Wednesday, November 13, 2013

Night of Hope Benefit Concert 11.16.13

This weekend, I'm thrilled to be doing my first concert with artist Christaholik as an outpostChurch special event.  This concert is a FREE event (but please bring at least three canned goods per person!!), to help raise food for the St. Matthew's House of Naples.

We are calling this event the "Night of Hope", because of a startling realization: too many people are desperately trying to find a ray of hope right now - Christians included.  While we're solid on suffering, we struggle often for a strength of hope.  But hope is free to us!  The catch is - hoping in the right thing.

The Bible tells us that hope in possessions or status will be shaken, but that we can hope in this: the faithful love of the Lord never ends and His mercies never cease. (Lamentations 3:17-24).

There are two options to this - we can do a concert that plays on your emotions alone, makes you feel good, but leaves you helpless to invest that hope anywhere.  Or, we can do a concert that has an emotional impact because of the incredible truth it reveals, but gives you at least one solid option on how you can invest your hope and see it grow in your life and in the lives of others.

The St. Matthew's House is a place that fosters hope by showing love and mercy as God did when he allowed His son, Jesus, to take our place.  We want to encourage you to not only come out and support this organization, but to invest your time and prayers into their work when you're able to do so anytime during the year. 

Here's a flyer for you to print out and share.  Or, if you want to simply share this post on your social media site, feel free to share the link from your browser.  

Download and print to share with friends!
And if you've not yet checked it out, visit my new website at www.crystallaine.com with a demo of the song "Emmanuel (With Us)" that we wrote for the church a couple months ago!  Saturday night's concert will feature several other new songs by myself and Christaholik, as well as a collaboration we're elated to share with you!

Don't miss it!

Peace has been stripped away, 
and I have forgotten what prosperity is.
I cry out, "My splendor is gone! 
Everything I had hoped for from the Lord is lost!"
The thought of my suffering and homelessness is bitter beyond words.  
I will never forget this awful time, as I grieve over my loss.
Yet still 
dare to hope 
when I remember this: 
The 
faithful love 
of the 
Lord 
never ends! 
His mercies never cease.
Great 
is his faithfulness; 
His mercies begin afresh 
each morning.
I say to myself, 
"The Lord is my inheritance; 
therefore, 
I will hope in Him!"

(Lamentations 3:17-24, NLT)