Purpose

We are a community of followers of Jesus Christ, committed to spiritual practices so that the Holy Spirit can bring transformation, which propels us into sharing and showing God's love to others. "This is what the LORD says: 'Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls'" (Jeremiah 6:16 - TNIV). Would you like to journey with us?

New Hope... Something Different

A bit of humor for what many find on Sunday mornings around America. This video represents something that works for some, but not for others. We are seeking at New Hope to move away from the "entertainment based" and "cool factor" church to be a community of followers of Jesus who are transformed by Him so that we can join Him on mission in the world.

"Sunday's Coming" Movie Trailer from North Point Media on Vimeo.

Missional Church

The Missional Church... Simple from jeff maguire on Vimeo.

The Late Wimber on Following Jesus

Sacraments for Mission

Prayer-Based Community

What is to follow came from "A Year With God: Living Out The Spiritual Disciplines" by Richard Foster and Julia Roller.

Acts 1:13-14 (NLT) says, "When they arrived, they went to the upstairs room of the house where they were staying. Here are the names of those who were present: Peter, John, James, Andrew, Philip, Thomas, Bartholomew, Matthew, James (son of Alphaeus), Simon (the Zealot), and Judas (son of James). They all met together and were constantly united in prayer, along with Mary the mother of Jesus, several other women, and the brothers of Jesus."

Not long after Jesus' ascension we find the disciples forming new communities of faith based on prayer and worship. Prayer is the center-piece of communal life. It is also the most prominent individual discipline. Repeatedly, we find Peter and John, then Barnabas, and eventually Paul waiting for God in prayer and then exploding into action as God's spirit propels them into the world. Vigorous petition, profound intercession, and pleas for guidance pour forth from the hearts of these early disciples. And heaven answers: "When they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God with boldness" (Acts 4:31).

What do you think it would fell like to be so connected to God that your petitions are his, that you have "become Word," as this quote calls it?

"Prayer is the superabundance of the heart. It is brim-full and running over with love and praise, as once it was with Mary, when the Word took root in her body. So too, our heart breaks out into a Magnificat. Now the Word has achieved its 'glorious course' (2 Thess. 3:1): it has gone out from God and been sown in the good soil of the heart. Having now been chewed over and assimilated, it is regenerated in the heart, to the praise of God. It has taken root in us and is now bearing its fruit: we in our turn utter the Word and send it back to God. We have become Word; we are prayer" (Andre Louf, Teach Us To Pray).

Not Breaking the Bruised Reeds

Some of us tend to do away with things that are slightly damaged. Instead of repairing them we say: "Well, I don't have time to fix it, I might as well throw it in the garbage can and buy a new one." Often we also treat people this way. We say: "Well, he has a problem with drinking; well, she is quite depressed; well, they have mismanaged their business...we'd better not take the risk of working with them." When we dismiss people out of hand because of their apparent woundedness, we stunt their lives by ignoring their gifts, which are often buried in their wounds. We all are bruised reeds, whether our bruises are visible or not. The compassionate life is the life in which we believe that strength is hidden in weakness and that true community is a fellowship of the weak. By: Henri J.M. Nouwen's Bread for the Journey

Time for Community Gathered Worship

Join us this Sunday for our worship gathering at 5:30pm at 4400 W. Tulare Avenue.

Bridge of Hope

New Hope is committed to bridge the gap of hunger in the community among the homeless. If you would like to participate once a month, call the church office or email us for more information.

 

Without A God-Breathed Vision People Lose Hope and Die

Purpose

We are a community of followers of Jesus Christ, committed to spiritual practices that the Holy Spirit uses to facilitate spiritual transformation that then thrusts us into a missional engagement with others as we naturally and routinely go through life.

Equip for Mission

Christ gifts the church with apostles (extend the gospel), prophets (know God's will), evangelists (communicator of the gospel), pastors (nurture and protect), and teachers (understand and explain) with the responsibility to equip (disciple) God's people to do His work (Ephesians 4:11-16).

The Mission of God: The Upward Journey (Loving God)

Our large gathering in community is a time of worship, celebration, stories of God's activity, gifts of the Holy Spirit, encouragement, teaching, giving, Holy Communion, water baptism, Children's and Jr. High (Road 678) Community Groups, etc.

The Mission of God: The Inward Journey (Loving Ourselves)

Missional Communities are the central discipleship arm and primary vehicle to accomplish our vision. The essential purpose of smaller communities is the practicing of love and trust and the growing into Christlikeness in a space of intentional grace.  Missional Communities help us learn about and experience the incredible love of God, which helps us in turn to love Him and ourselves.

The Mission of God: The Outward Journey (Loving Others)

Loving God and ourselves helps us to love our spouse, children, family, neighbors, co-workers, and others around us. God calls us to love others and to go into all the world to make disciples. The mission of God leads us to be good stewards of creation and involved in God's justice (Luke 4:18-19; Isaiah 58; Matthew 25).

Great Quotes by Henri Nouwen

Prayer:   "To pray, I think, does not mean to think about God in contrast to thinking about other things, or to spend time with God instead of spending time with other people. Rather, it means to think and live in the presence of God. As soon as we begin to divide our thoughts about God and thoughts about people and events, we remove God from our daily life and put him into a pious little niche where we can think pious thoughts and experience pious feelings. … Although it is important and even indispensable for the spiritual life to set apart time for God and God alone, prayer can only become unceasing prayer when all our thoughts - beautiful or ugly, high or low, proud or shameful, sorrowful or joyful - can be thought in the presence of God. … Thus, converting our unceasing thinking into unceasing prayer moves us from a self-centered monologue to a God-centered dialogue."

Attractional:  "Jesus refused to be a stunt man.  He did not come to walk on hot coals, swallow fire, or put his hand in the lion's mouth to demonstrate that he had something worthwhile to say."

Leadership:  "Christian leaders cannot simply be persons who have well-informed opinions about the burning issues of our time.  Their leadership must be rooted in the permanent, intimate relationship with the incarnate Word, Jesus, and they need to find there the source for their words, advice, and guidance."

Power and Control:  "It seems easier to be God than to love God, easier to control people than to love people, easier to own life than to love life..."  "The temptation of power is greatest when intimacy is a threat.  Much Christian leadership is exercised by people who do not know how to develop healthy, intimate relationships and have opted for power and control instead.  Many Christian empire-builders have been people unable to give and receive love."

Name-Calling:  "Words like 'right-wing,' 'reactionary,' 'conservative,' 'liberal,' and 'left-wing' are used to describe people's opinions, and many discussions then seem more like political battles for power than spiritual searches for the truth."

Interesting!

It seems like the church in the last couple of decades is at possible risk of spending more time entertaining than equipping people for God's mission. We are highly vulnerable to a fixation with technological savvy and "cool" communication. This can often become a substitute for the Holy Spirit's power in our lives and in our pursuing a lifestyle that incarnates Jesus' ministry and power. We have a growing passion at New Hope for Jesus Himself, the Kingdom of God, and a pursuit for cultivating disciples as Kingdom agents on mission.

Worship

We should jealously guard God's glory in worship. It is not about us! We ought to be sensitive to the issue of showmanship verses worship. Worship is to be Christ-centered, not human-centered. Whenever the focus becomes the music or being trendy, cool, or gauging the experience by emotional responses rather than the glory of God, it should make us feel uncomfortable. We must value the activity of the Holy Spirit in our midst during worship and the importance of being sensitive to God. We can come to worship with an expectation to meet with God rather than putting on or experiencing a show. Worship is about an audience of One! May there be a strong "encounter" in worship - the people of God, in the presence of God, pouring out the praises of God.

Training Center for Love

Church is not so much an institution, but more of a training center for love - loving God, loving ourselves, and loving others (Matthew 22:37-40).