This Sunday, we continue our three week series on core values, *"What We Value at New Hope."* Core values could be thought of as our fundamental beliefs. They help us discern right and wrong and provide a foundation that guides behavior, policies, and decisions. Core values are essential for all organizations but are of the utmost importance in the church. Many churches have very similar doctrinal beliefs: the Bible is the inspired word of God, the Trinity, the virgin birth, the deity of Christ, the ministry of the Holy Spirit, salvation by grace through faith, etc. These are things that should be unchanging core values in our church and really every church. However, there must be core values in the application of these biblical values. Professing biblical values is one thing—applying them correctly is another. If all we needed to do was proclaim them, then most churches would automatically flourish and grow (and they aren't). But we also have to live them out. We have to embody them; be living examples of them. At New Hope, we have seven core values that are essential to who we are as a family of faith. This is how we have chosen to live out these foundational Biblical principles. **At New Hope...** * We love Jesus. * We care about all people. * We follow God’s guidance. * We seek to live out truth with grace. * We work in teams and value everyone’s input. * We are open to taking risks and making bold decisions. This week, we will focus on the second two: We follow God’s guidance and we will seek to live out truth with grace. Our Scripture will come from 1 Corinthians 13:1-3, 2 Corinthians 5:17, 1 Corinthians 13:4-7, Matthew 14:27b-29, Ephesians 6:19-20. Subscribe to our **New Hope UMC Sunday Sermon Podcast** on: * [Apple Podcasts](https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/new-hope-umc-sunday-sermon-podcast/id1093524425?mt=2) * [Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/show/2habfMJ6S8jirQnpimNwHg?si=nKlvpZRrQYKnsJSJc6Du3Q) * [Stitcher Radio](http://www.stitcher.com/s?fid=87782&refid=stpr) * [Google Play](https://play.google.com/music/m/Ijonx62ajd5qwxv3qgxkizdqnva?t=New_Hope_UMC_Sunday_Sermon_Podcast) * [Subscribe on Android](http://subscribeonandroid.com/findnewhopesunday.libsyn.com/rss) * [YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLFZw6j-ZlY45HU-m-lQ5XYuphsrbeJMsk)

This Sunday, we continue our three week series on core values, *"What We Value at New Hope."* Core values could be thought of as our fundamental beliefs. They help us discern right and wrong and provide a foundation that guides behavior, policies, and decisions. Core values are essential for all organizations but are of the utmost importance in the church. Many churches have very similar doctrinal beliefs: the Bible is the inspired word of God, the Trinity, the virgin birth, the deity of Christ, the ministry of the Holy Spirit, salvation by grace through faith, etc. These are things that should be unchanging core values in our church and really every church. However, there must be core values in the application of these biblical values. Professing biblical values is one thing—applying them correctly is another. If all we needed to do was proclaim them, then most churches would automatically flourish and grow (and they aren't). But we also have to live them out. We have to embody them; be living examples of them. At New Hope, we have seven core values that are essential to who we are as a family of faith. This is how we have chosen to live out these foundational Biblical principles. **At New Hope...** * We love Jesus. * We care about all people. * We follow God’s guidance. * We seek to live out truth with grace. * We work in teams and value everyone’s input. * We are open to taking risks and making bold decisions. This week, we will focus on the second two: We follow God’s guidance and we will seek to live out truth with grace. Our Scripture will come from Isaiah 30:21a, John 16:13, Acts 15:28a, 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18, John 1:14, and 1 Corinthians 5:12-13. Subscribe to our **New Hope UMC Sunday Sermon Podcast** on: * [Apple Podcasts](https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/new-hope-umc-sunday-sermon-podcast/id1093524425?mt=2) * [Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/show/2habfMJ6S8jirQnpimNwHg?si=nKlvpZRrQYKnsJSJc6Du3Q) * [Stitcher Radio](http://www.stitcher.com/s?fid=87782&refid=stpr) * [Google Play](https://play.google.com/music/m/Ijonx62ajd5qwxv3qgxkizdqnva?t=New_Hope_UMC_Sunday_Sermon_Podcast) * [Subscribe on Android](http://subscribeonandroid.com/findnewhopesunday.libsyn.com/rss) * [YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLFZw6j-ZlY45HU-m-lQ5XYuphsrbeJMsk)

This Sunday, we start our three week series on core values, *"What We Value at New Hope."* Core values could be thought of as our fundamental beliefs. They help us discern right and wrong and provide a foundation that guides behavior, policies, and decisions. Core values are essential for all organizations but are of the utmost importance in the church. Many churches have very similar doctrinal beliefs: the Bible is the inspired word of God, the Trinity, the virgin birth, the deity of Christ, the ministry of the Holy Spirit, salvation by grace through faith, etc. These are things that should be unchanging core values in our church and really every church. However, there must be core values in the application of these biblical values. Professing biblical values is one thing—applying them correctly is another. If all we needed to do was proclaim them, then most churches would automatically flourish and grow (and they aren't). But we also have to live them out. We have to embody them; be living examples of them. At New Hope, we have seven core values that are essential to who we are as a family of faith. This is how we have chosen to live out these foundational Biblical principles. **At New Hope...** * We love Jesus. * We care about all people. * We follow God’s guidance. * We seek to live out truth with grace. * We work in teams and value everyone’s input. * We are open to taking risks and making bold decisions. This week, we will focus on the first new: Loving Jesus and caring about ALL people. Our Scripture will come from Matthew 22:34-40. These two values really are the main thing. Come tomorrow to find out why! Subscribe to our **New Hope UMC Sunday Sermon Podcast** on: * [Apple Podcasts](https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/new-hope-umc-sunday-sermon-podcast/id1093524425?mt=2) * [Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/show/2habfMJ6S8jirQnpimNwHg?si=nKlvpZRrQYKnsJSJc6Du3Q) * [Stitcher Radio](http://www.stitcher.com/s?fid=87782&refid=stpr) * [Google Play](https://play.google.com/music/m/Ijonx62ajd5qwxv3qgxkizdqnva?t=New_Hope_UMC_Sunday_Sermon_Podcast) * [Subscribe on Android](http://subscribeonandroid.com/findnewhopesunday.libsyn.com/rss) * [YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLFZw6j-ZlY45HU-m-lQ5XYuphsrbeJMsk)

This Sunday, October 27, we continue our 2-week sermon series on "Generous Living." Our key text this Sunday will be [Acts 20:32-38](https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts+20%3A32-38&version=NLT) in which Paul, quoting Jesus, told the believers in Ephesus "It is more blessed to give than to receive." The message is “The Blessing of Giving.” One of the key ways God grows and forms us as disciples of Christ is as we learn the art of generosity. What can you do, for instance, to "turn up the volume" on your level of generosity in order to more fully know the blessing of giving? Subscribe to our **New Hope UMC Sunday Sermon Podcast** on: * [Apple Podcasts](https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/new-hope-umc-sunday-sermon-podcast/id1093524425?mt=2) * [Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/show/2habfMJ6S8jirQnpimNwHg?si=nKlvpZRrQYKnsJSJc6Du3Q) * [Stitcher Radio](http://www.stitcher.com/s?fid=87782&refid=stpr) * [Google Play](https://play.google.com/music/m/Ijonx62ajd5qwxv3qgxkizdqnva?t=New_Hope_UMC_Sunday_Sermon_Podcast) * [Subscribe on Android](http://subscribeonandroid.com/findnewhopesunday.libsyn.com/rss) * [YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLFZw6j-ZlY45HU-m-lQ5XYuphsrbeJMsk)

This Sunday, October 20, we will begin a 2-week sermon series on “Generous Living.” Our text will be Mark 6:30–44

So often we feel like we are not equipped to do what we have been called by God to do. We focus on what we don’t have. We focus on our own fear of not having enough and not being enough. We need to learn, however, that a little in Jesus’ hands is more than enough. The title of Sunday’s message is “A Little Is Enough.”

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This Sunday, October 13, we will continue with the sermon series “Character Under Construction.” Just as the main New Hope campus has been a construction zone for over a year now you and I remain “under construction” as God seeks to form our character in His image.

And our character matters! Our character, for good or for bad, is a tremendous witness to the difference Jesus makes in our lives - it is often how the unbelieving world sees Jesus at work in us.

So how do we know if our character is reflecting the character of Jesus? Galatians 5:22–23 reads, “But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!” Do we have evidence of fruit in our lives? And if we don’t, what do we do about it?

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This Sunday, October 6, we will continue with the sermon series “Character Under Construction.” Just as the main New Hope campus has been a construction zone for over a year now you and I remain “under construction” as God seeks to form our character in His image. We have considered what it means to “Guard Our Minds" and “Guard Our Hearts.” This week we’ll look at how and why “Friendship Matters” with a focus on Ecclesiastes 4:9–12: “Two people are better off than one, for they can help each other succeed. If one person falls, the other can reach out and help. But someone who falls alone is in real trouble. Likewise, two people lying close together can keep each other warm. But how can one be warm alone? A person standing alone can be attacked and defeated, but two can stand back-to-back and conquer. Three are even better, for a triple-braided cord is not easily broken.”

The discipline of friendship isn’t the most important aspect of our character being under construction, but it might be the most often overlooked. We focus on prayer, spend time in God’s Word, get to the pew in worship, serving others, believing certain things about the Christian faith, and being generous, but friendship matters, too, for our character to be under construction.

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This Sunday, September 29, we will continue with the sermon series “Character Under Construction.” Just as the main New Hope campus has been a construction zone for over a year now you and I remain “under construction” as God seeks to form our character in His image. Last week we focused on “Guarding Our Minds," because it all begins with the way we think about ourselves, others, the world around us, and God…and what God thinks about us!

This Sunday we’ll look at “Guarding Our Hearts” as outlined in Proverbs 4:20–23: “My child, pay attention to what I say. Listen carefully to my words. Don’t lose sight of them. Let them penetrate deep into your heart, for they bring life to those who find them, and healing to their whole body. Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life.” When we guard our hearts, we are protecting our very lives- every aspect of ourselves from our beliefs, attitudes, thoughts, and actions. We are choosing to be good stewards of our one and only life to the glory of God.

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Sunday, September 22, 2019 

​​​​​​​This Sunday, September 22, we will start a new sermon series “Character Under Construction.” Just as the main New Hope campus has been a construction zone for over a year now you and I remain “under construction” as God seeks to form our character in His image. We begin with a focus on “Guarding Our Minds," because it all begins with the way we think about ourselves, others, the world around us, and God…and what God thinks about us! There will be a number of Scriptures in this Sunday’s message, but read 2 Corinthians 10:3–5 and Philippians 4:6–8.

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This week’s message (and chapter 5 in the book) is titled, “The Beauty of Name Dropping.” We typically think of name dropping as a negative thing (and it can be!), but in Nehemiah 3, we see how Nehemiah’s name dropping can teach us some important truths about our faith.

Our text for this week is the whole of chapter 3, which consists of a long list of names of those who worked on the Jerusalem wall. These long Biblical lists are often the kind of thing we want to skip over and yet we must acknowledge that they were included for a reason. In Nehemiah’s case, he wants to deflect attention and accolades away from himself and onto those people who did the hard work of rebuilding the wall. After all, the wall is not his legacy. The people he has gathered and empowered to build the wall — the people are his legacy, they are his enduring mark on the world. Talbot Davis puts it this way, “He is less concerned with what he has built and more interested in the people he has built up.”

This may be a subtle shift in how we think about legacy but it’s a critical one. Leaving your mark isn’t about what you accomplish. It’s about who you influence.

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