Being a Faithful Church

Our church is growing. I am grateful for those who are deciding to join us, to be baptized, to serve God alongside us. I find myself asking God what we are to do to be a faithful church for those who are becoming part of our family. These are some answers I think I hear God giving us.

We are to be the family of God. This means we focus our thinking and our actions on the relationships we are building. We want our church to be a family in which there is love that comes through knowing each other, accepting each other, and celebrating each other’s gifts and abilities.

We are to be grateful for the spiritual gifts God is bringing to New Hope. In the Bible are these words in Romans 12: “God has given us different gifts for doing certain things well. So if God has given you the ability to prophesy, speak out with as much faith as God has given you. If your gift is serving others, serve them well. If you are a teacher, teach well. If your gift is to encourage others, be encouraging. If it is giving, give generously. If God has given you leadership ability, take the responsibility seriously. And if you have a gift for showing kindness to others, do it gladly.” God is surely sending among us followers of Christ who have these gifts. Notice the list and think with me about how we can encourage all of our members to use their gifts to build up our church: prophesy (speaking out), encouraging others, giving, leadership, and showing kindness. God wants us to help our members to discover their gifts and put them to use.

We are to know the whole truth and teach it love. Being there for people when they are going through difficult times is part of what God wants us to do. He also gives us a harder assignment. We are to teach people to obey the hard truths that Jesus gave us: “You cannot serve God and wealth.” “Your life does not consist of the abundance of things you own.” “Looking at the opposite sex with lust is adultery.” “Anger can be destructive; it is your responsibility to learn to resolve your anger quickly.” “Be honest and direct in your commitments to others.” “Forgive those who sin against you, otherwise God will not forgive you.” “Love your enemies.” “Don’t seek revenge.” “Put God’s work first and do what he wants.” All of these hard teachings are in The Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7) and they are the path of life, the path Jesus places in front of us.

In God’s family we call New Hope Baptist Church we teach that the way to love God is to obey God. Nothing in the world is more important than loving God and letting God’s love flow through us to others.