What is God calling you to do this year?

How is God calling you to expand his Kingdom through your prayer, service, and giving?

At New Hope, we seek to be a church that is rooted in God’s Word, renewed by the Holy Spirit, and reaching the world for Jesus Christ.  Jesus shapes our purpose; he is at the core of who we are and all we do.  It’s only through Jesus that we are transformed; it’s only through Jesus that this community will be transformed.  I believe the ministry and mission we do here, is making a significant difference for the Kingdom as we meet the spiritual, emotional, and physical needs of people inside and outside the walls of our church, pointing people to Jesus, and sharing a message of true hope.  We are actively working to make more and better followers of Jesus.  We are actively working to make a difference for Jesus in the lives of the people in this community, this place in which God has placed us for a purpose.

Why am I sharing this?  Well, the beginning of a new year is a great time to refocus and reflect on all these things to which God has called us as a church.  It’s also a great time to spend time as individuals praying about how God has called us to participate in this good work.  And friends, God has called every single one of us.  God has not called any of us to be spectators. This means lots of prayers; this means service.  And it also means giving.  Giving is an important spiritual practice.  Giving is certainly an act of obedience to God but it is also an act of worship.  When we give well to the work of God in this world, to what we do right here at New Hope, we are giving glory to God.  We are saying, “God, I belong to you. I want to be part of expanding your Kingdom.” And my own experience is that giving, especially giving sacrificially, changes our heart.  Because it’s an act of trust in God, it draws us closer to him. I think of what Jesus said in Matthew 6 when he teaches, “where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

So, I am asking all of you to prayerfully reflect on your giving to New Hope.  We have a very generous faith family and we are incredibly grateful for your offerings.  But I would ask you to think about several things:

First, are you tithing?  Malachi 3:10 reads, Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the Lord Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it.  Throughout Scripture, we find commands and calls for God’s people to tithe. The word tithe here actually translates 1/10.  God calls us to give a tenth of our earnings to his work in this world.  Because historically most people don’t give 10% to the church, this has at times been a hard conversation.  And yet, we can’t shy away from talking about finances at church.  Giving 10%, tithing truly demonstrates our complete trust in Jesus Christ.  Let’s be clear.  God doesn’t NEED our money. Rather, this kind of giving demonstrates that we understand that all we have belongs to God.  It was never ours to begin with!  A big part of trusting Jesus with our life is also trusting him with our resources.  It’s a step of faith and it's the only area of our lives in which God’s Word says “test me in this.”  So, if you aren’t giving a tenth of your earnings, I would encourage you to test God in this.  He will be faithful. 

Maybe you are in a financial situation right now in which 10% seems out of reach.  What I would ask you to do is look at how much you are giving and pick a number that is a stretch.  Pick a number in which you will be truly trusting and testing God.  Maybe you are giving 2% of your income.  Try pushing it to 4%.  Put God to the test.  Boldly trust him and see what happens.

But maybe you are giving well, you are already tithing.  I would ask you to consider a gift above and beyond what you normally give.  We have so many amazing mission and ministry areas that are making a difference for God’s Kingdom, helping us work towards our purpose here at New Hope. Here are three areas for which we currently have a need:

-First, you might consider giving toward mission trips for our youth this summer.  These trips are life-changing for our young people, helping them grow in their faith and see God at work in very tangible and visible ways.  Raising $15,000 toward youth mission this summer would enable us to send more kids and see more lives changed.

--You might also consider giving toward our disaffiliation costs.  Through this whole process of disaffiliation (which will soon be complete), we have wholeheartedly trusted in God and boldly stood on orthodox Christian values.  I believe and I know many of you do as well that this is God’s will for us at New Hope; it’s our chance for renewal and revival.  While this is an exciting transition, it does come with a financial cost.   Our hope is to raise $250,000 in donations specifically toward our disaffiliation costs.  If this is something for which you are passionate, I would ask you to consider a financial contribution.

-You may consider giving toward improvements on our Dover campus.  This month, we are starting Sunday morning worship services at Dover.  Up until this point, we have done a lot of incredible ministry throughout the week and now we can’t wait to see how God works through Sunday worship.  But the reality is that our buildings and campus at Dover need a lot of significant work --- a large donation in this area would be a beautiful way to invest in God’s Kingdom.

And so I ask you to pray.  What is God calling you to do this year?  How is God calling you to expand his Kingdom through your prayer, service, and giving?  On January 29, during the final week of our, We are New Hope sermon series, we will be talking about how we are placed here for a purpose.  We will be passing out a commitment card in worship.  There will also be an online version.  On that card, you will have the opportunity to commit to praying for New Hope for a specified time period every week.  You will have the opportunity to commit to serving inside or outside the walls of the church.  Finally, you will have the opportunity to commit to giving a certain percentage of your income and/or making a financial commitment to a specific area at the church, whether it’s disaffiliation costs, mission, Dover repairs, or some other ministry area.  We will have a time at the end of service during which we will all come to the altar and offer God our sacrificial prayer, service, and giving.  It’s our time to acknowledge who and whose we are, to say, “God, I belong to you and all I have is yours.” It’s our time to respond to the call God has for each of us to participate in HIS work in this world.  God has called you and he has called me.  The question is: will we say yes?

-Pastor Vicki Harrison