Expression of the Gospel

Jesus is still here on earth through His body.  One of the best things we can do for our friends who do not yet know, love, and follow Jesus is to introduce them to our other friends who do.  Jesus said that the love our unconvinced friends observe between us and our friends who are already followers of Jesus will be the most telling evidence possible for His reality, relevance, and authenticity.

In the context of imperfect but genuine Christian community, the message of Jesus will come alive in a way that a booklet or sermon never could communicate.  If our community of faith is filled with arrogance, divided by pride, infected with superiority, stagnant with lack of concern, or critical of others, we have other issues to deal with.  We believe that people will decide to follow Jesus in the context of authentic Christian community, not just in the context of information.

Community is an expression of the gospel, which is the good news of Jesus.  It is both our way of interpreting (hermeneutics) and defending (apologetics) the gospel.  The most powerful apologetic for the gospel is this: a community of people living in the power of the Holy Spirit.  The best we have as followers of God to show the world is how we live in community with Jesus at the center, just as the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit live in community.  Community is not an extra or bonus: it is the essence of what Christians have to offer.  We desire to talk the right talk about the gospel of Jesus in a culturally relevant way; live the talk as convictions and practices cannot be separated; and be community where we live.

We will seek to love and live out community through our local community of faith, called New Hope Church.  We are honored by every person whom God adds to our community.  We aim to work together to build the community of faith through maintaining mutual respect, open communication, determined cooperation, and believing and speaking the best about each other.  We also seek to love and be in community with Christians across denominational lines.  We make an effort to be in unity with Christians from other traditions, emphasizing what we hold in common rather than focusing on our differences.

A church for us is more than services and programs.  At heart it is a community of people.  At New Hope we want our community to be dynamic and alive, not static or stagnant, and so we value and encourage innovation, creativity, freedom, thought, dialogue, diversity, and lifelong spiritual searching and growth.

We are unapologetically a Christ-following community, rooted in the historic Christian faith, guided by the Bible, and learning to be vibrant followers of Jesus Christ.  However, our approach to ministry is geared to reach the changing (post-modern, post-Christendom) culture.  We intentionally use contemporary forms of music, casual dress, and a non-religious, non-hype, and laid back style. 

"You can develop a healthy, robust community that lives right with God and enjoy its results only if you do the hard work of getting along with each other, treating each other with dignity and honor" (James 3:18 - MSG).