THE MISSION of Hope Christian Fellowship Making Disciples Who Live and Love like Jesus 1
OUR FOUNDATION THE GREAT COMMANDMENT Matthew 22:36-40 Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law? 37 Jesus replied: Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments. THE GREAT COMMISSION Matthew 28:18-20 Then Jesus came to them and said, All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age. 2
The Mission of Hope Christian Fellowship Making Disciples who Live & Love like Jesus. Our hope at Hope is to see people living and loving like Jesus, so that we can have an impact on our culture, producing the greatest opportunity for people to come to Christ. We believe that as people submit to the Lordship of Christ, individual lives will be transformed, families will be established, the Church will be built up, God will be glorified, and our culture changed. So everything we do should have this Mission Statement in mind. How do we accomplish this? Everything we do at HCF is based upon the foundation laid by the Lord Himself in what is called The Great Commandment and The Great Commission. Through these two greats, we establish our values, our mission, our goals, and the tasks we are to accomplish for our ministry. Through the rest of this booklet, we are going to look at each one of these subjects and some of the components that they consist of. Our Values: Love God Completely Love Ourselves Correctly Love Others Compassionately As we live out these essential and guiding values, we will glorify the Lord by living and loving like Him. 3
Our Goal Our goal is to encourage, equip, envision and empower people to live and love like Jesus, as they grow closer to Him. (II Tim 2:1-2, Eph 4:11-16) Encourage We want to encourage people by: Loving them -always, under every circumstance, no exceptions. Accepting them totally, without reservation. Forgiving them - no matter how miserably they fail or how blatantly they sin, we want to forgive just as Jesus did for us. (John 13:34-35) Love, Acceptance and Forgiveness is foundational to fulfilling our mission at Hope. Equip We Equip by helping people to: Know Christ and discover, "Who is God?" (Eph 1:17) Grow in Christ and discover, "Who Am I?" (Col 1:28) Serve others out of our relationship with Christ -and discover, "What's My Purpose?" (II Cor 9:6-8) Out of this equipping process we hope to see godly habits develop that help keep us keep focused on living and loving like Jesus. The "Habits of Hope" Feast on the Word Pray without Ceasing Cleanse through Confession Love like Jesus Forgive Daily Build Relationships Learn to Give We want to equip hundreds, to train thousands, to influence millions, to affect billions. So, equipping people to "live and love like Jesus," is a vital part of what we re all about. 4
Envision As people grow in their relationships with the Lord, we want to envision them to grow in their relationship with others as well. In our auditorium hangs a banner that reads, Relationships are the bridges over which values are transferred. To live and love like Jesus is to have a heart to build the church and reach the lost, we must envision people to do so. It starts by connecting with people and intentionally building bridges of relationship. Relational bridge-builders focus on: Yielding to the Holy Spirit. (Rom.8:14) Building Relationships. (II Cor 5:16-21, Rom 10:14) Sharing the values we ve discovered from God's Word. (Ps 119:105) Building relationships gives us opportunity: To inspire people to live and love like Jesus. To influence others as we come along side them and share our God-given values. To impact through developing organized efforts. Empower Ultimately, it is the Lord Himself who empowers His people, yet we have a role to play in this empowerment to come alongside and be of help. We believe that each person has a work to do in the Kingdom of God. (Eph.2:10) We do our best to make a way for you to accomplish your Godgiven destiny. We help empower you by equipping and at times supplying what you need to accomplish your task, and help eliminate any distractions to it. We fully believe what it say's in Ephesians 4:16,"Were all built up in love as each part does it work." Our Methods To attain our goal, we use: Sunday Morning Small Groups Seminars & Events 5
What does God Require of Us? (to accomplish our mission) Build the Church Reach the Lost Fight the Good Fight Let's discuss each area individually: Build the Church Jesus came to seek and save the lost, but it is through the Church that he chooses to do it. If the church is not built, the Lord's mission is hindered from its ability to accomplish its mission. (Matt. 28:18-20, Matt.16:18) Therefore, we must make it our priority to allow the Holy Spirit to work in and through us, to build a strong healthy Church to accomplish His task. (Eph 3:10) Reach the Lost If seeking and saving the lost is His purpose, we should make it our purpose living and loving like Him! (Luke 19:10) We must be Ambassadors of His heart, His will, and the message of His Kingdom. We are to be bearers of the "Good News" with a heart motivation that conveys, Jesus loves you. (2 Cor. 5:18-21, John 3:16-17) Fight the Good Fight We have been called to "fight the good fight" and "overcome evil" until Christ returns. The Lord is looking for faithful people to engage in this task (1 Tim 6:12, 2 Tim. 4:7, Rom. 12:21, 2 Tim 2:1-2) Four ways we can do this: Prayer -The Bible clearly tells us to pray for our enemies and to pray for those in authority over us, so that the Gospel can be declared. (Matt 5:44, Eph 6:18-20) Doing Good To triumph over evil we must do good. (Rom 12:21) Standing Firm If we fail to stand firm in the truths of the Lord, evil will overcome our communities. (Luke 21:17-19) Never Giving Up Rewards await those who don't give up. (Gal 6:9-10) 6
Where are we to do this? We are to "fight the good fight" wherever we are, whoever we re with. There are four specific areas to focus upon: Our Heart Guard your heart, the Bible says, for it is the wellspring of life." We must protect our heart, not allowing ourselves to be led astray or giving the devil any foothold in it. Our Home Our families must be guarded and directed against the ways of the world and the flesh. We must build our homes to be places of peace and harmony, not allowing them to become dens of chaos and confusion. Our Church The Church is a place for people to encourage and build each other in the Lord. It protects and corrects our hearts and our homes. Without a strong Church we will not have a strong life and a strong home. Our Community, Nation, and World The Bible is very clear, we are accountable to God and have a responsibility to others in this world. We cannot afford to ignore the condition of the world we live in. Jesus's heart and will has always been for the whole world, not just a few. We join with Him in that heart and responsibility. (Gen 1:26-28, Matt. 9:36-38, Matt. 28:18-20, Luke 4:18, John 3:16-17) Conclusion Again, we want to see people living and loving like Jesus, having an impact on our culture, producing the greatest opportunity for people to come to Christ. As we submit to the Lordship of Christ, lives will be transformed, families will be established, the Church will be built up, God will be glorified, and our culture will be changed. It is our desire to see this fulfilled in our lifetime and make a difference in our generation! Won't you join us in this great adventure? 7
ONE CHURCH TWO LOCATIONS Hope Christian Fellowship 13320 State Route 7 Lisbon, OH 44432 330-385-4673 Hope Christian Fellowship 43152 State Route 39 Wellsville, OH 43968 330-362-0224 HopeCF@revealjesus.com www.revealjesus.com 8