New Hope ICCC

2008-07-04T14:25:00.002-05:00

Well, finding time to keep up with the blog has definitely not proven to be easy with all that has transpired since my last post. God has richly blessed us all. Ray and I have both recently received promotions at work and have richly been blessed by God's faithfulness! We made a major life decision and have welcomed our new son into our family. Dillon Reese Ethridge was born at 645pm on Tuesday, May 27th. Dillon weighed 5lbs, 15 ounces and was 19 inches long. He is truly precious! We have been experiencing the ups and downs of parenthood as Dillon has endured colic. He is just to precious for words!

Dillon, Ray and I will also begin construction on our new home in the next month or so. As I mentioned, we have truly been blessed!

I have also followed God's direction in resigning as senior pastor of New Hope after 10 years in service to God's works. On Sunday, August 24th, we will have a very special service. We will hold Dillon's Christening service, I will officially celebrate 10 years as the senior pastor of New Hope and the date will also mark my last day behind the pulpit as senior pastor.
For those of you who do not know, I am not stepping away from God's calling on my life, but I am following His devine guidance and working towards the possible beginnings of a work in Tifton.

New Hope has a bright future as they continue the works that God has laid out before them!

I pray that you all have a very happy 4th of July and that God will continue to richly bless you all!

Love in Christ,

Rev. Jerry Ethridge

2007-12-19T20:12:00.000-05:00

Christmas is one of my favorite times of the year! I can remember as a small child always thinking how long it took for Christmas to come, now that I'm older, it seems like it arrives a ot faster. During this wonderful, yet hectic time, we have to continue to reach out to our brothers and sisters in Christ that are less fortunate. As we rejoice and reflect on the birth of our Savior so many years ago, we have to remember the mission that He has set before us! We've accepted that mission and must move forward and constantly spread the good news of His wonderous love for us!

I pray that you each have a very Merry Christmas and a Healthy New Year!!

Love in Christ,

Rev. Jerry Ethridge

2007-10-11T18:52:00.000-05:00

I cannot begin to tell you the wonderful joy of serving the Lord with such a wonderful and loving group of folks! This week has been amazing! Monday, I came home to balloons and a banner stating "New Hope Loves Our Pastor"! Then on Tuesday, I recieved phone calls from about 6 different members expressing their appreciation and love for me and for Ray. It didn't stop there, on Wednesday, I received a beautiful flower arrangement at work wishing me a "Happy Pastor Appreciation Week". Later that evening Ray and I were presented with a gift certificate to Applebee's. Thursday, revealed a mailbox full of cards expressing appreciation and love! I cannot begin to express my appreciation for all that each of you do! Nothing that happens at the church would be possible if it were not for each of you! You each lend strength and character to everything that we do! Thank you for the love and appreciation that you always show to us and most of all thank you for you selfless devotion to God's works!

Love in Christ,

Rev. Jerry Ethridge

2007-10-08T17:40:00.000-05:00

God is so amazing! He has placed such amazing people in my life! We have been working diligently on formalizing our goals for the coming year. As many of you know, we have developed a 20/20 vision that outlines where we plan on being in the next 20 years. We are well on our way to accomplishing the goals we've set forth for the first year! Praise God for His marvelous blessings!! We are very excited about the future of New Hope! We're looking forward to the fundraising event at the Sweet Potato Festival in Ocilla on October, 27th! We've decided to subscribe to a phone tree service that allows me to make one phone call and update everyone who's number is on the list about events, prayer requests, or just a scripture of the week! God is moving in Valdosta and we are so glad to be a part of it!

Please join us in the near future and become a part of what God has planned for South Georgia!!

Love in Christ,

Rev. Jerry Ethridge

2007-10-01T06:18:00.000-05:00

Well, if you missed services last night, you missed a great one! We had a wonderful service, great food, and a great time of fellowship! It was karaoke night and just about everyone there got up and sang at least one song! Even our 4 visitors participated in the singing! I know that the fellowship committee will be repeating karaoke night!

I pray that you all have a wonderful week!

Love in Christ,

Rev. Jerry Ethridge

2007-09-29T18:35:00.000-05:00

We certainly have a lot going on over the next month. The fundraising committee is now full throttle! We are gearing up for the Sweet Potatoe Festival in Ocilla. New Hope will have a booth at the festival and we will be selling baked goods and raffling a $200 gift card from Wal-Mart. The festival has a usual attendance of around 25,000 people! This is a tremendous opportunity for us to raise money for Convocation and for the building fund and Rev. Rick Myers Benevolence Fund! It will also help to build our operating account to work towards funding different areas of our ministry that we have envisioned!

I am very excited about a trial offer of OneCallNow! This system allows for me to enter a list of phone numbers and record a message each week and the message is sent to each number on the list! This is a wonderful way for me to keep you up-to-date on all of what is happening at New Hope!

This weekend is family fellowship. We will have a short service followed by karaoke and a covered dish dinner. So be sure to bring your friends, you appetite, and your favorite covered dish or side dish!

I hope to see you soon!

Love in Christ,

Rev. Jerry Ethridge

2007-08-27T05:58:00.000-05:00

Our 10 Year Anniversary, WOW! First of all it is difficult to believe that we've been ministering in Valdosta for 10 years! Our Anniversary Celebration last night was terrific! It was a wonderful spirit-filled service and was terrific to see some faces that we've not seen in years and even more terrific to see faces we've never seen before. We had a group of 8 from New Covenant Church of Atlanta join us--including Pastors Randy Morgan and Johnny Layton. Sam Sampson did a marvelous job performing and delivering spiritual nuggets and, as to be expected, Rev. Jay Neely delivered a wonderful sermon! The past 10 years have definitely been a blessing to me and to so many others! I can hardly wait for the next 10 years!! May God continue to bless each of you!

2007-07-24T20:43:00.000-05:00

Sometimes we get so wrapped up with everything that is going on in our lives that we find it difficult to stop to take time to praise God for the many blessings and unseen miracles that we receive each and every day. I try to make it a point to start the day by praising God each morning. I praise Him for the breath that I have in my body! I praise Him for the fact that I am able to get out of bed each day! I praise Him most of all for the gift of His precious Son! For the fact that the blood Christ was willing to shed was bountiful enough to cver my sins! I praise Him because He is a merciful God, full of love and grace! I pray each day for guidance and direction in the areas that He has blessed me to care for. I often wonder why He has entrusted me with the care of the church and many times sit in amazement at the infinite ways God uses each of us daily! I know that God is doing a mighty work, not only through New Hope, but through ICCC. As we prepare to celebrate our 10 year anniversary, I think back at all the lives that we've touched over the years. I think fondly of those who have moved on and look forward to the day that we are reunited with those who have gone to their eternal home before us. Every person that has walked through those church doors, attended Bible study, or just sent emails expressing their love and prayers has touched my life immeasurably and I am eternally blessed! I look forward to worshipping with you all soon!!

Love in Christ,

Rev. Jerry Ethridge

2007-06-25T20:25:00.000-05:00

PRAISE GOD!!!! What a service we had last night! I firmly believe that each person present is still basking in God's glory!!! We had a Holy Ghost filled, Healing Service!! One of our members that has been battling skin cancer of the nose had an appointment this morning to biopsy another suspicious spot that had shown up on his nose. During our Spirit-filled service, we lay hands on and prayed for everyone present! When he went to his appointment this morning, the physician was amazed! The spot was completely GONE!!!! God let His healing powers flow through our dear brothers body!!! The Master Physician had already removed that spot!!!! We still serve a MIGHTY, HEALING GOD!!!! As Pastor Dale and I reminisced about our past with the Church of God, we recalled the way that they lay hands on folks. God's presence was always so strong. The individual being prayed for would hear one saint on one side of them shouting "Let go!! Let go!! Let go!!" while on the other side, they'd hear "Hold on!! Hold on!! Hold on!!" Unless you were raised in the church of God, you could imagine a spiritual tug of war! What they mean is "Let go of yourself! Let go of your problems! Let go of anything that would hinder your time with God! Let go and send up your praise and worship for our gracious God!!! And the other has just as powerful meaning. Hold on to God's mercy! Hold on to God's promises! Hold on to God's blessings! Hold on to God's word!! Hold on to God's plans for you to share His Gospel!! This is exactly what God was telling us so strongly with His presence last night!! Brother Paul spoke of His dream that witness the tremendous growth of our church, our denomination. His dream showed a building so crowded with saints worshipping and praising God that we weren't able to raise our hands due to the lack of room! We are holding on to God's promises!!! And we continue to bask in His Glory!! I pray that you will join us and experience this mighty blessing that God is pouring out on our congregation!!!

Basking in God's Glory!!

Rev. Jerry Ethridge & The Congregation of New Hope Christian Community Church

2007-06-14T21:31:00.000-05:00

It's been quite a while since my last post. The time has simply flown by! We've started Bible study in Tifton and are studying through the "Purpose Driven Life". It has been really refreshing. In the next week, Bible study will also begin in Valdosta! Praise the Lord for the added times of fellowship!! Since my last post, we've elected an associate pastor. Pastor Dale Goff has been elected to serve as the associate pastor and is doing a terrific job. We are gearing up for our 10 year anniversary celebration! I cannot believe that it has been 10 years since we began our ministry in Valdosta! We are planning a very special celebration which will include special guest speakers (Rev. Jay Neely, Presiding Minister of ICCC, and Pastor Randy Morgan, Pastor of New Covenant Church in Atlanta and founder of the church here in Valdosta). We will also have singer Sam Sampson with us and service will begin at 5 pm! We have also began having Potluck Supper on the last Sunday of each Month. We hope that you will join us in our worship service or in one of out Bible studies sometime soon!

Love in Christ,

Rev. Jerry Ethridge

2007-03-11T18:17:00.000-05:00

I cannot believe that it has been so long since I've posted. Time has certainly flown by! Do you ever feel like your life is going so fast that you can't see the trees passing you by? Lately, it has sure seemed that way for me! But you know, as I stepped back and examined the things that have happened in my life, the sometimes dizzying speed at which my life is spinning, is simply the whirlwind of blessings that have merely sprinkled my way as God does His works through my life. What a joy to know!! Some of the things that have transpired since my last blog are blessings, some are unique ways that God touches our lives through others. I've graduated ABAC and passed my NCLEX exam to become an RN, I've said goodbye to a good friend and mentor that passed away unexpectedly in February and realized what a true blessing he was on my life. This month has already been a blurr. Traveling constantly, spending a week in Washington, DC for the Georgia Society for Respiratory Care lobbying our Congressmen and Senators. Washington is magnificent! The feeling of awe from all of the history that has been made and is still being made! The week ended with a very busy Governing Board meeting in Atlanta. We accomplished a great deal including proposed changes to the ICCC Articles of Covenant and plans for the November ICCC Convocation. I'm very excited about Convocation this year! As planned last year the various areas handled different days of the services. This year, the Georgia churches will handle the Sunday morning service! As part of this, I will be delivering the message that morning. The Convocation theme this year is United in Love: One Mind, One Love, One Purpose with the primary scripture being Phillipians 2:1-5! Go ahead and start planning to attend! You'll definitely enjoy the time of fellowship and Spiritual renewal! I hope to see you all soon!

Love in Christ,

Rev. Jerry Ethridge

2007-01-01T10:37:00.000-05:00

I can't believe that another year has passed by. As we look forward to 2007, we need to be thankful for all the blessings that God bestowed upon us over the past year. We endured some rocky times in our lives with illness, loss of loved ones, and financial difficulties, but God has brought us through! We also need to remember to keep God in all of our plans for the future. If we leave Him out, our plans will surely lack the full blessings that God has assigned for us. I look forward to continuing the works that God has placed before us for the coming year! I pray that you each have a very happy and healthy New Year!!

2006-11-13T20:24:00.000-05:00

There are some experiences that words just cannot describe! Wow seems like an understatement when describing the spiritual renewal and fellowship that we experienced this past weekend at Convocation! As we celebrated our fourth convocation as a steady growing denomination, we were able to make new connections and to see old friends! Each of us were touched very deeply by our spiritual sharing during this time! There are many great ideas that have come from these experiences. The pastor cannot do it alone, as Pastor Steve Garrett said this past weekend, "If you're waiting on the pastor to do all the harvesting, then folks, you're gonna starve!" It is too much for one person to do, it takes the full body of Christ! It is no big secret that the harvest is ripe and that we are ALL hand picked for the kingdom of God and are all harvesters! It's time for us to boldly proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ and to reach out to all of those who are hurting! God is truly doing a work in us, and among us, and folks, let me tell you, He's getting ready to do a great work through us!!!! The holy spirit is stirring some folks, stirring them mentally, physically, and spiritually. Listen closely to what you are hearing! God is calling you to the front lines to do battle! It's time for us to grow His church!! The momentum is building and we are going to keep it going and become a mighty steamroller for God! We're about to start a revolution in Valdosta, GA that's gonna rock all of Georgia and Florida!! As part of my new duties as a Governing Board member, I've been appointed to coordinate the efforts of the Georgia churches. We are going to pool our resources and take Georgia by storm!! I pray that you will be a part of this storm and help us boldly proclaim as my friend, Rev. Mena Johnson does: "I know a man, His name is JESUS, and He will supply my EVERY need!!" Do you get that, not some of my needs, or a need every now and then, but HE WILL SUPPLY MY EVERY NEED!!! Praise God!!

I hope to see you in church soon!!

On Fire for Christ!!

Rev. Jerry Ethridge

2006-09-27T20:25:00.000-05:00

We suffered a great loss this past week with the death of one of our members, but Heaven gained a wonderful soul. John Whiddon answered Christ's call on Wednesday, September 20th at 915 am. As many of you know, John lived with me and Ray for the past 7 months, moving home to Ashburn to be with his family just 2 weeks before he died. He went peacefully with his family around him. Our home and our hearts are empty of a beautiful presence that we know we will see again someday in paradise! Due to many request of those who were not able to attend his funeral services, we will be having a Life Celebration Service and Social on Sunday, October 29th at 6PM. If you'd like more information, please give us a call!

Services this past Sunday were awesome!! Brother Dale Goff delivered a very powerful message and the Holy Spirit was so strong! God is truly doing a work in us and among us so that He can do a mighty work through us!! What a mighty God we serve!! Who else could possibly offer us the gift of eternal life!!

I look forward to seeing you all soon!!

Love in Christ,

Rev. Jerry Ethridge

2006-09-17T09:34:00.000-05:00

Can you believe that it will soon be Christmas? Here we are nearing the end of September and it seems like it was just January 1st!! We've completed our first round of fundraising and raised over $400! Praise God! We also have the winner for the Day Spa Raffle. The winner of the raffle is Jackie Laska of Tifton, GA!! Congratulations Jackie!! We also thank Penny Jordan and Jordans Salon and Day Spa for the wonderful gift valued at over $218. Special thanks to all of those on the Fundraising Committee for the hard work you are putting forth on these efforts and to each of our members and friends who took time to help sell the tickets! We've been richly blessed with God's presence as He begins a new and exciting work in us and through us! Come join in our worship and witness the wonderful works that God has put into motion as we continue to spread God's Love and the Good News of His Gospel!!

New Hope ICCC
"Where You're Part of the Family!!"

2006-07-31T19:52:00.000-05:00

The last Sunday of July was family fellowship. We are so blessed to have such wonderful people and terrific cooks! We had a meal that was out of this world and our attendance is steadily climbing!! GOD IS GOOD!! God's got great plans in the works for New Hope and I pray that each of you want to be a big part of those plans! There are so many people who have been told that they are not welcomed, they are not children of God, but we know that Christ's blood was not selective!! It is not gender specific, race specific, or fashion specific! We are intentionally diverse and welcome all of God's children to come worship with us! I pray that God is continuing to bless each of you as richly as He's blessing each of us!! We hope to see you soon!!

2006-06-12T17:56:00.001-05:00

What a wonderful, spirit filled service we had last night! Ray Vester ministered to us in song and word! He delivered a service that was so full of the Spirit of God! If you ever get the chance to see him in person, make arrangements to do so. We've also kicked off the first leg of our fundraising campaign. We are selling raffle tickets for an Afternoon Delight at Jordans Salon and Day Spa. The winner will recieve a European facial, massage, manicure, pedicure, lunch, hairstyle, make-up application. Tickets are on sale for $5 each and the drawing will be held on August 26th. If you'd like to purchase a ticket, just let us know!

2006-06-10T08:00:00.001-05:00

My how time passes! It has been a while since I've been able to update the journal. The past few weeks have been rather busy and full of God's mercy and grace! Our services have been filled with the Glory and Spirit of God. We have so many on our prayer list that are fighting battles. We have to remember that we are all soldiers for Christ! This past week I lost a dear friend and mentor to a month long battle with pancreatic cancer. Mrs. Pattie Garrett Clark was not only one of the best nursing instructors, but she was also a dear friend. It's always difficult to say that someone "lost" a battle with cancer or some other disease. In fact, they've not really lost at all, they've truly WON! She won her heavenly healing! She has a healing that no mortal mind can comprehend. The week has been filled with many trials and battles. Many fiery darts that satan has shot our way, but, Praise God! We are prayed up and we are circling the wagons and we have on the Full Armor of God and we are prepared to do the battle that we've been called to do! I glorify and praise God for the wonderful saints of God that He's placed in my life!

Please join us this Sunday at 6 PM as our special guest, Ray Vester, ministers to us in song and word! I look forward to seeing you all soon! May God continue to keep His loving arms of comfort and protection around you!

2006-03-14T06:21:00.000-05:00

Wow! What a wonderful, spirit-filled service we had this past Sunday night! Dale Goff delivered a powerful message--"Do You know My King?"! If you missed this sermon, you'll get another chance to here him speak. Keep an eye out for the next time he is scheduled. This coming Sunday, March 19th will mark the first sermon of a 3 part series on Life Changing Worship! Join us for choir practice at 5 PM and for our 6 PM services! I pray that you have a very blessed week!

2006-03-11T21:44:00.000-05:00

Wow! What a wonderful couple of weeks! Rod has done a fantastic job with the website! Church services have been so full of God's glory that it was very difficult to miss this past Sunday. Why did we miss? Ray and I celebrated out 13th anniversary this past Friday (March 10th)! We spent the week in San Diego. The first part of the week was for business and the last part was for vacation. It was wonderful! Wednesday we visited the San Diego Zoo--it was great, but take your walking shoes and invest in the extra for the bus tour. It is huge and very hilly! We rented a convertible and drove up the Pacific Coast Highway on Thursday. How amazing the beauty of God's creation! The mountains, the sea, the beaches, words cannot begin to express the beauty! How anyone can look at such glorious creations and think it was not created by our Heavenly Father is beyond me! I'm a bit of a history buff, so Friday we drove up to Simi Valley to the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library. It was very moving to see the tribute to this man. I learned that he had a Chapel built at Camp David so that he and Nancy could worship while they were there. On the way back down, we stopped in Hollywood and did a little shopping--very little--things are so expensive. It was wonderful just to ride and relax. We are both rested, revived, and ready to continue with the works before us!

I'm ready to be back in church this Sunday, March 12th. Brother Dale Goff will be delivering the message! Dale attended the same Church of God that I was raised in and formerly served as youth pastor. I hope that you will join us!

Remember to give PRAISE to GOD in all circumstances!

GOD BLESS!

2006-03-10T09:50:00.000-05:00

New Hope International Christian Community Church is a community of people united in proclaiming Jesus Christ as their Savior, to be an inclusive, affirming congregation. A church that stands firm behind its beliefs and vision, and that lives as witnesses to the Gospels it embraces ... we spring forth to be New Hope International Christian Community Church of Valdosta, Georgia

Contact us: newhopeiccc@newhopeiccc.org
Our Denomination: International Christian Community Churches