New Hope Community Church
Our Mission
At New Hope Community Church, our mission is fourfold...
1. To share the good news of Jesus.
We are an evangelical church. Among other things, this means we believe Christ has entrusted His church with the spreading of the Good News of the Gospel. Towards this end, we preach the Gospel from the pulpit, but also feel that every member and regular attender of our church should be able to freely and comfortably share their faith with others. Therefore we actively teach evangelism from a Reformed perspective-- putting the emphasis on the regenerative work of the Holy Spirit rather than our own efforts-- but without diminishing our responsibiity. This frees the evangelist to "be themselves" and passionately share the truth of the Gospel in their homes, in their places of business, at the grocery store, or any place God gives them the opportunity.
But our passion for sharing the Gospel does not stop at our own borders. Each year we take multiple mission trips to Haiti, Peru, or local destinations like Cherokee, Arizona or Salt Lake City. Through preaching, teaching, skits, puppet shows, and story-telling, we take the good news of Christ to the nations-- even when language is a barrier. We start early, teaching our young people the skills they will need on the mission field. It is our goal not only to raise up strong disciples-- but to populate the world with missionaries.
2. To teach His Word.
It is easier than many people think to pinpoint the source of the disagreements between belief systems. All we need do is ask the question, "what is your source of authority"? In other words, "what do you hold to be absolute truth, and where can it be found"?
At New Hope Community church, we feel there is but one ultimate source of truth and a single voice of Authority-- the Bible and its illumination by the Holy Spirit. We believe the Bible is the authoritative, inerrant, and infallible Word of God. We believe it to be so simple that a child can understand it, and so deep that the greatest thinkers will never plumb its depths. Just as it was the quintessence of evil for Adam to reach beyond his boundaries in the Garden and try to be like God, we consider it to be the quitessence of arrogance to reach beyond the revelation that Scripture provides us. It is our standard and our rule.
Therefore, the Bible is all we teach. It is our passion and our quest-- to find the truth about God's plan of redemption as it is given to us by His special revelation. We are far more interested in discovering what the words of Scripture have to say to us than we are in justifying our particular belief system by Scripture. Towards that end, both our teaching and our preaching is expository and exegetical. We let the Scripture tell us what it means, and that is what we teach.
But our love for teaching the Word does not stop at our own borders. America has been blessed with incredible Spiritual resources in the form of Bible translations, commentaries, books, and teachers. We believe we should share the resources as much as possibe and usually take at least one trip a year to teach seminars for pastors and lay leaders in resource-starved areas like Haiti.
3. To love His people.
Many people say that from the very first time they enter our church, they notice something different about it. At first, they cannot put their finger on it, but ultimately they realize what they are feeling is the love of a close-knit family. Jesus was insistant that His followers love each other in this way-- in fact, He commanded it...
John 15:12 “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you."
In a fallen world, the love and unity of the body of Christ is not something that comes automatically or naturally. It is something to be strived for. At New Hope Community church, we are blessed with unity and love within a very diverse congregation. But we work hard at it, actively seeking to be servants to each other as well as to Christ. We are a family-- intricately bound together by His love.
But our love for the family of Christ does not stop at our own borders. We are not a club, but part of a vast Kingdom, that includes "every tribe and language and people and nation". Therefore our scope is global and our "sphere of significance" is expansive. If we are to be true disciples, we must love and care for our brothers and sisters in Christ no matter where they are.
4. To live His compassion.
Through His teachings, Jesus instructed us to be loving and kind. Through His life, He showed us how to be compassionate about the needs of others. Paul the apostle also taught us to be concerned about the poor of the world-- and especially within the "household of faith". It was illogical, Paul thought, for the church to be so double-minded that it was unconcerned about the plight of brothers and sisters who were in need.
Therefore, we have a strong sense of benevolence within our church and within our community. It is easy to become closed-in on ourselves, worrying only about our own problems and not those of other people. We believe that our Christ-like compassion should be visible and evident in our community--but never to the exclusion of the Gospel. To minister to the physical needs of a community while ignoring their Spiritual deprivation would be a cruel joke and little more than a "social gospel". But a strong commitment to the Gospel should carry with it a strong commitment to benevolence. So we do what we can to minister to the needs of those around us.
But our sense of benevolence does not stop at our borders. We feel especially close to our church families in Pignon, Haiti where we have built multiple churches and schools and medical clinics. Where we go yearly to bring medical aid, earthquake relief, hope and encouragement to impoverished people in the rural communities of the Plateau Centrale. Where we currently support over 90 orphans in three locations, providing them with food, clothing, shelter, and basic medical needs.