At New Hope, we believe that our God, the Father of the Lord Jesus Christ, is a relationship God. He longs for relationship, pursues
relationship, makes covenant with man, and works through His Holy Spirit to maintain His relationship with us. As a result, our
corporate worship gatherings focus on being with Him, listening to His word, and responding to Him in thanksgiving and adoration.
Throughout the Bible we see the evidences of God longing to be with His people. He created the garden as the place where He
could walk with Adam and Eve “in the cool of the day.” He directed Moses to erect a tabernacle, a place for His glory (His presence)
to dwell. The Gospel of John says that the God-man, Jesus Christ, came to “tabernacle” among us. Finally, Peter says that the
church is now the temple of God, made up of living stones, where God’s current priesthood can offer spiritual sacrifices to Him.
God longs to be with His people. And when we learn this, most of us long to experience Him. So the only remaining question is,
“How do we get there?”
We believe there are five things we must do as we seek the Lord’s presence together…
We need to come together in His Name and recognize Him right away. Jesus promised to be with us as we come together in His
name. What does that mean? To gather “in His Name” means to come together under His authority, and for His purposes. It
means that we are looking to further His cause by doing the things (as His Body) that He would do. In short, it means that when we
gather, we are saying “Let HIS Kingdom come!” To gather for any other purpose is not to gather “in His name.” And we need to
recognize Him – Let us address our verses to the King! (Ps 45.) Worship in His Presence assumes that He is here!
We need to recognize that He is holy, and make sure that our sinfulness is cleansed by the blood of Christ. The Presence is not
“touchy-feely” – He is powerful. We should know that we have the right to come into God’s presence. He wants us to! But we also
need to know that God’s holiness demands that we be cleansed and treat Him with the utmost respect.
We need to understand that we are worshipping on His terms and according to His good pleasure, not ours. We shouldn't
assume that we know what is pleasing to God by what makes us feel religious. It’s all about Him, not us.
We need to bring the sacrifices of worship, so that He might consume them in His presence. I Peter 2:5 tells us that we need to
know what is the acceptable sacrifice to bring the Lord. Not all offerings are acceptable at all times.
We need to expect Him to speak and act, and to do what He wants to do among us. We believe that God is speaking, and that He
speaks to us in a number of ways. He speaks through our mouths and works through our hands.
Music and Worship...
Worship is more than music, but music can help us to express our worship. We have many excellent musicians who aid us in
worship. Our music is contemporary. We have a band rather than a choir. We encourage freedom of expression in worship, but
never in a manner that would draw our attention away from God. We employ symbols and brief periods of silence so each person
can find their own way into God’s presence.
Communion and Worship...
We make communion available every Sunday for those who wish to partake. We believe that as we come in faith to the table, we are
able to receive the benefits of the table – forgiveness of sins, restoration of our souls, and healing. This happens as we encounter
Christ and commune with Him in our hearts.
*Our Worship Team rehearses every Thursday at 7:00 pm.
We invite you to come visit and talk to us about being a part of the worship ministry at New Hope.
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