Archive for May, 2009

Pray for Student Ministries

Thursday, May 28th, 2009

High caliber student ministries are a value of Hope and will be a value at the Morrisville campus. Did you know that 95% of believers come to faith in Jesus by the age of 21? I, myself, was 17 yrs old when Jesus radically changed my life. Obviously, KidsCity and Hope’s Student Ministry need our prayers and investment.

Donnie Peters has identified some specific ways we can be praying right now:

Leadership

  • Wisdom and protection for the current student ministry team
  • Need for new staff and volunteers at all three campuses

Influence

  • A place with passion for the un-churched and ideas to reach the over 75,000 students in our communities
  • A place for students to experience a life changing relationship with Jesus

Worship

  • A place where students learn to put God first
  • Middle School services at each campus
  • High School transition to Sunday night service

Community

  • A place to build relationships between students
  • Host homes and leaders for middle school and high school small groups

Transformation

  • A place where students grow in their relationship with Christ
  • That the changes in student ministries help change more lives

Service

  • A place where students change the world by serving others
  • Opportunities and people to lead students to serve
  • That we will change our communities, our country and the world through meeting the needs of others

IMPORTANT: Donnie will be joining us at the family picnic on May 31 to share an important update on what student ministry will look like at the new campuses.

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Pray for KidsCity

Wednesday, May 27th, 2009

Laura Lee and her team do an excellent job ministering to our children. I know many of you already volunteer in KidsCity. Keep up the good work!

Recently Laura identified specific ways we can be praying right now:

Paid Staff

  • That God will bring the right people needed to lead
  • For current employees and their increased workload

Volunteers

  • To take leadership and regular volunteer position at multi-sites
  • A One-On-One Buddy Coordinator for Raleigh campus
  • For Saturday night at Raleigh Campus

KidsCity seeks to be one of the best hours of the week for our kids. Every week they help our children experience Jesus on their level. Let’s never be caught taking this for granted. Pray for KidsCity, volunteer at every opportunity, and do whatever you can to keep the entire KidsCity team encouraged.

KidsCity will definately be a strong value of the Morrisville campus!

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The Kingdom

Tuesday, May 26th, 2009

In Matthew 6:33 Jesus teaches us to, “seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”

 

Launching a new campus is not about expanding Hope Community Church. Don’t get me wrong. I love Hope! I’m blessed to be allowed by God to be a part of Hope, but Jesus didn’t say, “and I will build Hope Community Church”. He said, “and I will build my church.” Obviously, Hope is a part of “THE” Church and “THE” Kingdom.

 

James 4:3 warns us, “When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives”. If our motive for going multi-site is to expand Hope Community Church then we will have failed before we even launch. This is not about building “OUR” kingdom. Jesus is the King of “HIS” Kingdom. Pastor Mike will be the first to caution us that we are not about building “A” or “OUR” kingdom. We are about building “THE” Kingdom or “HIS” Kingdom.

 

Yes, there is a need to free up parking spaces and seats at the Raleigh campus. Yes, we need to expand in order to reach more people, but God has made it very clear that His plan for providing “all these other things” is for us to first and foremost seek His kingdom and His righteousness.

 

This is all about Him not us. This is about advancing His kingdom not about expanding Hope Community Church. Failure to understand and honor this will result in substantial disappointment. Because this is about The Kingdom we must be open to God and His kingdom ways including His provisions and His timing.

 

Together, let’s unite our hearts in one common prayer, “Father, let your Kingdom come! Let your will be done on earth as it is in heaven”. Let us wholeheartedly seek first The Kingdom. Are you with me?

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