The Mission

To be a safe place for people to
know Jesus, love Jesus and serve Jesus

What We Value

People
Every person counts. There are no outcasts or elite. God is drawing all people to Himself, so discerning and cooperating with what God is already doing is our strategy and our privilege. Each of us has a unique role to play which fits who and how God made us.
Honesty
We are all broken. God knows it. Why hide it. Being real and authentic with Him and others creates a safe place where we can say how we are really doing.
Excellence
We want to give God our best. We work hard for quality in everything we do. It’s a privilege to spend our lives co-laboring with God, serving with him and for him.
Relevance
Life is just too busy. If what we are doing is not touching our daily lives, answering our deepest questions, and having an eternal impact on us and others, why do it?
Community
We strive to welcome and treat others the way we would want to be welcomed and treated. There is always room for more around the New Hope family table.
Humour
Why would we not have fun doing all this. God invented laughter. Lets enjoy it . . . and Him. The Joy of the Lord is our strength.

What We Believe

1. God

We believe that God exists and is the creator of all things visible and invisible. We worship the one holy and loving God who is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit eternally. God, the Father, has brought salvation and new life to humanity and all creation through Jesus Christ. Jesus, the Son of God, brought good news to the poor and was victorious over sin through his incarnation, death, and resurrection. God, the Holy Spirit, empowers believers with new life, indwells them, and unites them in one body, the church. 

2. Revelation of God

We believe that all Scripture is inspired by God through the Holy Spirit for instruction in salvation and training in righteousness. We accept the Scriptures as the Word of God and as the fully reliable, trustworthy and authoritative standard for Christian faith and life. God has spoken above all in the living Word who became flesh and revealed the truth of God faithfully and without deception. Because Jesus Christ is the Word becomes flesh, Scripture as a whole has its centre and fulfilment in him. We seek to understand and interpret Scripture in harmony with Jesus Christ as we are led by the Holy Spirit in the church.

3. Creation of Humanity

We believe that God has created human beings in His divine image. God formed them from the dust of the earth and gave them a special dignity above all the works of creation. Human beings have been made for a relationship with God, to live in peace with each other, and to take care of the rest of creation. We believe that the image of God in all its fullness has been revealed and restored in Jesus Christ, in whom we find our true humanity.

4. Sin and Evil

We believe that beginning with Adam and Eve, humanity has disobeyed God, given way to the tempter, and chosen to sin. Because of sin, all have fallen short of the Creator’s intent, marred the image of God in which they were created, disrupted order in the world, and limited their love for others. Humanity has been given over to the enslaving powers of evil and death, which impacts all of creation both individually and corporately.

5. Salvation

We believe that, through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, God offers salvation from sin and a new way of life to all people. We receive God’s salvation when we repent of sin and accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour. In Christ, we are reconciled with God and brought into the reconciling community of God’s people. By placing our faith in Christ we are justified and made righteous by his death on the cross. With All creation, we eagerly await the full liberation of all things at the return of Christ. 

6. Nature of the Church

We believe that the church is the assembly of those who have accepted God’s offer of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ. The church is the new community of disciples sent into the world to proclaim the reign of God and to provide a foretaste of the church’s glorious hope. The church is the new society established and sustained by the Holy Spirit. The church, the body of Christ, is called to become ever more like Jesus Christ, its head, in its worship, ministry, witness, mutual love and care, and the ordering of its common life.

What We Believe

7. Mission of the Church

We believe that the church is called to proclaim and to be a sign of the kingdom of God. Christ has commissioned the church to be his witnesses, making disciples of all nations, baptizing them, and teaching them to observe all things he has commanded. The ethical mandate of the church is to embody the way of Jesus in its own life and pattern itself after the reign of God. Thus it shows the world a sample of life under the lordship of Christ. By its life, the church is to be a city on a hill, a light to the nations, testifying to the power of the resurrection by a way of life different from the societies around it.

8. Christian Baptism

We believe baptism by immersion in water is a public proclamation that a person has repented of sin, received forgiveness, died with Christ, and been raised to new life through the power of the Holy Spirit. Baptism is also a public declaration of a believer’s incorporation into the body of Christ as expressed in the local church.

9.  Lord's Supper

We believe that the Lord’s Supper is a sign by which the church thankfully remembers the new covenant which Jesus established by his death. In this communion meal, the members of the church renew our covenant with God and with each other. Thus we proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes. The supper represents the presence of the risen Christ in the church. As we partake of the bread and cup, the gathered body of believers shares in the body and blood of Christ and recognizes again that its life is sustained by Christ. 

10. Discipleship

We believe that Jesus Christ calls us to take up our cross and follow him. Through the gift of God’s saving grace, we are empowered to be disciples of Jesus, filled with his Spirit, following his teachings and his path through suffering to new life. As by faith we walk in Christ’s way, we are being transformed into His image becoming conformed to Christ, faithful to the will of God and separated from the evil in the world. Christian discipleship encompasses all aspects of life and thrives in the context of a Christ-centred community. 

11.  Marriage and Singleness

We believe that singleness and marriage are honoured by God and should be blessed by the church. God instituted marriage to be a covenant between one man and one woman for life. Christian marriage is a mutual relationship in Christ, a covenant made in the context of the church. According to Scripture, right sexual union takes place only within the marriage relationship. Marriage is meant for sexual intimacy, companionship, and the birth and nurture of children.

12. Society and State

We believe the church is the spiritual, social, and political body that gives its allegiance to God alone. We trust in the power of God’s love for our defence. The church knows no geographical boundaries and is made up of people from every tribe and nation, called to witness to God’s glory.
Governing authorities of the world have been instituted by God to maintain order and promote justice in societies. As Christians, we are to respect those in authority and to pray for all people, including those in government, that they also may be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth. Believers are called to witness against injustice, exercise social responsibility, and obey all laws that do not conflict with the Word of God.

What We Believe

13. Love and Nonresistance

We believe that peace is the will of God. God created the world in peace, and God’s peace is most fully revealed in Jesus Christ. Led by the Holy Spirit, we follow Christ and seek to be agents of peace by doing justice, bringing reconciliation, and practising the way of love even in the face of violence.

14. The Sanctity of Human Life

We believe that God is the Creator and giver of life and highly values each person. Procedures designed to take human life are wrong. We oppose all attitudes that devalue human life, especially the defenceless lives of the unborn, disabled, poor, ageing, and dying.

15. Stewardship

We believe that everything belongs to God, who calls us as the church to live as faithful stewards of all that God has entrusted to us. The management of these gifts, including money, time, abilities, and influence, are to be received with thanksgiving, used responsibly, and shared generously. Through Jesus, all time is holy, set apart for God and intended to be used for salvation, healing, and justice. The gospel of reconciliation has been entrusted to every believer so that through the church the mystery of the gospel might be made known to the world.

16.  The Lord's Day, Work and Rest

We believe God’s act of creation provides the framework for work and rest. In work, we use our abilities to glorify God, serve others and participate in God’s mission to reconcile all things. In rest, we express thanks for God’s provision and trust in God’s sustaining grace. Likewise, just as God rested on the seventh day, we practice the setting apart of one day to celebrate His provision and commune with God. 

17. Worship

We believe not only does God deserve our worship but humanity as a whole is designed for worship. True worship offers all of who we are, heart, mind and body, to God alone. In corporate worship, the church gathers to engage the living God and celebrate the resurrection through praise, preaching, communion, baptism, community and serving one another. Individually we express our worship to God by doing all things - work, recreation, relationships and serving - to the glory of God.

18. Christ's Final Triumph

We place our hope in the reign of God and in its fulfilment on the day when Christ will come again to judge the living and the dead and usher in the new heavens and earth. We believe that God’s final victory brings an end to this present age of struggle between good and evil, and brings about the resurrection of the dead. The righteous will rise to eternal life with God and the unrighteous to hell and separation from God. The people of God will reign with Christ forever in justice, righteousness, and peace.