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 Greet One Anotherby Jeremy Houck Romans 16:1-16:16 At New Hope we believe the Bible is the inspired, infallible Word of God. We stake our belief system on what we call hermeneutics, which is a .50 cent word for explaining what the Bible says. It is our more… 
Be Generous with Your Greetingsby Melvin Newland Romans 16:1-16:16 I came across a little ditty that went something like this: Some go to church to laugh & talk, & some go there to walk the walk. Some go to church to meet a friend, & some go there an hour to more…
Fellowship in the Gospelby Chris Appleby Romans 15:14-16:27 The King of Syria was having trouble in his war with Israel. Every time he set up an ambush, Elisha, the prophet, would warn the king of Israel. So the King of Syria decided to send an army to capture Elisha to put more…
Kissing in Churchby Greg Nance Romans 16:1-16:27 I love the warmth that you find in these greetings! The Book of Romans has the most extensive list of names for personal greeting of all the New Testament letters. This is especially more...
 All in the Familyby Douglas Dudley Romans 16:1-16:27 Do you remember when you were a senior in high school? Graduation was coming, and in the spring of the year we got our last school yearbook. One of the traditions in school was signing each other’s yearbook. more...
Next Week: Greet One Another“A pastor saw Robert Schuller’s TV program “Hour of Power.” One of the things that impressed him the most during the program was watching everyone turn around to shake hands with and greet other worshippers seated near them. The pastor felt that his church was a bit stuffy and could use a bit of friendliness. So, at Sunday morning worship he announced that next week they would initiate this custom of greeting one another. At the close of this same worship service one man turned around to the lady behind him and said a cheerful, “Good morning!” She looked back at him with shock at his boldness and said, “I beg your pardon! That friendliness business doesn’t start until next Sunday!” Contributed by: Jim Kane
Gladys’ GreetingsJim Dunn was serving as the pastor of the First Baptist Church, and his wife, Gladys, was very friendly and welcoming to people. One particular Sunday when the sermon seemed to go on forever, many in the congregation fell asleep. After the service, to be sociable, she walked up to a very sleepy looking gentleman. In an attempt to revive him from his stupor, she extended her hand in greeting, and said, "Hello, I’m Gladys Dunn." To which the gentleman replied, "You’re not the only one!" Contributed by: Paul Decker “Bible verse, Bible verse”There is a story about a rather legalistic Seminary student who wanted to have a scriptural basis for everything he did. He felt he was on solid ground if he could quote the Bible, book, chapter & verse to okay his actions. He did all right with that until he began to fall in love with a beautiful co-ed. He wanted very much to kiss her, but he just couldn’t find a scripture to okay it. So, true to his conscience, he would simply walk her to the dormitory each night, look at her longingly, & then say "Good night." This went on for several weeks, & all the time he was searching the Bible, trying to find some scripture to okay kissing her good night. But he couldn’t find one, until finally he came across that passage in Romans that says, "Greet each other with a holy kiss." He thought, "At last, I have scriptural authority for kissing her good night." But to be sure, he went to his hermeneutics professor to check it out. After talking with the professor, he realized that the passage dealt more with a church setting than with a dating situation. So once again he simply didn’t have a passage of scripture to okay kissing his girl good night. That evening he walked her to the dormitory & once again started to bid her "good night." But as he did, she grabbed him, pulled him toward her, & planted a 10-second kiss right on his lips. At the end of the kiss, the Seminary student gasped for air, & stammered, "Bible verse, Bible verse." The girl grabbed him a 2nd time, & just before kissing him again, said, "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." Contributed by: Melvin Newland An Early HomecomingAn old missionary couple had been working in Africa for years and were returning home to retire. They had no pension; their health was broken. On the same ship was President Teddy Roosevelt, who was returning from a hunting expedition. As the passengers disembarked there was a crowd of admirers waiting to greet the President. A band was playing, and the cheers of the crowd were deafening. But when it was time for the missionary couple to step ashore, there was not a single soul to meet them. So eventually they found a cheap flat, hoping the next day to see what they could do to make a living. Discouraged, he buried his head in his hands and moaned, “God, I didn’t expect a band or a parade, but You could have seen to it that somebody came to welcome us home.” "Dear, we’re not home yet!" said his wife. Contributed by: Stephen Wright “Make a Friend, Find a Friend!”Proverbs 18: 24 Key verse(s): 24: “A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.” I am reminded of the story of the great patriot John Randolph of Virginia, was known for his intelligence and generosity. Randolph died a lonely and bitter man. He lacked for nothing in this life. He really had it all. His estate was extravagant consisting of hundreds of acres of rich and fertile farmland. His stable of horses was not to be equaled in Virginia. He was generous and prosperous. His slaves were well treated and freed upon his death. He was famous for having signed both the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. In many ways he was as well known in Virginia as Jefferson and Washington. Yet, when death approached him he died alone attended only by a physician. Randolph died a very lonely man. Despite all of his accomplishments over the course of his long life, the one thing he had failed to do was to make good friends. There was something about his uncompromising, bitter and cantankerous nature that turned people off. In debate he was harsh and caustic. In dealings he was abrupt, even rude. The story is told that one day, later in life when he had retired to his plantation, he mounted his horse and prepared to ride somewhere, anywhere. He sat motionless on the horse for half and hour trying to make up his mind as to where to go and who to see. Finally he dismounted, telling a servant that he “couldn’t think of anyone who would greet him any way.” With all he possessed the one thing he really longed for most, one good friend, had never been a part of his storied life. The touch of a friend probably would have meant much more to him at that moment of indecision than all the stables of horses in the world. Do you need the touch of one good friend, one who would “stick to you like a brother?” We all do. As the old saying goes, “Find a friend, make a friend!” There are doubtless many who would value your close friendship and are in need of it today. Ask God to reveal them to you and then go seek their friendship. Take the challenge of being a friend if you need a friend. No one needs to be lonely if they have love to give to others. Contributed by: Mark Brunner 
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