| South Hope Community Church |
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We are currently meeting at 9 AM Sundays in the gym (yellow attached building) during current Maine COVID restrictions.Welcome to South Hope Community Church.We are an imperfect body of people with a perfect Savior, who are not what we want to be yet, but are not what we used to be. And by God's grace, as we gaze at the glory of Christ in the Gospel, we are becoming who we are called to be as we bow to the One who makes all things new!
We want to be a people saturated by God's grace and a reservoir to others seeking His grace. Purpose
South Hope Community Church focuses on 5 essential principles that under-gird who we are and what we do:
1. The CORE of the Gospel "Now to him that is of power to stablish you according to my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began, But now is made manifest, and by the scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, made known to all nations for the obedience of faith:" Romans 16:25-26 The core of the Gospel is the kerygma. The kerygma is the Greek Word used in the New Testament of the announcement from God through His prophets of the promise of a Savior from sin and death. It announces the facts of the Messiah's life, sacrificial death, resurrection, ascension, and His return to judge the living and the dead. It is the facts of what God did in, to, and through his Son to reconcile our rebel humanity to a right relationship with God. The sermons in the book of Acts are great examples of the kerygma. (Acts 10; 1 Corinthians 1:13-31) 2. The CONTENT of the Gospel "For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith." Romans 1:16-17 The content of the Gospel is what God accomplished in the kerygma. It is what the the facts of the kerygma achieved. God chose to judge His Son as a sinner in order to treat sinners as though they were righteous. He does this when by grace through faith they have repented and believed the kerygma. The beautiful riches of the doctrines of the Gospel have been delivered to the believer in the kerygma. The Apostle Paul's early letters of Galatians and Romans lay out clearly the content of the Gospel. 3. The CONDUCT of the Gospel "And they continued stedfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers." Acts 2:42 The teaching in the NT, called the “didache” in the NT, is what the church is expected to learn and live before God, their households, the Household of God, and the watching world. Paul had to confront Peter for his conduct not living in line with the Gospel in Galatians 2:14. The conduct of the Gospel is living out gospel teaching in the midst of the world through sound doctrine (Titus 2:1) and good works that God prepared beforehand (Eph. 2:10). The teaching passed on through the Apostles of how our homes and the Household of God are to be calibrated according to God's plan in the NT is key to our witness to the world. 4. The CONTEXT of the Gospel "To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God, according to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord:" Ephesians 3:10-11 The local Church is what God has ordained as the context for which His multi-faceted grace is to shine like a prism to the universe. Christ forms through His gospel one new man in Christ, who is to live according to the Gospel as a well-ordered Gospel community to display God's glory (1 Peter 2:9-12). The intent of the Apostles in the book of Acts to not only see evangelism occur and discipleship to happen, but to see the disciples formed into churches with appointed leaders over them shows the passion they shared was the passion God has to see the context of the Gospel be the church whom He loves (Acts 14:21-23; Ephesians 5:25). 5. The COMMISSION of the Gospel "And when they had preached the gospel to that city, and had taught many, they returned again to Lystra, and to Iconium, and Antioch, Confirming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God. And when they had ordained them elders in every church, and had prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord, on whom they believed." Acts 14:21-23 The commission of the Gospel was given to the Apostles to plant believing communities throughout the world and to see the process continue. Making disciples to multiply Gospel communities is the task of the church. To evangelize strategically, establish churches, and entrust well-trained leaders is the the pattern in the NT that we see the Spirit used to carry out the Great Commission. According to 2 Timothy 2:2, developing faithful leaders who are have Spirit-formed character, competency, and commitment will keep the commission continuing until the Chief Shepherd returns. For the power of the Gospel to permeate the culture, there needs to be the commission of the Gospel. |
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