especially when the score was 11-3, they toughed it out and fought back. The final pitches were up to Ed & Travis. 21-20, 20-20, it went. Finally, Brother Ed, who had scored four bags in the hole earlier, stayed off the incredible tosses of Travis. Winners: Brother Tony & Brother Ed.

And what was this all about? Fellowship. Church family. Support of our youth ministry. I would highly recommend that everyone plan on attending next year. You will enjoy every moment, and you will be supporting our youth ministry as they grow in grace and in the ministry of our Lord Jesus Christ.

I’ll see you next year at the 3^rd annual NHBC Annual Chili cook-off, Cake Auction, and Cornhole Tournament. And who knows, you may be one of the winners.

by Mikell Didlake

The second Sunday in May, across all fifty of these United States, is a day set aside each year to honor mothers. Here in our little corner of Northeast Texas, New Hope Baptist Church did just that on May 12th.

Our pastor, Bro. Tony Pierce, began the morning worship service by sharing a few words of gratitude for his own mother and acknowledging the immeasurable impact she’s had on his life.  He then welcomed and recognized all the mothers present that morning: mothers of long-standing, well-practiced and richly experienced; brand-new mommies just beginning the motherhood journey; the adoptive mothers who love and cherish another woman’s child as their very own; moms who briefly carried a child within whom they never got to raise; in short, all those ladies who proudly wear the badge of motherhood. The church family presented each mother with a small gift of appreciation.

A special recognition was given to the mommy with the youngest child, the mother who has most recently adopted a child, the mom whose own mother has most recently gone home to Heaven, and the mother who has been a Christian for the most years.

The Sunday morning message also honored mothers reminding us that they are a vital, irreplaceable component of God’s perfect design for the family unit. The love connection between a mother and her child is like no other in its depth, its fierceness, its selflessness, its persistence, and its permanence. A mother’s love is God-originated, and many generations of moms’ prayers, fueled by that matchless love, have gone ahead of their children on life’s unpredictable path.

As we exited the building after the service ended, we emerged into a day transformed. What had begun as just one more of many gray, cloudy, sloppy, unsettled days had ripened into a day of bright sunshine and white cloud puffs chasing each other across a triumphantly blue sky. . .God’s way of saying, “Happy Mother’s Day, ladies!”

Easter Sunday

All of creation seemed to be rejoicing on Easter Sunday, Resurrection Day. A world green and growing, soft breezes, bird-song, and cloudless blue awaited the flock of children who gathered, after the morning worship service, for the Easter egg hunt at New Hope Baptist Church.

Justin Hart, our youth pastor, assisted by several of our New Hope teens, brought organization and instructions to the excited prospective hunters and gatherers assembled in the Fellowship Hall. Then the crowd exited through the back doors into the bright sunshine and beheld, behind the church, the large, open, freshly-mowed field dotted with pink, purple, orange, blue . . . some 2000 plastic eggs.

Those who were present merely to watch the fun found observation posts at the top of the sloping hill. The participants  congregated at the base of the slope, the starting line, where they eagerly awaited Bro. Justin’s orders to begin the hunt. With a “Ready? Set? Go!”, a wave of boys and girls charged ahead and began plucking shiny eggs from the ground and depositing them into baskets, bags, and buckets. Within not very many minutes, the field, once bejeweled with multi-colors, returned to an unadorned green.

The returning searchers, laden with the fruit of their labor, climbed back up the slope to meet waiting parents, grandparents, and other assorted relatives. One little boy whose basket was literally overflowing  was heard to announce, “I need another basket!!”

In advance preparation for this event, church members had volunteered to buy individually wrapped candies, to take charge of as many empty plastic eggs as they could corral, to insert a piece of candy into and to put together each of the afore-mentioned 2000 eggs. These volunteers filled each egg, not only with a piece of candy, but also with a slip of paper bearing one of a number of different Bible verses.

Every child who proudly carried home a collection of eggs carried a treasure of candy, but a treasure that, by its very nature, is short-lived and brings only a few moments’ pleasure. Every child also took home the true treasure, God’s Word, which stands forever, never fails, and brings with it a lifetime of pleasure and peace.

By Julie Kirk

On April 7th, a slate blue, gray, and gorgeously multi-hued green, but rather wet Lord’s Day, the youth of New Hope took charge of the morning worship service. They handled it all ably and well from beginning to end and everything in between.

A short video in which several of the teens shared their thoughts about their Christian walk elicited both smiles and tears from those who watched.

The teen praise band and singers made good use of their talents in leading the congregation in songs of worship and in providing the special music as well. Their preparation and hard work were evident, and the Holy Spirit made His presence felt.

The welcome and announcements were given by younger and, dare I say, sweeter voices than those to which New Hope folks are routinely accustomed. An opportunity for the congregation to send a group “Happy Birthday” greeting via live video to Pastor Tony Pierce, who is traveling in Israel and who apparently aged a year while there, was thoughtfully provided.

Our youth pastor, Justin Hart, shared a timely and urgent message outlining the vital importance of having a relationship with Jesus to guide us, kids and adults alike, through the chaos and confusion that the world throws at us every day.

A group of young men took on the job of both asking a blessing upon and gathering our tithes and offerings. I’m sure I wasn’t the only one who observed that these youngsters were noticeably better-looking than those old guys who usually pass the plates around.

I think all those attending would agree that New Hope has good reason to be proud of and thankful for our young folks and their desire to serve God and make a positive impact as they navigate their growing-up years.